Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
Apr. 29th, 2011 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Images cluttered the page, but one tattoo set her nerves on edge: inky-black eyes surrounded by wings like shadows coalescing.
Mine. The need was overpowering. Leslie looked up.
‘This one,’ she said. ‘I need this one.’
But the image is more than just tempting art, and it draws Leslie into a world of shadows and desire – into the world of Faerie.
Leslie’s life took a turn for the worse when her mother left. Her father took refuge in alcohol and her brother slid into drug abuse. Leslie’s tried to keep the family together – working shifts as a waitress at the local diner to pay the bills while also studying hard at school because she knows her escape can only come with a scholarship to a good college. But several months ago everything went wrong when her brother drugged her and gave her to his friends to settle a drug debt.
Unable to talk about it with her best friend, Aislinn (who now seems to split her life between Keenan and Seth), Leslie decides to take back her body by getting a tattoo. However the design she finally chooses is no ordinary design. It’s the mark of Irial, who plans to use Leslie to help his Dark Court. Soon Leslie finds herself in a world of pain, shadows and magic that she could never have imagined – a world that she finds she may not want to escape ...
Melissa Marr’s sequel to WICKED LOVELY is a much darker story and one that is much more of a character study that’s driven by Leslie, her past and how she tries to come to terms with it. It is a very dark book – not just because of Leslie but also because of the depiction of Irial and his Dark Court, which provokes emotions of fear and anger in order to feed from it.
The book turns on Leslie’s character and I found her very believable. She is never a stereotype – although she is vulnerable and hurt and unable to fully address what happened, she’s also strong and determined not to let it dominate her life. Marr also does well in weaving the fantasy elements in so that while it ties in with Leslie’s experiences, it never cheapens them.
Because it’s a character story, there isn’t a huge amount of plot here and I was disappointed that some of the key story points (particularly towards the end) happen off-page and get reported. It’s also a slow read, perhaps a little too slow in places, with Leslie not quite being fast enough to pick up on what’s happening to her.
That said, it’s an interesting and emotional read and there are plot points that tie in with the wider series arc and I’ll be reading on.
The Verdict:
Melissa Marr’s sequel to WICKED LOVELY is a dark story that ties in the story of a rape survivor trying to take control of her life with the efforts of a dark court of magic to survive. It’s a slow read and very much a character story, but it’s also powerfully told and I always believed in the main character of Leslie and her struggle to reclaim her body. Although it won’t be a story for everyone, I found it an interesting book in the series and will definitely be reading on.
Mine. The need was overpowering. Leslie looked up.
‘This one,’ she said. ‘I need this one.’
But the image is more than just tempting art, and it draws Leslie into a world of shadows and desire – into the world of Faerie.
Leslie’s life took a turn for the worse when her mother left. Her father took refuge in alcohol and her brother slid into drug abuse. Leslie’s tried to keep the family together – working shifts as a waitress at the local diner to pay the bills while also studying hard at school because she knows her escape can only come with a scholarship to a good college. But several months ago everything went wrong when her brother drugged her and gave her to his friends to settle a drug debt.
Unable to talk about it with her best friend, Aislinn (who now seems to split her life between Keenan and Seth), Leslie decides to take back her body by getting a tattoo. However the design she finally chooses is no ordinary design. It’s the mark of Irial, who plans to use Leslie to help his Dark Court. Soon Leslie finds herself in a world of pain, shadows and magic that she could never have imagined – a world that she finds she may not want to escape ...
Melissa Marr’s sequel to WICKED LOVELY is a much darker story and one that is much more of a character study that’s driven by Leslie, her past and how she tries to come to terms with it. It is a very dark book – not just because of Leslie but also because of the depiction of Irial and his Dark Court, which provokes emotions of fear and anger in order to feed from it.
The book turns on Leslie’s character and I found her very believable. She is never a stereotype – although she is vulnerable and hurt and unable to fully address what happened, she’s also strong and determined not to let it dominate her life. Marr also does well in weaving the fantasy elements in so that while it ties in with Leslie’s experiences, it never cheapens them.
Because it’s a character story, there isn’t a huge amount of plot here and I was disappointed that some of the key story points (particularly towards the end) happen off-page and get reported. It’s also a slow read, perhaps a little too slow in places, with Leslie not quite being fast enough to pick up on what’s happening to her.
That said, it’s an interesting and emotional read and there are plot points that tie in with the wider series arc and I’ll be reading on.
The Verdict:
Melissa Marr’s sequel to WICKED LOVELY is a dark story that ties in the story of a rape survivor trying to take control of her life with the efforts of a dark court of magic to survive. It’s a slow read and very much a character story, but it’s also powerfully told and I always believed in the main character of Leslie and her struggle to reclaim her body. Although it won’t be a story for everyone, I found it an interesting book in the series and will definitely be reading on.
