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The Twixt #1
Indelible
Some things are permanent.
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.
Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.
Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.
Somewhere between reality and myth lies…
THE TWIXT
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.
Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.
Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.
Somewhere between reality and myth lies…
THE TWIXT
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2013
About the author
Dawn Metcalf
7 books414 followersThe role of Dawn Metcalf will be played by the tall brunette in the off-the-shoulder, floor-length leather straitjacket. Makeup by Clinique, buckles by Jada Pinkett-Smith, hair by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
I have no good excuse for the way I write. I lived in a normal, loving, suburban home, studied hard, went to college, went to graduate school, got married, had babies, and settled down in northern Connecticut. Despite this wholesome lifestyle, I've been clearly corrupted by fairy tales, puppet visionaries, British humour and graphic novels. As a result, I write dark, quirky, and sometimes humorous speculative fiction.
Review Policy: My review policy has changed. I am removing all comments and stars from Read books. If it's here, I liked it or loved it (3-5 stars). I brag about books I absolutely adore and share other wild opinions on my website, Officially Twisted at www.dawnmetcalf.com.
I have no good excuse for the way I write. I lived in a normal, loving, suburban home, studied hard, went to college, went to graduate school, got married, had babies, and settled down in northern Connecticut. Despite this wholesome lifestyle, I've been clearly corrupted by fairy tales, puppet visionaries, British humour and graphic novels. As a result, I write dark, quirky, and sometimes humorous speculative fiction.
Review Policy: My review policy has changed. I am removing all comments and stars from Read books. If it's here, I liked it or loved it (3-5 stars). I brag about books I absolutely adore and share other wild opinions on my website, Officially Twisted at www.dawnmetcalf.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 458 reviews
August 7, 2013
Actual rating: 1.5
How do you even pronounce Inq with a clipped q? Ink-wuh?
There was something about this book that felt really familiar to me, and it wasn't until the end that I realized what it was. Indelible is like a Hayao Mizayaki film without the quality, without the depth. For those lacking anime-fu, Hayao Mizayaki is an extremely well-known director of anime films; among his lauded repertoire are such works as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and of course, the much-beloved My Neighbor Totoro. This book mainly reminded me of his movies because of the creatures within. There are fantastically strange beings, flightful ideas, but ultimately nothing is well-executed and the book ends up completely fizzling out before it even had the chance to pop.
Indelible is without a sensible or compelling plot, but overwrought with ostentatious ideas that are not even remotely compelling. It contains and grandiose speeches that are fundamentally unsupported, it is without character development or complexity, and is completely lacking any glue whatsoever that it needs to hold the book together. It is action-filled, there's danger, but the attempts just leave me cold and bored; I like blood and guts and intrigue as much as anyone, but I don't care enough about the plot or characters for the events in this book to hold my attention. I had to fight myself to finish this book, because I wanted to DNF it at 20%.
There's ample amounts of fantasy, but there's no clear-world building of the concept of the Twixt, and the idea of the Signatura, of the Scribe, just don't make any sense. It doesn't really fill the reader with any sense of urgency, of excitement, of wanting to know what's to come. I had to go back and repeatedly read the concept of Ink and his sister, Inq, to try to get what they do.
"We use signaturae to mark those who are ours the way the land was once ours, those who share a little bit of magic, identifying who is connected, who can be claimed and who is strictly off-limits. Our work safeguards our people from corruption and signifies that the chosen human is protected, formally claimed by one of the Folk...As Scribes, our job is to take orders from the Folk and make a mark in their stead. We are their instruments by proxy. Per procurationem. In absentia. In loco deus."
Say what now? And I should care...why? Honestly, the concept of what they do and this entire book in general is so boring. The book did not hold my attention at all. The best part of the book: the creatures and how they are portrayed. There are no specific races, many types of absurd and bizarre monsters appear, and I enjoyed reading about their appearance above anything else.
"Briarhook's eyes were piggy pinholes in its fat, fleshy face, all but hidden under massive quills, its striped porcupine hair pockmarked in leaves. Its cheeks sagged and its clothes hung in mealy rags. It might have looked pitiful if not for the cruel curl of its lip and the rusty meat cleaver it clutched in one hand. Hooked feet clawed through the earth and debris, dragging a sluggish tail behind it. Its voice was thick and scratchy as it folded over its belly."
See where I get the Hayao Mizayaki feels? Yeah, the monsters definitely fit into his repertoire. The writing is nice, the descriptions are lovely and imaginative, but that's ultimately all there is. A lot of ideas, a lot of concepts woven together for a story that's just not there. I've had a really bad reading week, and I can't bring myself to go into another epic rage-filled rant. Frankly, I don't really care enough about any of the characters or events in this book to feel anything towards them besides apathy.
Joy Malone, the main character, is your typical teenager. She's not the brightest candle in the chandelier, she's spiteful, she's bitter, she's got a lot of parental issues. Joy is majorly pissed off at her mother, she refuses to resume contact with her, calling her mother a "cougar" and criticizing her mother's choice to leave her family for a younger lover. Joy is passive-aggressive with her dad, making snide comments about his ever-expanding waistline due to stress-eating while apparently suffering some food issues of her own.
Joy has her TSTL moments; she receives random text messages to Ink, that leads her to a strange address and an abandoned house. She visits it. On her own. Strange things start happening to her, a strange monster appears at her window, smashing it. Joy reports the case, but eventually ends up freaking out and destroying the evidence after the lead detective disappears. Yeah, she's not bright, but I'm not going to get angry and rant about her because like the other characters in this book and everything that happens to them...this book isn't compelling enough for me to give a fuck about anything in it.
There's also terribly forced and unrealistic romance between her and Ink. A boy that tried to slash her eyes out. Okay then.
"'You're stunning, like a statue or a photograph, or a photograph of a statue. A naked, old one. Like the Greeks..." She took a breath. 'It's not real and it's not fair. You're freaky and dangerous and I can't stop thinking about you.'"
Ink is a Scribe, one of the Folk, but I believe he is actually Pinocchio. He wants to be a living, breathing boy!! Ink doesn't know what it's like to be human, his body isn't even accurately human. Ink's exploration of Joy's ears to see how they're constructed was meant to be erotic, I guess? I just found it awkward. Ink's sister, Inq, is totally creepy. She is portrayed as morally loose and hypersexual compared to the staid stiffness of her brother. They're twins, they don't appear to be too close, but Inq makes all sorts of squicky, gross comments about Ink's sex life, or lack thereof.
"'Ink doesn't know chalk dust from chocolate,' Inq said, her lips caressing Nikolai's skin. 'He doesn't know the difference between a nip and a bite.' She playfully nipped his forefinger...'If he likes his first taste, he might gobble you up. Swallow you whole...And you might like it.'"
Can I get a collective "EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW" here, guys?
Book 1: nope. Not even going to touch the sequel.
"I am Indelible Ink," he said. "My sister is Invisible Inq." He pronounced her name with a clipped "q" as he pushed off the doorframe.
How do you even pronounce Inq with a clipped q? Ink-wuh?
There was something about this book that felt really familiar to me, and it wasn't until the end that I realized what it was. Indelible is like a Hayao Mizayaki film without the quality, without the depth. For those lacking anime-fu, Hayao Mizayaki is an extremely well-known director of anime films; among his lauded repertoire are such works as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and of course, the much-beloved My Neighbor Totoro. This book mainly reminded me of his movies because of the creatures within. There are fantastically strange beings, flightful ideas, but ultimately nothing is well-executed and the book ends up completely fizzling out before it even had the chance to pop.
Indelible is without a sensible or compelling plot, but overwrought with ostentatious ideas that are not even remotely compelling. It contains and grandiose speeches that are fundamentally unsupported, it is without character development or complexity, and is completely lacking any glue whatsoever that it needs to hold the book together. It is action-filled, there's danger, but the attempts just leave me cold and bored; I like blood and guts and intrigue as much as anyone, but I don't care enough about the plot or characters for the events in this book to hold my attention. I had to fight myself to finish this book, because I wanted to DNF it at 20%.
There's ample amounts of fantasy, but there's no clear-world building of the concept of the Twixt, and the idea of the Signatura, of the Scribe, just don't make any sense. It doesn't really fill the reader with any sense of urgency, of excitement, of wanting to know what's to come. I had to go back and repeatedly read the concept of Ink and his sister, Inq, to try to get what they do.
"We use signaturae to mark those who are ours the way the land was once ours, those who share a little bit of magic, identifying who is connected, who can be claimed and who is strictly off-limits. Our work safeguards our people from corruption and signifies that the chosen human is protected, formally claimed by one of the Folk...As Scribes, our job is to take orders from the Folk and make a mark in their stead. We are their instruments by proxy. Per procurationem. In absentia. In loco deus."
Say what now? And I should care...why? Honestly, the concept of what they do and this entire book in general is so boring. The book did not hold my attention at all. The best part of the book: the creatures and how they are portrayed. There are no specific races, many types of absurd and bizarre monsters appear, and I enjoyed reading about their appearance above anything else.
"Briarhook's eyes were piggy pinholes in its fat, fleshy face, all but hidden under massive quills, its striped porcupine hair pockmarked in leaves. Its cheeks sagged and its clothes hung in mealy rags. It might have looked pitiful if not for the cruel curl of its lip and the rusty meat cleaver it clutched in one hand. Hooked feet clawed through the earth and debris, dragging a sluggish tail behind it. Its voice was thick and scratchy as it folded over its belly."
See where I get the Hayao Mizayaki feels? Yeah, the monsters definitely fit into his repertoire. The writing is nice, the descriptions are lovely and imaginative, but that's ultimately all there is. A lot of ideas, a lot of concepts woven together for a story that's just not there. I've had a really bad reading week, and I can't bring myself to go into another epic rage-filled rant. Frankly, I don't really care enough about any of the characters or events in this book to feel anything towards them besides apathy.
Joy Malone, the main character, is your typical teenager. She's not the brightest candle in the chandelier, she's spiteful, she's bitter, she's got a lot of parental issues. Joy is majorly pissed off at her mother, she refuses to resume contact with her, calling her mother a "cougar" and criticizing her mother's choice to leave her family for a younger lover. Joy is passive-aggressive with her dad, making snide comments about his ever-expanding waistline due to stress-eating while apparently suffering some food issues of her own.
Joy has her TSTL moments; she receives random text messages to Ink, that leads her to a strange address and an abandoned house. She visits it. On her own. Strange things start happening to her, a strange monster appears at her window, smashing it. Joy reports the case, but eventually ends up freaking out and destroying the evidence after the lead detective disappears. Yeah, she's not bright, but I'm not going to get angry and rant about her because like the other characters in this book and everything that happens to them...this book isn't compelling enough for me to give a fuck about anything in it.
There's also terribly forced and unrealistic romance between her and Ink. A boy that tried to slash her eyes out. Okay then.
"'You're stunning, like a statue or a photograph, or a photograph of a statue. A naked, old one. Like the Greeks..." She took a breath. 'It's not real and it's not fair. You're freaky and dangerous and I can't stop thinking about you.'"
Ink is a Scribe, one of the Folk, but I believe he is actually Pinocchio. He wants to be a living, breathing boy!! Ink doesn't know what it's like to be human, his body isn't even accurately human. Ink's exploration of Joy's ears to see how they're constructed was meant to be erotic, I guess? I just found it awkward. Ink's sister, Inq, is totally creepy. She is portrayed as morally loose and hypersexual compared to the staid stiffness of her brother. They're twins, they don't appear to be too close, but Inq makes all sorts of squicky, gross comments about Ink's sex life, or lack thereof.
"'Ink doesn't know chalk dust from chocolate,' Inq said, her lips caressing Nikolai's skin. 'He doesn't know the difference between a nip and a bite.' She playfully nipped his forefinger...'If he likes his first taste, he might gobble you up. Swallow you whole...And you might like it.'"
Can I get a collective "EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW" here, guys?
Book 1: nope. Not even going to touch the sequel.
July 1, 2013
1.5
10 Things I Hate* About Indelible
*More of 'don't like' but 10 things I don't like about Indelible just doesn't have the same ring to it. This isn't really a review, more of things that made it impossible for me to like this book.
10. A time to tell, and a time to whine.
There should be some sort of rule that you simply cannot shower readers with your mommy troubles on the second page. Literally, on the second line of the second page. Because guess what? I won't fucking give two shits if you start your whining on me before I even know you. This is like, some random stranger coming to you in a bar, and going hi, hello, I like to dance and my mommy killed my dada- aaaand wait, stranger who likes to sasha is talking to empty air.
9. You say Inq and I say bloody hell!
So, there are two characters in this book: Inq and Ink. Tell me the bloody difference between their pronunciations because I don't see it. The best I've been able to figure out is Inq sorta goes with a 'kw' sound at the end. Maybe I'm just no good with my phonetics but I hate these types of distinctions.
8. Flash! Flash!
And there it goes again, the Flash! Flash- the annoying interruptions. It has something to do with the plot that I can't explain. Suffice it to say that it reminded me of Flash and I kept wanting to
Flash! Flash!
7. Dense Writing
I did not like the writing at all, and not because of its simplicity. In the beginning, it almost made me Flash the other way, it was so difficult to wade through. Though it gets easier on your eyes as you move on, it's still remarkably unremarkable. Except when it's giving you a few chortles with stuff like
hahahahahahh!!!!!
All in all, the prose was awkward, awkward and stuck.
6.My trees stuck the turtle in twirled the Great Wall of China.
Does that make sense? Not to me, just like Indelible. The book is filled with inexplicable dialogue, as if the writing weren't enough. Half the time, it goes on a weird tangents and unsaid words that I'm perhaps too thick to understand but gimme a break- that did not make sense at all. Like the prose, it also gets simpler moving on but then again, it isn't much better because all they want to talk about is how grooved ears make you human and HIS FIRST KISS!! OMG!! WE MUST CELEBRATE!! and the lehman business, wherein I was out of my depth, bringing us to my next point:
5.Blow on the hut, piggy dear.
The world-building is half-assed. The construction is fragile and bafflinf, at least on my first read and I'm sure as hell not going back for another. There's some stuff explained in the beginning but I don't get it. Magic needs to be saved, so magical creatures(who aren't explained either) give cool humans their marks and watch over them. This somehow balances the world. I don't see how. Humans could very well survive without these marks, it seems, and only the woodland creatures would be wiped out without magic, far as I can figure it out. And what's the bloody Council, dude, I'm halfway through the book? What's the bloody council, dude, I'm halfway through the remaining half of the book? What's the bloody council, dude, I'm almost to the fin- oh, that's itt!!!!!!!! Could you give me some more tidbits, please?
