Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

Title:Ink Exchange

Author:Melissa Marr

Rating:

Who Should Read It?ADULTS who like paranormal teen fiction and don't mind the occasional annoying character

What I Have to Say:This is rated as a young adult book, but really - I'm just not so sure about that. I mean, it's about Leslie, a girl who is raped and drugged by her brother and then CONTINUES LIVING WITH HIM!!!! As if it's just the most normal thing in the world. Sure, she doesn't like her brother, and she tries to avoid him, but still, what is up with that?!? As opposed to actually getting out of the bad situation and retaking control of her life for real, she dreams of getting (and eventually does get) a tattoo. As if this will solve all of her problems in the world. That is NOT a good example for any book to be setting for easily influenced adolescents.
It also made Leslie, for me, a rather unlikable character. That, combined with the fact that Aislinn (the main character of the first book, Wicked Lovely) was whiny and controlling and that pretty much all of the other characters were excruciatingly underdeveloped, made this a fairly annoying book for me to read.
I should also mention that there was also a love triangle involved, and unfortunately Marr spent far too much time focusing on this and not enough time focusing on the intricacies and complexities of the wicked plot she had created.
That said, this was a good, dark book about very dark, sad, treacherous things. And Melissa Marr takes those dark, sad, treacherous things and tries to get the reader to understand them and feel sympathetic towards them, and there, she succeeds. The world of dark faerie that she creates is mystical and magical and terrifying. Her descriptions are beautiful enough that I can't help but wonder if these invisible faeries are flitting around my world.
I liked it enough that I'll be picking up the third book in the series.

Summary (from School Library Journal):Leslie lives with a father who has given up on life, a drug-abusing brother who allowed his dealer to rape Leslie in lieu of payment, and a burning desire to banish pain and fear from her life. Unable to confide in her best friend, Aislinn, she devotes herself to working to pay the family bills and to get the tattoo she believes will help her reclaim her body. What she doesn't know is that the art she has selected will bind her to Irial, the king of the Dark Court of Fairy. He removes her emotions like fear, panic, or anger, and uses them to nourish the fairies of his court. What Irial doesn't expect is his growing love for Leslie and her desire to make her own choices. In Leslie, Marr has created a damaged, wounded character who still comes across as being incredibly strong. Irial needs to care for his court, knowing them too weak to win a war, but his feelings for Leslie make him unwilling to do what needs to be done.