14 November 2013

Ink by Amanda Sun

Ink by Amanda Sun
Series: Paper Gods #1
Publisher: Mira Ink
Publication Date: July 5th 2013
Source: Publisher [Netgalley]



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.

What did I think about Ink? Well, to start with I was really drawn in by the fact it was set in Japan. I've never ever read a book that's set in Japan and I can honestly say that I loved learning about Japan and the Japanese culture. I've never known much about it so I enjoyed getting the opportunity to learn about it in this book. The other thing that really drew me in to start with was the moving drawings. I mean, how could you not be drawn in by that! One second your just sitting there doodling and the next minute your drawings try to eat you! Yeah, I had to find out more about that.

I wasn't overly impress with this book as the story went on. I found myself getting bored slightly and also kind of confused. The random Japanese words that amused me to start with got more annoying as the book went on. I didn't want to constantly have to look up what they meant so I kind of skimmed over them. I think I only learnt what one of the Japanese words meant and then I gave up. 

Katie was an alright main character, although she did annoy me a lot. She had lost her parents and had to move to to Japan and try to fit into this new life. I really felt for her because of that. She was struggling with coming to terms with her parents death but she was also struggling to fit it. She seemed like a likable character, and then she met Tomo. Katie basically turned into a stalker when she met him. She followed him around, spied on him and tried to find out what he was up to. It was kind of creepy actually, and I thought she was a complete psycho. Sure, Tomo was up to something, but that didn't mean that she had to become his personal stalker! It was pretty weird. 

And then there's Tomo. Tomo was an intriguing character, but he was a dick. Most of the time I wanted to punch him. He'd act like a dick to keep people from getting close to him and finding out his secret. There were times when I really liked him though. He could be sweet and funny, and I enjoyed seeing Tomo like that. I really liked discovering Tomo's connection to the Kami. It was pretty interesting, but his connection was dangerous and that's why he tried to keep people away from him.

The whole storyline of the Kami was extremely interesting. I loved learning about the history of the Kami and what Tomo's connection was. I adored seeing Tomo's drawings and seeing what he was capable of because of his connection. There was a lot to discover and a lot of danger involved with being connected to the Kami. Japan was a major part of this book as well and I adored discovering the culture along with Katie. I never knew much about the Japanese culture before I read this book and I'm glad I got the opportunity to learn about it. 

The ending of this book was actually pretty interesting and I am intrigued to find out what's going to happen. Tomo was given a warning about what his Kami connection will do to him and I want to know whether he'll be able to find a way to avoid it. I'm also pretty intrigued to find out what Katie's connection to the Ink is since we never found out in this book. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable book. There were parts I enjoyed and some boring parts that took me a while to get through, but I still enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the second book, but it won't be one I'm desperate to get hold of.

6 comments:

  1. I agree with your review 100%! The set up of the story with all the Japanese culture and the Kami was great! I didn't have any issues with all the Japanese words here and there though, it somehow helped me not lose track of the foreigness of it, but the interactions of Tomo and Katie just seemed TOO MUCH TEENAGE DRAMA for me... it eventually got a bit better, but oigh! it annoyed me! I'm looking forward to book 2 having more mythology and action and less drama!!

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    1. It was! I just couldn't get used to the random Japanese words, it was like they were just there to show that the characters were in Japan and I just couldn't get used to them. It did, didn't it? I'm really hoping we'll find out more about the Kami in the next book too :)

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  2. I've seen more people who weren't impressed by the story, such a shame because it sounds like it has potential! The concept of drawings coming to life and a Japanese setting, you think it couldn't go very wrong..

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    1. The whole concept of the Kami was interesting and definitely my favourite part of the story, it was mainly the characters I had a major problem with. They weren't really likeable characters. They kind of ruined it for me.

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  3. I have had this ARC sitting on my shelf for awhile. I think I want to read it for the same reasons you wanted to, I've never read a book set in Japan and I think that's so freaking cool. I might just wait until break to read it :) Great review!

    Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books

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    1. The Japanese setting was beautiful! I really really loved getting to learn about the Japanese culture. I'd definitely recommend reading it just for that. Thanks Aly :)

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