NOPE.
And I don't get the lehman business at all. Why it's such a big deal and why people even want to be fucking sex slaves.
4.Round and round we run
The bloody plot.
Shit.
It wouldn't even know its own shit from itself.
3.Santa, Santa, Ho ho ho!
I don't know why but I just felt like adding that.
But number three is bout the characterization, if you're interested still. The characters never clicked with me and I like them not one bit.
~Joy: You are not a joy to my eyes. Even though the book is a third-person narration and that usually tones down the irritation if you have an annoying MC, Joy still fucking got on my nerves. I could excuse her bad decisions but as the book moves on, she's all I kissed him! I love him! and I'm all, Sweetheart, maybe you should bloody focus on learning how to survive but after being harassed again and again, she doesn't even fucking ask how to fend off the monsters.
~Ink: He's patronizing and nothing else. Oh yes, your father's protective of you, I approve. Oh yes, you thought of your friend before yourself, I approve. Oh yes, you didn't run away, I approve.
This is just condescension and I don't approve. Even Jace from TMI has some semblance of a personality and I can garner the feeling of hatred towards him. This guy in nothing.
~Monica: Joy's BFF. She's horrible. 'Nuff said.
2.Love and other instantly prepared items
I don't expect too great a romance from YA fantasy/sci-fi books these days. My standards have been lowered, sad as it is. But this insta-love was too tragic, even for me. So boy knifes her eye, a week later they kiss, the girl realizes she loves the boy and as it turns out, boy liked her before he knifed her. Here after six years of marriage, people don't truly love each other and these two are pledging their lives to each other after just one bloody kiss.
I call bullshit, book.
1.Magic-less
I hate the title. I keep reading it as inedible. And that gives me a constant reminder that no, I can't eat this book. Not that I was ever planning to, it's an e-copy for fuck's sakes! But not eating it was just a notion in the back of my head; I didn't even think about it until I was, in no uncertain terms, told that it is inedible and I cannot eat it. It just takes the magic out of everything, you know.
On a happy note, I do like the cover and Inq to some extent, so half a star is for that.
A review copy was provided by the publishers.
Cross-posted on Books behind Dam{n}s
10 Things I Hate* About Indelible
*More of 'don't like' but 10 things I don't like about Indelible just doesn't have the same ring to it. This isn't really a review, more of things that made it impossible for me to like this book.
10. A time to tell, and a time to whine.
There should be some sort of rule that you simply cannot shower readers with your mommy troubles on the second page. Literally, on the second line of the second page. Because guess what? I won't fucking give two shits if you start your whining on me before I even know you. This is like, some random stranger coming to you in a bar, and going hi, hello, I like to dance and my mommy killed my dada- aaaand wait, stranger who likes to sasha is talking to empty air.
9. You say Inq and I say bloody hell!
So, there are two characters in this book: Inq and Ink. Tell me the bloody difference between their pronunciations because I don't see it. The best I've been able to figure out is Inq sorta goes with a 'kw' sound at the end. Maybe I'm just no good with my phonetics but I hate these types of distinctions.
8. Flash! Flash!
And there it goes again, the Flash! Flash- the annoying interruptions. It has something to do with the plot that I can't explain. Suffice it to say that it reminded me of Flash and I kept wanting to
Flash! Flash!
7. Dense Writing
I did not like the writing at all, and not because of its simplicity. In the beginning, it almost made me Flash the other way, it was so difficult to wade through. Though it gets easier on your eyes as you move on, it's still remarkably unremarkable. Except when it's giving you a few chortles with stuff like
...his lips touched her forehead: soft and precious and fragile as snow.
hahahahahahh!!!!!
All in all, the prose was awkward, awkward and stuck.
6.My trees stuck the turtle in twirled the Great Wall of China.
Does that make sense? Not to me, just like Indelible. The book is filled with inexplicable dialogue, as if the writing weren't enough. Half the time, it goes on a weird tangents and unsaid words that I'm perhaps too thick to understand but gimme a break- that did not make sense at all. Like the prose, it also gets simpler moving on but then again, it isn't much better because all they want to talk about is how grooved ears make you human and HIS FIRST KISS!! OMG!! WE MUST CELEBRATE!! and the lehman business, wherein I was out of my depth, bringing us to my next point:
5.Blow on the hut, piggy dear.
The world-building is half-assed. The construction is fragile and bafflinf, at least on my first read and I'm sure as hell not going back for another. There's some stuff explained in the beginning but I don't get it. Magic needs to be saved, so magical creatures(who aren't explained either) give cool humans their marks and watch over them. This somehow balances the world. I don't see how. Humans could very well survive without these marks, it seems, and only the woodland creatures would be wiped out without magic, far as I can figure it out. And what's the bloody Council, dude, I'm halfway through the book? What's the bloody council, dude, I'm halfway through the remaining half of the book? What's the bloody council, dude, I'm almost to the fin- oh, that's itt!!!!!!!! Could you give me some more tidbits, please?
NOPE.
And I don't get the lehman business at all. Why it's such a big deal and why people even want to be fucking sex slaves.
4.Round and round we run
The bloody plot.
Shit.
It wouldn't even know its own shit from itself.
3.Santa, Santa, Ho ho ho!
I don't know why but I just felt like adding that.
But number three is bout the characterization, if you're interested still. The characters never clicked with me and I like them not one bit.
~Joy: You are not a joy to my eyes. Even though the book is a third-person narration and that usually tones down the irritation if you have an annoying MC, Joy still fucking got on my nerves. I could excuse her bad decisions but as the book moves on, she's all I kissed him! I love him! and I'm all, Sweetheart, maybe you should bloody focus on learning how to survive but after being harassed again and again, she doesn't even fucking ask how to fend off the monsters.
~Ink: He's patronizing and nothing else. Oh yes, your father's protective of you, I approve. Oh yes, you thought of your friend before yourself, I approve. Oh yes, you didn't run away, I approve.
This is just condescension and I don't approve. Even Jace from TMI has some semblance of a personality and I can garner the feeling of hatred towards him. This guy in nothing.
~Monica: Joy's BFF. She's horrible. 'Nuff said.
2.Love and other instantly prepared items
I don't expect too great a romance from YA fantasy/sci-fi books these days. My standards have been lowered, sad as it is. But this insta-love was too tragic, even for me. So boy knifes her eye, a week later they kiss, the girl realizes she loves the boy and as it turns out, boy liked her before he knifed her. Here after six years of marriage, people don't truly love each other and these two are pledging their lives to each other after just one bloody kiss.
I call bullshit, book.
1.Magic-less
I hate the title. I keep reading it as inedible. And that gives me a constant reminder that no, I can't eat this book. Not that I was ever planning to, it's an e-copy for fuck's sakes! But not eating it was just a notion in the back of my head; I didn't even think about it until I was, in no uncertain terms, told that it is inedible and I cannot eat it. It just takes the magic out of everything, you know.
***
On a happy note, I do like the cover and Inq to some extent, so half a star is for that.
A review copy was provided by the publishers.
Cross-posted on Books behind Dam{n}s
July 24, 2013
See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads
Thank you Harlequin Australia for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.
Keep an eye out for a joint discussion-review of Indelible by Kate and myself on Finding Bliss in Books at a later date.
I don't remember the last time that I have struggled so much to finish a book and write a review for it. I honestly felt like I'm slowly dying while reviewing this so I shall get straight to the point.
What I Liked:
I found the idea of Indelible the most likeable aspect here. While the execution was horrifying, I believe the concept was rather crafty, and if with some tampering, could get far in enjoyment levels.
What was okay:
Our lead character, Joy was rather average. She was insanely whiny and really got to my nerves. Notwithstanding, I enjoyed her caution towards the mysterious situations being thrown at her at the beginning.
The relationships within the family were another so-so element for me. When they were introduced, I felt that they leaned towards shaky and half-assed. However in the second half, they became stronger, more defined and intriguing to read about. Sadly, this was only a small proportion.
What I didn't like:
There were many aspects that I did not like. More will be talked about in the discussion-review but for now, I shall go over the major killers.
The best friend, or should I say bitch that has no love for her 'best friend'. Here's an example: Monica ditches Joy-who is injured for a guy that she has only know for a day. WHAT THE HELL.
The romance here is your typical, instant lovey and overpowering drama. Do I need to honestly elaborate? Oh wait, it's underdeveloped.
Meet Indelible Ink. And meet... Invisible Inq!
What are we, preschool children learning opposites and similarly spelt names? EEH.
All in all, I don't think I can recommend this due to the disappointment this turned out to be.
Thank you Harlequin Australia for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.
Keep an eye out for a joint discussion-review of Indelible by Kate and myself on Finding Bliss in Books at a later date.
I don't remember the last time that I have struggled so much to finish a book and write a review for it. I honestly felt like I'm slowly dying while reviewing this so I shall get straight to the point.
What I Liked:
I found the idea of Indelible the most likeable aspect here. While the execution was horrifying, I believe the concept was rather crafty, and if with some tampering, could get far in enjoyment levels.
What was okay:
Our lead character, Joy was rather average. She was insanely whiny and really got to my nerves. Notwithstanding, I enjoyed her caution towards the mysterious situations being thrown at her at the beginning.
The relationships within the family were another so-so element for me. When they were introduced, I felt that they leaned towards shaky and half-assed. However in the second half, they became stronger, more defined and intriguing to read about. Sadly, this was only a small proportion.
What I didn't like:
There were many aspects that I did not like. More will be talked about in the discussion-review but for now, I shall go over the major killers.
The best friend, or should I say bitch that has no love for her 'best friend'. Here's an example: Monica ditches Joy-who is injured for a guy that she has only know for a day. WHAT THE HELL.
The romance here is your typical, instant lovey and overpowering drama. Do I need to honestly elaborate? Oh wait, it's underdeveloped.
Meet Indelible Ink. And meet... Invisible Inq!
What are we, preschool children learning opposites and similarly spelt names? EEH.
All in all, I don't think I can recommend this due to the disappointment this turned out to be.
July 29, 2013
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
Just finished Indelible and I have no idea what just happened. The book, the characters, and the world of Twixt is just completely strange and out there with no real explanation of what its all about.
It is so disappointing, because Indelible started off really well with lots of intrigue and mystery built in. Joy is a teenager who one day sees a mysterious stranger in a club. He makes a beeline for her and before she knows it, slashes her eye. Soon after, she is gifted with The Sight and starts to see all these weird things from the world of Twixt. Demons at her window, mysterious glowing girls at her door, strange messages appearing on her phone and in her locker.
It turns out the stranger who marked her, Indelible Ink, is a scribe who uses tools to draw strange symbols on his targets. Now there really wasn’t a clear explanation for why the scribes do this, except that they do this to lay claim or to protect humans for whatever reason.
When Ink and his sister appeared and introduced themselves, I immediately rolled my eyes. “She is Invisible Inq.” he said. “I am Indelible Ink.” What are we, the power rangers?
Ink and the rest of the strange folk (I’m just going to call them fae, because after reading several other reviews, apparently this is what they are) pretty much have their own agenda. They reside in the world of the Twixt, and make tears in the world to visit the human world. What made it really hard to follow, was that these two worlds never really fit together. Joy would be doing her own thing in the human world when Ink/Inq would appear, she’d be the only one who could see or interact with them. Sometimes, it would appear like Joy was in the different dimension when she was in the human world, and vice versa.
As Joy started to accompany Ink on his strange missions and starting meeting more and more of the fae, I got completely lost. Ink and the fae use weird words like signatura, lehman, segulah and locqui in their speech and not all of them are explained, which didn’t help things at all. The lack of plot was apparent during the book and I just found myself completely bored throughout the process.
As a love interest, I found Ink to be repulsive. Ink is pretty much constructed out of a strange matter and only made for a particular purpose. Therefore, his features only loosely resemble a humans’; he has no belly button, veins, fingernails, even normal looking ears. He acts really stiff and talks really formally too. With barely any chemistry between him and Joy whatsoever, it was surprising to find that they two fell in love.
I also have major concerns about the best friend, Monica. The relationship felt incredibly strained from my point of view. Joy and Monica are apparently best friends, but they don’t really tell each other whats going on in their own lives. The two spend the whole book just making mention to their partners, and never really introducing them to each other or really telling them whats going on. Not to mention, Monica is a big slut who seems to sleep with every boy, and she’s only 16.
Ultimately, I didn’t enjoy Indelible and think it requires a lot more polish. I received this book from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review.
Just finished Indelible and I have no idea what just happened. The book, the characters, and the world of Twixt is just completely strange and out there with no real explanation of what its all about.
It is so disappointing, because Indelible started off really well with lots of intrigue and mystery built in. Joy is a teenager who one day sees a mysterious stranger in a club. He makes a beeline for her and before she knows it, slashes her eye. Soon after, she is gifted with The Sight and starts to see all these weird things from the world of Twixt. Demons at her window, mysterious glowing girls at her door, strange messages appearing on her phone and in her locker.
It turns out the stranger who marked her, Indelible Ink, is a scribe who uses tools to draw strange symbols on his targets. Now there really wasn’t a clear explanation for why the scribes do this, except that they do this to lay claim or to protect humans for whatever reason.
When Ink and his sister appeared and introduced themselves, I immediately rolled my eyes. “She is Invisible Inq.” he said. “I am Indelible Ink.” What are we, the power rangers?
Ink and the rest of the strange folk (I’m just going to call them fae, because after reading several other reviews, apparently this is what they are) pretty much have their own agenda. They reside in the world of the Twixt, and make tears in the world to visit the human world. What made it really hard to follow, was that these two worlds never really fit together. Joy would be doing her own thing in the human world when Ink/Inq would appear, she’d be the only one who could see or interact with them. Sometimes, it would appear like Joy was in the different dimension when she was in the human world, and vice versa.
As Joy started to accompany Ink on his strange missions and starting meeting more and more of the fae, I got completely lost. Ink and the fae use weird words like signatura, lehman, segulah and locqui in their speech and not all of them are explained, which didn’t help things at all. The lack of plot was apparent during the book and I just found myself completely bored throughout the process.
