Ink Exchange - Spoilers

[Kelley Anne]

This thread is for a discussion of Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. This is the second book of the Wicked Lovely series. Discussions should begin in October.

Spoilers welcome.

[Shannon]

I just wanted to post a friendly reminder that when you post, please UNCHECK "Add to my Update Feed" or else you could spoil something for your friends!

[Kimberly]

Hi, I just finished this last night. Is anyone else participating? I think that the story is really interesting because she is creating a unique world and the twists that occur are unexpected. I liked this one better that the first. I also like that the characters are flawed and are not completely good or evil.

While reading I did feel distanced from the characters. Perhaps it's the writing style, in that it leaves much unsaid in order to cover explicit subject matter yet still be suitable for younger readers.

So the foreplay was never very steamy and the darker events were never really scary. She told an interesting story, but I felt more like I was hearing it than living it.

I don't dislike this aspect because it is like reading a fairy tale... which it is isn't it? ... but because of that I'm not as attached to the characters.

[Kelley Anne]

I read the first half of this book a few months ago but for some reason couldn't finish it. But, I'm determined to give it another try this month. Give me a few days and hopefully I'll have read it!

[DarkHeart "Vehngeance"]

I loved this book. I read it a couple of months ago and was immediately sucked in. I love the darkness of this series and how Marr still manages to write beautiful stories in spite of that.

I was drawn to Niall in Wicked Lovely, so I was glad to see him take a lead role in this one. His relationships with both Irial and Leslie made for a compelling read. I respected the fact that we didn't get the happy ending we wanted, which isn't the norm in YA. I also like the additional story lines that were set up in regard to future tension with Keenan and the Summer court and Niall's friendship with Seth.

[Sarah]

I haven't been reading with the group, but I remember reading this awhile back. I really liked it, but it felt like a totally different world than Wicked Lovely. It has the same characters, but everything was just so much darker. I really like Niall as a character, and I'd be happy to see more about him in future books.

[Steph]

I definitely agree with DarkHeart. I was also drawn to Niall in Wicked Lovely and was happy to see him with the lead in this one. I've read all three of the books in this series and have to say that Ink Exchange was my favorite of the 3 so far.

[Kelley Anne]

Yeah, so I know that this book was part of the discussions for last month, but I was slow and just finised reading it! I have kinda mixed feelings about this book. It was a darker book than Wicked Lovely was, but that really didn't bother me. In fact, it's one of the things that I like about this series. Sometimes you just aren't in the mood to read something that's light and happy go lucky. Sometimes you just need something on the darker side. So, I really enjoyed that. I also liked the build up to the completion of the ink exchange. But once it was completed, I guess that I just expected more. Marr was probably vague in the way that she wrote about things, because of the fact that Leslie really wasn't aware of a lot of the what was happening. But I would have enjoyed seeing how the dark court was really reacting to the whole thing.

As for Keenan and Niall. I was frustrated with Keenan but not surprised at all. I have yet to see him do a selfless thing in this series! He's always so intent to manipulate every situation to his own benefit. So why did it surprise me that he would attempt to manipulate Niall? I guess that I just assumed that he might have a bit more respect for the man that has been his advisor for hundreds of years, but no! I'm glad that Niall left Keenan's court, but the scene felt a bit anticlimatic to me. Keenan didn't even really put up a fight. I also would have liked to have seen what Aislinn's reaction to the whole thing was.

So I really enjoyed this book, but I wish that the last third of the book had been devolped as well as the first 2/3rds.

I am pretty excited to read Fragile Eternity now. Can't wait for Keenan to find out that Niall is the new Dark King!!!