Amanda Sun

Moving to Japan in the aftermath of a family tragedy, Katie develops feelings for kendo team star Tomohiro while observing how strange things happen with pens, ink, and drawings whenever they are near to one another.

Sarah Sammis

Rachel Kanyid

This book.... is interesting. I was able to read it in about 2.5 hours, because there wasn't a TON of detail to it. It was pretty much like reading through a couple episodes of a Japanese anime or drama. I may or may not continue this series...

(The artwork is beautiful, for sure, though!)

Steysha

The dragon snapped his paper jaws over and over, just out of reach, while the jagged gash vanished under a torrent of blood, overflowing onto the paper and the ground.


To be honest, I don`t understand why this book has such a low rating. Imho, it deserves better. Yes, it has flaws, but to compare it with Twilight? It`s too much. Amanda Sun plunges us into Japanise atmosphere, where the drawings literally come to life, and the offsprings of the ancient gods plan to conquer the world. Personally, I really enjoyed the story.

Katie Greene`s life turns upside down when her mother dies and she has to move to Japan to live with her aunt. She doesn’t know the language and Japanese culture, and has no desire to fit into a new society - she wants to go home. But everything changes when she meets Tomohiro – a boy, whose drawings can move! 



She immediately understands that something is wrong with him, and wants to unravel his secrets. Despite the fact that he tries to get rid of her, Katie manages to break his iron armor and get him to open up to her. But his secret entails a great danger - Tomo can`t control his abilities, and Yakuza - Japanese mafia - begins to hunt him, wanting to get their hands on such a valuable specimen. And the more he tries to protect Katie from danger, the more she gets involved in the cycle of viscous ink. Moreover, though she doesn`t have the ability to make drawings come alive, they respond very strange at her presence. What a mystery lies in Katie? And what should the young lovers do, when their love carries nothing but trouble?

As for me, the main problem of this book is Katie. At the beginning of the book, she really annoyed me. When the author tried to present her as a strong girl, who struggles to live in her new environment, I saw her as an ungrateful whiner who only complains and behaves rudely with her aunt. When the author was trying to show her as a single-minded person, I saw her as a stalker. Katie accidentally manages to look into Tomo`s album and see that his picture moves. But she doesn’t think that she’s gone mad, as would any other normal person. No, she decides to pursue Tomohiro, watching him at every turn. And you know what's funny? Tomo is blamed of all mortal sins. She saw him only once, but he already infuriates her. She thinks that he’s very suspicious, he's up to something, and she must get into his business and find out the truth. Let me show you a few examples: 
I repeat, they are basically strangers.


  I just feel like he’s hiding something. Sometimes he looks so pissed, and other times he looks worried or like I’m in on some kind of secret. I don’t get it—I want to know what’s going on.


Congrats, guys, if you like to be alone, you`re definitely up to something.


  «Right,” said Tanaka. “He likes his space. My sister told me he’s always disappearing somewhere—a loner or something, right? I know he’s cold, but don’t take it personally.”
Disappearing somewhere? So he is up to something.»


Tomo has a kendo practice. Katie also signed up for class. Why? Because:


  I stared at Tomohiro. I wanted to figure out why he’d ditched calligraphy for kendo and what that glimpse of him in the park had meant. And anyway, the way he stared at me felt like a challenge. Like I had to prove that I could do it, too.


Tomohiro rides to school a bike? Katie also decides to go cycling, to pursue him on the way to school.


  «I watched with frustration as he cycled out of sight. If he was trying to keep me at a distance, it couldn’t be good. I knew better than to spy on a boy who put his best friend in the hospital. I did. But I couldn’t get him out of my mind.»


Yes, the guy runs away from you just because he`s hiding something, not because you're inadequate, of course. 
But when someone asks Katie why she is chasing him...


  «He’s not bothering me. I mean, he is, but—” The words tangled as much as my thoughts. What exactly was he doing?»