As a love interest, I found Ink to be repulsive. Ink is pretty much constructed out of a strange matter and only made for a particular purpose. Therefore, his features only loosely resemble a humans’; he has no belly button, veins, fingernails, even normal looking ears. He acts really stiff and talks really formally too. With barely any chemistry between him and Joy whatsoever, it was surprising to find that they two fell in love.
I also have major concerns about the best friend, Monica. The relationship felt incredibly strained from my point of view. Joy and Monica are apparently best friends, but they don’t really tell each other whats going on in their own lives. The two spend the whole book just making mention to their partners, and never really introducing them to each other or really telling them whats going on. Not to mention, Monica is a big slut who seems to sleep with every boy, and she’s only 16.
Ultimately, I didn’t enjoy Indelible and think it requires a lot more polish. I received this book from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review.
October 15, 2013
I received this book in exchange for an honest review
If you want a lesson on how not to write a decent fantasy book, refer to Indelible. This book has everything I don’t want in a book; it barely has the minimum basics. It will be near impossible to improve this series; if the foundation is not sturdy, the rest of the series will most likely suck.
Where is the plot? Where is the structure? I have no idea why most of the things occurred, because the author paid minimal heed to the essentials of her world. It’s only been a week since I've finished Indelible, and the only thing I can recall is that Ink doesn't have fingernails. That’s pretty sad.
You know, there’s this little thing called world building, and it would've helped so much if the author expanded on the world and had paid more attention to this aspect instead of describing minute things I could care less about as a reader, like a stain on Joy’s textbook (yes, that was brought up once). In order to have a compelling fantasy, it is essential to build up the world and make us visualize it in our heads. If you can’t do that, you shouldn't be writing a fantasy novel in the first place.
There is very little than annoys me more in a book than cheesy writing. Coming in a close second is the unnecessary overuse of exclamation marks that is not in dialogue. Combine these two, and I’m very annoyed. All it shows is that the writing is very juvenile and childish.
Examples?
...
THE PAIN.
Overall, the writing was a mess. It had no flow whatsoever, and describing every single atom that exists in a room is not going to improve the writing.
Like I said, the plot lacked structure. I felt like the author was just making up this stuff as I progressed through the story. I’m still confused about everything that happened. There was no leading up to the conflict; it came out of nowhere, and frankly, made little sense at all.
On to Joy, the main character. Joy, oh Joy, you were not a joy to read about. This girl is the epitome of idiocy. She has no sense of self-preservation - not because she’s overly heroic or anything, but because she’s stupid. At one point, a random stranger came up to her and asked her if she knew about some bizarre thing (that she clearly knew nothing about). Naturally, she said that she did know what he was talking about (??). I don’t even know why.
HMM. I WONDER WHAT GOT YOU INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE, JOY!
Another admirable quality of Joy is her clinginess. I never understood Ink and Joy’s relationship; it was so awkward that cringing came as second nature to me during my reading experience. At one point she also wanted Ink to visit her “right now” when he was clearly using all his energy to save his sister and could barely handle the exhaustion. But NO! His sister's suffering is SO much less important than seeing his girlfriend! (Not that I’m defending Ink, or sympathizing with him, I’m just pointing out a fact.)
Completely ignored in Indelible is characterization. I don’t give a crap about any of the characters in the book. I’m at a loss for what else to say because there is absolutely no character development to begin with. This is probably one of the worst books in the characterization department, folks. I’m scratching my head trying to remember Joy’s best friend’s name…
Indelible’s got the whole package; crappy writing, an unstructured plot, no character development, and no world-building. To top it all off, the book failed to connect with me on an emotional level, and I couldn't wait to finish this book.
*sigh* Nothing to see here, guys.
If you want a lesson on how not to write a decent fantasy book, refer to Indelible. This book has everything I don’t want in a book; it barely has the minimum basics. It will be near impossible to improve this series; if the foundation is not sturdy, the rest of the series will most likely suck.
Where is the plot? Where is the structure? I have no idea why most of the things occurred, because the author paid minimal heed to the essentials of her world. It’s only been a week since I've finished Indelible, and the only thing I can recall is that Ink doesn't have fingernails. That’s pretty sad.
You know, there’s this little thing called world building, and it would've helped so much if the author expanded on the world and had paid more attention to this aspect instead of describing minute things I could care less about as a reader, like a stain on Joy’s textbook (yes, that was brought up once). In order to have a compelling fantasy, it is essential to build up the world and make us visualize it in our heads. If you can’t do that, you shouldn't be writing a fantasy novel in the first place.
There is very little than annoys me more in a book than cheesy writing. Coming in a close second is the unnecessary overuse of exclamation marks that is not in dialogue. Combine these two, and I’m very annoyed. All it shows is that the writing is very juvenile and childish.
Examples?
“She didn’t want to think. She felt better already!”
“It wasn’t bad!”
“Girls’ Self Defense 103: Never give up!”
“She wasn’t a prisoner! This was her house!”
...
THE PAIN.
Overall, the writing was a mess. It had no flow whatsoever, and describing every single atom that exists in a room is not going to improve the writing.
Like I said, the plot lacked structure. I felt like the author was just making up this stuff as I progressed through the story. I’m still confused about everything that happened. There was no leading up to the conflict; it came out of nowhere, and frankly, made little sense at all.
On to Joy, the main character. Joy, oh Joy, you were not a joy to read about. This girl is the epitome of idiocy. She has no sense of self-preservation - not because she’s overly heroic or anything, but because she’s stupid. At one point, a random stranger came up to her and asked her if she knew about some bizarre thing (that she clearly knew nothing about). Naturally, she said that she did know what he was talking about (??). I don’t even know why.
"Excuse me," he continued. "Did you see the Kodama?"
"Yes," she said.”
HMM. I WONDER WHAT GOT YOU INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE, JOY!
Another admirable quality of Joy is her clinginess. I never understood Ink and Joy’s relationship; it was so awkward that cringing came as second nature to me during my reading experience. At one point she also wanted Ink to visit her “right now” when he was clearly using all his energy to save his sister and could barely handle the exhaustion. But NO! His sister's suffering is SO much less important than seeing his girlfriend! (Not that I’m defending Ink, or sympathizing with him, I’m just pointing out a fact.)
Completely ignored in Indelible is characterization. I don’t give a crap about any of the characters in the book. I’m at a loss for what else to say because there is absolutely no character development to begin with. This is probably one of the worst books in the characterization department, folks. I’m scratching my head trying to remember Joy’s best friend’s name…
Indelible’s got the whole package; crappy writing, an unstructured plot, no character development, and no world-building. To top it all off, the book failed to connect with me on an emotional level, and I couldn't wait to finish this book.
*sigh* Nothing to see here, guys.
Read
July 3, 2013I stopped at 17% and have no intention of picking this back up. There are two main characters named, Ink and Inq. That, and the fact that I'm not feeling the protagonist or s/l, means DNF for me. I don't make myself finish books I'm not liking since there are so many more waiting for me to check out.
February 29, 2016
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.
What a pretty cover this book has! I was allured to it ever since I first saw it. Then I read the blurb and wowzaa!! I knew we were meant to be. Turns out though, our story wasn’t exactly written in the stars. What originally felt like an original, intriguing world, turned out to be a frustrating teenage romance disguised as a unique paranormal story.
“Lehman?" Joy said. The word sounded familiar. "What does that mean?"
Inq shrugged as she considered the overhead lights. "A human who has been chosen by one of our kind. Confidante, contact, significant ... "
"Slave," Ink said dully.
"What?" Joy snapped.
"Or lover," Inq added. "It loses something in translation.”
When we first met Joy, I admit, I would have freaked out over that window and those creepy noises a little, too. Ok, I’m lying. I would have freaked out a lot. However, when she learns about Ink and Inq, it doesn’t take a lot of time for her to trust them. Her character—the often lonesome, completely average girl with a fabulous best friend—was so full of clichés. The one relationship I was actually invested in was Joy and her brother, but this wasn’t explored to the length I was hoping for. Safe to say that there are some female character I just don’t resonate well with and unfortunately Joy was one of them.
As for the romance, the L-bomb was so unexpected that I remember to have blinked my very rounded eyes multiple times since I just could not believe what I was reading. I do think there’s insta-attraction and you can take a very quick liking to another person but come on! You can’t possibly love someone you’ve practically just met. Who isn’t even human, tried to stab your eyes and take away your sight and has managed to put you in danger by doing that because many weird non-human creatures are intrigued by you. Doesn’t that weird you out? Apparently it doesn’t seem unnatural to Joy. Also, I have this weird dislike for ears and he practically devoured them when he touched her. Nope! Not creepy at all. All this time while I was reading Indelible, I kept imagining Bella and Edward and, in my opinion, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two couples.
All that said, I did like one thing in addition to Joy and her brother—the world. As a whole, it was fascinating and kept me turning the pages. On the other hand, I still don’t understand the system in its entirety because there are nuances I couldn't grasp or they just weren't explained thoroughly. Lehmans, Ink, Inq, demons—there’s a lot to keep up with. Also, at first I took a liking to Inq, but then she became so self-absorbed and what with all the talk about humans being just a fun way to spend time? There went the half point I would have added to my rating for her character.
I’m tempted to read what happens next and if the world is developed to even greater lengths, but I’m also not sure if I want to spend time with Joy. I guess a 16 year old me would have enjoyed this far more and I hope that teenagers who pick this up will swoon like I swooned when I read Twilight back in the day. Now, 5-6 years later it doesn’t feel all that natural or special and Twilight jokes have become a regular thing in my life. Unfortunately, all the other YA books I read prior this gorgeous arc, were far more enjoyable for me, hence me ending this review with a 2 star rating.
More of my reviews can be found on my blog.
What a pretty cover this book has! I was allured to it ever since I first saw it. Then I read the blurb and wowzaa!! I knew we were meant to be. Turns out though, our story wasn’t exactly written in the stars. What originally felt like an original, intriguing world, turned out to be a frustrating teenage romance disguised as a unique paranormal story.
“Lehman?" Joy said. The word sounded familiar. "What does that mean?"
Inq shrugged as she considered the overhead lights. "A human who has been chosen by one of our kind. Confidante, contact, significant ... "
"Slave," Ink said dully.
"What?" Joy snapped.
"Or lover," Inq added. "It loses something in translation.”
When we first met Joy, I admit, I would have freaked out over that window and those creepy noises a little, too. Ok, I’m lying. I would have freaked out a lot. However, when she learns about Ink and Inq, it doesn’t take a lot of time for her to trust them. Her character—the often lonesome, completely average girl with a fabulous best friend—was so full of clichés. The one relationship I was actually invested in was Joy and her brother, but this wasn’t explored to the length I was hoping for. Safe to say that there are some female character I just don’t resonate well with and unfortunately Joy was one of them.
As for the romance, the L-bomb was so unexpected that I remember to have blinked my very rounded eyes multiple times since I just could not believe what I was reading. I do think there’s insta-attraction and you can take a very quick liking to another person but come on! You can’t possibly love someone you’ve practically just met. Who isn’t even human, tried to stab your eyes and take away your sight and has managed to put you in danger by doing that because many weird non-human creatures are intrigued by you. Doesn’t that weird you out? Apparently it doesn’t seem unnatural to Joy. Also, I have this weird dislike for ears and he practically devoured them when he touched her. Nope! Not creepy at all. All this time while I was reading Indelible, I kept imagining Bella and Edward and, in my opinion, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two couples.
All that said, I did like one thing in addition to Joy and her brother—the world. As a whole, it was fascinating and kept me turning the pages. On the other hand, I still don’t understand the system in its entirety because there are nuances I couldn't grasp or they just weren't explained thoroughly. Lehmans, Ink, Inq, demons—there’s a lot to keep up with. Also, at first I took a liking to Inq, but then she became so self-absorbed and what with all the talk about humans being just a fun way to spend time? There went the half point I would have added to my rating for her character.
I’m tempted to read what happens next and if the world is developed to even greater lengths, but I’m also not sure if I want to spend time with Joy. I guess a 16 year old me would have enjoyed this far more and I hope that teenagers who pick this up will swoon like I swooned when I read Twilight back in the day. Now, 5-6 years later it doesn’t feel all that natural or special and Twilight jokes have become a regular thing in my life. Unfortunately, all the other YA books I read prior this gorgeous arc, were far more enjoyable for me, hence me ending this review with a 2 star rating.
More of my reviews can be found on my blog.
July 13, 2013
Brief review: For a newbie, Indelible will be amazing, different, unique and captivating. But I've read this book before if you know what I mean. It felt unnecessary complicated, boring and reminded me a little to Mortal Instruments of dear C. Clare (and that's bad news for me).
The characters were okay, at first Ink was lovely, innocent. But then insta-love got in the way and everything became cheesy and boring between them. I found the plot... well, actually I didn't find it. The story was difficult to keep up with. In order to create a distinct world building, Dawn Metcalf make it a little too complex for me. There's people who really enjoyed it, so I feel a little dumb tbh. But I guess you should give it a try if you don't mind insta-love, manage to understand it and LOVE the Cassandra Clare's touch.
The cover again succeeded on persuade me to request a book that in the end just disappointed me.
The characters were okay, at first Ink was lovely, innocent. But then insta-love got in the way and everything became cheesy and boring between them. I found the plot... well, actually I didn't find it. The story was difficult to keep up with. In order to create a distinct world building, Dawn Metcalf make it a little too complex for me. There's people who really enjoyed it, so I feel a little dumb tbh. But I guess you should give it a try if you don't mind insta-love, manage to understand it and LOVE the Cassandra Clare's touch.
The cover again succeeded on persuade me to request a book that in the end just disappointed me.
Want to read
January 28, 201628 January 2016: $1.99 on Kindle
15 January 2016: $2.99 on Kindle
29 June 2015: $3.99 on Kindle
15 January 2016: $2.99 on Kindle
29 June 2015: $3.99 on Kindle
August 14, 2013
This book was everything and then some. Seriously, I loved it. It's been a while since a book has left this type of impression on me but Indelible was amazing. It's dark, mysterious, spooky, and utterly spellbinding. I was totally hooked from the first page. The plot is very intricate and it does take quite a bit of concentration to keep track of everything. I loved the completely original concept of a girl almost getting her eye gouged out on the dance floor as the start of an amazing adventure and an epic romance.
