Review: Indelible (The Twixt #1) by Dawn Metcalf

Faeries.
The first word that came to mind when I came across this book.
You know what? I was wrong.
There's more to it.

Title: Indelible (The Twixt #1) by Dawn Metcalf
Release Date: July 30th 2013
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Source: Publisher/ Won (thanks Tashya and Dawn!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

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

Joy is lost. Her mother left her father for a younger man, her older brother is staying away from her, and her dad and their house had never been the same since the divorce. The night at the carousel was supposed to make her forget and enjoy, but instead Joy met Ink, and now she carries his mark because of a mistake that cannot be undone. Suddenly, Joy's getting visits from scary creatures and glowing people, leaving mysterious messages on her phone, her locker and her home. Just who is Ink and how does bearing his mark change Joy's life?

It took a while for me to warm up to Joy's personality. What she's going through is understandable, a girl trying to come into terms with the fact that her family isn't what it used to be anymore, but I find her personality at the start too erratic and a bit overly dramatic. Joy's transformation was gradual in the entire novel, but it's one that I had fun reading, because unexpectedly and despite all of her own issues and problems, she helps Ink to feel alive, she proves that she's not a push over and though she gets hurt at times, she learned to be tough and strong eventually. Being a lehman had its challenges and Joy's paths crossing with Ink opened her up to a whole new world.

Ink! Ink, Ink, Ink... I'm not sure how to describe him. He's a character I am very curious of because of that odd combination of intense personality and the unusually shy innocence that shows at the most unexpected of times. It shows how closed off he was though he's lived for so long. For someone who has lived for countless of years as a Scribe, he's just barely learning about humanity and that awkward, formal way of speaking gives him that old air but he's just like a child who's started to feel and experience things and I liked that contrast in him. It's like breaking down the walls of a boy used to controlling his emotions. He sometimes unexpectedly becomes sweet to Joy but he can also be fiercely and oddly protective of her. And how many romance stories have you read that started out with a boy gouging a girl's eye out? None. And I just loved how Dawn took time to develop their love story, starting off in an intense and very scary way but slowly taking her time to develop the feeling between both characters. They grew to trust each other, to open up and express themselves more, to feel more, to know more, to learn more.

I felt my heart breaking at some point because of how potent and intense Joy and Ink's feeling for each other grew, that devotion for each other that felt so tangible and obvious that when the possibility of losing each other came, it was heart breaking to see them both crumble and suffer. What an epic romance this was.

The supporting characters were also a blast to know and read of! Inq is likable in her own quirky way. She's the exact opposite of Ink in a lot of ways, more modern, more knowledgeable of the ways of the human world. She's the one that lends the "normalcy" in both her and Ink's life, albeit it's a little more indulgent and worldly. She comes off as a very haughty, mischievous character but she's very reliable. I especially liked how she sent off her partners to help Joy and Ink when they're in a pinch. Graus Claude, mysterious fellow that he is, is another character I took delight in reading. He's the kind of person who can be kind but someone you wouldn't want to anger because he can be deadly too.

There's a certain breath taking appeal in Indelible's story in a sense that it is not so much about faeries as it is about one girl's unexpected journey in a deadly world filled with magic and strife. It is somewhat reminiscent of Meghan's adventure in the realm of the Iron Fey, but Joy had her own strengths, allies and foes along with its own unique villain and deep layers of conflict that gives Indelible that familiar yet fresh feeling. Ink and Joy's story might've started with a mistake, but the intense emotions between them is undeniable. My heart races with each and every journey they both make to impart signatura. Dawn Metcalf inserted just the right amount of darkness, spookiness and danger in Indelible that gave it such a strange, lovely, pleasing vibe. Before I knew it, I was breezing through the story and enjoying it so much!

Indelible had such an incredible start and I cannot wait to know more about Joy and Ink! Give me the sequel ASAP!

.5

Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

My initial dislike of Joy's character was forgotten but it was hard to read of her at the start. Also, Inq was such a confusing character towards the end. There's so much happening before it eventually lead to the climax of the story so you need total concentration to fully appreciate how everything went!

Book Cover:
For the first time in my life, I got interested in getting a tattoo because of the cover. It's beautiful!