The Book Fancier: 2♥

Author: Melissa Marr
Published May 1st 2008 by HarperTeen
325 pages
Series: Wicked Lovely
Rating: ♥ ♥

Summary:

Seventeen-year old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their shadowy power struggles. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo, 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 that Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that bind Leslie to Irial, a dark and dangerous faery king fighting for the soul of his court. Slowly, Leslie is drawn deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures and helpless to withstand its perils...

Review:

Love the cover! Well, only the cover. I read this book, I think for two weeks because I didn't really enjoy it. The first one is better.

Ink Exchange is about Leslie who has a hard life ever since her mother left. With an addict brother and a drunk father, she struggles everyday and works hard to pay their bills and to earn to get the tattoo she wanted. She believes that tattoo will probably change her. Little does she know, that it will change more than she expected it will.

I really had a hard time getting into this book. I like the concept though. A girl struggling and getting a tattoo. The concept of how getting a tattoo can change someone is interesting but how the author narrated the story, it isn't at all! Some events are not relevant to the story and will just keep readers more confused. Although the series is about faeries, this book doesn't really give more information about them. I think it's more of a companion novel than a sequel. Also, I don't like the author's writing style.

I think the series has potential but I think Ink Exchange is not a really good sequel for the first book. I'm not sure if I'll continue to read the next books in the series.

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Author: Justina Chen Headley
Published February 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Young Readers
373 pages
Rating: ♥ ♥

Summary:

It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.

She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?

Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.

Review:

I understand why people rated the book higher than what I rated it. The whole idea of the book about beauty is admirable and can make a great impact to teens. However, I just couldn't bring myself to like the flow of the story and the emotions the book brings to its readers.

Terra's 'flawed' face seems to be the center of the story. Not to mention the flawed family where she belongs. She also has a boyfriend who just like her because of her body and the mask she would always wear outside. That is, not until she met this Asian boy who will see her real beauty.

The story started a little slow. It also narrated some events that I think are not essential for the book. Those are the ones that made reading it somewhat boring. When I was already at the middle of it, I wanted to end it soon and start another book worth reading. I'm maybe harsh on judging this book but I felt that the readers don't need more of the dad's rudeness and the shallow characters who can't look beyond what they see.

North of Beautiful is not a bad book at all but I wouldn't recommend it. Unless you are one of those people who only like superficial beauty.

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

North of Beautiful