Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Review: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Title: Indelible (The Twixt #1)
Author: Dawn Metcalf
Published: July 30th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Some things are permanent.
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.
Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.
Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.
Somewhere between reality and myth lies…
The Twixt.

What a pretty cover this book has! I was allured to it ever since I first saw it. Then I read the blurb and wowzaa!! I knew we were meant to be. Turns out though, our story wasn’t exactly written in the stars. What originally felt like an original, intriguing world, turned out to be a frustrating teenage romance disguised as a unique paranormal story.

“Lehman?" Joy said. The word sounded familiar. "What does that mean?"

Inq shrugged as she considered the overhead lights. "A human who has been chosen by one of our kind. Confidante, contact, significant ... "
"Slave," Ink said dully.
"What?" Joy snapped.
"Or lover," Inq added. "It loses something in translation.” 

When we first met Joy, I admit, I would have freaked out over that window and those creepy noises a little, too. Ok, I’m lying. I would have freaked out a lot. However, when she learns about Ink and Inq, it doesn’t take a lot of time for her to trust them. Her character—the often lonesome, completely average girl with a fabulous best friend—was so full of clichés. The one relationship I was actually invested in was Joy and her brother, but this wasn’t explored to the length I was hoping for.  Safe to say that there are some female character I just don’t resonate well with and unfortunately Joy was one of them.

As for the romance, the L-bomb was so unexpected that I remember to have blinked my very rounded eyes multiple times since I just could not believe what I was reading. I do think there’s insta-attraction and you can take a very quick liking to another person but come on! You can’t possibly love someone you’ve practically just met. Who isn’t even human, tried to stab your eyes and take away your sight and has managed to put you in danger by doing that because many weird non-human creatures are intrigued by you. Doesn’t that weird you out? Apparently it doesn’t seem unnatural to Joy. Also, I have this weird dislike for ears and Ink practically devoured them when he touched her. Nope! Not creepy at all. All this time while I was reading Indelible, I kept imagining Bella and Edward and, in my opinion, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two couples.

All that said, I did like one thing in addition to Joy and her brother—the world. As a whole, it was fascinating and kept me turning the pages. On the other hand, I still don’t understand the system in its entirety because there are nuances I couldn't grasp or they just weren't explained thoroughly. Lehmans, Ink, Inq, demons—there’s a lot to keep up with. Also, at first I took a liking to Inq, but then she became so self-absorbed and what with all the talk about humans being just a fun way to spend time? There went the half point I would have added to my rating for her character.

I’m tempted to read what happens next and if the world is developed to even greater lengths, but I’m also not sure if I want to spend time with Joy. I guess a 16 year old me would have enjoyed this far more and I hope that teenagers who pick this up will swoon like I swooned when I read Twilight back in the day. Now, 5-6 years later it doesn’t feel all that natural or special and Twilight jokes have become a regular thing in my life. Unfortunately, all the other YA books I read prior this gorgeous arc, were far more enjoyable for me, hence me ending this review with a 2 star rating.


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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19 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that you weren't able to enjoy Indelible as much as you'd hoped Siiri, I agree the cover is gorgeous and the premise sounds like it has a lot to offer. But like you I can't deal with insta-love of any sort, and it seems like these characters fell head over heels for each other way too quick. I remember the type of reader I used to be a few years back too, I used to devour anything with a paranormal element up so easily, but now I don't think this book would be for me either. Thanks for your honest review Siiri! :)

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    1. Yes, well, I'm pretty sure I would have swooned over this pretty when I was 16, but now? My reading prefrences have developed so I guess I want something extra than just a cool world and an insta-romance. Ha! Yes! Lately paranormal hasn't been my genre at all. Thanks, babe!

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  2. *Blergh* INSTA-LOVE!
    *Runs away from book*
    I requested this because of the gorgeous cover as well and still haven't, but I'm glad I read your review first. I'm not going to read it now because I can't deal with insta-love.
    It's such a shame though because it sounds so wonderful. Ugh!
    Thanks for the honest review, Siiri!