Joy was such an awesome girl to read about. She was definitely a wildflower with bite, she was so spunky and had such a fresh voice. Joy had to deal with a lot of things in her life that were less than ideal even before she was marked by Ink. These issues with her family and her best friend had her feeling left behind and searching for her place in the world. Becoming Ink's lehman which is sort of an assistant really helped push her in the right direction to overcoming everything.
Ink. Seriously, I couldn't love him more. I swear, he was so precious. Ink is a Scribe, created only to do that particular job and he yearned for more. Ink was tired of merely existing. He's physically perfect but in an almost artificial way, meaning he didn't have any imperfections or idiosyncrasies that makes someone human. He didn't have any emotions or feelings either but he was just the sweetest guy ever and even though there's a bit of bad boy to him, there's also an innocence as well. Naturally, Ink is very calm and controlled but being with Joy brought out a very passionate and emotional side of him that was awesome to see. Ink's spending time with Joy and learning to be human was just the most adorbs thing. He learned little by little what it meant to have feelings, to care about someone, and later to love them.
The relationship between Joy and Ink was just beautiful to read about. It was slow developing and it changed from something they both were sort of pushed into to something so real and strong. So much of the relationship was about Ink learning how to feel but a little of that resonated with Joy as well. Being with Ink allowed her to open up more. I also loved how honest Ink and Joy were with each other. There was so much trust between them and given how dangerous Ink's world is, it's not something that would be easily given. The devotion between the two was absolutely lovely and I swear, I'm not a crier but Joy and Ink had me tearing up a little toward the end because of said loveliness.
There were other characters that left quite an impression like Inq, Ink's sister and polar opposite. She was frivolous and wild with a bit of a mean streak. Also Graus Claude, a giant yet impeccably dressed toad who was an important figure in The Twixt, as well as a old friend of Ink's. Graus Claude was always there for them when there was trouble which there was a lot of.
Overall, I adored this book so much and I look forward to seeing what's next for Joy and Ink.
Joy was such an awesome girl to read about. She was definitely a wildflower with bite, she was so spunky and had such a fresh voice. Joy had to deal with a lot of things in her life that were less than ideal even before she was marked by Ink. These issues with her family and her best friend had her feeling left behind and searching for her place in the world. Becoming Ink's lehman which is sort of an assistant really helped push her in the right direction to overcoming everything.
Ink. Seriously, I couldn't love him more. I swear, he was so precious. Ink is a Scribe, created only to do that particular job and he yearned for more. Ink was tired of merely existing. He's physically perfect but in an almost artificial way, meaning he didn't have any imperfections or idiosyncrasies that makes someone human. He didn't have any emotions or feelings either but he was just the sweetest guy ever and even though there's a bit of bad boy to him, there's also an innocence as well. Naturally, Ink is very calm and controlled but being with Joy brought out a very passionate and emotional side of him that was awesome to see. Ink's spending time with Joy and learning to be human was just the most adorbs thing. He learned little by little what it meant to have feelings, to care about someone, and later to love them.
The relationship between Joy and Ink was just beautiful to read about. It was slow developing and it changed from something they both were sort of pushed into to something so real and strong. So much of the relationship was about Ink learning how to feel but a little of that resonated with Joy as well. Being with Ink allowed her to open up more. I also loved how honest Ink and Joy were with each other. There was so much trust between them and given how dangerous Ink's world is, it's not something that would be easily given. The devotion between the two was absolutely lovely and I swear, I'm not a crier but Joy and Ink had me tearing up a little toward the end because of said loveliness.
There were other characters that left quite an impression like Inq, Ink's sister and polar opposite. She was frivolous and wild with a bit of a mean streak. Also Graus Claude, a giant yet impeccably dressed toad who was an important figure in The Twixt, as well as a old friend of Ink's. Graus Claude was always there for them when there was trouble which there was a lot of.
Overall, I adored this book so much and I look forward to seeing what's next for Joy and Ink.
December 20, 2022
I went into this book completely blind, having no idea what it was about other than it was a young adult book. It's been sitting on my shelf for years, and I'm actually glad that I finally read it. This ended up being a fairly quick read for me, and I enjoyed the book. It's not something that I will probably continue the series of because I'm not that invested, but I did enjoy it and I'm glad I read it. I wouldn't say that this is a book that you should run out and buy right away, but it was a good quick read.
July 20, 2013
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Right after I started reading this book, I glanced at the reviews on Goodreads and was disappointed to see that the first several reviews I ran across were either negative or pretty neutral. (I know - I shouldn't look, but I just can't help it - sometimes when I'm reading a book I haven't really heard of, I just like to get an idea of what I'm in for). So, I started the book with relatively low expectations, ready to be disappointed. But the further I got into the book, the more I found myself thinking, "What is it that those people didn't like? Maybe it gets worse as the book goes on." I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. In fact, I found myself LOVING this book and kind of dreading the end (I'm really glad to see there's going to be a sequel)!
The book centers around Joy Malone, a 16-year-old girl who is accidentally marked by a Scribe named Ink - a supernatural being whose purpose it is to mark humans for the Folk (spiritual beings) who claim them. Her mark brands her as Ink's property and helper (and as his lover) and suddenly she finds herself being terrorized by faeries, monsters and spiritual beings who want to use her to get to Ink. And, as she becomes more and more deeply embroiled with the Twixt (the spiritual realm), she learns that she may have more of a place there than she first thought and that some of the Folk might have darker motives than either she or Ink ever imagined.
The negatives:
Slightly confusing in parts.
Okay, I do have to hand it to some of those naysayers - there were parts of this book that were a little confusing. It took a little while to understand who the Scribes were and what they did. (There are actually two Scribes - Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq - okay, it seems a little silly, but after a moment's pause, I got over that). There were a few points where I had to read something twice so that I made sure that I understood exactly what was being said when it came to the Twixt. But, in the end, I SO loved the originality, complexity and mystery of the world that Metcalf created, that I didn't mind having to work a little in order to understand all of its details.
Mom issues?
I was worried at first that Joy seemed a bit irrational as far as her mom was concerned and I was hoping that she wasn't just going to whine about her miserable life for the whole book. Joy's mom left her dad (and Joy), but tried constantly to contact her and Joy refused to have anything to do with her. Because of her mom's desertion (along with her brother leaving for college), she had some major abandonment issues that needed to be sorted out. I'm happy to say that this ended up being an area of real growth for Joy throughout the book, though, and, while she did wallow a bit at first, she didn't let herself turn into a whiny victim. Okay, I know this negative kind of turned out to be a positive, but I'm stretching here. I hate to give glowing reviews with no criticisms what-so-ever!
Now on to the good stuff. What I LOVED about this book:
The Twixt.
As I already mentioned, I felt like Metcalf created a really interesting and complex mythology that drew me into the story completely. I loved the originality of the Scribes and the signaturae that they used to mark people with. I also loved the physical descriptions of the process - I felt like I could almost see the marks as they were being applied and Joy's fascination translated to me being fascinated by the process as well. I loved all of the interesting Twixt characters - some were incredibly frightening and some were endearing (at least once Joy got to know them), but they were all unique and intriguing.
Ink and Inq.
I loved both of these characters, even though in some ways they were polar opposites. Inq was full of energy and life. She strove to learn everything she could from humanity and didn't let anything get in her way. She could also be ferocious when she needed to be - so watch out enemies! Ink, on the other hand, had held himself apart from humanity. At the beginning of the book, he came off as sort of a Vulcan-type - very logical and aloof, unable to show true emotion. Still, instead of coming off as cold, Ink maintained a sort of childlike innocence that was completely endearing and because of this he won me over relatively quickly. Through his relationship with Joy, Ink grew and changed throughout the book, becoming more and more human (both physically and emotionally). I loved that this was a slow and sometimes difficult process rather than an instantaneous shift.
The danger.
Let me just say that there are some scenes in this book that almost read like a horror novel and had me on the edge of my seat. Joy was attacked on several occasions by some pretty nasty creatures and she did not usually escape scot-free. There were moments when I cringed because of what was happening to her, but it was in that "Oh my goodness, this is horrible and intense and yet oh so amazing all at the same time" kind of way. I was truly scared for her (and for other characters at times) and I had good reason to be. These were not friendly sprites she was dealing with!
Joy.
I really enjoyed Joy as a main character. She was incredibly strong, but still had weaknesses (her abandonment issues caused some of these). I loved that, even though she was thrown into a nearly impossible situation and was being terrorized at every turn, she didn't just throw up her arms and say, "I can't do this! Somebody rescue me!" Instead she took matters into her own hands and fought back no matter what was thrown at her (and, yes, she did sometimes need someone to rescue her, but she was also sometimes the rescuer).
The romance.
I was a little skeptical of the romance element of this story at first, I have to admit. I felt like Ink was a little too clinical for Joy to really fall in love with him and I wasn't completely on board at the very beginning. But, I think that Ink's slow transformation is what ultimately made the romance work for me. There were so many little moments between Joy and Ink that were just really sweet. They didn't have a torrid, passionate love affair - which in this case is a really good thing because it just wouldn't have fit with the characters. The relationship ended up feeling more genuine; more captivating in a sweet and charming way. I believed that Joy was falling for Ink and that she wanted more than she knew how to ask of him. And, more importantly, I believed that Ink found something in Joy that he had never realized he'd been missing. I believed that he was discovering his humanity through her and I loved the journey!
Indelible was an enchanting, scary, intense, imaginative story that, at many times, left me breathless. While this book could easily work as a standalone novel (we weren't left with any cliffhangers, thank goodness), I am so glad to see that Metcalf plans to write more books in this series. I will be looking forward to finding out what happens next in the Twixt!
**Disclosure: An ARC version of this book was provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
Right after I started reading this book, I glanced at the reviews on Goodreads and was disappointed to see that the first several reviews I ran across were either negative or pretty neutral. (I know - I shouldn't look, but I just can't help it - sometimes when I'm reading a book I haven't really heard of, I just like to get an idea of what I'm in for). So, I started the book with relatively low expectations, ready to be disappointed. But the further I got into the book, the more I found myself thinking, "What is it that those people didn't like? Maybe it gets worse as the book goes on." I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. In fact, I found myself LOVING this book and kind of dreading the end (I'm really glad to see there's going to be a sequel)!
The book centers around Joy Malone, a 16-year-old girl who is accidentally marked by a Scribe named Ink - a supernatural being whose purpose it is to mark humans for the Folk (spiritual beings) who claim them. Her mark brands her as Ink's property and helper (and as his lover) and suddenly she finds herself being terrorized by faeries, monsters and spiritual beings who want to use her to get to Ink. And, as she becomes more and more deeply embroiled with the Twixt (the spiritual realm), she learns that she may have more of a place there than she first thought and that some of the Folk might have darker motives than either she or Ink ever imagined.
The negatives:
Slightly confusing in parts.
Okay, I do have to hand it to some of those naysayers - there were parts of this book that were a little confusing. It took a little while to understand who the Scribes were and what they did. (There are actually two Scribes - Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq - okay, it seems a little silly, but after a moment's pause, I got over that). There were a few points where I had to read something twice so that I made sure that I understood exactly what was being said when it came to the Twixt. But, in the end, I SO loved the originality, complexity and mystery of the world that Metcalf created, that I didn't mind having to work a little in order to understand all of its details.
Mom issues?
I was worried at first that Joy seemed a bit irrational as far as her mom was concerned and I was hoping that she wasn't just going to whine about her miserable life for the whole book. Joy's mom left her dad (and Joy), but tried constantly to contact her and Joy refused to have anything to do with her. Because of her mom's desertion (along with her brother leaving for college), she had some major abandonment issues that needed to be sorted out. I'm happy to say that this ended up being an area of real growth for Joy throughout the book, though, and, while she did wallow a bit at first, she didn't let herself turn into a whiny victim. Okay, I know this negative kind of turned out to be a positive, but I'm stretching here. I hate to give glowing reviews with no criticisms what-so-ever!
Now on to the good stuff. What I LOVED about this book:
The Twixt.
As I already mentioned, I felt like Metcalf created a really interesting and complex mythology that drew me into the story completely. I loved the originality of the Scribes and the signaturae that they used to mark people with. I also loved the physical descriptions of the process - I felt like I could almost see the marks as they were being applied and Joy's fascination translated to me being fascinated by the process as well. I loved all of the interesting Twixt characters - some were incredibly frightening and some were endearing (at least once Joy got to know them), but they were all unique and intriguing.
Ink and Inq.
I loved both of these characters, even though in some ways they were polar opposites. Inq was full of energy and life. She strove to learn everything she could from humanity and didn't let anything get in her way. She could also be ferocious when she needed to be - so watch out enemies! Ink, on the other hand, had held himself apart from humanity. At the beginning of the book, he came off as sort of a Vulcan-type - very logical and aloof, unable to show true emotion. Still, instead of coming off as cold, Ink maintained a sort of childlike innocence that was completely endearing and because of this he won me over relatively quickly. Through his relationship with Joy, Ink grew and changed throughout the book, becoming more and more human (both physically and emotionally). I loved that this was a slow and sometimes difficult process rather than an instantaneous shift.
The danger.
Let me just say that there are some scenes in this book that almost read like a horror novel and had me on the edge of my seat. Joy was attacked on several occasions by some pretty nasty creatures and she did not usually escape scot-free. There were moments when I cringed because of what was happening to her, but it was in that "Oh my goodness, this is horrible and intense and yet oh so amazing all at the same time" kind of way. I was truly scared for her (and for other characters at times) and I had good reason to be. These were not friendly sprites she was dealing with!
Joy.
I really enjoyed Joy as a main character. She was incredibly strong, but still had weaknesses (her abandonment issues caused some of these). I loved that, even though she was thrown into a nearly impossible situation and was being terrorized at every turn, she didn't just throw up her arms and say, "I can't do this! Somebody rescue me!" Instead she took matters into her own hands and fought back no matter what was thrown at her (and, yes, she did sometimes need someone to rescue her, but she was also sometimes the rescuer).
The romance.
