Tuesday Review Day!

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely, #2)

Written by: Melissa Marr

Publication date: May 1, 2008

Released in Hardcover, paperback, Kindle & ebook

325 pages

3.8 stars

Synopsis: To 17-year-old Leslie, the tattoo is a thing of indescribable beauty, a captivating mark that she must make her own. But this subtle web of eyes and wings brings with it a transformation that no sweet young girl would ever imagine or welcome. Like its predecessor, this stand-alone sequel to Wicked Lovely plunges its youthful heroine into a faery world of almost constant peril. A tantalizing urban fantasy that won't let go.

My Review: Leslie is a poor, unfortunate soul; left to fend for herself in a dysfunctional household that isn't even a place she can call home. She's ready to make a change and the perfect tattoo seems like the right place to start. I've got a couple tattoos myself so I get the liberating feel you get when you get one, but I think Leslie takes that meaning of being free to design your body however you want to be a little more profound than it actually is.

We get to see Aislinn although it isn't her story. If you've read Alyxandra Harvey's Drake Chronicles, it's just like that; several books but each one is about a different character from the first one, which is why I do not advise you to read either series out of order. In this sequel we get to know Leslie better and meed the Dark Fey that were mentioned in Wicked Lovely. Irial is the Dark King and has recently become quite interested in Leslie, and I think we all know how things turn out when a faery, light or dark, sets his sights on a human. If a faery decides it wants you, it will have you.

What is with Melissa Marr and her conflicting characters?! Right from the beginning I knew I was going to feel torn about Irial. I was all ready to hate him through out the story, my lip curling with hate every time he came into the story, but I often found that sneer had turned into a very different expression. One more like empathy. I didn't know what to do with myself. On the other hand, I knew I liked Niall from the first book; he seemed a rare find among the fey - he was genuinely kind. At least, he knew how to be and chose to be often. Niall plays a big part in this sequel, the second male lead role, if you will. He is devout in his loyalty to the Summer court but when Leslie comes into his life - everything changes. Leslie is obliviously naive. If she only knew what she was dealing with, she'd be just as brave facing her threat - it took waaay too long for her to finally learn the truth - less than 100pgs left. Smh. The love triangle in this book is very frustrating. Both Irial and Niall are pursuing Leslie in their own, very different ways but by the end, I wanted both of them to have her!

Overall: Although this probably won't be my favorite book in the series, it does have a very strong message. It was profound, a lot of talk about belonging to yourself, reclaiming yourself after someone has tried to hurt you. Leslie went through a tragic ordeal hence her quest to find the perfect tattoo to begin the reclaiming process.