Teen Fiction

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely Series #2)

Name: Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely Series #2)
Author: Melissa Marr
ISBN: 9780061214707

by Melissa Marr

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Overview

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 has dreamed 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. . . .

Synopsis

The tattoo does bring changes not the kind Leslie has dreamed 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...

The Washington Post - Mary Quattlebaum

As the sequel to last year's popular Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange is even more compelling, thanks to Melissa Marr's more nuanced characterizations.

About the Author, Melissa Marr

Melissa Marr is the author of the New York Times bestseller Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange. She has a collection of weaknesses that includes tide pools, folklore, deserts, tattoos, and new experiences.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

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.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“A delicious, smoky delight.”

Mary Quattlebaum

As the sequel to last year's popular Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange is even more compelling, thanks to Melissa Marr's more nuanced characterizations.
—The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

Returning to the faery world of Wicked Lovely, Marr serves up another highly addictive read, this time centering on Leslie, a mortal girl who made a cameo appearance in that earlier work as a friend of its protagonist, Aislinn. Broken by terrible trauma, Leslie seeks to anchor her mind from slipping into oblivion. She finds salvation—or so it seems—in a strange tattoo that gives her power and strength like she's never felt before. But Leslie's euphoria is short-lived, and the tattoo comes with a shocking price. Its ink has been laced with the blood of Irial, king of the fey's Dark Court. Upon the tattoo's completion, Leslie will be bound to Irial as if a slave, with Court rules forbidding even Aislinn, the new Summer Queen, and Summer King Keenan's guard, the handsome Niall, to sever this dark attachment. Once again readers will find a love triangle that simmers, this time among Leslie, Irial and Niall—all of whom face choices that could cost them everything they prize. Compulsive enough to give the Twilight series a run for its money, and dizzyingly more sinister. Ages 12—up. (May)

Children's Literature

Compared to her classmates', Leslie's life is a struggle. Her mother left years ago. Her father is a drunk. Leslie works part-time to pay the family bills. She is terrified of her drug-dealing brother, who sold her for a few bucks to his creepy friends, letting them do whatever they wanted to her for a night. Leslie survived but is still full of fear and pain. She desperately wants to get a tattoo as an act of reclaiming her body. She wants to change, to feel safe, to be in control, and to feel fearless. The tattoo represents all she wants, the changes she intends to make, and the fact that her body belongs to her and no one else. Unknown to Leslie, there are far more dangerous things to fear than her brother—the dark fey. The secret world of immortals surrounds her. Her best friend, Aislinn, is the Queen of the Faery Summer Court, so a life filled with fey is inescapable. Leslie's longings draw her to the dark faeries, and despite Aislinn's protective forces, Leslie's horrific past leaves her vulnerable to their powers. What neither girl realizes is that when Leslie chooses her tattoo, she is being marked as property of Irial, King of the Dark Court. Leslie's desire to feel painless and fearless is granted, but for a terrible price. For the second time in Leslie's life, another person takes control of her body to use it for his pleasure. Unlike before, this time she might not survive. In this sequel to Wicked Lovely, Marr takes readers back to where the beautiful but dark faery world intersects with the real world. The sensual writing lures in the reader, letting him or her experience every moment of terror or pleasure that Leslie experiences. The intense plot, vividcharacters, and stellar writing will captivate readers, making them long for more. Reviewer: Melissa Joy Adams

KLIATT

Leslie is a high school senior who has been sexually molested by her brother's "friends." Her mother has abandoned the family, her father is nonexistent and her brother is an unscrupulous drug addict. Leslie tries to hold herself together with the help of her friend Aislinn. She decides that she wants to get a tattoo, as a way of reclaiming her life and asserting control over her own body. What she doesn't know is that the tattoo artist is part of the dark side of the fairy world; the dark fairies are responsible for much of the chaos and violence in the mortal world. His special collection of tattoos is designed to connect mortals to the Dark King, Iriel. Iriel's plan is to attach himself to a mortal and use her, her fears and her pain, to feed his subjects. But while Leslie is getting her tattoo she becomes interested in Niall, Aislinn's strange bodyguard. In fact, she doesn't completely understand the relationship that Aislinn has with Niall, who always seems to be with Aislinn's friends Keenan and Seth. The reality is that they are all part of the fairy world, a world that Aislinn wanted to keep separate from Leslie. Niall is a tormented former dark fairy who is himself interested in Leslie. This is a violent tale of fairies in the gritty city and the havoc they wreak on the mortals who live there. Older readers of fantasy will be drawn in by the dark supernatural element and surprised by a theme that reinforces the affirmation of human identity and self-reliance. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson

Kirkus Reviews

This sequel to Wicked Lovely (2007) focuses on a damaged mortal girl who unknowingly becomes the property of a dark faerie king. An abuse survivor, Leslie wants to take control of her body by getting a tattoo. What she doesn't know is that her tattoo will bind her to the iniquitous Irial, who plans to take enough of her mortality to enable him to feed on both mortals and faeries. Niall, a servant assigned to protect Leslie, finds himself falling for her despite an injunction against romancing mortals. Unfortunately, the intrigue and themes of physical and sexual autonomy get lost in the bloated writing; the speech of the teen characters is archaic and ridiculous. Rather than stimulate the senses, the overwrought descriptions only serve to confuse the reader and slow down the plot. Too many throwaway characters make up the periphery of this meandering, cluttered book. Despite its many shortcomings, however, this title is likely to be just as popular as its bestselling predecessor. (Fantasy. YA)

Booklist

"This dark fantasy about survival and transformation is as mesmerizing as its urban faery subjects."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A delicious, smoky delight."

Washington Post Book World

"As the sequel to Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange is even more compelling. Their [the characters’] fierce, sometimes despairing search for their true selves gives Ink Exchange its sinister power."