This book was by far - darker than the first one. Mucho darker! But all in all I loved the book. The first book followed Aislinn into the world of the Fey. This one followed her good friend, Leslie. Leslie comes from a very dysfunctional family, alcoholic father and druggie brother. A lot has happened to poor Leslie but she's trying to deal with it all. Now she has her sights on getting a tattoo to help make her feel stronger. Which it does more than that in the end. After getting started, she feels stronger right away, but then she starts to think that she's going crazy.

Irial wants to use Leslie to help feed his court, his is the King of the Dark Court and they need to feed off mortal emotions. Of course, Leslie doesn't know any of this yet, as Aislinn wanted to try to keep from the world that she had become of. Niall, part of the Summer Court has been assigned to watch over and protect Leslie, but when Irial, his former king starts lurking in the shadows and showing up in front of Leslie, alarms start going off.

This story has it all, many and different kinds of fey from hounds to creepy ones that kind of look like mortals when you glance at them really quick. Of course, mortals don't see the actual fey themselves, they see the glamour. They aren't like Tinkerbell, that's for sure. The characters are fascinating cause they take you with them as some of them try to fight the natures of their kind and be peaceful, while others seem downright evil. You can't help but feel for all of them, no matter whether they are from the dark court or the Summer Courts.

The talk of tattoos is also amazing. As behind every tattoo, there is a meaning. They can all mean something different to everyone, but the meanings are there none-the-less. Very deep and dark, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.

I throuoghly enjoyed this book and can't wait to dig into Fragile Eternity! ( )

I did not enjoy this book at all. First, it was way too dark to be a teen book. The main character, Leslie, experiences situations that I don't think many teens (or adults for that matter) will be able to relate to. I never really connected to the characters like I did in "Wicked Lovely" and I found myself not liking the choices Leslie makes.And to top it all off, there was no happy ending! There was resolution, but nothing to make me feel better. I mean, I went through all that teenagy-angst stuff and nothing good came of it?! ARGH! ( )

In the second book of the Wicked Lovely series, Marr focuses on Leslie, a friend of Summer Queen Aislin and the Dark Fairies. Leslie is a compelling character, and her fight to reclaim her body and emotions makes for an engrossing read. However, Marr's convoluted plotting and cluttered cast dilute some of the power of this book. ( )

Reviewed by Mrs. Foley
From library record - Seventeen-year-old Leslie wants a tattoo as a way of reclaiming control of herself and her body, but the eerie image she selects pulls her into the dangerous Dark Court of the faeries, where she draws on inner strength to make a horrible choice.

This is a companion book to Wicked Lovely. I did enjoy reading about the Dark Court of Faeries, but did not like it as much as Wicked Lovely. I am looking forward to reading the sequel to Wicked Lovely, Fragile Eternity.

Review from Booklist (June 1, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 19))
Grades 10-12. Newcomers and returning readers alike will devour this companion novel to Marr's ragingly popular Wicked Lovely (2007). The new peace between the Summer King and the Winter Queen isn’t good for everyone: those of the Dark Court, who feed on faeries’ destructive emotions, are dangerously weakened. Irial, King of the Dark Court, needs a solution, and he finds one in the Summer Queen’s mortal friend Leslie. Tormented by memories of abuse, Leslie wants nothing more than to reclaim her body by getting a tattoo, but the enchanted design she selects provides Irial with a direct link to mortals’ emotions. The tattoo binds Leslie and Irial together even as a third faerie works to prevent their destructive yet seductive connection. All of Marr’s characters are complex, defying easy description and evoking sympathy and horror in equal measures, and all cast a thrall that will leave readers willing to forgive plotting that can be difficult to follow. This dark fantasy about survival and transformation is as mesmerizing as its urban faery subjects. ( )

Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

Wicked lovely was one of my favorite paranormal YA reads in recent years. I immediately connected with Aislinn and Seth, and was completely captivated by the Faerie world that Melissa Marr had created. So I fully expected to be equally enchanted by Ink Exchange. After all, it’s the same wonderful world, and some of the same wonderful characters. So why am I left feeling slightly disappointed?

