Review: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Title: Indelible
Author: Dawn Metcalf
Series: The Twixt, book #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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

Gosh, isn't that cover lovely?  And you know what?  It's actually relevant to the story for a change!  Based on that summary, I think I was expecting something much darker and sinister, though.  There is a touch of malevolence to it, but the novel actually turned out to be really cute and sweet.  The story is just as beautiful as that cover...well, until you know why the rose is important.  ;0)

First and foremost, this is a story about the fey.  The characters never explicitly said as much, but the implications are all there.  A plane of existence that runs parallel to our own.  Magical creatures of all shapes and sizes.  And the power plays among the magical beings that usually beget all sorts of trouble...for their world and ours.  (That'd be the evil I alluded to earlier.)

So, when I read that synopsis, I thought Indelible Ink was some kind of otherwordly company.  Instead, it is a boy.  Sort of.  I still don't know if Indelible is actually a first name or a surname or what.  Just call him Ink.  And his "sister" is Invisible Inq.  You can just call her Inq.  Confusing, no?  But it isn't really.  These two were created in the Twixt.  They were not born.  And so they are quite the mystery.  They are still a mystery, but that's what has me so excited for the next book!

This Ink fellow comes into Joy's life quite by accident, but once he's there, there's no going back.  Where Inq has learned to feel and act like a human, Ink is still clueless.  But his partnership with Joy changes all that.  I know I've said this before, but I just adore a character who has to be taught to feel emotions and how to behave normally.  Ink is no different.  And I loved that in learning his humanness from Joy, something so sweet and endearing develops between them.

I was expecting Ink to be some smooth-talking bad boy because the male lead in this type of story usually is, so I was pleasantly surprised by how lovable his character turned out to be.  Their little adventures while he was "on the job" were kind of fascinating, as were the creatures of the Twixt.  Actually, pretty much every facet of this story kept me captivated...except for all of Joy's family drama.  I could see that it was used as a reason for her to desire to escape into Ink's world once she got over her fear of it, but I didn't like that all of the issues that were brought up were simply being used to further the plot and weren't really explored.  It seemed like they all just got swept under the rug.  But, hey, maybe those will be explored further in the next book.

Which I am very much looking forward to.  And I can't wait to see what image appears on that cover.  Maybe Ink's mark?  His was the coolest.  =)

Rating:  

About the author:

photo credit

The role of Dawn Metcalf will be played by the tall brunette in the off-the-shoulder, floor-length leather straitjacket. Makeup by Clinique, buckles by Jada Pinkett-Smith, hair by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

I have no good excuse for the way I write. I lived in a normal, loving, suburban home, studied hard, went to college, went to graduate school, got married, had babies, and settled down in northern Connecticut. Despite this wholesome lifestyle, I've been clearly corrupted by fairy tales, puppet visionaries, British humour and graphic novels. As a result, I write dark, quirky, and sometimes humorous speculative fiction.

INDELIBLE: Book One of the Twixt is coming July 30, 2013 by Harlequin Teen. My debut novel, LUMINOUS, was published by Dutton Books in 2011.

Find Dawn:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: dawn metcalf, faeries, harlequin-teen, magic, reviews, the twixt