Cecilia Reviews: Melissa Marr – "Ink Exchange"

17 year old Leslie is trying desperately to find a way to feel in control of her life. Her mother’s shot through, her father’s a drunk who is never around, and her brother quite happily uses her in any way he can to support his addictions. She’s broken, scared, and tormented; and, unbeknownst to her living on the cusp of the faerie world–one of her friends, Aislinn, is a faerie queen and the other’s half fae.

Leslie finds solace in the thought of getting “inked”, but little does she know that this will tie her to the dark court king, Irial, and that she will once again be be used for someone else’s gain. At the same time, she finds herself being drawn to Niall, a fae who is addictive to mortals.

Ink Exchange is the second title in the Wicked Lovely series, but the storyline is easy to grasp if you’re a newcomer to Marr’s work.

The characters are richly woven and easy to visualize. And the scenes are written in such a way that make you truly feel like you’re there and that, if you look out the corner of your eye, you might just see the fae hiding in the shadows. The tattoo scenes had me feeling as if it was my own skin being marked; I could almost smell the ink and feel the needle.

Ink Exchange gripped me from the beginning and didn’t let go. At times, I found myself holding my breath; at other times, I found myself wanting to jump through the pages and throttle both Irial and Niall. I just wanted to protect Leslie and find her a solution.

There are another three novels in the series, Wicked Lovely, Fragile Eternity, and Radiant Shadows, as well as a short story collection: Stopping Time parts 1 and 2 (which focuses more on Leslie’s continued journey).

Fans of Laurell K Hamillton’s Merry Gentry series will also enjoy this novel.

Ink Exchange – Melissa Marr

April 29, 2008 by HarperCollins, Australia

Hardback, 336 pages

ISBN: 9780061214684