Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr - A Review (-ish)

As I said before, I finally listened to Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr last month and loved its darkness, teen angst and incredible world building. But when I found that book two, Ink Exchange, was not going to continue the story of the characters in Wicked Lovely, I was hesitant. I emailed the brilliant Ana from Book Smugglers and asked her whether I needed to read Ink Exchange to understand the action in Fragile Eternity, book three in the series. Her answer was "Need to read it? Not necessarily. Should you read it? Absolutely."

So, not being a stupid girl, I took Ana's advice and did as she advised. Again, I listened to the story. Marr has a new narrator for the audio version of Ink Exchange, a guy whose voice I quite loved and who I thought did a wonderful job of laying out the dark tableau of Ink Exchange.

At its heart, Ink Exchange is a story of triumph over addiction. It is the story of Leslie, who is a friend of Aislinn, the newly crowned Queen of the Summer Court. Leslie has no inkling of Ash's new life or the existence of fairies. She knows that Ash seems to be living in a very strange triumverate with her boyfriend, Seth, and with Keenan, a new and very hot guy in town. Little does she know that Keenan is the Summer King and Ash's counterpart. One of the first things Aislinn does when she takes over rule of the court is insist that her close friends be protected and watched at all times. You see, Ash is very aware of the horror of fairy and that very bad things can happen to mortals. Ash asks Niall, one of Keenan's closest advisors to help with watching over Leslie. Sometimes Niall is visible to Leslie and others he's invisible to her. But at the times he's visible, she's very attracted. Niall is a handsome guy, but he also has this sad yet strong vibe that Leslie totally relates to. He has scars on his face, so she knows he's survived something awful, just as she has. Leslie's brother is a drug dealer, and one night, while high on crack, he drugged her and gave her to a group of other dealers to rape. Leslie survived it, but is emotionally wrecked by it. And she never, ever discusses it. Leslie's mother is long gone, and her father, in mourning for that broken relationship is now a drunk, who can't even pay the bills on time. So Leslie and her brother both work to split the bills (although he can never really be relied upon to do his part).

Leslie has resolved quite some time ago to get a tattoo. But she's been long undecided about what tattoo to get. She spends a lot of time at Pins & Needles, the local tattoo parlor talking to Rabbit, the owner and trying to decide what to get. Leslie is unaware that Rabbit is part fey as well. One day, Rabbit shows Leslie a book of custom designs. Finally she finds one that speaks to her. She immediately connects to it, and insists that Rabbit do the design for her. What she doesn't realize is that she's chosen the sign of Irial, King of the Dark Court. When Rabbit tattoos her with Irial's symbol, he will use special ink, a combination of Irial's blood and ink which will inextribly join Irial and Leslie. The Dark Court survives by feeding on the "lesser" human emotions: lust, greed, anger, terror. Once Irial and Leslie are joined, Leslie will become the conduit by which Irial can feed not just himself, but his entire court.

When Leslie finally meets Irial, she is immediately drawn to him. She doesn't understand why, but he's dark and handsome and compelling. She can't stop looking at him, and after she gets the first part of her tattoo, she does not ever want to be away from him. At the same time, she begins to manifest a dark side of her personality. She's quicker to anger, and has a ruthlessness that she's never possessed before. Soon afterwards, Niall and Leslie's relationship takes a big step forward. You see, she's also very drawn to Niall, who is a member of the Summer Court by choice, but is actually from the Dark Court. He and Irial have a long and complicated history, one that included his abuse at Irial's hands. Despite that, he can't hate Irial. Theirs is a very difficult relationship. Once Niall realizes that Leslie is slipping into Irial's grasp, he tries to mobilize to save her. It is at that time that he understands that his relationship with Leslie and Irial is one that others would hope to leverage for their own purposes. All of this comes as Leslie is slipping farther and farther into the addiction that Irial's tender care provides.

Simply put, this is an absolutely gorgeous book. Marr's world is not necessarily a complicated one, but it is very dark. And although the books are marketed as Young Adult fiction, they work as adult fiction on every level. The are gripping and emotional and layered with nuance. The story itself really is a triumph over addiction and survival of awful things. But what makes it so fascinating is simply put: Irial. He is one of the most interesting characters I've ever read. He's the King of the Dark Court, and as such, is ruthless and seemingly without morals or ethics. And yet, he has his own code. He understands completely his responsibilities, and the hope that Leslie's tie to him provides. At the same time, he is torn between those duties, and the unwanted emotion that his ties to Leslie and to Niall provide.

I find it fascinating that both with this book and Wicked Lovely, it is the dark characters that I find most compelling. Donia in the first book and Irial in this one. Marr has a deft touch with inner monologue, telegraphing without ever being overt, that nothing is at it seems in this world, and that even those who are "bad" aren't necessarily wholly one or the other. It is that juxtapostion and grey area that makes this series one of the best fantasy series I've read.

Final grade: A