A review by thesigilwitch
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The second book in the Wicked Lovely series follows Leslie's story as Aislinn takes on her new responsibilities in the summer court. The new balance of power has left some courts weakened though and the Dark Court Fae are slowly starving. Iriel's plan with Rabbit to use the ink exchange to create a conduit puts Leslie right in the path to her own court alliance. 

Re-reading this as an adult it isn't the world changer it was as a preteen whose obsession with fairies was just turning to the darker side. It is will always be a comfort read though and brings back a lot of nostalgia. Marr's writing lends itself well to creating an internal movie as I read. 

I think this book is where my tattoo obsession really started as a preteen and at least part of what inspired my thoughts on body modification as a whole. That was something that became a much bigger part of my life years later. Ink Exchange also helped stoke the flames of bad boy crushes with our own King of the Dark Court, Iriel and the brooding handsome loner Niall, while other girls grew out of it I simply went darker. 

From my reading notes at 35% "Jesus, it was Niall that was supposed to take over the court for Iriel. IDK what he is but he's crazy strong and I think it's connected to emotions. and I think he's intentionally weakening himself by staying with the summer court. The other fae don't seem to choose their court but rather are assigned based on the type of fae they are so that's another thing that makes Niall different." As I was reading it was right on the tip of my tongue and I got so excited reading this section. The bromance between our dark boys is sweet and snarky and I love it. 

I would definitely recommend this series to someone in their teen to younger adult years still, Especially if you love urban fantasy stories about the fae, this books way of combining the fae and mortal realms was unique for it's time and the world building has held up over the years.