I was a little skeptical of the romance element of this story at first, I have to admit. I felt like Ink was a little too clinical for Joy to really fall in love with him and I wasn't completely on board at the very beginning. But, I think that Ink's slow transformation is what ultimately made the romance work for me. There were so many little moments between Joy and Ink that were just really sweet. They didn't have a torrid, passionate love affair - which in this case is a really good thing because it just wouldn't have fit with the characters. The relationship ended up feeling more genuine; more captivating in a sweet and charming way. I believed that Joy was falling for Ink and that she wanted more than she knew how to ask of him. And, more importantly, I believed that Ink found something in Joy that he had never realized he'd been missing. I believed that he was discovering his humanity through her and I loved the journey!
Indelible was an enchanting, scary, intense, imaginative story that, at many times, left me breathless. While this book could easily work as a standalone novel (we weren't left with any cliffhangers, thank goodness), I am so glad to see that Metcalf plans to write more books in this series. I will be looking forward to finding out what happens next in the Twixt!
**Disclosure: An ARC version of this book was provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
June 22, 2013
Books normally either grab my attention by having a cover I deem acceptable or having a title that I deem acceptable; this one had both. Indelible really surprised me. I had thought that this would be just another supernatural teen romance (which it had been, in some ways). However, it was fresh, different from the normal hubbub of YA books floating around out there.
Joy Malone is a normal high school student--or so she thinks(and isn't that the way that it always is?). She goes out for a night of dancing at the Carousel with her best friend Monica, just trying to get her mind off of the fact that her mother left her family and her brother Stefan went away for college. It is only her and her father. But in the midst of the dancing crowd, a certain person catches her eye. Dressed in all black with a goth-punk style, Indelible Ink's ebony eyes stand out. He is different from the rest of the people there, with eyes shining from the neon lights. What she doesn't realize is that Ink and his sister, Invisible Inq, can not be seen by any normal human. You must have the Sight in order to see these unique characters. When Ink realizes that Joy can see him, he decides to blind her to save her from being pulled into his world, the Twixt. However, instead of blinding her, he accidentally marks her, placing his signatura upon her eye. This has, ironically, sucked her into the very world he had hoped to spare her from.
The Folk, the people of the Twixt, are not normal. They are monsters, magical. Each Folk has a signatura unique to them, also known as their True Name. A signatura is placed upon a human in order to keep track of who belongs to who in the Twixt. Indelible Ink and Invisible Inq are Scribes, beings created specifically for the task of placing signaturae upon humans.
Of course, Joy, our main character has a special sort of power stronger than anything the Folk that she knows expected. This makes her especially important in the battle against Aniseed, a Folk who believes that humans stand in the way of the Folk's golden age. Because of course, Aniseed has something sinister in plan for the human race, involving the use of signaturae.
I expected the plot in this story to follow the stereotypical supernatural teen romance story plan most authors use today: boy meets girl (or vice versa) and there is some kind of crazy love connection, girl has inexplicable power that makes her invaluable to good guys, boy suddenly falls in love with girl, boy and girl break up for no reason, big battle at the end KABLAM! where girl gets horrendously injured and boy goes to the ends of the earth to save her, then they live happily ever after.
But no. That is not how this story turned out. When the guy meets the girl, the first thing he does is try to BLIND HER. Definitely not your typical "love connection". Joy does have a latent power, but it doesn't emerge until way further into the book. That isn't quite as uncommon, but it still isn't something you see every day.
I absolutely adored the romance in this book. When you meet Ink, he is mostly a shell, devoid of many feelings and seemingly incapable of emotion. He doesn't know how to be a human. However, being around Joy changed him, little by little. He learned how to act, talk, and look more like a human. When Joy and Ink , it was so innocent that I wanted to cry. It was beautiful, something that tugged on my heartstrings. His development, his transformation into becoming more human, was sweet and slow. Ink was adorable because he didn't know what to do with his feelings--he was putting himself completely out there. It also forced Joy to , which is something you don't see often in stories like this. Most of the time, the male character is forceful and arrogant, pushing the girl to like him. But putting Joy in the driver's seat created something much more harmonious. Can I say girl power?
I really loved the name Graus Claude. It fit the character of a suit-wearing, four-armed toad very well.
Another part that was very different was the ending. It surprised me, disappointed me, and then ultimately thrilled me that in the end, it wasn't Joy that . Instead, it was Ink. I was so used to the herione (or hero, depends on your book) getting , that it was a nice change when instead, Joy was and instead thought that .
Indelible was a delicious read, one that I hardly put down once I started. It was refreshing and different in more ways than one. Dawn Metcalf has created a stunning book that reached into my core and brought out those silly little fangirl feelings.
Joy Malone is a normal high school student--or so she thinks(and isn't that the way that it always is?). She goes out for a night of dancing at the Carousel with her best friend Monica, just trying to get her mind off of the fact that her mother left her family and her brother Stefan went away for college. It is only her and her father. But in the midst of the dancing crowd, a certain person catches her eye. Dressed in all black with a goth-punk style, Indelible Ink's ebony eyes stand out. He is different from the rest of the people there, with eyes shining from the neon lights. What she doesn't realize is that Ink and his sister, Invisible Inq, can not be seen by any normal human. You must have the Sight in order to see these unique characters. When Ink realizes that Joy can see him, he decides to blind her to save her from being pulled into his world, the Twixt. However, instead of blinding her, he accidentally marks her, placing his signatura upon her eye. This has, ironically, sucked her into the very world he had hoped to spare her from.
The Folk, the people of the Twixt, are not normal. They are monsters, magical. Each Folk has a signatura unique to them, also known as their True Name. A signatura is placed upon a human in order to keep track of who belongs to who in the Twixt. Indelible Ink and Invisible Inq are Scribes, beings created specifically for the task of placing signaturae upon humans.
Of course, Joy, our main character has a special sort of power stronger than anything the Folk that she knows expected. This makes her especially important in the battle against Aniseed, a Folk who believes that humans stand in the way of the Folk's golden age. Because of course, Aniseed has something sinister in plan for the human race, involving the use of signaturae.
I expected the plot in this story to follow the stereotypical supernatural teen romance story plan most authors use today: boy meets girl (or vice versa) and there is some kind of crazy love connection, girl has inexplicable power that makes her invaluable to good guys, boy suddenly falls in love with girl, boy and girl break up for no reason, big battle at the end KABLAM! where girl gets horrendously injured and boy goes to the ends of the earth to save her, then they live happily ever after.
But no. That is not how this story turned out. When the guy meets the girl, the first thing he does is try to BLIND HER. Definitely not your typical "love connection". Joy does have a latent power, but it doesn't emerge until way further into the book. That isn't quite as uncommon, but it still isn't something you see every day.
I absolutely adored the romance in this book. When you meet Ink, he is mostly a shell, devoid of many feelings and seemingly incapable of emotion. He doesn't know how to be a human. However, being around Joy changed him, little by little. He learned how to act, talk, and look more like a human. When Joy and Ink , it was so innocent that I wanted to cry. It was beautiful, something that tugged on my heartstrings. His development, his transformation into becoming more human, was sweet and slow. Ink was adorable because he didn't know what to do with his feelings--he was putting himself completely out there. It also forced Joy to , which is something you don't see often in stories like this. Most of the time, the male character is forceful and arrogant, pushing the girl to like him. But putting Joy in the driver's seat created something much more harmonious. Can I say girl power?
I really loved the name Graus Claude. It fit the character of a suit-wearing, four-armed toad very well.
Another part that was very different was the ending. It surprised me, disappointed me, and then ultimately thrilled me that in the end, it wasn't Joy that . Instead, it was Ink. I was so used to the herione (or hero, depends on your book) getting , that it was a nice change when instead, Joy was and instead thought that .
Indelible was a delicious read, one that I hardly put down once I started. It was refreshing and different in more ways than one. Dawn Metcalf has created a stunning book that reached into my core and brought out those silly little fangirl feelings.
July 22, 2013
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Indelible is one strange novel with an extremely original premise and out of the ordinary mythology. Metcalf definitely explores uncharted paranormal territory in Indelible; I definitely give Metcalf props for thinking out of the box with this book. The problem is that I really wanted to like Indelible, but it was one of those "It's not you--it's me" cases. Indelible is by no means a bad novel, it's just not my cuppa tea. I have a feeling that Indelible will strike a chord with many readers, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking to read.
Immediately straight from the first-few pages, Metcalf creates a mysterious vibe that the reader won't be able to shake off. There was a ton of intrigue in the beginning of Indelible that urged me to delve further into this novel. Indelible introduces to the reader to a world unlike any other and I loved how Metcalf slowly, eased the reader into it. The problem was that this world wasn't all that memorable and that I felt like I was split between two worlds.
There's a scene in Indelible where Joy is told by Ink that she has to choose between the human world and the world of The Twixt. I felt like throughout the novel I was caught in a limbo between the two worlds. Metcalf creates an interesting contemporary world to contrast the world of The Twixt, but they didn't blend too well. Whenever I felt invested in the world of The Twixt, I felt like Metcalf quickly rushed me into the contemporary world. The vice-versa is also true for Indelible and I feel like the author didn't transition well between the two worlds. I hoped the two worlds would coexist in a better matter like in other Urban Fantasy novels like The Mortal Instruments. I really felt like I never fully had a chance to appreciate either world, because the worlds didn't really mesh well together. Instead of being amazed by the unique world of the Twixt, I felt slightly disinterested while reading this novel.
I feel bad when I compare novels to other novels I've read in the past, but I can't help myself. Throughout the novel, I kept getting this City Of Bones vibe that I couldn't shake off. The whole Scribe aspect of the novel reminded me of how the Shadowhunters in CoB use their steles to create runes. Also the opening scene of Indelible seemed like a playoff of the opening scene of City Of Bones. I wasn't sure if these were simple coincidences that I nitpicked or whether this novel was trying to mimic The Mortal Instruments. These similarities were a bit disconcerting, but they didn't mar my opinion of the book.
I was pretty apathetic towards our heroine Joy; she was nothing special and was a bit too ordinary for my tastes. I didn't even get a sense why I was even supposed to like her because she was just so unappealing to read about. The love interest, Ink was supposed to be this mysterious, brooding character. Instead of being mysterious, Ink felt to me like he was uncomfortable in his own skin and a bit too shy. There's nothing wrong with being shy, but reading about Ink just was pretty awkward and difficult. I really hoped Ink would eventually accept who he was and he would show his true colors, but this never really came into fruition.
I never felt any chemistry between Ink and Joy, their relationship never really interested me and it felt a bit forced. The supposed romance wasn't distinct enough and was overshadowed by the central plotline. If the author had wanted to include romance in this novel, I feel as if the author should have made the romance more evident.
I never really felt compelled to read more of Indelible and I had to trudge through the slow-paced middle. I kept waiting for something extraordinary to happen to completely alter my opinion of this novel. I didn't even enjoy the ending of this novel and I was so disinterested that I could have abandoned this book at any time without having a strong urge to continue. I was unimpressed with Indelible's plot for the most part and I expected more from Metcalf.
Indelible wasn't the novel for me, but many of my friends seem to have enjoyed reading it. I can only hope that the next novel in The Twixt series is more engaging and will capture my attention better. I will give Metcalf another chance with the next Twixt novel. It saddens me that I didn't enjoy Indelible more, but this wasn't the ideal paranormal novel for me.
Indelible is one strange novel with an extremely original premise and out of the ordinary mythology. Metcalf definitely explores uncharted paranormal territory in Indelible; I definitely give Metcalf props for thinking out of the box with this book. The problem is that I really wanted to like Indelible, but it was one of those "It's not you--it's me" cases. Indelible is by no means a bad novel, it's just not my cuppa tea. I have a feeling that Indelible will strike a chord with many readers, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking to read.
Immediately straight from the first-few pages, Metcalf creates a mysterious vibe that the reader won't be able to shake off. There was a ton of intrigue in the beginning of Indelible that urged me to delve further into this novel. Indelible introduces to the reader to a world unlike any other and I loved how Metcalf slowly, eased the reader into it. The problem was that this world wasn't all that memorable and that I felt like I was split between two worlds.
There's a scene in Indelible where Joy is told by Ink that she has to choose between the human world and the world of The Twixt. I felt like throughout the novel I was caught in a limbo between the two worlds. Metcalf creates an interesting contemporary world to contrast the world of The Twixt, but they didn't blend too well. Whenever I felt invested in the world of The Twixt, I felt like Metcalf quickly rushed me into the contemporary world. The vice-versa is also true for Indelible and I feel like the author didn't transition well between the two worlds. I hoped the two worlds would coexist in a better matter like in other Urban Fantasy novels like The Mortal Instruments. I really felt like I never fully had a chance to appreciate either world, because the worlds didn't really mesh well together. Instead of being amazed by the unique world of the Twixt, I felt slightly disinterested while reading this novel.
I feel bad when I compare novels to other novels I've read in the past, but I can't help myself. Throughout the novel, I kept getting this City Of Bones vibe that I couldn't shake off. The whole Scribe aspect of the novel reminded me of how the Shadowhunters in CoB use their steles to create runes. Also the opening scene of Indelible seemed like a playoff of the opening scene of City Of Bones. I wasn't sure if these were simple coincidences that I nitpicked or whether this novel was trying to mimic The Mortal Instruments. These similarities were a bit disconcerting, but they didn't mar my opinion of the book.
I was pretty apathetic towards our heroine Joy; she was nothing special and was a bit too ordinary for my tastes. I didn't even get a sense why I was even supposed to like her because she was just so unappealing to read about. The love interest, Ink was supposed to be this mysterious, brooding character. Instead of being mysterious, Ink felt to me like he was uncomfortable in his own skin and a bit too shy. There's nothing wrong with being shy, but reading about Ink just was pretty awkward and difficult. I really hoped Ink would eventually accept who he was and he would show his true colors, but this never really came into fruition.
I never felt any chemistry between Ink and Joy, their relationship never really interested me and it felt a bit forced. The supposed romance wasn't distinct enough and was overshadowed by the central plotline. If the author had wanted to include romance in this novel, I feel as if the author should have made the romance more evident.
I never really felt compelled to read more of Indelible and I had to trudge through the slow-paced middle. I kept waiting for something extraordinary to happen to completely alter my opinion of this novel. I didn't even enjoy the ending of this novel and I was so disinterested that I could have abandoned this book at any time without having a strong urge to continue. I was unimpressed with Indelible's plot for the most part and I expected more from Metcalf.
