Review ~ Ink (Paper Gods #1) - Amanda Sun

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: July 5th 2013

Publisher: Mira Ink

Description:

INK IS IN THEIR BLOOD.
On the heels of a family tragedy, Katie Greene must 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.

When Katie meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, the star of the school's kendo team, she is intrigued by him...and a little scared. His tough attitude seems meant to keep her at a distance, and when they're near each other, strange things happen. Pens explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And unless Katie is seeing things, drawings come to life.

Somehow Tomo is connected to the Kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan-and as feelings develop between Katie and Tomo, things begin to spiral out of control. The wrong people are starting to ask questions, and if they discover the truth, no one will be safe.

My Opinion

It was the setting that first drew me to Ink, as well as the beautiful cover. Most YA books I have read are always set in America, which is becoming slightly boring and repetitive now so the Japanese setting intrigued me as I wondered how the author would develop their culture into the novel. 

I'm pleased to say that everything from the language, characters and description felt very authentic and immersed you in the Japanese culture and lifestyle. I did find myself struggling with some of the phrases in Japanese and it took me until the end of the book to find the glossary but it didn't detract too much from the writing. I kind of just brushed over them if there wasn't a translation - you get the gist of the meaning. As well as this I loved the description of Japan, it was vivid and you could really picture what the author was describing, especially the cherry blossom sections. I would love to see that in real life for myself.

The story was as original as the setting. The Kami were an interesting paranormal element that I have not heard of before - or anything close to what I've read about. I'm not sure if they really are derived from Japanese mythology and culture but personally it was refreshing to read something so different. Controlling ink was an unusual gift to have and in my opinion slightly random but it all tied in nicely with Japanese calligraphy and once again had originality.

Personally I did find Ink quite slow to start and hard to get into. I think this was down to the unusual names (not used to Japanese), switches in language and because of the different setting. It took me a while to get into Amanda Sun's world but once I did I really enjoyed it. When there was action is was described brilliantly, with tension and mystery in parts. As well as this once I got used to all the difference and a few chapters into the book the pace started to pick up and remained like that until the end.

With regards to characters I'm not really sure what to make of them. There were times where I really felt for Tomohiro and Katie but others where I felt incredibly distant and borderline not caring what they were doing. Katie did become a little repetitive with her "I don't fit in" or "I stand out" which may have been why I found myself lacking sympathy as it just went on too much; especially when a lot of people compliment her on her fluency of Japanese. She also came across as quite stupid at times which made her rather unlikable. As well as this I did feel a bit like I was reading Twilight at stages with the "Stay away from me I'm dangerous" aspect Tomohiro pulls all the time and Katie clearly not getting the message and stalking him.

Other than that, the only thing I hated in this book was the ending. It leaves you on a terrible cliff hanger and personally I felt there was little resolve. For me, although I liked cliff hangers, I feel there has to be a little resolve to satisfy the reader and there wasn't with Ink. Instead it seems to start off again and I wanted to scream when I saw that was it. I couldn't believe that was how the author ended things, it was so abrupt. Anyway Amanda Sun does succeed in making you want to read the next book.

Overall this was a refreshingly original read. It has a beautiful setting and an interesting paranormal concept. I would recommend this to someone looking for something different in the paranormal genre.