A human girl is singled out by a faery ruler as the one who could save his court and slowly drawn into the invisible world of the Fey. Torn between two men, one of whom she is drawn to despite her better judgment, she struggles to maintain her sense of self, deal with past family issues, and perhaps find true love.

I just described the general plot of both Wicked Lovely AND Ink Exchange. Now do you see why I’m disappointed? Ink Exchange does tell a different story in the details: Leslie is the human in question this time (we met her briefly in Wicked), and Irial is of the Dark Court (as opposed to Keenan’s Summer Court). Leslie has spend her life oblivious of fey until she unwittingly chooses a tattoo that links her to Irial and allows him to siphon dark human emotions (fear, anger, lust, hate etc.) through her to feed all his fey and stave off starvation. The link is eventual fatal to humans and, in the meantime, Leslie lives as a junkie where her only fix is Irial’s touch. The love triangle is completed by Niall, Keenan’s guard who falls for Leslie while trying to protect her from all fey, including himself.

If I hadn’t read Wicked Lovely first, I probably wouldn’t be nit picking. The story is fascinating, but it is also familiar, too much so for me. And to be honest, Ink is not as strong as Wicked nor are the characters as compelling. The world of the fey even seems less vivid. Ink Exchange in not a bad book, quite the opposite. The only real criticism is that it doesn’t live up to its predecessor. And considering how lovely Wicked was, that is hardly a fault at all.

Caution: I had a difficult time reviewing Wicked Lovely as a YA book because of some of the subject matter. I’m faced with that same problem with Ink Exchange. There are a lot of subjects in this book that I would be cautious about introducing to a young audience: Rampant drug use and abuse; child abuse; gang rape, orgies, sex addiction, self-mutilation, etc. Some of these topics are only briefly touched on, while others are recurring features throughout the story. Something to think about before handing this book to a teen.

Sexual Content:

Several references to a past experience where a character was drugged and gang raped. The concept of sexual addiction is present. Sex is implied, but never described. Orgies are implied, but never described. ( )

Very edgy faerie world. Leslie is an intriguing character with a past that keeps stifling her growth but she does have some friends keeping an eye on her. Her tattoo with the dark faerie king's blood had an icky-cool attraction. Great book; highly recommended but probably for 9th-10th grade and up. ( )

Although this second book in the series is decidedly darker than the first, I found it equally engrossing and it added even more depth to the world that the author has created in this series. While the story is based in a fantasy world with its own unique terrors, the fears of the main character stem from a very real terror as she struggles with having been raped and the subsequent loss of confidence in herself and her surroundings. As in the first book, the characters are allowed to be imperfect and, at times, far from admirable, but always so very compelling. One thing I am discovering about Melissa Marr's books is that they are centered on how the characters evolve and learn to make choices that will not compromise who they are, rather than on a storybook ending. That is rather refreshing. ( )

Basic Reason for Beginning: I just wanted something easy to read to set off my course book, which turned out not to be so difficult/awful after all.
Basic Reason for Finishing: I’d say “Well, I started it”, but I think there’s a bit more to it than that.
Texture: Have you ever worn something that fits just that little bit wrong, but when you look there isn’t really reason to? That’s a bit how this feels?

Full comments here.

Book Rereadability: For me? None. But then I wasn’t expecting there to be.
Author Rereadability: This is my second Melissa Marr book. We didn’t mix well in Wicked Lovely and we didn’t mix well here. Therefore I’ll pass.
Recommendation: Honestly? I think anyone who’s looking for a story like Twilight (but then darker and better-written). It’s YA paranormal dark romance, of sorts. There’s rape, drugs, abuse… Dark. And not necessarily romance in the lovey-dovey sense of the word. ( )

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

Torn up inside after her drug-dealer brother betrays her in the most horrible way, Leslie puts on a brave front with her friends, pretending her drunken dad isn't letting the bills pile up and hiding all her pain. Hoping to take back control over her body, she decides to get a tattoo, and picks out a special design at the tattoo parlor she often hangs out at. Unbeknownst to Leslie, that tattoo is the symbol of Irial, the king of the faerie Dark Court, designed to allow him to filter the unpleasant emotions that feed his court through her into him and his people.