No, what are you doing?! 
In general, when Katie finally achieves her goal and becomes friends with Tomohiro, she stops being so annoying. I enjoyed reading about their relationships.



A lot of banter, enough romance, they were a cute couple. But as soon as things got worse, Katie turned into damsel in distress. Yes, in difficult times, she was always there for Tomo. But it's the only thing she could offer him. She was dull and caused more problems that solved. And she cried constantly. 
But, guys, no matter how bad it sounds, Kathy wasn’t able to spoil the book.

As for characters, I much more liked Tomohiro.



He vaguely reminded me of Noah from Mara Dyer. From the outside, he was a bad guy, but inside he had a very kind soul. But... but... but... He`s overdramatic. Tomo has the ability to make drawings come alive, but he can`t control them, and because of that people who are dear to him get into trouble. Rather than try to understand himself, the guy is turning away from everyone. And all would be fine, but his sacrifice was fanned into a huge problem. He behaved badly with his friends and his ex. He was a total jerk. Well, and what would we do without our favorite theme of self-sacrifice.


  It’s worth my life,” he said. “But it isn’t worth yours.


And that's it. Tomo could easily part with his life in order to protect others. Like I said, it's too dramatic for a teen boy. Personally, I was tired of listening to his noble nagging.



What I really liked was a description of Japan and its mythology. I had never been interested in Japan, and this book was a discovery for me. I could not tear myself away from the descriptions of Japanese culture, customs, interesting places - it was written in a very detailed way and it fascinated me. The myth about the paper gods was also new to me, I`ve never heard anything about it before. Battles with the revived drawings were quite believable, and the moments when when ink captured Tomohiro`s mind were really epic. But I won`t go into details, because I can`t do it without spoilers.

I can`t understand why it was needed to put a Japanese mafia into this. If you remove them from the book, the main story won`t change much. 

But in general, I really liked the book. Can`t wait to read the sequel. Oh, and I really loved the sketches, bravo to the artist!

Carley Whitehead

Cassidy C

I thought this book was amazing! I have wanted to read it for a long time and when I started it I couldn't stop reading. The characters are amazing and the setting is so enticing. The plot was perfectly paced and it always kept me on edge.

Julia Seiser

I really liked this book. It just annoyed me when Katie kept saying " just stop painting" that was her answer to everything. Over all I like it. The author has potential to write amazing books.

Megan Williams

I really enjoyed this book. I like the setting and feel that the author did a good job of immersing me into the book and bringing out the setting. I liked the plot and how the author brought everything together. I did like how Japanese culture and traditions played a part of the book. I liked the idea of an American girl slowly immerses herself in Japanese culture. I liked how the author included the romance and then finally the supernatural. Not everything was explained in this book, but I was okay with that because it left me with anticipation for the next book. The supernatural wasn’t over done and flowed nicely with the book. Everything about the book was amazing and brought together smoothly.

Katie was a pretty good character. Her transition from sad and confused to strong and happy was fun to read about. She resisted moving to japan at first but then she settles in and accepted her new life. I didn’t like how caught up she got in Tomohiro and how he took over her thoughts. She was willing to give up a lot for this guy. But she balanced this out by being strong and self reliant. I liked how the book was from her point of view and the thoughts and feelings that made up this character.

Tomohiro was a contradicting character that I really like. He had these two sides to him and Katie never knew which one he was going to use at any given moment. He had a bad boy outer shell and a good boy center. He constantly used that outer shell as a weapon and as a defense mechanism.

I really loved the ending of this book. I got all prepared for one ending and then I was left with this surprise of a cliff hanger. The author was very masterful with the ending and left me wanting more. I will be looking for more books by this author and publisher.

