Ink Exchange
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| Author | Melissa Marr |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Mark Tucker (photography) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Wicked Lovely |
| Genre |
Young adult Urban fantasy |
| Publisher | HarperTeen, an imprint of Harper Collins |
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Publication date
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April 24, 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 352 |
| Preceded by | Wicked Lovely |
| Followed by | Fragile Eternity |
Ink Exchange is an urban fantasy novel written by Melissa Marr. It is set in the same universe as Marr's previous novel, Wicked Lovely, but is not a sequel; rather, it is a companion novel that focuses on a different set of characters. Though only a companion novel, its plot elements connect chronologically to Marr's following novel, Fragile Eternity.
The prologue of Ink Exchange revisits a scene from Wicked Lovely narrated by Irial, King of the Dark Court, in which he walks into a tattoo shop with Leslie, a 17-year-old human. The novel then follows Leslie as she prepares for a normal day of school. Leslie's alcoholic father and Ren, her drug-dealing brother, neglect her. Having once been drugged and raped by Ren's customers,to cover one of his debts, Leslie fears her family, yet still pays the bills by working as a waitress. When Leslie reaches school, she is suspicious of how well Aislinn, the protagonist from Wicked Lovely, has adjusted to her new life as a faery. Aislinn, though once human, is the Summer Queen in the world of the fey, a world which she tries desperately to keep from Leslie.
The novel then begins to follow Irial. It is revealed that the Dark Court feeds off emotions such as anger, hate, lust and pain to stay strong. When one of his own is killed by a simple human bullet, Irial is desperate for a way to protect his kind. With the help of his "left hand" Gabriel and his pack of "Hounds," he keeps his own and other courts in check. When confronted with numerous rebellions, Irial decides to pursue an ink exchange with a mortal to provide a constant stream of emotion to feed his court. When Leslie, the chosen mortal, gets a tattoo, the traditional tattoo ink is exchanged with the Dark Court's blood and tears, thereby joining the Dark King and the mortal.
Soon, as an effect of the ink exchange, Leslie begins to feel and see as Irial would, seeing past faeries' human disguises. When she falls in love with Niall she avoids admitting her connection to his world. Her connection to the faeries deepens when she returns to the tattoo shop and begins to hear Irial's voice in her head. Irial has come to the conclusion that he loves her, and refuses to let any harm come to her. When Leslie goes to a club to celebrate her finished tattoo with Seth and Niall, Irial begins to speak through her to deflect the advances of other faeries. In the club, Irial and Leslie finally unite, connected by a shadow vine that represents the ink exchange. Niall, still in love, soon tells Leslie that he can help her break the bond with Irial, should she ever want to.
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