As Leslie finds her vision changing and her feelings shifting in unpredictable ways, Niall, a faerie of the Summer Court who has always admired her, steps in, hoping to help her and keep Irial away. He has his own tangled feelings about Irial, whom he once counted as a friend. But as Leslie sinks further under Irial's thrall, enjoying the escape from the hurt and fear she'd been living with, only she can decide when to pull away--or whether she would rather stay with him, after all.

INK EXCHANGE is a darkly imaginative novel set in the same world as Marr's first novel, WICKED LOVELY. Readers will enjoy exploring the lives of some of that novel's minor characters and seeing more of the shadowy side of the faerie courts. They may find Leslie, Niall, and Irial less engaging than the spirited and perhaps more sympathetic narrators of WICKED LOVELY, but the trio still make for a fascinating "love" triangle as each deals with conflicting emotions and tries to decide what is right both for him or herself and for those who are counting on them.

The imagery is striking and evocative, and the politics of the different faerie courts is intriguing to explore. A great book for dark fantasy fans. ( )

It is a thrilling, mysterious, and confusing but still interesting. When Leslie is Fully Trials and they go and feed on mortals. It was fun, dark, and compelling. AHS/DD

Summary: Leslie, Aislinn's best (mortal) friend) is having a tough time of it. Her father's never around, and drunk when he is, her drug-addict older brother has pimped Leslie out to be raped by his dealer, and she has no one in whom she's able to confide. She's a survivor, though, and has decided to reclaim her life... starting with her body. She wants to get a tattoo, and she's found the perfect one - a pair of dark, mysterious eyes surrounded by Celtic knotwork and shadowy wings. But it's not just any tattoo, it's the sign of Irial, the King of the Dark Court of the faeries. By getting the tattoo, Leslie unknowingly binds herself to Irial, who needs a mortal conduit to channel fear, jealousy, rage, and the other strong emotions on which the Dark Fae feed. But Aislinn and the rest of the Summer Court want to keep Leslie safely away from the faery realm - particularly Niall, Keenan's advisor, who is not only in love with Leslie, but also has his own history with Irial... and so knows exactly how much danger Leslie's in.

Review: While I didn't like Ink Exchange quite as much as Wicked Lovely, it was still a thoroughly absorbing read. I was coming off a book that couldn't keep me interested for more than a few paragraphs at a time, so having a book whose interesting characters and compelling plot kept me up raptly reading long past my bedtime was a real treat.

Most of the things I loved about Wicked Lovely - the gritty, dark worldbuilding; the excellent characterization, the clever twisting of conventional faerie lore - all of that was still present in Ink Exchange. Leslie's also a fascinating protagonist, shattered and scared but still strong. While I don't particularly identify with her (thank goodness), I bet there are (unfortunately) a lot of teens out there who will, and Marr should be applauded for once again giving readers a heroine with both brains and a spine, who is not pleased when her choices are taken away from her.

However, I felt like there just wasn't as much going on in Ink Exchange as there was in the previous book, leaving it feeling a little - not light, not given the subject matter - but thin. Instead of the shifting loyalties and tangled romantic threads and multiple sympathetic narrators and piles upon piles of faery lore we got in Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange focuses almost exclusively on Leslie and her two would-be suitors, which, while interesting, wasn't quite enough to really round out the book.

