Ink
by Amanda Sun
Published June 25th 2013 by Harlequin Teen
series: Paper Gods #1
series: Paper Gods #1
On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.
Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.
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!
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.
Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.
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!
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