Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf 
Released: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: The Twixt, Book 1
Page Amount: 384, ARC
POV: 3rd Person 
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:

Plot-17/20
Characters-19/20

Creativity-16/20

Writing-18/20

Pace-7/10

Ending-9/10

=86/100 B

★★★★/5

SUMMARY:

Some things are permanent. Indelible. And they cannot be changed back. Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same. Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.-Goodreads.com

REViEW:
This book immediately caught my attention. Joy is stabbed in the eye while at a club by a mysterious man with the pitch black eyes that no one else can see. From then on Ms. Metcalf dives into the history of a whole new creature and world, the Twixt. It was an interesting premise from the start, but it was a little unbelievable to me. Ink, the mysterious guy, and his sister, Inq, mark people with their own signature. It's a unique kind of creature and the concept was very interesting at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book, but the farther into the story I got, the less I believed in the world and the repetitive the story became. Once Joy is marked, all these weird people start falling her around and some even attack her. Most of the book describes an event of this. One after the other. Same thing, but with a different person. It made me lose interest a bit. If this book was just a little shorter, I feel like this book would absolutely amazing.  

The characters were intriguing. Joy was probably the most believable character to me. I liked being able to see her grow throughout the book. Ink was a good character too, but he lacked that heartthrob factor. Joy and Ink's relationship felt a little forced to me. It happened gradually but they were never really lovey dovey. No romantic banter between these two. Inq was pretty fun to read about, on the other hand. I loved some scenes involving her, but it was really freaky when she marked Joy. Honestly, I wish I was able to connect with the characters more. There is such potential and a unique concept to this book that I hope the next books are even better.

The ending was pretty good. The big battle scene I didn't really get much out of because of all the action leading up to it, but I did enjoy the last couple of chapters. I find it interesting about Joy's powers, so I hope Metcalf dives into that some more in the sequel. Despite the few things that slowed the pace for me, I did enjoy reading this book. There were a lot of good moments that had me relating to and rooting for Joy.

My Favorite Part: The epilogue.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it's a unique concept to check out!
Will I be reading the next book? I think so. 

Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoy this book!

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

Ink by Amanda Sun

Ink by Amanda Sun
Released: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: The Paper Gods, Book 1
Followed By: TBA
Page Amount: 377, ARC
POV: 1st Person (Katie)
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:

Plot-19/20
Characters-19/20
Creativity-20/20
Writing-19/20
Pace-10/10
Ending-10/10
=97/100 A
★★★★★/5

SUMMARY:

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench. A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness. And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine. On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building. Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets. Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive-Goodreads.com

REViEW:
I could not be happier that I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book. The second I picked up this book, I became addicted to the fast-paced plot and witty dialogue. I could tell from the beginning of this book that it would break the chain of monotonous YA. The premise of Ink is different from every other book I've read, and that's saying a lot. This book focuses on a American girl, Katie, trying to blend in in Japan after her mother's death. Of course it's not all cherry blossoms for Katie. When she meets Tomohiro the book is filled with mystery, action, and ink. The mystery compelled me to never sit the book down, while the action left me breathless. The descriptions of the action and kendo matches were so well written I could picture it like I was watching a movie. 

I read a few reviews where some readers complained about the incorporation of some Japanese language within the text. I had no problem with this with the use of context clues and the short definitions right after the word. There's even a glossary in the back if you really want to immerse yourself in Japanese. Basically, this book has a fresh feel to it because of its unique premise and use of Japanese inspiration.      

The characters were great as well. Katie was in a completely new country, but she was very headstrong and confident throughout the book. I loved that. The YA world really needs more strong, independent female characters. Katie would not back down or let Tomohiro have the last word. Their witty banter was so amusing to read. Tomo was a very complex character throughout the storyline. He has a lot of depth as well as a mysterious facade. I really wanted to figure him out throughout the book, and I liked what I discovered. His relationship with Katie was pretty good. I understood and felt the attraction and enjoyed seeing how their feeling played out. Even the minor characters like Yuki, Tanaka, and Diane felt realistic.     

This book ended with the perfect ending. I absolutely love the twist at the end. The last scene of this book blew me away by the way it made my heart race. I don't want to give much away regarding what exactly happened because there is nothing like the suspense of reading an amazing, surprising ending. All in all, this book is definitely one of my favorites of the year. Sun took me on a journey that read like a movie. I cannot wait for the sequel to be released so that I can see what's in store for Katie and Tomo.      

My Favorite Part: The unique premise that sets it apart from all the other dystopian and paranormal YA.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it's really different from most YA books.
Will I be reading the next book? Absolutely, I cannot wait!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy this book! It's super unique. 

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett
Released: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: Confesions, Book 1
Followed By: Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend
Page Amount: 272, US Paperback
POV: 1st Person (Rose)
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:
Plot-17/20
Characters-17/20
Creativity-19/20
Writing-18/20
Pace-9/10
Ending-8/10
=88/100 B
★★★★/5

SUMMARY:
Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…
1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?
2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.
3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)
Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.
(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)
(Sorry. That was rude.) -Goodreads.com

REViEW:
The plot of Confessions of an Angry Girl was fairly good. It was super unique to me because it held a lot of issues that haven't been shown in my previous reads. Some things seemed to be a little inappropriate for these 14 year old girls to be thinking, but I still thought it brought up some good points. I really enjoyed reading about Rose's grief over losing her father. That really touched me and seemed really realistic. I also really enjoyed the party scene. Granted I do think it was too not practical for 14 year olds, but I liked how Rose reacted. I would have done the same. This is a pretty fast read. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It is a very realistic book about high school and all the screwed up stuff you encounter there.

Okay so my big complaint about the characters is that Rose to me was not that angry. I expected flipping tables and screaming, but nothing! Rose did get a little irritated sometimes, but it was nothing beyond what a normal tennager would do. That was my big complaint. Also, I did relate to Rose, but at times she just annoyed me. See seems to be reasonable and smart, but sometimes I did not see that, which really threw me off. Through most of the book though, I enjoyed Rose and really connected with her and felt like I would make similar choices in some of her situations. Tracy, on the other hand, was totally crazy. I get her character, I mean she's a typical wannabe, but I feel like Ms. Rozett took her to an extreme. I'm sorry, but having sex at age 14 is definitely not okay, she should be painting her nails, not dating some loser. Regina also irked me. She was the crazy cheerleader bad girl. I feel like this book would be so much more realistic if her character wasn't taken to such an extent.  Jamie though... him I like. Probably just because he's male haha. He seems like an okay guy, though I don't understand him at all. I kind of hate him for being with Regina, but I feel like in future installments he will have more depth.

The ending was kind of anti-climatic for me. Mainly because there was the main craziness a little bit earlier. I loved all the stuff that happened before the very end. I just felt like the book's last few paragraphs could be more suspenseful and intriguing. It didn't really make me feel like "ohmigosh now I have to go buy the next book right now."

My Favorite Part: The little events and plot twists that were unique.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it was surprisingly unique and a totally teen book.

Will I be reading the sequel? Yes, because I dont know, I guess I just have a thing for angsty teens.

Thank you for reading! November was such an amazing reading month!