I also might have liked Ink Exchange a little less because Irial's not nearly as sympathetic a character as Keenan was, despite the fact that (as Irial points out), what he's doing to Leslie is at base no different from what Keenan did to Aislinn. (Also despite the fact that in this book, Keenan too comes off as more of a jerk than he did in Wicked Lovely.) Maybe it's because the outcome of Irial's attentions is grimmer, or maybe because Irial seems much less torn up about the consequences of keeping his Court intact, but he didn't stir my empathy nearly so much... which in turn made the whole conflict of the book a little bit less gray, and therefore a little bit less interesting.

But! Again, those are all pretty minor points in comparison to how quickly this book sucked me in, and kept me reading, totally lost in the world of faeries myself. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: While it does focus on different characters than does Wicked Lovely (or the third book, Fragile Eternity), there are a lot of references to what's come before, so it's not really a stand-alone, and I wouldn't recommend reading these books out of order. But for fantasy fans, Marr manages to write compellingly readable teen urban fantasy that feels immediate and real, without insulting the intelligence of either her narrators or her readers. ( )

Aislinn's friend Leslie has been used by her brother as payment for his drugs. Now she's getting a Dark Court tattoo to assert herself--only that she doesn't know that it will lead her into it and being used a siphon to supply the Dark Court with the energy from sex, violence, madness, and chaos. How will Aislinn handle the situation as the newly minted Summer Queen, especially when it involves Niall and his former relationship with the Dark Court king Irial?

Darker and more intense than 'Wicked Lovely', 'Ink Exchange' delves into the less glamorous side of the fey where they use mortals for their own ends. It also tells the story of the sacrifices the reigning monarchs need to make to ensure their hold on the throne. ( )

Ink Exchange, the second book of Melissa Marr's Faerie series tells us about the Dark Court of faeries. They are a fearsome bunch that feeds off the negative emotions of the faeries around them. But lately there's been a problem with that. With the seasonal faerie courts in a new truce, there isn't enough to feed the Dark Court, they must find a way to feed off the emotions of the humans around them in order to survive.

We follow Leslie as she tries to avoid her shattered and dangerous home life. Ash, Seth, and Keenan from the first book, make just enough of an appearance to allow the two stories to flow together very nicely, but they are distant enough that this book could be easily read without having read the first.

As this book tells the story of the dark court, it is a much darker story than the first filled with pain and suffering that the dark faeries surround themselves with. However, the descriptions and scenes keep the "bad parts" of the story covered in a layer of fog so the reader does not have to get to close and see the gory details if they choose not to.

With a very nice twist at the end that I hadn't entirely expected (same result totally different path to get there) the book left me satisfied with just enough curiosity to go pick up the next book in the series, but it was wrapped up enough that I could move on without feeling the urgent need to rush to the store so I could find out what happened.

I rated the book 3.5 stars. There were a few scenes in the story where the words did not quite flow correctly that made me have to stop and read over it again to understand what she was talking about. ( )

yawn....

A follow-up to Wicked Lovely, the focus shifts to Leslie and Irial, the King of the Dark Court. Ash, Keenan, and Seth play a role in the book. However, after the new truce between the Summer and Winter Court there is not enough chaos to sustain the Dark Court. Irial tries an experiment based on ink used in a tattoo to get a gateway to human emotions to try to help feed the fey in his realm. Unfortunately for Leslie who is reeling and suffering from some personal tragedies in her life, she picks Irial's tattoo and gets dragged into this other world. There is also a love triangle with Niall and much more of his history is revealed. I'm interested enough in the series to look for the third installment to see what happens with these characters next. ( )

