earthglows's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't finish this book. I didn't care for Wicked Lovely much, but wanted to give Marr a second chance. Didn't even make it past the first half of this book. It's too slow and the writing is too choppy for me.
readermeetsbook's review against another edition
2.0
Set in the same world as Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr's first novel, Ink Exchange focuses on the Dark Court of the faeries. While it might not be necessary to have read the first novel to understand the gist of the story, it is mighty helpful to read it for background information and to understand certain characters.
Living with a deadbeat dad and a druggie brother, Leslie struggles to survive each day. After being sold by her brother for drugs and raped by his friends, she shuts down. Feeling a need to find control again, she decides to get a tattoo for her body.
At the same time, Irial, the fairy king of the Dark Court is dealing with problems in his court. The Dark Court is getting weaker as peace between the Winter and Summer Court continue to grow longer. To keep the Dark Court stabilizes, Irial decides to do an Ink Exchange. Essentially, he will be connected to a mortal and feed off of their emotions (the darker ones: anger, pain, sadness, etc) like a vampire. The connection is created by a tattoo done on the mortal with the blood of the fairy. Leslie is the one chosen.
Throw in her friend Aislinn - who is not really human anymore but queen of the Summer Court which is not exactly buddy buddy with the Dark Court. And Niall - a fairy advisor for the Summer King and also has a torrid background with Irial. Add to the fact that Leslie is very attracted to him. What happens is confrontation between characters as Irial works to save his court and Leslie tries to find herself again.
The worlds Marr creates, both fairy and human, come alive with her prose. While reading Ink Exchange, I found it easy to envision myself in the setting of the story. I also enjoy the reappearances of characters from Wicked Lovely especially Aislinn. On the other hand, I did not like the main characters of this novel. The characters, Leslie and Irial, were ones that I could not sympathize or connect with. But this is all personal opinion.
Living with a deadbeat dad and a druggie brother, Leslie struggles to survive each day. After being sold by her brother for drugs and raped by his friends, she shuts down. Feeling a need to find control again, she decides to get a tattoo for her body.
At the same time, Irial, the fairy king of the Dark Court is dealing with problems in his court. The Dark Court is getting weaker as peace between the Winter and Summer Court continue to grow longer. To keep the Dark Court stabilizes, Irial decides to do an Ink Exchange. Essentially, he will be connected to a mortal and feed off of their emotions (the darker ones: anger, pain, sadness, etc) like a vampire. The connection is created by a tattoo done on the mortal with the blood of the fairy. Leslie is the one chosen.
Throw in her friend Aislinn - who is not really human anymore but queen of the Summer Court which is not exactly buddy buddy with the Dark Court. And Niall - a fairy advisor for the Summer King and also has a torrid background with Irial. Add to the fact that Leslie is very attracted to him. What happens is confrontation between characters as Irial works to save his court and Leslie tries to find herself again.
The worlds Marr creates, both fairy and human, come alive with her prose. While reading Ink Exchange, I found it easy to envision myself in the setting of the story. I also enjoy the reappearances of characters from Wicked Lovely especially Aislinn. On the other hand, I did not like the main characters of this novel. The characters, Leslie and Irial, were ones that I could not sympathize or connect with. But this is all personal opinion.
glitterbomb47's review against another edition
2.0
Uneven writing. The prologue and first chapter were almost unintelligible.
exquisite_corpse's review against another edition
This was so creepy and completely different from the previous book. Dead dove do not eat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
sara_4539's review against another edition
3.0
took me forever to read because i couldn't find any motivation to pick it up. i actually started doing housework because that was more appealing to me than reading this book. the plot and characters seemed sort of flat. BUT i think i may have just not been in the right mood for it so i'm going to give it 3 stars
starry2013's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
tokkicchi's review against another edition
2.0
This one was a little too slow paced for me. It was like a straight line throughout the book. Waited for the climatic scenes, but it just ended. :\ I'm sadly disappointed with this one. Will continue the series.
bdh2109's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
ellenpenleysmith's review against another edition
2.0
Sigh. I really hoped this book would be half enjoyable. Although the characters were semi-rounded it was the romance that I found really hard to connect with. Niell... Ugh. I remember in the first book reading that he was Keenan's "uncle" and while he is a fairy it leads me to the distressing question as to why a teenage girl, still in high school I believe, would be invovled with him? Now, there wasn't much romance up until the point of her finding everything out, but there was flirting, and I really find that stressing.
I don't know what it is about Marr's writing, but I don't think I like it. There are other factors to the book that I didn't like, but I honestly cannot be bothered to write about them.
Not recommmended.
I don't know what it is about Marr's writing, but I don't think I like it. There are other factors to the book that I didn't like, but I honestly cannot be bothered to write about them.
Not recommmended.