DNF: Ink by Amanda Sun

Ink by Amanda Sun
Series: Paper Gods #1
Source: Gifted to me by Megs <3
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 25th, 2013
Age Genre: Young Adult

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.

DNF

I know Megs doesn't do DNF reviews, but I do, when I feel like I need (and can) explain why I didn't finish a book.

On the surface, Ink is the perfect book for me. It's in Japan, a place I love and dream to visit. It's anime-ish, and I love anime. And to top it all, it's fantasy. A fantasy, anime-ish story set in Japan? Sign me up! 

Or maybe not. Because I just couldn't finish this book. At page 97, after 97 pages of pure frustration, I decided to call it quits, which I don't normally do. But from page one, more or less, I was considering putting this book down. 

From the start, I saw I didn't like how Japan was portrayed in this book. It just... didn't feel authentic, you know? It felt like what someone like me, who loves Japan and anime but doesn't really understand it might write. It didn't feel real. It felt like it was trying too hard to grasp Japan.

The writing itself wasn't a favorite, either. I felt like there were over descriptions, like that delicate balance between too much and too little hasn't yet been mastered (but it is hard). Then there was the trying to intricate Japanese words into the story. It just wasn't well done. A Japanese person doesn't say Ketai Phone. It's like saying Cell Phone Phone. Ketai is, on itself, "cell phone". There were other examples where I felt the usage was wrong, even if slightly. 

(And I'd just like to point out I may be the one in the wrong, as my knowledge comes from watching and listening to anime, but it still ended up bothering me, the individual)

Now, I will backtrack a bit. This writing may be intentional. The main character is an outsider. She may make these mistakes, be slightly off. And if that was all that bothered me with this book, I would've overlooked it, but it wasn't.

First, there was Katie herself. Even 100 pages into the story, I couldn't pin her down. I didn't know her. And when you don't have the slightest idea about a character even 100 pages later, it means something.

Then there was the "romance". Pfft. More like "worst case of insta love eveeeer". She's thinking of Tomohiro, and how pretty he is, and "understanding" him, when she's had maybe one decent conversation with the guy, and the other encounters were mostly compiled of grunts and looks (which, by the way, I don't believe you can glean that much from a look when you don't know the person...) and him being mostly a jerk.

In fact, it was Katie thinking "The wildness of it drove fear into my heart, as if I didn't really know him at all--and maybe I didn't" that convinced me to drop this book. No shit, Sherlock? You might not know him? what DO you know about the guy? I could sum it in three sentences, and most of it ain't good. Did you think you know him? The guy you truly spoke with twice, who spends his time trying to intimidate you and--according to you--blowing up you pens?!

Give. Me. A Break.

I'm so done with insta love it ain't even funny, and I'm not suffering through yet another book with it for anything, especially one that hasn't impressed me in any other way either. Sign me out.

Nitzan★ 

Ink by Amanda Sun

Ink by Amanda Sun
Series: Paper Gods, #1
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 25, 2013

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.

It was my destiny. I was going to face it. It was my life. I was going to live it.

First off, when I began Ink, (based on some reviews and the info) I was expecting a paranormal-- one without much unique information, and with a wasted potential. I can't help it, but I am overly judgmental about paranormal type books in general. It's a side effect of not being impressed by one in a long time.

But anyway, back on subject. I was fairly surprised by this one. Because the premise of Ink was done very well-- lots of details and wonderful Japanese myths. But...I felt like it was too much sometimes. I liked the fact that we got so much insight, but...well, it was just too much. For one, I am not a native speaker of Japanese. All of the interlaced phrases and random words just weren't ever explained to my standards. Because of the large culture differences (American and Japanese) I couldn't even deduct into what context the phrases were used. This was quite aggravating to me, as you can tell! I just....ARGGGHHHH. I wish that I could have understood them!

But before I go on a rampage, I'll move onto something else. The gang thing. The way to know gang members in Japan is by whether or not they have tattoos...it seems like they're being very obvious, but that's their customs. Anyway, the gangs were at times very prevalent then at other times barely there. I could not get a feel for that. It's either a part of it or it's not, right?

Some of the facts just didn't add up. *SPOILER*Like this one: only Kami or people with "ink" in their blood can see Kami drawings move, according to the man in the temple. But...Ishikawa saw the dragon and now the Japanese gang is after Tomo because he can draw things into reality...BUT IF THEY CAN'T SEE IT HOW DO THEY KNOW IT'S THERE? Hello? Are you listening to me? No one but the Kami/ink in their blood folks should have seen. *SPOILER END*

Ahem. Anyway. Katie seemed like a very hesitant character to me. Sometimes she was just so brave, and she took charge of her own destiny and I liked her for that; but other times...she was different. Sometimes she wasn't courageous. Sometimes she was all careful and such. I guess that makes her a normal girl, though, so I applaud her for that one.

Tomo was very strange-- I don't even know that by the end I even liked him. Sometimes he was such a jerk-- and he was doing it on purpose. Other times, well, he was all sensitive and sweet and I just wanted to give them this huge hug. But then he'd be a jerk again and I'd want to hit him. (That doesn't sound like I have a dysfunctional relationship with him at all.)

Speaking of which, the relationship between Katie and Tomo came too soon. In my opinion, of course. It seemed like they weren't friends for very long before it got all awkward and romantic like. It was introduced way too quickly.

All in all, in spite of my issues with Ink, I really do think that it was a good read. A definite change from the norm...I just...well, you know.