Indelible wasn't the novel for me, but many of my friends seem to have enjoyed reading it. I can only hope that the next novel in The Twixt series is more engaging and will capture my attention better. I will give Metcalf another chance with the next Twixt novel. It saddens me that I didn't enjoy Indelible more, but this wasn't the ideal paranormal novel for me.
November 18, 2015
I enjoyed the strangeness of Dawn Metcalf’s debut novel (about a girl who takes off her skin) and so I was intrigued by her latest offering. The reviews were not promising but then again, the reviews of the first one didn’t promise much either. However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Indelible. It provides a very different mythology and an intriguing type of love interest; the kind we haven’t seen before. In a genre flooded with bad boys, vampires and other alpha males, Ink’s innocence is refreshing. But more on that later.
The mythology as I have already said is new. The world building is well done though it could have been done better. Joy is a relatable character and though there are the expected parental issues, this time around, the drama is credible as I wouldn’t be able to forgive a mother who dumped me either. Joy and her best friend have an authentic friendship and there’s none of the best friend crapping that pisses me off so much. The characterizations are solid and I pretty much loved the head toad dude (yep, he's one of those colourful characters that steals the show). The pace is brisk and things happen with alacrity. No moaning and groaning even though life sometimes sucks for Joy and I would have understood if she had indulged in some wailing.
The romance is one of my favourite parts of the novel. The writing is sensuous so even when they are doing something as tame as looking at each other's hands, there is an undercurrent of forbidden pleasure. As I said, Ink is a new breed of love interests. He is not human; he was created and constructs himself, his looks, his shapes, his hands, ears, etc, in the vein of the people he observes. There is an emptiness in him that Joy seems to fill and it’s intriguing to see them come together. Reading about his first kiss as opposed to hers is pretty darned refreshing.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel and I’m sure if you give it a chance, you will too. I look forward to seeing what happens next.
The mythology as I have already said is new. The world building is well done though it could have been done better. Joy is a relatable character and though there are the expected parental issues, this time around, the drama is credible as I wouldn’t be able to forgive a mother who dumped me either. Joy and her best friend have an authentic friendship and there’s none of the best friend crapping that pisses me off so much. The characterizations are solid and I pretty much loved the head toad dude (yep, he's one of those colourful characters that steals the show). The pace is brisk and things happen with alacrity. No moaning and groaning even though life sometimes sucks for Joy and I would have understood if she had indulged in some wailing.
The romance is one of my favourite parts of the novel. The writing is sensuous so even when they are doing something as tame as looking at each other's hands, there is an undercurrent of forbidden pleasure. As I said, Ink is a new breed of love interests. He is not human; he was created and constructs himself, his looks, his shapes, his hands, ears, etc, in the vein of the people he observes. There is an emptiness in him that Joy seems to fill and it’s intriguing to see them come together. Reading about his first kiss as opposed to hers is pretty darned refreshing.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel and I’m sure if you give it a chance, you will too. I look forward to seeing what happens next.
July 2, 2013
Indelible is a unique and riveting standout in fantasy. Dawn Metcalf has masterfully woven together a beautiful, haunting, and electric read that completely consumed me and never let me go - I didn't want to leave The Twixt! An amazing read!
Indelible starts off with a bang - and by bang, I mean Joy (our protagonist) almost has her eye cut out at a club. Interested yet? If your brain is acting funky today and you aren't, how about this? A lush, vibrant, and dark fantasy world where lies and monsters runs around like madness and havoc. I'm positive you're intrigued by now - which you should be, because Indelible is a fantastic and magnificent start to a promising series. Metcalf's way of telling this story had me completely emerged into this world... and I loved every minute of it.
Speaking of which, I want to say that I love world-building; it's probably my favorite part about books. And while Indelible does have a contemporary setting, that's only for a short amount of time. We are thrust into the Twixt, a mysterious and chilling world where you don't know how to trust and who's worth fighting for. Dawn Metcalf did a brilliant job with this world! I wanted to know more about it and explore it for myself... actually, I take that back. The Twixt is way too creepy for me to handle by myself. But that's my favorite part about the Twixt! Metcalf raises the stakes so high in Indelible, and I never, ever wanted this book to end. I need the sequel so badly!
The characters are what ties Indelible with a neat bow. Joy... oh man, Joy was awesome. I connected to her right from the first sentence, and I knew that I was so happy to be going on this journey with her. And Ink is so weird, but original and awesome! Everything about the world of the Twixt is either quirky or darkly haunting. And lucky for the reader, Ink is the perfect blend of both! I can't EVEN with this book. It's just too wonderful.
Overall, Indelible is an incredible, unique, and fantastic read that shouldn't be missed. Metcalf is a true rockstar with Indelible - un-put-down-able!
Indelible starts off with a bang - and by bang, I mean Joy (our protagonist) almost has her eye cut out at a club. Interested yet? If your brain is acting funky today and you aren't, how about this? A lush, vibrant, and dark fantasy world where lies and monsters runs around like madness and havoc. I'm positive you're intrigued by now - which you should be, because Indelible is a fantastic and magnificent start to a promising series. Metcalf's way of telling this story had me completely emerged into this world... and I loved every minute of it.
Speaking of which, I want to say that I love world-building; it's probably my favorite part about books. And while Indelible does have a contemporary setting, that's only for a short amount of time. We are thrust into the Twixt, a mysterious and chilling world where you don't know how to trust and who's worth fighting for. Dawn Metcalf did a brilliant job with this world! I wanted to know more about it and explore it for myself... actually, I take that back. The Twixt is way too creepy for me to handle by myself. But that's my favorite part about the Twixt! Metcalf raises the stakes so high in Indelible, and I never, ever wanted this book to end. I need the sequel so badly!
The characters are what ties Indelible with a neat bow. Joy... oh man, Joy was awesome. I connected to her right from the first sentence, and I knew that I was so happy to be going on this journey with her. And Ink is so weird, but original and awesome! Everything about the world of the Twixt is either quirky or darkly haunting. And lucky for the reader, Ink is the perfect blend of both! I can't EVEN with this book. It's just too wonderful.
Overall, Indelible is an incredible, unique, and fantastic read that shouldn't be missed. Metcalf is a true rockstar with Indelible - un-put-down-able!
October 14, 2013
From the wonderful cover to the interesting description and then to the original story-line, Indelible is a beautifully different book for fans of fantasy and not only.
What started for Joy as an usual night out (meant to make her forget a bit about her problems) ended in a journey beyond her imagination; a journey to a hidden world of Twixt – full of fantastic (at times) monstrous creatures; a journey that would link her destiny and Ink’s forever.
Ok, so I am being utterly mysterious, but so is the book. There is this wonderful world we learn about, there is this sweet romance that grows slowly, there is action and mystery.. and also there is what I like the most in books – turning someone into a human, teaching someone to feel, to breath in the emotions.. This is why I liked so much learning about Joy and Ink and their relationship, because they were so different and he started by being so cold and un-human, but slowly he saw something beautiful in Joy – her humanity, and he craved for that as well. There was this connection between them, this protectiveness that slowly turned into friendship and then more. It was all so sweet.
Also, the world building is quite complex, and I will let you unravel it for yourself, but I liked to see something different (as lately I’ve been reading some of ‘same-old, some-old’ paranormal stories, and I love to find something refreshingly cool and new) and even though there were times I couldn’t wrap (very well) my head around some things and notions, I did love discovering more and more about this story.
Anyways, this was a lovely paranormal story and I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Happy midnight reading!
Read this and more at: ReadingAfterMidnight.com
What started for Joy as an usual night out (meant to make her forget a bit about her problems) ended in a journey beyond her imagination; a journey to a hidden world of Twixt – full of fantastic (at times) monstrous creatures; a journey that would link her destiny and Ink’s forever.
Ok, so I am being utterly mysterious, but so is the book. There is this wonderful world we learn about, there is this sweet romance that grows slowly, there is action and mystery.. and also there is what I like the most in books – turning someone into a human, teaching someone to feel, to breath in the emotions.. This is why I liked so much learning about Joy and Ink and their relationship, because they were so different and he started by being so cold and un-human, but slowly he saw something beautiful in Joy – her humanity, and he craved for that as well. There was this connection between them, this protectiveness that slowly turned into friendship and then more. It was all so sweet.
Also, the world building is quite complex, and I will let you unravel it for yourself, but I liked to see something different (as lately I’ve been reading some of ‘same-old, some-old’ paranormal stories, and I love to find something refreshingly cool and new) and even though there were times I couldn’t wrap (very well) my head around some things and notions, I did love discovering more and more about this story.
Anyways, this was a lovely paranormal story and I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Happy midnight reading!
Read this and more at: ReadingAfterMidnight.com
October 27, 2014
I actually finished this book a couple weeks ago, but October is always a super busy month for me. I really enjoyed this book - I really didn't have an expectations going in, just thought it sounded different and I'd met Dawn and done a book signing with her in New York City. She was super nice and fun and is really into the martial arts, so I knew the main character wouldn't be a timid damsel-in-distress type. She wasn't :).
Basic plot - Joy Malone can see the world of the Twixt, which is an alternate world of magic and monsters. She becomes an assistant to Indelible Ink and is supposed to deliver messages to him - seems his job is to mark people/humans with protective symbols that they can't see, but the Twixt can. He marked Joy as his assistant by mistake, and it can't be undone so they have to work together or else the powers that be will be upset.
I had some trouble following the story logic at times and Ink has a sister, Invisible Inq - which I didn't know how to pronounce (even though the character explains how) so I pronounced her name as Ink - so it was a bit confusing at times.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and will be getting the second in the series, Invisible, which I suspect has to do more with Ink's sister, but I'm guessing based on the title.
Basic plot - Joy Malone can see the world of the Twixt, which is an alternate world of magic and monsters. She becomes an assistant to Indelible Ink and is supposed to deliver messages to him - seems his job is to mark people/humans with protective symbols that they can't see, but the Twixt can. He marked Joy as his assistant by mistake, and it can't be undone so they have to work together or else the powers that be will be upset.
I had some trouble following the story logic at times and Ink has a sister, Invisible Inq - which I didn't know how to pronounce (even though the character explains how) so I pronounced her name as Ink - so it was a bit confusing at times.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and will be getting the second in the series, Invisible, which I suspect has to do more with Ink's sister, but I'm guessing based on the title.
October 27, 2016
**Review copy provided through Goodreads Giveaways for an honest review.**
Indelible was such an odd and yet familiar read. My feelings are so mixed about it. On one hand I didn't care for the lead and I felt like the romance was off. However, that “off” feeling that I felt about the romance is what made it so unique. Young Adult Fairy reads tend to have a very dream like quality to them. Which is something Indelible used to its advantage. Even masking it's lack of plot.
Almost. Indelible kind of wanders around and then sometime after the half way mark kind of goes “oh, bookworms I've got to tell a compelling story!” So enter the trying, and tiring, girl-saves-the-entire-world because she's special. Even though her having the sight only felt like a small catalyst, one in which leads to her getting a boyfriend. Let alone the real special talent she uses to save the world . . . isn't touched on. She's just extra special. Apparently that needs no explaining.
Indelible Ink and his sister where very unique characters. Clearly not human and him falling for Joy was interesting. However, that's where the dream like quality of the book kind of backfired. I felt like the whole story from the romance and the actual plot felt clouded. Like I was watching everything from afar. It was nice, but I couldn't fully get involved in the story.
Indelible was a growing up story about Joy not wanting to grow up and think of others. That people change and you can't throw your life away and pout just because things are changing. At one point I found her inner dialogue rough to handle. Boo-hoo the world isn't going how I want it to, so I'm gonna show everyone by being miserable and failing. My bad attitude isn't enough to prove how distraught I am.
Sure Joy grows, but I never really got over my initial dislike of her. Points to the author for letting the girl save herself and her man.
Indelible kind of borrows from other YA fairy stories and then tries to make its own way. The whole time I felt like the fairy mists where keeping me at hands length from the story. The first half of the book was so ponderous and then suddenly we're “saving all mind kind!” in a blink. The build up and execution actually ended up being dull. The parts that were unique such as Joy and Ink falling in love and learning about the Twixt (they're not called fairies here) felt like after thoughts. Honestly I can't even imagine where a series could be born from this.
In all I feel mixed about Indelible. The parts that annoyed me really annoyed me, including the lead. The parts I liked I REALLY liked, however they were not explored nor developed enough. Too much of Indelible was borrowed and the original parts not explored enough. Okay, I'm rambling on and repeating myself. In the end I won't deny that I did enjoy Indelible. To be quite honest I'm curious about the other books.
Content Warning: The lead is transported into the after math of an orgy. I felt like this was supposed to be humorous, but much like the lead all I felt was awkward. (And I like my orgies in books. ^_-)
Plenty of sexual humor and some frank discussions between two teens talking about sex and their views.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
** ** **
On July 19th I got word that I had won the Giveaway! And guess what showed up today!!! Ah! So excited. Thank you Goodreads and thank you Harlequin Teen. I've been so curious about this series. I took pictures! You can check out the full post on Book Whispers.
Look at all the fun stuff that came with it!
And I was excited enough I even took a picture with it!
Think I know what my next read will be!
Indelible was such an odd and yet familiar read. My feelings are so mixed about it. On one hand I didn't care for the lead and I felt like the romance was off. However, that “off” feeling that I felt about the romance is what made it so unique. Young Adult Fairy reads tend to have a very dream like quality to them. Which is something Indelible used to its advantage. Even masking it's lack of plot.
Almost. Indelible kind of wanders around and then sometime after the half way mark kind of goes “oh, bookworms I've got to tell a compelling story!” So enter the trying, and tiring, girl-saves-the-entire-world because she's special. Even though her having the sight only felt like a small catalyst, one in which leads to her getting a boyfriend. Let alone the real special talent she uses to save the world . . . isn't touched on. She's just extra special. Apparently that needs no explaining.
Indelible Ink and his sister where very unique characters. Clearly not human and him falling for Joy was interesting. However, that's where the dream like quality of the book kind of backfired. I felt like the whole story from the romance and the actual plot felt clouded. Like I was watching everything from afar. It was nice, but I couldn't fully get involved in the story.
Indelible was a growing up story about Joy not wanting to grow up and think of others. That people change and you can't throw your life away and pout just because things are changing. At one point I found her inner dialogue rough to handle. Boo-hoo the world isn't going how I want it to, so I'm gonna show everyone by being miserable and failing. My bad attitude isn't enough to prove how distraught I am.
