Comments for Ink

Ink: 10/24/14

Ink by Amanda Sun is the start of a new young adult series set in Japan. Katie Greene has been forced by the death of her mother to move to Shizouka, Japan to live with her aunt. She'd rather be in Canada with her grandparents, instead, she's stuck with cram school, a language she can barely speak or read. It's a major case of culture shock.

Things go awry for Katie when she forgets to change her shoes before heading home. Embarrassed she has to rush back into the locker room where she over hears an argument. Not sure what to do, she ends up in the middle of it all, and sees the boy's drawings move.

Thus Ink transforms from a YA romance into something more akin to YA urban fantasy with a horror undertone. Katie, rather than running from the things she has seen, is drawn to them. She seeks out the boy, Tomohiro, desperate to know his story.

Although Ink is Canadian fiction set in Japan, it reads like a Japanese light novel. It's full of the tropes that populate anime and manga. It was an entertaining, quick read — perfect for my BART commute to and from work. The sequel is Rain and it's on my to be read list.

Five stars

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