Stolen Ink

Dacian, or Dan, is an ink magician but no one can know or he’ll become a tool for the Council. So, he keeps a low profile by being a tattoo magician. All of a sudden, people’s tattoos are being stolen right off their body which kills them in horrible, tortuous ways, and everyone is looking to Dan to solve the murders as no one can figure out how it’s happening. Will he find the murderer before those he loves become the next victims? I have to say, this was a unique concept, with only one other series I know of being close to this. I did find the characters extremely interesting and well-drawn, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Dan was a very flawed character, but he still was very sympathetic. Arrogant one moment, caring the next. I can’t wait to find out more about his father, his friends, and how the future will go for him (can’t say much as I’ll spoil the ending). One thing, though, I did have a hard time with: I was a little confused about the types/kinds/mythology of the supernals (supernaturals). More explanation would have increased my understanding and made the book a little more enjoyable. However, don’t get me wrong; the book was still very enjoyable and I will read the next book. A great, fast read for people who like urban fantasy. Recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Chaos Fox/ Red Adept Publishing for the e-copy of the book. This same review will be posted on both Goodreads and Amazon.

This story had such a cool and unique concept that I immediately knew that I had to read it.

The premise was that certain people had parts of their soul that manifested themselves as animals. The person would feel their animal clawing to get out, go to a tattoo magician, then the tattoo magician would 'feel' the identity of their animal and tattoo it onto their skin.

Once the tattoo was complete, its owner could then press on the tattoo to 'release' it into the living world. For example, the main character, Dacian, had both a cat and a snake, which spent most of the story as real animals, much like pets would hang around the house. The tattoo animals could also push thoughts to their master, which I thought was very cool.

But there was also a tattoo thief on the loose, who was stealing people's tattoos, and since the tattoos were part of their owner's souls, the victim would die an excruciating death. So as a powerful tattoo magician, Dacian was tasked with the task of finding the tattoo thief and stopping the murders.

Then we had the council, who were the all-powerful ruling body governing all things supernatural. These were definitely the bad guys, so Dacian used every means available to keep them from finding out that he was much more powerful than they knew. They tended to make people disappear, never to be heard from again, so he wanted no part in that.

All of that sounds amazing, right? And it was, mostly. My problems with the story weren't surrounding the premise, but the execution.

The story was only around 200 pages, but felt immeasurably longer. Dacian tended to live inside his own head, so instead of most of the story surrounding actual conversations between all of the many, many characters, we're exposed to page after page of his innermost thoughts. It truly felt like too much.

I'd categorize this story as a fantasy/magical suspense, much more so than as a romance, as the romance aspects were also written more as a telling versus showing, which made it impossible for me to get many actual feels between Dacian and Isaiah.

In regards to steam, as with many fantasy stories, this book avoided sex entirely, with all of those scenes simply fading to black, which was entirely fine, as I didn't read this story hoping it would contain erotica.

The ending. What can I say about the ending? It ended? Very abruptly and much more easily than I thought it should have. For all of the powerful ink magician's skills, his defeat was quick and relatively uneventful, which left me feeling a bit hollow.

I do truly look forward to more stories in the Ink Born series, as we were introduced to a variety of different characters and flavors of magic (dreamwalkers, shifters, sorcerers, dragons, etc); however, I do hope that future books do more showing and less telling, plus provide the reader with deeper levels of connection between the MC's.

All things considered, I'd have to rate this one at around 3.5 stars and hope that the HFN ending progresses to an HEA for Dacian and Isaiah as the series progresses.

Dacian is an ink magician, a type of magic so rare that he is forced to hide what he is in order to stay out of the clutches of the government so they don't try to take advantage of his powers. He hides himself as a simple tattoo magician, bringing to life the tattoos underneath people's skin. Then Dacian learns he's not the only ink magician in town, except the other one is stealing tattoos and killing people. Stopping him is the only way to save Dacian's family, but doing so might reveal his secrets to the world.

