Review & Giveaway: Ink by Amanda Sun

Title: Ink (Paper Gods #1)
Author: Amanda Sun
Published: 1 July 2013 by HarlequinTEEN Australia
Source: HarlequinTEEN Australia
Reviewed: Sapphireddragon
SapphiredDragon Rating: ****

Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun

Goodreads | Book Depository

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

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.

Review: 

I have been dying to read this book since I first saw it an Harlequin Summit in February this year.  The cover looked absolutely gorgeous and the story looked incredibly intriguing.  

I am happy to say that this book did not disappoint!  It wasn't quite what I expected but this ended up being a good thing.  This was not a neat tidy easy to tie up the ends story where you could see the ending coming a mile off.  This was a deceptively simple story that flowed well hiding the extra strands that were being woven around it till suddenly you were in the middle of a complex tapestry with no idea which thread too pull and completely in Ms Sun's hands.

The idea of the Kami and it's links with the ink and drawing and pictures that moved was truly intriguing.  I enjoyed reading about it and can't wait to find out more about it in the next book,

As mentioned the story flowed well, the characters were reasonably distinct and Katie painted (at least as first) as the outsider.  I liked Katie, she was resilient and determined, but still open to a different culture even though she didn't want to be there after the death of her mother. As the book progresses you can slowly see her becoming immersed in the culture around her and realising where she fits.

I liked that the feelings between Katie and Tomo grew slowly.  They were  fascinated with each other to their chagrin at first but the real feelings grew slowly which I liked.  I felt like there was chemistry between them and this grows as the story goes on.

The other thing I really liked is the snapshot of Japanese culture that Ms Sun shows us.  Her writing painted a picture of Sunpu Park and the cherry blossoms and just illustrated so many other aspects that just  added to the authenticity of the story.

The only thing that brought it down is the fact that I have to wait till the next book to find out what happens next.  I was glad of the sneak peak of the first chapter of the next novel in the series, at the end of the book, as I am seriously going to have trouble waiting for the the next one to come out .

At least I have the novella, Shadow, to look forward to reading in the mean time.

I give this novel 4 stars

Sapphired Dragon xx

Giveaway

I pre-ordered a copy of this book earlier in the year then also was lucky enough to receive a copy from the publisher and now I have two copies. So I have decided to give one copy away.

Giveaway is International & all rules are in the Terms and conditions.  Good Luck!

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