Book Review: Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

Title: Ink Exchange
Series/Sequel? Second of the Wicked Lovely Series, followed by Fragile Eternity
Author: Melissa Marr
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Age Level: YA (13-18)
Page Count: 325 (Hardcover) 
Summary from inside flap of book: Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow. 

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily  beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life. 

The tattoo does bring changes - not the kind Leslie dreams of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils...

Review: I've been waiting to read the sequel of Wicked Lovely for about three years now. I was very excited to read it, and it didn't drop below my expectations.

This book was a whole lot darker than Wicked Lovely. There were several reasons for this, I believe. One was the fact that it focuses mainly on the Dark Court. And next to the Dark Court, Beira (from Wicked Lovely) looks tame. Another factor was the things that have happened to Leslie, the things that she has had to go through, and the type of thing Niall - who is also a main character in this book - has had to go through.

I also found the tattoo and the whole process of her becoming Irial's through the ink exchange very interesting. The design of the tattoo itself was very cool to imagine, as was it's symbolism and how each part of it represented a different thing.

This book was written in third person, which distanced me from the character, but also thought was for the best. It changed vantage points - from Niall's to Irial's to Leslie's - that I feel that if it has been written in first person, it would have been just to confusing.

In this book, the unexpected reigned more than I can tell you. Irial was more compassionate than I believed a Dark King could be, and Niall was more dark and tortured than I thought an adviser to the Summer King could be. I also found it amazing how much pain and darkness Leslie could withstand, and how even under Irial's influence, she could still make her own prices.

I have the third book, Fragile Eternity, ready to be read next!

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