INK EXCHANGE By Melissa Marr

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes; not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .

After enjoying Wicked Lovely and becoming some-what faerie smarter for it, I dove right into Ink Exchange. I found this to be more enjoyable from beginning to end than Wicked Lovely - probably as I had already graduated from Faerie 101 by the awesome lecturer Melissa Marr!!  Ink Exchange is certainly a darker imaged story..... well obviously as it is based around the Dark Court!

I felt every inch of anguish that Leslie went through with being in the same home as her father and brother..... I certainly wanted one of the fearful Dark Court to come and teach them a lesson or two!!!  Her decisions lead her down paths that should not be tread by humans and as such had dire consequences.

Ink Exchange gave us a deeper insight into Niall and his history. He is split between the loyalty to Keenan and the Summer Court and his natural position and past with Irial and the Dark Court. He forms a bond with the unsuspecting Leslie and behaves more a dignified man than Keenan the Summer King could ever hope to be.

My initial reaction when I started reading Ink Exchange was..... "Oh no... it's not all about Seth!".  Rest assured he does make appearances, as do all the other characters. Melissa Marr has not left them out, no matter how small their interaction is.  They all have a role to play in this wonderous story and Melissa gives us just enough of each to keep the enthusiasm and intrigue flourishing.

Enjoy!
Marissa