Review of "Ink Exchange"

"Ink Exchange" ("Wicked Lovely Series" Book 2)
Melissa Marr


3

Pub. Date: April 29, 2008
Pages: 336

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

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

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

I was really hoping that I would love this book, but it just didn't happen. I was happy to see that the faeries were as dangerous as I was hoping for in "Wicked Lovely"; Irial was a great villain and I always felt on edge when his character was around. I liked the premise of the ink exchange as a way of feeding the dark faeries. I liked Leslie and Niall as characters and even have to admit that I respect Irial as a character but I can't say that I liked the guy.

"Wicked Lovely" actually had more to offer than "Ink Exchange"; it was a lot darker and dealt with real issues, like abuse, but it was bordering on being too depressing. Where the first book in the series had a super happy ending where, this one totally did the opposite. I think the darkness in "Ink Exchange" did make sense up to a point, but I felt like it was kind of painful to read because of how dark it was and then the ending was also pretty depressing making me just feel sad about everything. I did like how Leslie's side of the story ended, I thought it was fitting, but I didn't agree with how it ended for Niall and Irial. One of the problems was that I liked Niall too much, even though he probably would have caused a lot of harm to Leslie, I just couldn't get over it. There were other problems I had with the ending, but I will totally end up giving something away if I say anymore. Another thing that bugged me was Gabriel's character, I did not get him at all... even his description kind of confused me. Out of all the characters in the book he just didn't seem that evil. At the end of the book I kind of felt like I missed something about his character.

I did like "Ink Exchange" and thought the book was entertaining, but at the same time it was a bit confusing. "Ink Exchange" didn't really seem to be part of the same series as "Wicked Lovely"; yes they did have some of the same characters and dealt with faeries, but I just wasn't expecting this completely dark and depressing book after the super happy-go-lucky ending of "Wicked Lovely". I know I asked for dark, but it just seemed to come out of no where. At the beginning I was enjoying "Ink Exchange" more than "Wicked Lovely", but sadly this changed halfway through the book. I think readers will like this book more if they know what they are getting into when they pick it up. I know a lot of people do really enjoy this series, but after "Ink Exchange" I don't if I will continue reading it.