Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

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(Library Binding)

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  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Pub. Date: April 2008
  • ISBN-13: 9780061214691
  • Sales Rank: 642,268
  • Age Range: Young Adult
  • 336pp
 
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Synopsis

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .

The Washington Post - Mary Quattlebaum

As the sequel to last year's popular Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange is even more compelling, thanks to Melissa Marr's more nuanced characterizations.

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Biography

Melissa Marr: Although I was voted "most likely to end up in jail" in high school, I decided to get an MA and teach literature and gender studies to college students across the country. Along the way, I've been unable to resist trying new things—including working an archeological dig, slinging drinks at a biker bar, and getting fabulous tattoos.

I call all of this research for my writing. To fill my craving for new experiences, I've lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Southern California, and I plan to keep roaming with my family as widely and as often as possible. This year, I think, I'm living in Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing Follow Up to Wicked Lovelyby cryptaknight

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November 04, 2008: I really liked Marr's first, Wicked Lovely, and while I liked this, too, it just didn't grab me in the same way. I loved the first half/ two-thirds of Ink Exchange, once the ink exchange took effect, I felt like the story got convoluted.

The story focuses on Leslie, a close friend of Aislinn, the main character from the first book and the reigning Summer Queen of the faery courts. She has a very unhappy home life, complete with druggie brother and absentee father, and one of the few things that gives her pleasure is hanging out at the local tattoo shop. She desperately wants a tattoo, which she feels will give her ownership of her own body, and help her feel some control amid her chaotic life. Unbeknownst to Leslie, Rabbit, the shop's owner, is the half-fey son of the Hound of the Dark Court. He has an agreement with Irial, the Dark Court's king, to use a special faery ink with certain tattoos as part of an ink exchange. The ink exchange allows Irial and the rest of the Dark Court to feed on the dark emotions of mortals, which have grown scarce since the peace made between Summer and Winter in the first book.

Leslie ends up picking the tattoo that represents Irial himself. As she begins to get the tattoo, her friends from the Summer Court notice that she's attracted the Dark King's attention, and Niall, who is Keenan's (the Summer King) right hand man, is asked to guard her more closely. Niall is also interested in Leslie, and he and Irial struggle over Leslie's mortality and her role in the faery world.

Leslie, having been kept in the dark about all this, completes the tattoo, making her Irial's Shadow Girl. Once she is a part of his court, she struggles to maintain her sense of self, even as she witnesses atrocities against mortals. Eventually, she must make the choice between remaining with the Dark Court or breaking her tie with Irial.

I did like that the story wasn't just about hooking Leslie up with the hottest faery out there, but about her making choices about her own destiny. I also liked seeing the POV characters from the other book from another perspective. I think my favorite aspect of the book was that the various faeries and faery courts are not depicted as good/bad, black/white entities. The reader can find Irial sympathetic, and Keenan distasteful. Gabriel (the Hound), who I initially thought was going to be very one-note, actually ended up being a dynamic character with depth. Niall, like Leslie, has to make tough choices about his own path, and it's always nice for me when an author doesn't go easy on their characters.

I think what I didn't like was that I didn't have a firm grip on Leslie as a character- the faeries were much, much more fully realized- and thus when she was with the Dark Court and time was passing in a haze, the plot got very hazy for me, too. It seemed almost like it took too long to get Leslie there, and then things were rushed and not fully explained. I also found it a little convenient that it was one of Aislinn's closest friends who happened to choose Irial's mark. I could understand her catching faery eyes because of her closeness to the Summer Queen, but it was little too coincidental that she ended up being the Shadow Girl. I just wish Marr would have spent more time on developing Leslie as a character, and devoted a few more pages to explaining what the hell, exactly, was going on at the Dark Court.

That said, I would read another...

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.comby TeensReadToo

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November 02, 2008: Torn up inside after her drug-dealer brother betrays her in the most horrible way, Leslie puts on a brave front with her friends, pretending her drunken dad isn't letting the bills pile up and hiding all her pain. Hoping to take back control over her body, she decides to get a tattoo, and picks out a special design at the tattoo parlor she often hangs out at. Unbeknownst to Leslie, that tattoo is the symbol of Irial, the king of the faerie Dark Court, designed to allow him to filter the unpleasant emotions that feed his court through her into him and his people.

As Leslie finds her vision changing and her feelings shifting in unpredictable ways, Niall, a faerie of the Summer Court who has always admired her, steps in, hoping to help her and keep Irial away. He has his own tangled feelings about Irial, whom he once counted as a friend. But as Leslie sinks further under Irial's thrall, enjoying the escape from the hurt and fear she'd been living with, only she can decide when to pull away--or whether she would rather stay with him, after all.

INK EXCHANGE is a darkly imaginative novel set in the same world as Marr's first novel, WICKED LOVELY. Readers will enjoy exploring the lives of some of that novel's minor characters and seeing more of the shadowy side of the faerie courts. They may find Leslie, Niall, and Irial less engaging than the spirited and perhaps more sympathetic narrators of WICKED LOVELY, but the trio still make for a fascinating "love" triangle as each deals with conflicting emotions and tries to decide what is right both for him or herself and for those who are counting on them.

The imagery is striking and evocative, and the politics of the different faerie courts is intriguing to explore. A great book for dark fantasy fans.


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