Ink Exchange

Starred review from April 28, 2008
Returning to the faery world of Wicked Lovely
, Marr serves up another highly addictive read, this time centering on Leslie, a mortal girl who made a cameo appearance in that earlier work as a friend of its protagonist, Aislinn. Broken by terrible trauma, Leslie seeks to anchor her mind from slipping into oblivion. She finds salvation—or so it seems—in a strange tattoo that gives her power and strength like she's never felt before. But Leslie's euphoria is short-lived, and the tattoo comes with a shocking price. Its ink has been laced with the blood of Irial, king of the fey's Dark Court. Upon the tattoo's completion, Leslie will be bound to Irial as if a slave, with Court rules forbidding even Aislinn, the new Summer Queen, and Summer King Keenan's guard, the handsome Niall, to sever this dark attachment. Once again readers will find a love triangle that simmers, this time among Leslie, Irial and Niall—all of whom face choices that could cost them everything they prize. Compulsive enough to give the Twilight series a run for its money, and dizzyingly more sinister. Ages 12–up.

This dark fantasy has a sinister feel that younger listeners may find scary. After being abandoned by her mother, Leslie, the teenage protagonist, must run the family household while coping with an alcoholic father and a delinquent, drug-addicted brother. Wanting to assert herself, Leslie decides to get a tattoo, an act that brings about her journey into the shadowy faerie realm of the Dark Court and her involvement in a dangerous love triangle. Nick Landrum's measured, controlled, occasionally breathy delivery intensifies the story's feeling of impending doom. Listeners will feel like they're getting sucked into an underworld with little chance of escape. The story and Landrum's performance should appeal to listeners who prefer intense, edgy fantasy. M.H.N. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine