Had to stop. I couldn't take the use of Japanese with the English translation follow up right behind them. Just use footnotes at that point. I loved the idea of the moving paintings, the ink, etc', but it read like she was writing a fanfiction. I wanted to like this book, I really did. But it's not for me. I do love the cover though. :/

What really grabbed me was the detail with which Amanda describes the ink coming to life - as if she herself has seen it! It's so vivid that if you close your eyes, you could imagine it straight off. That is writing magic right there!

I really enjoyed Ink, and the 'myth ' of the kami, I also enjoyed the interactions between the two main characters. Katie and Tomo.

Unfortunately this book wasn't really my jam. I'm sure other people will really enjoy it though! Thank you for the opportunity to review it!

(Welcome to #rereadandreview2019! This year, I'm finally making the time to review e-copies sent my way the past couple of years that I have yet to review because... well... life happened. Enough excuses!)

I remember being so excited about this book. The cover is gorgeous, the story is set in Japan (I love Japanese culture!), and there was so much buzz online that this was going to be one of the IT books of 2013. Unfortunately, while there were a lot of bloggers who adored Ink, I am not one of them. Sighhh.

Pros:
- It's very obvious that the author researched meticulously so that readers will get an authentic experience, and for the most part, I think I did get that. Some of her writing is brilliant!
- The artwork is glorious!

Cons:
- This entire book felt formulaic. The female character moves to a new school, gets ostracized for a bit, and catches the attention of a popular boy, and popular boy has these special abilities!!! I usually have no problem with plots like these, but the set up itself didn't feel genuine. It was almost as if the characters are pushed into these situations (instead of them naturally discovering things) just to move along the plot.
- Both the characters fell flat. After a recent reread, the only thing I remember about Katie is that she recently moved to Japan, and the only thing I remember about Tomohiro is that he's a hot and popular boy. There's really nothing memorable about the characters.
- I kinda felt uncomfortable with Katie essentially stalking Tomohiro.
- The plot itself didn't flow, and the pace was really slow in the beginning. I had to force myself not to DNF.
- Okay, here goes. I get Tomohiro pushing Katie because he wanted to protect her, but hate that he never even gave her the chance to decide for herself. What happened to having an honest relationship?

All in all, I don't think I would recommend Ink to anyone who wants a fast-paced story with fleshed out characters. I would however recommend this book to fans of Japanese culture.

I loved Ink by Amanda Sun! I love the story, the culture! (#diversityinya), the characters, and the love! The setting was just perfect! I love Tomo and Katie. This book on audio is also really, really good.