ARC Book Review: Ink by Amanda Sun

Paper Gods #1

Published by: Harlequin (UK) Ltd
Publication Date: 5 July 2013
Pages: 377
Rating: 2.5/5

Ink is in their blood.

On the heels of a family tragedy, Katie Greene must move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

When Katie meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, the star of the school’s kendo team, she is intrigued by him... and a little scared. His tough attitude seems meant to keep her at a distance, and when they’re near each other, strange things happen. Pens explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And unless Katie is seeing things, drawings
come to life.

Somehow Tomo is connected to the kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan—and as feelings develop between Katie and Tomo, things begin to spiral out of control. The wrong people are starting to ask questions, and if they discover the truth, no one will be safe.            

*ARC provided by Harlequin (UK) Ltd via NetGalley

WARNING there is a spoiler ontained in this review if you understand the reference.

This book was one of my most anticipated for this year and has been on my to read list since I first heard about it last year. How could it not be? Both the UK and US covers are gorgeous, that synopsis promises a fresh and new take on magic, and it's set in Japan. Seriously, what's not to love?

You can see why when I found this on NetGalley I just had to have it and when I got approved it was like my birthday had come early.

And then I started reading it....

It just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Meet Katie:

She's your typical YA mc: lack of original personality, boring, whiny and gives Luce Price a run for her money in the stalker stakes. She was just flat and there was something that blocked me from connecting with her. It didn't help that she was frustrating and the choices she made just dumb. Seriously, who follows/stalks a guy into a situation that she knows will be dangerous after being told not to. And that's not the only time she makes stupid decisions, throughout the entire book she makes decisions without taking anything but her wants into consideration. This was particularly the case at the end of the book when I thought she had finally grown up and developed as a character, but then she threw it all out the door with one choice. Seriously, there were times I just want to knock some sense into her.

Then there's Tomo:

Once agin he's your typical male interest: acts like a bad boy but really he's nice and sweet. At least he had more personality than Katie. He was far more interesting than Katie and I think the book could have benefited by changing to his pov sometimes. What I particularly liked about him was the fact that his actions made sense based on his past, Sun didn't make him tortured just because she wanted him that way. Even his friendship with Sato made sense. But what I liked about him was the fact that he realised that he couldn't keep his secret from Katie and protect her at the same time. Yay, a character with a brain!

The remaining cast were kinda wooden. Tanaka and Yuki were just there, nothing about them made them stand out or even feel fleshed out as characters. Sato worked in parts but in others I really wondered what his deal was and what part he actually played becasue the signals were a bit all over the place concerning his position in the Yakuza. Jun failed as a second potential love interest, coming across as creepy most of the time. I don't know why it took throwing it in her face for Katie to figure him out sooner. Then there was the complete 180 he took at the end of the book that came out of the blue and didn't make sense for his character.

 As for the plot, I had a love-hate relationship with it.

Overall, the plot for me moved way too slow for my liking. It took me over 250 pages until it really caught my attention, it might have had something to do with the first three quarters of the book involving Katie pining over Tomo and stalking him. Oh, and Katie got into trouble sometimes because she did stupid things. And then it got interesting, we were given information and action. I was really staring to enjoy the story and couldn't wait to see how it would all pan out and then bam, we were thrown this plot twist (well along the lines of anyway):

And I was like:

Really...le sigh.

But slow plot and twists aside there was a lot to like about this book as well. For one the setting was refreashing and based on my limited knowledge of Japan gained through watching anime it seemed pretty accurate. The customs, food and celebrations were a really nice touch and made me want to be there experiencing it. But what made it better was that Katie was stumbling her way through this new culture and you could imagine what it would be like. A part of this was Sun's use of the Japanese language. Throwing phrases and words in was a really nice touch and done in a way that you understood what was being said - most of the time anyway - without having to constantly flick to the translations and explanations at the back of the book.

The book was quite well written and from what we've leart so far the world building is pretty good. I loved how Sun came up with the Kami and the power they posses. It was particulalry cool when she tied it all in to historic events. This power was one of my favourite parts of the book becuase it was so original and intriuging. That being said we don't learn a lot about it and it's lost a little bit in the relationship centred plot throughout most of the book. I do really look forward to finding out more in the next book.

What truley makes this book special though is the artwork found throughout the book. It's beautifully done and complements the story. It is worth getting your hands on a copy just for this factor alone and I highly recommend buying the book over the ebook for this reason. Although, some ebook readers will allow the pictures to move but I don't know which ones will have this feature. I also recommend the book to allow easier access to the definitions and translations as the ebook does make it a bit more difficult to flip to and from pages to check this list when you need it.

This book had a lot of potential but fell flat in quite a few places but I do see hope that the next book may do a better job at living up to it.

Book Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

The Old Kingdom #1

Published by: Allen & Unwin
Pages: 311
Rating: 5/5

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful—and perhaps malevolent—spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

I've lost track of how many times I have read this book. I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it this time. There is just something about the world Nix created that keeps drawing me back into it.

Sabriel is a wonderful piece of world building. From the technolgy using, magic-free Ancelstierre to the magic-wielding mages of the Old Kingdom, Nix thought through every part of his creation. What I did really enjoy is his take on magic. The charter system is quite interesting and is not something I have seen before. In particular, the distiction between the Abhorsen and other necromancers, and charcter magic and free magic was well done, as was the idea that magic could become corrupted.

Nix did a great job with the characters, allowing them to develop throughout their journey. Sabriel in particular starts off very young and naive but as the plot contuniues she grows into someone that is determined and brave. Yeah, she makes some silly mistakes that make you wonder what she was thinking but in the end she knows what she has to do and is willing to do what it takes to do it.

Touchstone is the love interest. He's kinda boring to begin with, although it is not without reason but he like Sabriel is willing to do what it takes to fix things. What I like about him is that he isn't the typical love interst that is saturating the YA world. He's not drop dead gorgeous, he's more ashamed of his past rather than tortured by it, he doesn't try to hide it and best of all there's no insta-love. In fact he barley talks to Sabriel when they first meet. He develops gradually and by the end of the book you can see the person he used to be and the person he's going to be in the future. And it's this growth in character that slowly makes Sabriel fall for him.

The two main characters aside, the secondary characters are well fleshed out and feel real. Mogget would have to be my favourite character out of all of them, he's just plain awesome.

Sabriel is a well written, entertaining read and I highly recommend it.

Now to re-read Lirael and Abhorsen  to get ready for the release of Clariel next year.

I'll leave you with one of the most poignant quotes from this book, it has stuck with me ever since I first read it.

"Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?" p41