Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

Title:  Ink Exchange

Author:  Melissa Marr

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Format/Pages:  Paperback/325 pages

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their shadowy power struggles.  When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo, 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 that Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that bind Leslie to Irial, a dark and dangerous faery king fighting for the soul of his court.  Slowly, Leslie is drawn deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. (Description from paperback book cover)

Melissa Marr creates yet another fascinating story of the faery world and its courts. Just as in Wicked Lovely, she weaves a world worth visiting, a world that inexplicably draws you in.

I am finding the faery world created by Marr extremely intriguing. Both Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange are books that can be read alone, without the necessity of reading the previous book (though it is helpful—and enjoyable). Marr walks the fine line between young adult and adult surprisingly well; she merely suggests at the sexuality and depravity of the Dark Court, leaving the exact details to the reader’s imagination. This is something about her books I really love; she doesn’t go too far while still not holding anything back.

There were times I felt a bit disjointed as I read the book, feeling as if I was floating along catching occasional glances of the story within. Then I realized, this was Marr’s way of allowing the reader to feel some of what Leslie was feeling. Amazing writing! 

Again, I highly recommend this book, just as I did Wicked Lovely.  YA fans will want to get lost in Marr’s faery world!