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    1. Bhahaha. I hope that if you DO give it a try (you never know), you'll like it more than I did. I was expecting more and yeah.. something just lacked in this novel.

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  3. Although I actually enjoyed the romance, I have to agree with what you said about the world building- there wasn't enough of it. It really was lacking, and kind of left me confused and unsatisfied. On the whole, though, I thought it was a solid read. However, I doubt I'll be picking the sequel.

    Great review. :)

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    1. I'm glad you loved it! I don't think there was particularly anything wrong with it, it's just not my cup of tea. Yes! I agree. The world was a bit messy for my taste, too. I hope that recaptains will post a recap so I can read what happens next :) Thanks!

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  4. Sorry you didn't click with joy and the l word was dropped too soon

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    1. Thanks, Brandi! It's OK, though. Not every books is meant for me.

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  5. I have heard only great things about it and while this book sounds like something amazing, with great idea but the thing is that I cannot like cliche stories so much. When you add instant love thing it's not for me for sure. I'm so sorry to hear that about this book and so sorry you didn't enjoy it. I really hope your next read is amazing. Great review Siiri :)

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    1. I really loved its review on Nawanda Files and Jenny's review was very informative as well. I just.. wasn't a fan of this one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was just OK and not worth a re-read in my eyes when there're other books I have enjoyed so so so much. I'm reading Throne of Glass right now and it's anything but not-amazing ;)

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  6. "On the other hand, I still don’t understand the system in its entirety because there are nuances I couldn't grasp or they just weren't explained thoroughly."

    I had a similar problem with this one Siiri! I really liked the world itself, I thought there were a lot of fascinating elements to it, I just never felt like I had a clear picture of it or what Ink really did or why it was such a HUGE deal that he had a lehman. I was a bit clearer toward the end, I just wish we had gotten some of that information sooner. I haven't decided if I'll continue with this series, I think I'll wait to see some reviews of book 2 first. Maybe this will be a series that starts out a bit rocky and then ends up EPIC. We can only hope right? Really fabulous review:)

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    1. Exactly! I think the whole system should have been explained a tad sooner. I mean.. it's hard to know what's at cost when you don't even know what the big deal is. I guess at the end of the day we got some sort of explanations, but not as thorough as it could have been. I thought the same thing since I didn't enjoy The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, for instance. However, in this case, I highly doubt it's this way, but we never know unless we give the book a try. Just as you, I'm waiting for some reviews to surface once the release date is nearer.

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  7. I was tempted to request this but now I'm glad I didn't! Insta-love is usually not appealing to me at all. It's funny how our tastes change. I swooned over Twilight back in the day as well. I wonder what I'd think now. Wonderful review, Siiri! :)

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    1. Heh, well, insta-love seems to be the thorn in many people's thumbs. It's wasn't like instant attraction either, the things that Joy should have doubted, she didn't. In my eyes, at least. And this love didn't sit well with me at all. Haha, I'm a bit embarrassed about that Twilight love back in the day, but you know what? It's one of the reasons I'm such a big reader today, so.. I'm owning up to this lol.

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  8. I keep seeing mixed things about this one, but mostly negative! That guy sounds terrible. Insta-romances aren't working for me at all these days, and putting it in a book where the couple's interactions are so rough at first turns me off. It is promising that you're curious about the next one. But I think I'll be skipping this book! Thanks for the thorough review.

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    1. I haven't seen that many good reviews either. LOL, well.. There are rare cases when I can deal with insta love, but this one really hit a nerve. It wasn't my cup of tea at all.

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  9. The world does sound cool, but the rest? Not so much. I used to enjoy the insta-relationships too, but really need more now.
    Excellent review, Siiri!

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    1. Ah, same here! I'm more of a slow-burn or friends/enemies first than just jump-into-action or oh-i'm-in-love-after-5-minutes-of-meeting-you kind of girl. Thanks, Andrea!

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  10. Oh, I hate when something like this happens - I have same habit: pretty covers are my doom.:/ I'm sorry it wasn't what you expected.

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