Ella Zegarra

Publicado Originalmente en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Cuando vi la portada por primera vez supe que debía leer el libro, fueron meses de dura búsqueda y acoso a la editorial (la gringa). Cuando por fin lo tuve en mis manos (a través de mi eReader) hace un par de meses y también me llegó el Press-kit, la verdad recién ahí me enteré de lo que iba. Sumándole eso, estaba plenamente convencida que amaría el libro.

La verdad es que si bien me agradó la historia, los personajes y la narración, el desarrollo no me convenció del todo, y aunque me gustó la mayor parte de como Amanda Sun nos cuenta la historia es un poco inestable, hay partes donde se pone un poco aburrido y en otras un tanto exagerado.

[...]

Así como también un Otaku sabrá reconocer lo bien cuidado qué está el libro, nos regodeamos en nuestro conocimiento del japonés porque Amanda lo usa mucho (si no sabes ni papa de japonés, don't worry be happy, al final hay un precioso glosario).

[...]

Sinceramente esperaba mucho más de Ink, pero no me ha decepcionado tampoco. Mentiría por omisión si no dijera que espero ansiosa su continuación.

Reseña Completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Cindy Lee

Read more of my reviews at Secrets of Lost Words.

Rating: C-

Thanks so much to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for this review copy!

Ink was certainly an enjoyable read as I immersed myself in the Japanese culture. There were some parts that I didn't enjoy but overall it was okay.

The part that I loved the most about this book was definitely the Japanese culture. I watch anime and read manga on a regular basis so I really liked seeing the city of Shizuoka. The use of Japanese was good as well but I felt like it might be a bit difficult to read for people who don't watch anime or read manga. It'd be quite tedious to flip from where you're at to the the glossary at the back. But I was okay with the Japanese as I could easily understand simple phrases and words. The Kami was really interesting as well mostly near the end. You can see the descendants of Kamis (like Tomo) use their powers and it's a really cool super power to have :) 

Takanashi Jun, the other love interest in this book was the quiet boy. I liked him better than Tomo at first (and I still do) but I felt like there was always something quite fishy about that guy. And I was right.. I don't think it's much of the love triangle though with Katie loving Tomo so much. Which brings me to my point.

The insta-love. Yes, just kill me now. From the moment Katie saw Tomo, she liked him and proceeded to stalk him and trying to one-up him. The stalking was horrible! Why the heck would you stalk a guy with a bad reputation? And her brainless friend even encouraged her to do so! What kind of logical thinking is this? I wish there was more of Yuki (the bff) and Tanaka though. I also wish there was more stuff about the school and how the education system was like in Japan.

Overall, this is a great story that had me turning the pages but certainly had its flaws. The beautifully described Japan is something unique you wouldn't want to miss :)

Lisa Collins

**NOTE! I WROTE THIS "REVIEW" LIKE A YEAR AGO RIGHT AFTER I READ THE BOOK. IT'S ALL MIXED UP AND NOT NECESSARILY ACCURATE ANYMORE. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SHOW HOW I FELT AT THE TIME, TOO, SO HEREYAGO!**

To be completely honest, I’m not too sure how I really feel about Ink by Amanda Sun. I was initially drawn to it because the concept is super cool—drawings that come to life? How cool is that?!—and it takes place in Japan. While I was reading, though, I found myself rolling my eyes a lot and generally just having trouble getting through the book. It wasn’t the story, but the execution. I can’t even figure out how to explain it. I’m afraid I was swayed by what other people were saying, though. If I hadn’t known what some people I follow think about it would I have liked/disliked it more? I can’t be sure. The thing is: after I finished reading it I found myself wanting more of the world. I think I started liking it more after I stopped reading it. It grew on me as time passed. I really do like the idea so I’ll definitely be waiting for the sequel to come out, just maybe not as excitedly as possible. I don’t know if I was expecting a lot from Ink and felt disappointed or if it was something else, but I’ll use this as a lesson in keeping my mind open while reading.


