Ink by Amanda Sun
Paperback, 326 pages
Published June 25th 2013 by Harlequin Teen (first published June 21st 2013)
Summary:
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.
Review:
Thanks to the Harlequin Teen Panel for sending this to me! First of all, the cover is GORGEOUS! When I saw it, I thought, ooh this will be a good read. But it didn't really turn out that way.
This is a book set in modern time and mixed with Japanese. At first, I didn't really like the Japanese because I don't like manga and I thought it would be a bit like it, but it's not, it fits with the book. The main character is Katie and she has a sad story. Her mother dies and instead of being with her grandparents, she has to move to Japan and stay with her Aunt because her grandpa was in the process of recovering and could relapse into his sickness. At first, she doesn't like it there, but then some things happen and she wants to stay.
Katie is a good main character in my opinion. She might be the most ideal for others, but she's a pretty cool chick. She's American and she doesn't fit in with the Japanese kids at all. A lot of them don't hesitate to insult her in her face, but she does have a couple of good friends. She's smart and good and strong. What more could you ask?
Tomohiro Yuu is a bit like the second main character. At first glance, he's mean, rude, and way out of your league. He puts out a tough exterior to everybody except to the people close to him. He's mean to Katie at first, but she doesn't give up and they eventually become "friends".
Honestly, I wanted to like this book a lot. I really wanted to, but it just didn't happen. There were some things in the plot that I wanted to know more about. Like what really happend with Tomohiro's ex-girlfriend. Did he really like her at once? Would they have gotten back together if Katie didn't come? I just thought it was terrible, what happend to her and how Tomo got her to think he did something wrong and break up with him because you can't just do that??!! Also, I didn't not like that some of the dialogue was in Japanese, but I did not like that I didn't know that the translations were in the back of the book and I had to waste time trying to figure out what the words meant on google translate! I also thought the book was rushed a bit, but maybe that's just me. I didn't really understand the concept of a Kami and how Tomohiro had those "problems" with his ink.
But one thing I did like were her inspirational quotes. Especially,
"How do you win when you're up against yourself?"
and
"They tell you you'll forget how it used to be. You'll get used to it, that it's better to move on. They don't realize you can't. You're not the same person anymore"
All in all, this was an okay book, but I will not be waiting and fangirling for the sequel to come out. 3 Stars.
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