Ink Exchange is the companion novel to Wicked Lovely, which basically means that it is not the sequel to Wicked Lovely, but is still set in the same world and has many of the same characters as Wicked Lovely. Personally, I like Ink Exchange better than I did Wicked Lovely. To be fair, WL was one of the first fae novels that I’d read, along with the Holly Black series, so I was just getting to know about the glamours and the sight and all that fae lingo. Ink Exchange is definitely the darker novel of the too, this one is basically about addiction. It revolves around one of Ash’s friends Leslie, Irial, the king of the Dark Court, and Niall, Keenan's adviser. I love this world that Marr has created where faeries and mortals co-exist. She paints a beautiful world full of mayhem and chaos! And I love that she doesn’t give a happy fairy-tale ending, well the ending that I wanted to see anyway, and yet I find that it was very satisfying. The characters in this novel are fantastic. You have the Dark Court, which obviously is supposed to be bad, but are they really? Every character is flawed, they have these wonderful qualities and yet they also have these bad qualities. It’s refreshing to be unable to label who’s good and who’s evil. There was a lot more depth than I was expecting. My first impressions of Leslie from Wicked Lovely were extremely off. She is one of the most complex characters and it was totally unexpected. I really recommend this one for dark fantasy fans. ( )

synopsis

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. . . .

my review

I read this one before Wicked Lovely(oops), I loved the Dark king and Niall. I wished things would end differently but it was a good read. I wonder how Niall will rule as New Dark King. The story line was awesome. Leslie being tied to The dark king by a tattoo, really cool. It was a whole new side of fairies, the dark and creepy kind. I wonder how things will play out in the next book.... ( )

Reading the start of the book almost made me put it down due to the suffering the character (Leslie) had gone through. Once I got past that, I started to cheer for her, and her strength and determination. Great read! I am going to pick up the next book "Fragile Eternity." The first chapter is in the back of Ink Exchange has me quite interested! ( )

I thought that the themes the author wove into this book were very important for young adults to think about. The main themem I found was about choices and self value, here are some quotes from the book I found pertainant, "They were all choices. To not act was a choice too. . . It's still me I might not have many choices but I'm still choosing", "It wasn't the tattoo that had changed her, had given her repossesion of her body. It was her actions, her choices." That being said, I didn't like this book quite as much as I did Wicked Lovely. I found the characters were not as well defined or reachable to the reader. I felt a real connection to Ash, I thought Lelise was to far gone to touch. Also, I found it difficult to start Ink Exchange, I didn't really get into it until around page 96. I am still looking forward to Fragile Eternity, and all the other books that come along with this series. ( )

This is much darker than Wicked Lovely, exploring aspects of the dark Faerie court, with strong elements of threads of addiction, torture and entrapment. Again there is a triangle, but even more entwined and difficult to resolve, and dark and light cannot be easily identified by their appearance or name. Like the first book in the series, the atmosphere is shifty and heavy with menace, but in this case, the danger doesn't just come from otherworldy beings, but from close friends, family, and even Leslie herself. ( )

The sequel to Wicked Lovely did not have, for me, the same intensity in seduction as the first, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this one. I'm looking forward to third installment. ( )

Melissa Marr has done it again. Her view of the fey utilizes the traditional court system. This is the story of the Dark Court. Although the second book in the series (Wicked Lovely being the first) it does not necessarily need to be read in sequence.

Her characters are compelling and you may find yourself on your toes wondering exactly who to trust (even though you get the ability to see different views that Leslie doesn't.)

Personally, I didn't like the ending. A character that I'd really gotten close to didn't get the ending that he deserved, but I still loved the book (even though I felt really let down at the end.)

In the end, the moral that the book tells is very clear and very good advice to the teens that it is directed toward.

I do anxiously await the next book, though. ( )

When life gives you lemons... get a tattoo.
I picked this book up on the tail end of Wicked Lovely expecting a continuation of the mortal/fairie saga of Aislinn, Seth and Keenan (I confess I didn't even read the blurb or other reviews about the book beforehand); only to discover that it is actually the story of Aislinn's friend Leslie. There is still mucho mortal/fairie dark romantic drama so I wasn't let down in that regard.

One thing I learned from these two books was that I didn't know much (anything?) about Fairie lore! This series has continued to push open the door into this "other" world where magical creatures are as numerous and unique as the various races of mortals.