Sure Joy grows, but I never really got over my initial dislike of her. Points to the author for letting the girl save herself and her man.
Indelible kind of borrows from other YA fairy stories and then tries to make its own way. The whole time I felt like the fairy mists where keeping me at hands length from the story. The first half of the book was so ponderous and then suddenly we're “saving all mind kind!” in a blink. The build up and execution actually ended up being dull. The parts that were unique such as Joy and Ink falling in love and learning about the Twixt (they're not called fairies here) felt like after thoughts. Honestly I can't even imagine where a series could be born from this.
In all I feel mixed about Indelible. The parts that annoyed me really annoyed me, including the lead. The parts I liked I REALLY liked, however they were not explored nor developed enough. Too much of Indelible was borrowed and the original parts not explored enough. Okay, I'm rambling on and repeating myself. In the end I won't deny that I did enjoy Indelible. To be quite honest I'm curious about the other books.
Content Warning: The lead is transported into the after math of an orgy. I felt like this was supposed to be humorous, but much like the lead all I felt was awkward. (And I like my orgies in books. ^_-)
Plenty of sexual humor and some frank discussions between two teens talking about sex and their views.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
** ** **
On July 19th I got word that I had won the Giveaway! And guess what showed up today!!! Ah! So excited. Thank you Goodreads and thank you Harlequin Teen. I've been so curious about this series. I took pictures! You can check out the full post on Book Whispers.
Look at all the fun stuff that came with it!
And I was excited enough I even took a picture with it!
Think I know what my next read will be!
June 20, 2016
This review can also be found at :
http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogs...
Joy is out with her friend when she notices the mysterious black-eyed figures. Strangely, nobody else seems to notice them, and when they approach her, one of them cuts her eye. After visiting the hospital and repairing her injured eye, she experiences strange flashes and sees disturbing things....things that break windows, frighten her to her core, and leave messages for a mysterious "Ink".
Soon she meets Ink, along with his 'sister' Inq, and they are revealed to be the black-eyed strangers responsible for her injury. It turns out Joy has been marked by Ink, he has given her his 'signatura' and she is now his 'lehman'; his companion or lover.
Now Joy must play the part of 'lehman' and pretend to feel fondness towards Ink, and he must do the same towards her. If they're not convincing enough, they could get into a lot of trouble. However this actually turns out to be the least of their troubles as Joy is attacked by grotesque creatures and used against Ink by vengeful and power-hungry members of The Twixt.
This book was SO unique. No love triangle, which I know some people may appreciate. No insta-love. Even the paranormal creatures of The Twixt were unique, they reminded me of the fae and of fantasy creatures associated with fae stories. Yet, they weren't outright labelled as faeries, or trolls, or goblins.
Joy's world and the world of The Twixt were absolutely mesmerizing and I often found myself envious of Joy, while simultaneously cheering her on for the whole book. She was a very likeable character, I could relate to her well and I cared about what happened to her. Even if the world-building and creatures hadn't been as amazing as they actually were, I know I would've kept reading to see what happened to Joy.
Then we have Ink. Ink is many things; a Scribe, a mysterious and ageless paranormal being, the source of Joy's confusion and enlightenment.....but above all he is a fantastic character. He stands out amongst all the other YA male main characters and love interests. I found myself quite envious of Ink as well, with his awesome powers and unique name and whatnot.
As I mentioned earlier, there is no insta-love, the romance is very believable in regards to Joy's situation and the pacing is perfect. The evolution of Ink and Joy's relationship was equal parts exciting, sweet, and emotional.
As for emotions, this book played with mine so much! At first I kind of hated Ink, after all he was the one who injured Joy. But then I started to like him. By the end of the book I loved him! I also felt Joy's emotions like they were my own, I understood her fear and I shared in her sadness. As for the ending, I felt like I was reliving the whole book within those last pages. So many emotions were jam-packed into the end, I found myself putting the book down to process what was happening.
I have to mention my appreciation when it comes to the inclusion of an LGBTQ character. While this character isn't really a main one, they're still a part of Joy's life and are therefore of some importance.
I can't wait to get my hands on book two, I MUST know what happens next. This has earned it's way into my favourites collection, and I am sure the second book will do just the same.
Overall, a fantastic book that I don't have any criticism or complaints about! I recommend this book to YA readers who enjoy fantasy and paranormal books, and to those looking for a unique romance. If you're looking for a 'breath of fresh air' within the young adult genre, this book is a must-read.
http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogs...
Joy is out with her friend when she notices the mysterious black-eyed figures. Strangely, nobody else seems to notice them, and when they approach her, one of them cuts her eye. After visiting the hospital and repairing her injured eye, she experiences strange flashes and sees disturbing things....things that break windows, frighten her to her core, and leave messages for a mysterious "Ink".
Soon she meets Ink, along with his 'sister' Inq, and they are revealed to be the black-eyed strangers responsible for her injury. It turns out Joy has been marked by Ink, he has given her his 'signatura' and she is now his 'lehman'; his companion or lover.
Now Joy must play the part of 'lehman' and pretend to feel fondness towards Ink, and he must do the same towards her. If they're not convincing enough, they could get into a lot of trouble. However this actually turns out to be the least of their troubles as Joy is attacked by grotesque creatures and used against Ink by vengeful and power-hungry members of The Twixt.
This book was SO unique. No love triangle, which I know some people may appreciate. No insta-love. Even the paranormal creatures of The Twixt were unique, they reminded me of the fae and of fantasy creatures associated with fae stories. Yet, they weren't outright labelled as faeries, or trolls, or goblins.
Joy's world and the world of The Twixt were absolutely mesmerizing and I often found myself envious of Joy, while simultaneously cheering her on for the whole book. She was a very likeable character, I could relate to her well and I cared about what happened to her. Even if the world-building and creatures hadn't been as amazing as they actually were, I know I would've kept reading to see what happened to Joy.
Then we have Ink. Ink is many things; a Scribe, a mysterious and ageless paranormal being, the source of Joy's confusion and enlightenment.....but above all he is a fantastic character. He stands out amongst all the other YA male main characters and love interests. I found myself quite envious of Ink as well, with his awesome powers and unique name and whatnot.
As I mentioned earlier, there is no insta-love, the romance is very believable in regards to Joy's situation and the pacing is perfect. The evolution of Ink and Joy's relationship was equal parts exciting, sweet, and emotional.
As for emotions, this book played with mine so much! At first I kind of hated Ink, after all he was the one who injured Joy. But then I started to like him. By the end of the book I loved him! I also felt Joy's emotions like they were my own, I understood her fear and I shared in her sadness. As for the ending, I felt like I was reliving the whole book within those last pages. So many emotions were jam-packed into the end, I found myself putting the book down to process what was happening.
I have to mention my appreciation when it comes to the inclusion of an LGBTQ character. While this character isn't really a main one, they're still a part of Joy's life and are therefore of some importance.
I can't wait to get my hands on book two, I MUST know what happens next. This has earned it's way into my favourites collection, and I am sure the second book will do just the same.
Overall, a fantastic book that I don't have any criticism or complaints about! I recommend this book to YA readers who enjoy fantasy and paranormal books, and to those looking for a unique romance. If you're looking for a 'breath of fresh air' within the young adult genre, this book is a must-read.
June 19, 2013
This. Book. Is. Insane.
I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up. The blurb doesn't really tell you what's going on with the plot or even the concept, but there was just something about it that really drew me in. Also, this was one of the few cases where the book trailer totally sold me on reading it.
I haven't read Dawn Metcalf's first book Luminous, but I can assure you that I'm going to now.
Because Indelible was AWESOME! And totally different than any other YA book I've read.
I don't want to tell you too much about the concept because I feel like that takes away from the sheer absurdity and wonderful confusion of the first few chapters, where you as the reader are just as lost and intrigued as Joy is. Just know that the mythos of this book is amazing and original and so, so fun!
Overall, Indelible reminded me a lot of the Sandman graphic novels, written by Neil Gaiman. This book is really visual, and I think it would make an incredible graphic novel. Also, there's that level of creepy beneath all the fantastic, just like in Sandman. And of course, you have the brother and sister mythological creatures, just like in Neil Gaiman's books.
Except where in Sandman you have Dream and his sister Death, in Indelible there's Ink and his sister Inq. But Ink is just as quiet and brooding as Dream, and Inq as spunky and fun-loving as Death. Really, their personalities just seemed so similar, and I was curious to know if Dawn Metcalf was a little bit inspired by this graphic novel series.
Indelible has some crazy cool mythology, which I *think* was inspired by Irish folklore. I also got Dr. Who vibes, with Joy essentially becoming Ink's assistant, the way the Doctor takes Companions.
Besides the fantastic worldbuilding, Dawn Metcalf also writes great characters. I really enjoyed reading Joy. She's spunky and actually pretty funny, and I felt like the way she responded to everything around her felt realistic. She was just a normal girl who'd been thrown into this insane new world, and she's trying to cope.
I feel like this review is sorta confusing because I'm not really explaining much, but trust me when I say you don't want me to. You want to experience this book with fresh eyes. It has lots of great action, the prose is cinematic and really visual, and there's definitely some creeptastic parts. The characters are fun, the romance is equal parts sweet and swoony, and this is one of my favorite books I've read this year.
If you like graphic novels, this is totally the book for you! If you like original plots and worldbuilding that you haven't seen a million times, you should read it. I'll definitely be recommending this to my friends who enjoy fantasy novels. I'm so glad I took a chance on an author I'd never read before!
I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up. The blurb doesn't really tell you what's going on with the plot or even the concept, but there was just something about it that really drew me in. Also, this was one of the few cases where the book trailer totally sold me on reading it.
I haven't read Dawn Metcalf's first book Luminous, but I can assure you that I'm going to now.
Because Indelible was AWESOME! And totally different than any other YA book I've read.
I don't want to tell you too much about the concept because I feel like that takes away from the sheer absurdity and wonderful confusion of the first few chapters, where you as the reader are just as lost and intrigued as Joy is. Just know that the mythos of this book is amazing and original and so, so fun!
Overall, Indelible reminded me a lot of the Sandman graphic novels, written by Neil Gaiman. This book is really visual, and I think it would make an incredible graphic novel. Also, there's that level of creepy beneath all the fantastic, just like in Sandman. And of course, you have the brother and sister mythological creatures, just like in Neil Gaiman's books.
Except where in Sandman you have Dream and his sister Death, in Indelible there's Ink and his sister Inq. But Ink is just as quiet and brooding as Dream, and Inq as spunky and fun-loving as Death. Really, their personalities just seemed so similar, and I was curious to know if Dawn Metcalf was a little bit inspired by this graphic novel series.
Indelible has some crazy cool mythology, which I *think* was inspired by Irish folklore. I also got Dr. Who vibes, with Joy essentially becoming Ink's assistant, the way the Doctor takes Companions.
Besides the fantastic worldbuilding, Dawn Metcalf also writes great characters. I really enjoyed reading Joy. She's spunky and actually pretty funny, and I felt like the way she responded to everything around her felt realistic. She was just a normal girl who'd been thrown into this insane new world, and she's trying to cope.
I feel like this review is sorta confusing because I'm not really explaining much, but trust me when I say you don't want me to. You want to experience this book with fresh eyes. It has lots of great action, the prose is cinematic and really visual, and there's definitely some creeptastic parts. The characters are fun, the romance is equal parts sweet and swoony, and this is one of my favorite books I've read this year.
If you like graphic novels, this is totally the book for you! If you like original plots and worldbuilding that you haven't seen a million times, you should read it. I'll definitely be recommending this to my friends who enjoy fantasy novels. I'm so glad I took a chance on an author I'd never read before!
May 31, 2013
Indelible is one HELL OF A READ! Man you want to talk about a different story this is one and lord I could not get enough. When I first started reading it I thought okay girl in a club chilling then she realizes someone is staring at her and she gets the willy nillys but when said freak tries to kill her all hell breaks lose because the meat of the story is what follows.
Joy is just minding her own business in the club having fun when she feels eyes on her. At first she does not think anything about it but as those black eyes come at her she realizes she is in trouble. Once she is attacked she realizes that her troubles just got worse because she was supposed to die but instead of dying she is inked and linked to Ink. Know she will have to fight for her life. She is about to see a part of a hidden world she never knew existed.
She will see monsters and things she is not so sure are real. The worst part is that she is now supposed to be Ink's lover and chosen one. She has to do everything he says or else risk death for the both of them. Lord all Joy wanted to do was chill at the club but what she gets is far more than she ever expected. This is a must read and I need book two like yesterday!
Joy is just minding her own business in the club having fun when she feels eyes on her. At first she does not think anything about it but as those black eyes come at her she realizes she is in trouble. Once she is attacked she realizes that her troubles just got worse because she was supposed to die but instead of dying she is inked and linked to Ink. Know she will have to fight for her life. She is about to see a part of a hidden world she never knew existed.
She will see monsters and things she is not so sure are real. The worst part is that she is now supposed to be Ink's lover and chosen one. She has to do everything he says or else risk death for the both of them. Lord all Joy wanted to do was chill at the club but what she gets is far more than she ever expected. This is a must read and I need book two like yesterday!
August 4, 2013
Joy is at a party when she spots a boy across the room. It was his piercing black eyes that drew Joy to him. The boy walks across the room to Joy. He reaches his hand out towards Joy. Suddenly, Joy feels a great deal of pain in her eye and the boy is gone.
Joy awakes the next morning to find that every time she looks out of her eye, her eye does a flash, flash. As if it is a camera. Other strange things start happening as well to Joy. She is receiving strange messages and people/monsters showing up at her house. They all have a common trend. They all mention someone named Ink. It seems that Ink is the boy with the black eyes and he marked Joy as his.
I got to chapter eight and said to myself “So where is the action? When are things going to pick up in the story?” This is a major bummer as I wanted to like this book a lot. I just was not feeling Joy or anyone else in this book. I picked a random spot in the book further in to see if I was not giving this book a fair chance. No I did give this book a fair chance. I still was not feeling Joy and Ink was not that exciting to keep me interested in finishing this book. Just goes to show you that there needs to be more than just a beautiful book cover.
