Review: 3.5 STARS for a different kind of paranormal YA for the masses
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2012
3.5 STARS for "Ink"Oh my where to begin, where to begin...hmm...this was one of the more original YA paranormal reads I've ever read. And the novel felt so extensive, I felt like I read more than one book. I liked it and I disliked it."Ink" had every YA cliche I think it could have. We have Hope, the heroine who feels like an outsider, comes from a broken home, a talented good girl who had to move across country to take care of her young, good-looking father who drinks away his sorrows he feels from his soon-to-be ex-wife (his high school sweetheart BTW). Oh and her family is poor and are on #teamdad. But see Hope is super talented, so talented we really don't get to see her amazing talents other than her signing a handful (if that) of times. Poor Hope is to start Asherwild High School, a performing arts high school that was kind of hyped up in the beginning of the book , stretched out and then forgotten. It was supposed to be important and should have been - it's a performing school but none of the current students...PERFORMED...ANYTHING. They just mentioned they did.The author throws every plot device know to man at this girl - attempted rape, voyeurism, attacks, expulsion from school, being caught having sex my a parent, almost dying, being bullied, homeschooling, defying parents, magic, a murder mystery, ghosts, disappearing tattoos, parents acting like kids, kids acting like parents, alcoholism etc.Listen, I think with more editing (some scenes were not necessary because it just opened another door of questions that won't get answered) this story could have been stellar. If we had theme maybe stick more to Slade and Hope with their friends as secondary characters. "Ink" was all over the place and the ending fizzled more than sizzled...yet I finished it because I had to see what more the author wanted to throw in.Hope was a TSTL heroine and she gladly admits it to her best friend Karsen, one of my favorite highlights of this book. Hope and her family couldn't figure out which side of the fence they should be on their feelings against her would be raper, one point they are friends next enemies back to friends again...confusing. and one of my pet peeves - lack of consistency happened a few times: Slade went from being twenty to nineteen, Tucker's features changed from blonde to brown haired...I don't dig on authors for typos (which "Ink" has) because, hey, mistakes happen but ages and physical appearances discrepancies is another story.The ending was weak but this story had promise. I could go on and on about what would have made the story better (a spine inserted into Hope and her father's back, a decision on making Tucker, an antagonist, either evil or good, an explanation on how Hoe's father changed from an uncaring drunk to a parent, etc.) but why? I mean I didn't give up on the story (though when I got to 31%, there was a scene where I nearly did), there will be a lot of people who will love this book. There's a lopsided love triangle (Lopsided because Tucker as a character didn't see clear cut and Slade wasn't given a more deserving heroine) and a lot of steamy scenes thrown in.So simply put...not bad but not as good either.