UPDATE: I don’t know what was going on with me when I wrote that review, but I don’t feel quite the same way anymore. Those feelings are still there, of course, but I remember liking Ink more than I think I realized. The story is fantastic and I’m super excited for the next book. Woo!

Karleigh McCarville

YOU CAN FIND MORE AT MY BLOG KARLEIGH.READS


I purchased this book off of bookdepository a couple months ago after I had seen it being hauled by booktubers. I didn't even think twice as soon as I heard that this book takes place in Japan. I may be a bit bias on this book because my undying love for Japan. If you don't know me then you wouldn't know that the whole reason I am attending university is so that I can teach in Japan. 

So first of all can we just take a minute and look at the beautiful cover, now for those of you who have not seen this book in person you wouldn't know that the cover actually looks and feels like a canvas for painting. Every little detail in this book is amazing. I love that Amanda Sun got herself an artist to draw little things on pages. I enjoyed that there were falling sakura leaves in a flip-page animation, as well as the falling bird to go along with that part of the story. You can tell just how much love Amanda put into this book. 

So this story follows a girl name Katie Greene, who has just recently moved to Japan after the death of her mother. She is forced to live with her aunt who teaches in Japan because her grandfather is dealing with cancer so she was unable to move in with them in Canada. Katie is put straight into a full Japanese school where her aunt believes that she will catch on to the language easier if she is completely immersed. There she meets Tomohiro Yuu, a tough looking guy who keeps telling her to stay away. Katie is so stubborn and bold that she doesn't listen because something about Tomo keeps pulling her in. Katie also starts to see that anything that is drawn on paper starts to move, from little doodles on her pages at school to sketches that Tomohiro does. First she thinks she is just seeing things, going crazy, but she soon realizes that there is more to Tomohiro than she thinks. Tomohiro happens to be a Kami, a descendant of the sun goddesses Amaterasu. Not only that but the Yakuza are after her and him as well.

From the first page, the detail in the story made me feel like I was right there in Japan with Katie. I loved every moment of the story, all the details from the way the cherry blossoms looked on the trees to the fact that she uses Japanese words to explain things like Conbini instead of Convenience store. Amanda did an amazing job immersing her readers right into the amazing world that is Japan. This book has made me want to find even more books written around/about/set in Japan, I don't know why there aren't more. I also didn't hesitate to pick up the second book in the series and preorder the third. 

If you love Japan like I do I suggest you give this book a try, or even if you are looking for a good fantasy type novel that takes place in a new type of setting, you should check this one out as well. I highly recommend it!

5 out of 5 stars!!

Jessica Nottingham

I'll be straightforward with you and explain that the reason I picked Ink up in the first place was that it was set in Japan. I love Japanese mythology, and I definitely love Fantasy reads. Needless to say, I was really excited to read this book. I couldn't wait to see where Katie Greene's new life in Japan would take me.

It was so interesting to watch Katie as she settled into her new life. I can't imagine living in another country, much less one where the language is still new. I felt her reactions to everything were really spot on. In fact, I can't deny that I liked Katie immensely. She was kind, honest, and just sarcastic enough to create some lightheartedness for the story. When Tomo came into the picture, I knew things were headed in a fabulous direction. A boy with a dangerous side, who Katie just can't stop thinking about? Yes, please!

Japan was a gorgeous setting for this story. It's really obvious that Amanda Sun did her research on the culture and the mythology laid out between these pages. Katie's new home comes to life on the pages. I could see the cherry blossoms, feel the breeze, and fell in love with the descriptions of her surroundings. If I didn't already love everything about Japan, I know I'd be intrigued after reading this. It was a perfect backdrop for all the dark, menacing events that take place. 

The absolute only thing that I had a problem with was the slow beginning. Some of Katie's reactions to Tomo were a little over the top, but I was willing to forgive them for the most part. Once everything took off, once I learned what Tomo's dark secret was, I was lost in the story. The story is wonderful, the setting is perfect, and I definitely enjoyed reading Ink.

Ink

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