Joy awakes the next morning to find that every time she looks out of her eye, her eye does a flash, flash. As if it is a camera. Other strange things start happening as well to Joy. She is receiving strange messages and people/monsters showing up at her house. They all have a common trend. They all mention someone named Ink. It seems that Ink is the boy with the black eyes and he marked Joy as his.
I got to chapter eight and said to myself “So where is the action? When are things going to pick up in the story?” This is a major bummer as I wanted to like this book a lot. I just was not feeling Joy or anyone else in this book. I picked a random spot in the book further in to see if I was not giving this book a fair chance. No I did give this book a fair chance. I still was not feeling Joy and Ink was not that exciting to keep me interested in finishing this book. Just goes to show you that there needs to be more than just a beautiful book cover.
August 14, 2013
Weird, strange, confusing are the words that come to mind when I think of Indelible. It held a lot of promise because I love to read about fairies and anything fairy-like, but, sadly, turned out to be a dud. The beginning was not so bad, but the story lost me somewhere in the middle. The more information was given on the world building, the more confused I got. Rereading the info-dump parts didn’t help either. I was starting to wonder that maybe it was just me who couldn’t understand all the subtleties, but after reading different reviews I realized there’s a great deal of people who are just as much bamboozled by this book. The world created in Indelible just didn’t seem convincing, it lacked logical reasoning.
The writing style was kind of clipped and simplistic, with a lot of choppy sentences. Sometimes it worked to advantage, was funny and made me smile. But other times it was uncomfortable to get through and annoying.
The romance was the insta-love type, but cute all the same. Joy is a pretty generic female lead, but Ink was not your typical love interest in YA. And, mercifully, there was no love triangle.
I’m not impressed enough to want to pick up a sequel.
The writing style was kind of clipped and simplistic, with a lot of choppy sentences. Sometimes it worked to advantage, was funny and made me smile. But other times it was uncomfortable to get through and annoying.
The romance was the insta-love type, but cute all the same. Joy is a pretty generic female lead, but Ink was not your typical love interest in YA. And, mercifully, there was no love triangle.
I’m not impressed enough to want to pick up a sequel.
June 28, 2013
Brimming with mythical beings, family drama, and giant toads (you read that right) INDELIBLE is a book that left me all mixed-up.
The night Joy Malone gets stabbed in the eye by a boy with all black eyes, her already tumbling world breaks even more. Instead of blinding her, the cut accidently binds her to Indelible Ink, the boy who attacked her. And thus begins Joy's frightening encounters with otherworldly beings - notes in her locker and creatures that only she, being gifted with the Sight - the ability to see the world of Twixt, can see. And Joy Malone soon learns that something dark and mysterious is beginning to brew.
After reading an epic synopsis like that I was dying to read INDELIBLE. The world of Twixt fascinated me from the start and I really liked how they had their roles in our world. The beginning was interesting and suspenseful - while Dawn Metcalf dropped mysterious notes and messages for us.
Read Full Review Here
The night Joy Malone gets stabbed in the eye by a boy with all black eyes, her already tumbling world breaks even more. Instead of blinding her, the cut accidently binds her to Indelible Ink, the boy who attacked her. And thus begins Joy's frightening encounters with otherworldly beings - notes in her locker and creatures that only she, being gifted with the Sight - the ability to see the world of Twixt, can see. And Joy Malone soon learns that something dark and mysterious is beginning to brew.
After reading an epic synopsis like that I was dying to read INDELIBLE. The world of Twixt fascinated me from the start and I really liked how they had their roles in our world. The beginning was interesting and suspenseful - while Dawn Metcalf dropped mysterious notes and messages for us.
Read Full Review Here
January 7, 2017
Oh my, Ink...I don't know if I've ever read about such a character in a book that has tugged on my heartstrings as much as this precious boy did. Indelible Ink. In love already. Reading the 2nd book right away.
July 28, 2013
Very close to rating 2.5 but a couple things worked for me. Will decide when I write my review.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
July 5, 2013I apologize. I simply just wasn't feeling it. :(
July 20, 2023
can a girl really love a guy who wanted to gouge out her eyes?
yes, she can. and let's not mention that that guy's eyes are pitch black, whiteless. (just like demon's eyes in Supernatural
yes, she can. and let's not mention that that guy's eyes are pitch black, whiteless. (just like demon's eyes in Supernatural
July 28, 2013
Four stars: An Original and smart paranormal story with unique characters.
Joy soaks in the flashing lights, pulsing music and gyrating bodies. A night at the dance club is just what she needed to help her leave her troubles behind. Little does she know that tonight's outing will open the door to a whole heap of new troubles. It starts when she notices a goth girl and boy with dark eyes standing in the shadows. Suddenly the dark boy approaches her and she feels a blinding pain in her eye. After that, things get a little crazy as Joy starts seeing the impossible. Somehow her encounter with the mysterious boy has exposed her to a whole new magical world. Can Joy learn to navigate the Twixt?
What I Liked:
*I love finding something completely original in the paranormal genre. Every time I think it can't be done, I am surprised when something exciting and unique falls into my lap. Thanks to my cover lust, I was able to find a book that astounded me with its creative premise, innovative characters and a smart and complex story line. Indelible is far more than a beautiful cover, the story definitely lives up to gorgeous packaging.
*The creativity of this story starts with the introduction of Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq. These two magical beings are scribes for the magical world. They take orders from all the magical entities who wish to make their mark and claim a human. It is Ink's and Inq's job to make sure these humans are marked with the appropriate signatures. Ink and Inq are know as Folk. For centuries they have slipped unseen into the human world and made their marks. *The pair are completely invisible to the human eye, except for a few select individuals who possess the sight. I loved meeting these two original paranormal entities.
Aside from Ink and Inq, there is an entire cast of magical beings that are, for the most part, fresh and new. From the toadlike Baliwick who oversees the Twixt to the strange tracker Kestral. There are plenty of unusual entities in this one.
*The story line is complex and intelligent. There is lots of unexpected and a trove of original ideas. There was a great deal of information to take in and wrap your head around. I liked that this one was a bit of a challenge and it made me think. The pace is quick and the ending is thrilling, and there is no cliffhanger. If you are looking for a smart and creative book definitely give this one a go.
*The romance is a delight. I liked that it starts off on shaky and uncertain ground. Slowly, Joy is drawn to Ink, who through his association with Joy begins to transform and become more human. There are some breathtaking moments as the pair explores what it means to be human. The two develop a strong protective bond, and they each go to great lengths to try and ensure the safety of the other. This is a romance that moves slowly and I liked that it took its time developing.
*Joy is a character whom I learned to admire. In the beginning, she is a young lady who has dealt with a tremendous amount of emotional turmoil. She is not on speaking terms with her mother, since her mother abandoned the family to run away with a younger lover. Her older brother is away at college, and she is alone with her dad. Once she encounters Ink, Joy is thrown into a whirlwind of strange when she encounters mysterious creatures and a new magical world. Even though she is terrified, she takes it in stride and learns to adapt quickly. She is smart and resourceful and she learns to think quickly on her feet. By the end, she is capable of defending herself. I appreciated that she tried to take care of herself on numerous occasions when she was threatened instead of screaming for Ink's help. She also grows on a personal level as she confronts the turmoil in her personal life, from her relationship with her father and mother to the surprising revelation of her older brother. Joy is a strong and likable heroine.
*I enjoyed the writing, it is detailed and different, full of lovely metaphors and gorgeous descriptions.
And The Not So Much:
*As I mentioned, this is a complex and innovative story, there is a great deal of information to take in and make sense of, and at times, I didn't feel like I had a complete grasp on everything. I didn't quite understand the significance of the marks of Ink and Inq. What exactly happened to the humans once they were marked? What does it mean to carry the signatures of several different entities whose mark is supreme? Do these marks have significance once the human dies?
*The world building was a tiny bit lacking. There is an entire magical world separated from the human world. In between the worlds is the area known as the Twixt. I would have loved a bit more detail and development as far as the world building goes.
*The ending is fast and chaotic and it felt like a majority of the explanations were thrown quickly into the last few pages. It almost feels like a bit of an information dump, I would like to have seen it spread out a bit better.
*I wasn't a big fan of Joy's so called best friend Monica. Monica at first appears to be a supportive and caring best friend, but after she meets a new guy at the club all she can focus on is Gordon. I hated the way she quickly ditched her best friend all for a guy. Though, we all know that this happens in real life far too often.
Indelible is an innovative, fresh new story with exciting and creative paranormal entities. If you are looking for an intelligent and unique read definitely pick up Indelible. I would recommend it for the originality alone, but there is so much more from a likable, strong heroine to a nice romance, and it all wraps up with a neat resolution, no cliffhangers. I am very much looking forward to the sequel.
Favorite Quotations:
"The whole night was awkward---impossible and frightening and beautiful and strange. The moment sputtered and sparked with unsaid things."
"It had been an innocent question! But lately innocent questions had had unexpected answers and caused all sorts of trouble."
"Her lips were close. She could taste whispers of him and rain."
"The wind was a blast of cold, crisp air sprinkled with the wet of passing winter and the pollen promise of spring. There were even a few flashes of green rolling past the car in whispers."
"He is haunted by regret, burdened by memories. It is a vice a weakness." Her eyes roamed over Joy. "And you can learn a lot about someone by knowing their weakness."
"I learned long ago to make do with what I have rather than mourn what I have not."
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@
Rainy Day Ramblings.
Joy soaks in the flashing lights, pulsing music and gyrating bodies. A night at the dance club is just what she needed to help her leave her troubles behind. Little does she know that tonight's outing will open the door to a whole heap of new troubles. It starts when she notices a goth girl and boy with dark eyes standing in the shadows. Suddenly the dark boy approaches her and she feels a blinding pain in her eye. After that, things get a little crazy as Joy starts seeing the impossible. Somehow her encounter with the mysterious boy has exposed her to a whole new magical world. Can Joy learn to navigate the Twixt?
What I Liked:
*I love finding something completely original in the paranormal genre. Every time I think it can't be done, I am surprised when something exciting and unique falls into my lap. Thanks to my cover lust, I was able to find a book that astounded me with its creative premise, innovative characters and a smart and complex story line. Indelible is far more than a beautiful cover, the story definitely lives up to gorgeous packaging.
*The creativity of this story starts with the introduction of Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq. These two magical beings are scribes for the magical world. They take orders from all the magical entities who wish to make their mark and claim a human. It is Ink's and Inq's job to make sure these humans are marked with the appropriate signatures. Ink and Inq are know as Folk. For centuries they have slipped unseen into the human world and made their marks. *The pair are completely invisible to the human eye, except for a few select individuals who possess the sight. I loved meeting these two original paranormal entities.
Aside from Ink and Inq, there is an entire cast of magical beings that are, for the most part, fresh and new. From the toadlike Baliwick who oversees the Twixt to the strange tracker Kestral. There are plenty of unusual entities in this one.
*The story line is complex and intelligent. There is lots of unexpected and a trove of original ideas. There was a great deal of information to take in and wrap your head around. I liked that this one was a bit of a challenge and it made me think. The pace is quick and the ending is thrilling, and there is no cliffhanger. If you are looking for a smart and creative book definitely give this one a go.
*The romance is a delight. I liked that it starts off on shaky and uncertain ground. Slowly, Joy is drawn to Ink, who through his association with Joy begins to transform and become more human. There are some breathtaking moments as the pair explores what it means to be human. The two develop a strong protective bond, and they each go to great lengths to try and ensure the safety of the other. This is a romance that moves slowly and I liked that it took its time developing.
*Joy is a character whom I learned to admire. In the beginning, she is a young lady who has dealt with a tremendous amount of emotional turmoil. She is not on speaking terms with her mother, since her mother abandoned the family to run away with a younger lover. Her older brother is away at college, and she is alone with her dad. Once she encounters Ink, Joy is thrown into a whirlwind of strange when she encounters mysterious creatures and a new magical world. Even though she is terrified, she takes it in stride and learns to adapt quickly. She is smart and resourceful and she learns to think quickly on her feet. By the end, she is capable of defending herself. I appreciated that she tried to take care of herself on numerous occasions when she was threatened instead of screaming for Ink's help. She also grows on a personal level as she confronts the turmoil in her personal life, from her relationship with her father and mother to the surprising revelation of her older brother. Joy is a strong and likable heroine.
*I enjoyed the writing, it is detailed and different, full of lovely metaphors and gorgeous descriptions.
And The Not So Much:
*As I mentioned, this is a complex and innovative story, there is a great deal of information to take in and make sense of, and at times, I didn't feel like I had a complete grasp on everything. I didn't quite understand the significance of the marks of Ink and Inq. What exactly happened to the humans once they were marked? What does it mean to carry the signatures of several different entities whose mark is supreme? Do these marks have significance once the human dies?
*The world building was a tiny bit lacking. There is an entire magical world separated from the human world. In between the worlds is the area known as the Twixt. I would have loved a bit more detail and development as far as the world building goes.
*The ending is fast and chaotic and it felt like a majority of the explanations were thrown quickly into the last few pages. It almost feels like a bit of an information dump, I would like to have seen it spread out a bit better.
*I wasn't a big fan of Joy's so called best friend Monica. Monica at first appears to be a supportive and caring best friend, but after she meets a new guy at the club all she can focus on is Gordon. I hated the way she quickly ditched her best friend all for a guy. Though, we all know that this happens in real life far too often.
Indelible is an innovative, fresh new story with exciting and creative paranormal entities. If you are looking for an intelligent and unique read definitely pick up Indelible. I would recommend it for the originality alone, but there is so much more from a likable, strong heroine to a nice romance, and it all wraps up with a neat resolution, no cliffhangers. I am very much looking forward to the sequel.
Favorite Quotations:
"The whole night was awkward---impossible and frightening and beautiful and strange. The moment sputtered and sparked with unsaid things."
"It had been an innocent question! But lately innocent questions had had unexpected answers and caused all sorts of trouble."
"Her lips were close. She could taste whispers of him and rain."
"The wind was a blast of cold, crisp air sprinkled with the wet of passing winter and the pollen promise of spring. There were even a few flashes of green rolling past the car in whispers."
"He is haunted by regret, burdened by memories. It is a vice a weakness." Her eyes roamed over Joy. "And you can learn a lot about someone by knowing their weakness."
"I learned long ago to make do with what I have rather than mourn what I have not."
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@
Rainy Day Ramblings.
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