Book Review - Ink

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Cover art courtesy of Barnes and Noble
Title: Ink
Author: Amanda Sun
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Version I Read: Kindle

Rating: 3/5


I’ve been trying to get away from YA paranormal romance as of late, because it’s all just so boring and not very well written. Ink is only a partial exception to that, but I found myself picking it up anyway because the premise and setting intrigued me.

Ink follows the story of Katie Greene, an American teen having to go live with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, upon the death of her mother. Grieving for her mother, feeling like an outsider in a completely different culture halfway across the world, all she can think about is going to live with her grandparents in Canada instead. But when she meets mysterious Tomohiro and strange things begin happening around her involving ink, Katie realizes there’s more to Tomohiro than the rumors suggest.

For the most part, Ink is pretty typical for its genre. Mysterious boy in high school who turns out to be some kind of supernatural being, tries to push the girl away for her own protection, girl is “special” for some reason, boy loses girl for some dumbish reason, no real plot to speak of, yadda yadda yadda.

That being said, there are a few things that set Ink apart from the crowd:

The culture. Amanda Sun has clearly been to Japan, because I have too and I can vouch for nearly everything being precisely true. The accuracy of it truly makes the Japan of the book come alive, so kudos to the author on that front. The one odd exception to this is the Kami themselves, who don’t resemble mythological Japanese kami at all. That being said, her take on them is interesting.

The dialogue. The banter between Katie and Tomohiro feels real and makes them feel more like real people than typical protagonists in a paranormal YA novel. Fortunately, Tomohiro also escapes the “abusive boyfriend” problem that tends to crop up in YA because all of his “bad boy” attributes turn out to be complete accidents or lies, and, aside from his powers, he turns out to be a rather normal Japanese teenager.

The true natures of Ishikawa and Takahashi were also pretty well-done, with Ishikawa turning out not to be so bad a guy (adequately foreshadowed) and Jun being kind of a megalomaniac wanting to take over the world (not so adequately foreshadowed, but it worked because it was an interesting twist). Yuki and Tanaka don’t have much personality, but they do feel like normal high school students. I was interested in Shiori and wanted to learn more about her.

At first I rolled my eyes at the ending (Katie’s grandparents being able to take her in and Tomohiro encouraging her to leave so she won’t be hurt because of his power) but it was not too badly done because of the last few paragraphs, where Katie says screw it and doesn’t go. I also consider Katie herself to be a rather strong heroine, as she knows kendo and uses it when they’re captured by yakuza. Even without using her physical strength, she manages to be an imposing figure, not afraid to speak her mind or challenge others.

The Verdict: Not perfect by any means, especially compared to my sensibilities and standards, but if you’re still on the prowl for Twilight clones, you could do a lot worse than this one.

Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.  

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