Melissa Marr has created an interesting world where Fairies and Mortals coexist...although, the mortals are unaware of the fairies' quite intimate involvement in their lives.

Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange (Fragile Eternity is the third coming out April 21) are quite full of the characters' colorful, conflicted, contemptuous thoughts. The pages of these books were not action packed, nor full of loads of dialogue, but were full of pensive reflection. Much of the detail of these stories must be pieced together from the internal monologues and it is often not spelled out for you. I liked this. I had to really listen (audiobook) closely to follow along with what was going on with each character. It wasn't one of those books that you could just glaze over and pick up on the plot easily.

There was an interesting theme that jumped out at me while reading Ink Exchange which is also present in Wicked Lovely (albeit with a different end result): Bad things happen (or are looming on the horizon), can't be changed, can't be avoided. How are you going to deal with it? With aplomb, thank you... even if I have to suffer a bit in the process or as a result.

Finally, this will sound very LeVar Burton of me but nonetheless: If you are tempted to get a tattoo, reading this book will likely only further fuel that desire. (I only have a very small one on the inside of my left ankle, in the shape of an icthus and I've been dying to get another since I turned 30). ( )

Ink Exchange is a companion novel to Wicked Lovely, not a sequel. Characters from the previous novel do appear in this book, but this is Leslie's story. Again, multiple POV, in this book we get inside the head of Leslie, Irial, and Niall. This book is a much, much darker novel. Serious issues are brought up in this book, and it's difficult to read Leslie's POV at times because the emotions are just so real and raw. Although we get the main characters' stories, I cannot make myself like Irial. Yes, I understand why he does all he does, but understanding doesn't make things any easier to forgive. I have nothing against Irial himself, I'm sure, in a different situation, he would be an all right guy, but the things he does in this novel are just so awful, in my opinion. But I suppose that is what makes this such a great novel. Again, the characters are well formed, and very real, and you can't help but feel for Leslie - who unlike Aislinn, doesn't have the Sight, and knows nothing of this world. You've got to love Niall, though. Struggling with who he is, what he is, and how he feels puts him between a rock and a hard place when it comes to what he wants, but what he also feels is right, and best for Leslie.

Ink Exchange is as equally amazing a book as Wicked Lovely is, but I do prefer the latter. Not because Ink Exchange is lacking in anyway, but just because of how I react to it; I enjoyed reading the book, but I didn't enjoy witnessing the things that happened. I guess the fact that I am effected so just makes Melissa Marr the incredible writer she is. As difficult as it is to read, I still strongly recommend Ink Exchange. It's a must read! ( )

In Wicked Lovely the Faerie Courts are turned upside down with the new Summer and Winter Queens. The winter Queen is causing much less chaos, this is very bad for the Dark Court's king, Irial. Irial has to then find a new way to keep his dark fey alive.
Leslie wants a tattoo more than anything, she thinks it will change everything in her life, it does. Leslie chooses a dark tattoo with eyes and wings, it seems to call to her. This tattoo brings her and Irial closer, almost like their attached. Leslie is then drawn into the shadows, she becomes Irial's "Shadow Girl", the Dark Court's savior.
But instead of just having no bad emotions, she begins to have no emotions at all. She is beginning to lose her life and herself. Will she ever be able to leave the shadows?

Ink Exchange is the second book in the Wicked Lovely series. But the differences are huge. For one the narrators are different, though, like Wicked Lovely there are three. Also, while Wicked Lovely was about the seasonal courts, mostly the Summer Court, Ink Exchange is about the Dark Court and the shadows. In Wicked Lovely we learned a little about the Dark Court and Irial, but not much. I always love to see both sides to a story and Melissa Marr knows how to give all sides and still make it original. It's not often an author can do that and i think she has true talent. The only thing i didn't like about this series was the ending, I Want More! Fragile Eternity, in stores April 21 2009. ( )