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justanothernerdling 's review for:
Ink
by Alice Broadway
Ok first of all, the blurb only kinda scratches the surface of what is relevant about this book. This story is about a world in which everything about you is marked as a tattoo - your family tree, your age, job, joys and fears. Leora is finishing school to become someone who's job it is to give people their Marks.
This book, aside from being aesthetically gorgeous beyond belief, was quite fun! I enjoyed reading it, especially towards the end. Why? Well...
For 90% of the story, I felt like the plot was being pulled into different directions, but just for a little bit, before going back to a steady, safe plot line. I was missing a dynamic, shocking event.
And then the end happened - everything tied together in a rather unexpected way, that I enjoyed. I wasn't planning to up until the last few chapters, but I think I'll be picking up the next two books soon to find out what happens!
So, we've established that the ending makes it worth the read, but what about the rest?
To be completely honest, the build-up was very slow for me. Every time I thought some event would launch a more intricate plot, it fell flat. None of the characters fascinated me aside from Leora's mentor, Obel. He was interesting from the start! Otherwise, for me everyone felt somewhat flat.
But then again, I guess that that can be expected in a super rule-fueld world.
OH ALSO I wanted to mention one of the biggest things this book talks about. People get tattoos of their life story yes... only to have their skin bound in a book once they die. At first I was somewhat hesitant about this - sure, ok, maybe if they're treated like leather on bongos or something, that's fine and paper-like, so sure. But NO. Leora looks at a her dad's scalp skin (ew) that still has hairs on it. That small detail made me feel nervous about these skin books the entire book.
This book was kinda creepy - I think it would have been fun if Alice had written it as a full-on thriller, actually! For now, it just lacked substance.
This book, aside from being aesthetically gorgeous beyond belief, was quite fun! I enjoyed reading it, especially towards the end. Why? Well...
For 90% of the story, I felt like the plot was being pulled into different directions, but just for a little bit, before going back to a steady, safe plot line. I was missing a dynamic, shocking event.
And then the end happened - everything tied together in a rather unexpected way, that I enjoyed. I wasn't planning to up until the last few chapters, but I think I'll be picking up the next two books soon to find out what happens!
So, we've established that the ending makes it worth the read, but what about the rest?
To be completely honest, the build-up was very slow for me. Every time I thought some event would launch a more intricate plot, it fell flat. None of the characters fascinated me aside from Leora's mentor, Obel. He was interesting from the start! Otherwise, for me everyone felt somewhat flat.
But then again, I guess that that can be expected in a super rule-fueld world.
OH ALSO I wanted to mention one of the biggest things this book talks about. People get tattoos of their life story yes... only to have their skin bound in a book once they die. At first I was somewhat hesitant about this - sure, ok, maybe if they're treated like leather on bongos or something, that's fine and paper-like, so sure. But NO. Leora looks at a her dad's scalp skin (ew) that still has hairs on it. That small detail made me feel nervous about these skin books the entire book.
This book was kinda creepy - I think it would have been fun if Alice had written it as a full-on thriller, actually! For now, it just lacked substance.