Review, "Ink Exchange" by Melissa Marr
Posted: 25 Jun 2014, 15:32
Do you ever get this overwhelming sense that you are reading a book? you're not lost in the story, you're not enticed by the characters you are simply just reading a book. This is the feeling i had throughout the entire book Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. I don't particularly enjoy reading books with super un-comftorable topics (i know i should probably just grow up) like violence, and rape and i feel like what the authors theme was in this book was that even with those horrible things everyone has a choice. But as i said earlier, instead of getting lost in the story and trying to pick up the moral, i really just felt like i was reading a book. (i really think only certain people are going to understand my meaning here, and if anyone thinks they know what i'm going through i'd be happy to hear their explanation of it since i don't think i'm doing justice here).
Marrs second novel in the Wicked Lovely series, (I think that's the series title, i'm really not even 100% sure on that) focuses on Asilinns good friend Leslie and how terribly junked up her life is. Leslies father is an alcoholic, her brother a drug addict who's willing to do anything to score, including but not limited drugging and selling Leslie, and her mother is passed away. Leslie tries her damnedest to keep her life together, going to school serving tables, and saving up some money so she can get way from her tumultuous life. She thinks she's doing a great job of hiding the horrors that have happened to her until she decides to get a tattoo that shatters her reality, even as terrible as it may be, forever.
I think if i had to pick some things that i really enjoyed about this book i would say that the overall theme i believe the author was trying to get at was supposed to empowering. I like knowing that authors out there write with some sense of purpose like this in mind. No matter how messed up your world gets, or Leslies as the book shows you can always make choices. Not making a choice can be as bad as making one, and whatever the consequences of your choices at least they are yours to make.
The difficulty in this particular novel for me, aside from the fact that Marr really made sure the un-comftorable topics were broached was that the settings that Marr put in gave me readers whiplash. In one paragraph i'm in a club but somehow i'm also in a bedroom, and in the next sentence even i'm in Leslies house? I often accredit these sorts of mishaps to my brain being overworked but i re-read a lot of this work and it really was strange how the setting would just instantly change with no indication. I found it confusing and unsettling. Also there were so many things i didn't understand about each faerie court 's interaction with another. There was mention of mutiny in the dark shadow court, and there was some other seasonal court but i don't really think i ever understood what the latter's deal was. I really think a lot more could have been done to make the book more clear and therefore more enjoyable.
I really don't think, as i didn't with Wicked Lovely, that i would recommend this book. It's too dark and un-settling for my taste. It's not exactly a slow read, but like i said in the beginning it almost feels like you're just doing this action instead of interacting with the book, imagining the characters and their troubles, so it feels more like you're going through the motions than enjoying the work that Marr put together. If you have read this book and have a different opinion i would very much enjoy hearing what i've missed in this work. Sometimes it takes some assistance in illumination for me to really appreciate a work and i feel either Marr missed the mark or i did. Thank you for reading this review.
Marrs second novel in the Wicked Lovely series, (I think that's the series title, i'm really not even 100% sure on that) focuses on Asilinns good friend Leslie and how terribly junked up her life is. Leslies father is an alcoholic, her brother a drug addict who's willing to do anything to score, including but not limited drugging and selling Leslie, and her mother is passed away. Leslie tries her damnedest to keep her life together, going to school serving tables, and saving up some money so she can get way from her tumultuous life. She thinks she's doing a great job of hiding the horrors that have happened to her until she decides to get a tattoo that shatters her reality, even as terrible as it may be, forever.
I think if i had to pick some things that i really enjoyed about this book i would say that the overall theme i believe the author was trying to get at was supposed to empowering. I like knowing that authors out there write with some sense of purpose like this in mind. No matter how messed up your world gets, or Leslies as the book shows you can always make choices. Not making a choice can be as bad as making one, and whatever the consequences of your choices at least they are yours to make.
The difficulty in this particular novel for me, aside from the fact that Marr really made sure the un-comftorable topics were broached was that the settings that Marr put in gave me readers whiplash. In one paragraph i'm in a club but somehow i'm also in a bedroom, and in the next sentence even i'm in Leslies house? I often accredit these sorts of mishaps to my brain being overworked but i re-read a lot of this work and it really was strange how the setting would just instantly change with no indication. I found it confusing and unsettling. Also there were so many things i didn't understand about each faerie court 's interaction with another. There was mention of mutiny in the dark shadow court, and there was some other seasonal court but i don't really think i ever understood what the latter's deal was. I really think a lot more could have been done to make the book more clear and therefore more enjoyable.
I really don't think, as i didn't with Wicked Lovely, that i would recommend this book. It's too dark and un-settling for my taste. It's not exactly a slow read, but like i said in the beginning it almost feels like you're just doing this action instead of interacting with the book, imagining the characters and their troubles, so it feels more like you're going through the motions than enjoying the work that Marr put together. If you have read this book and have a different opinion i would very much enjoy hearing what i've missed in this work. Sometimes it takes some assistance in illumination for me to really appreciate a work and i feel either Marr missed the mark or i did. Thank you for reading this review.