The entire concept of the tattoo art in this book was magnificent. The idea that a tattoo is a calling from underneath a person's skin and when the tattoo is ready to be revealed a person goes to a tattoo magician to bring the animal free. One of Dacian's tattoos is a cat who is sometimes a picture under his skin and at other times is roaming around killing mice like any non-magical cat. Other tattoos instead allow a person to shapeshift. It's a very elaborate system of magic and somehow Dacian's power as an ink magician ties in.

That was the part of the story I was disappointed with. There is so much wonderful description of the world building and the various magics in that world, yet when Dacian is trying to learn how to better control his own ink magic, the only description given as to how he learned a new bit of power is that he read it in a book. I was also disappointed in the sudden time skip without explanation. The skip needed to happen in order for Dacian to gain control over his power, yet there was no depth given as to why the bad guy had suddenly stopped killing for that length of time. It felt a bit like a cop-out.

I so, so badly wanted to give this book a higher rating but it was just too frustrating. When it started I was absolutely delighted and felt like I was stepping into a new world with its own rules where magic simply existed as a natural thing.

The idea of tattoo magic was brilliant, I could see them coming to life on the skins of the people visiting the tattoo parlour but then the story narrative went off sideways on a ranger that just never really felt earnt or properly explained.

Two many concepts were thrown into the story without any real level of depth or any sense of how they fit into the world.
The supposed romance element was almost non-existent, there was more chemistry between Dan and Ethan than with Dan and Isaiah imho and Caiden's weird reaction to Dan's friendship with his tattoo partner Kiern came totally out of left field.
Oh yeah on the romance front. Everything apart from kissing, as is sadly often the case in fantasy novels, happens off page. I'm not expecting erotica or porn without plot, I do, however, expect an author to give me something on page which demonstrates two characters are supposed to be in love.

As for the ending, well let's just say that was a huge let down given everything that built up to it and as for being abrupt, if it had been any more instant cut off I'd have thrown my Kindle out the window.

There were also a few minor typos but as this an ARC they may get ironed out before publication. Because this is book one in a series, I'm hoping for a bit of better plotting and more exploration in the narrative as the series goes along.

Tattoos and magic – two of my favourite things. It goes without saying that I would jump into this one. When you see a combination of your favourite things thrown together, you always jump at such books.

However, it also leaves you with very high standards. As the book contains your favourite things, you expect something wonderful.

Did this book deliver me the amazing story I had been hoping to receive? Unfortunately, it didn’t quite make it. I know I have given the book a four star rating, but in reality it is more of a three-point-five read. I had an extremely lengthy internal debate as to whether I should give it three or four stars, but in the end the voice in the back of my head whispered ‘tattoos and magic’ which bumped it to the four star round up instead of the three star round down. A part of me still believes I should have rounded it down, but I’m going to stick with the gut reaction of rounding it up.

As the first book in the Ink Born series, this book does a lot to leave you interested in the story. We get to see a decent amount of the world, we’re introduced to many aspects, and we’re left with a lot of curiosity about many things. In terms of leaving me interested in reading more of the series, this book has certainly achieved something. Whilst it’s not at the top of my ‘grab the next in the series’ list, it’s certainly sitting on the list. I’m interested in where this series will head from here, and I want the answers to all the questions in my mind.

Although I am curious about where the story is to go, a part of me feels this story didn’t quite deliver all it could have. I feel as though many aspects of the story weren’t given the depth that it should have been given, with things entering the story to simple be rather than allowing us to truly appreciate the aspect of the story. Certain things may be developed upon in future books, but some parts I wanted to understand in this story. I’m a lover of understanding the world I’m thrown into, a lover of understanding the complexities of magical systems and the laws of the world, but in this one I feel as though my understanding wasn’t quite up to what I usually like.

Don’t get me wrong, the magical system was a lot of fun. I just wanted to understand it more. I wanted to be left in awe of the system, but I never quite reached that point. I just accepted that two of my favourite things were connected, without them coming together in the mind-blowing way they could have. In part, this is my own fault. I really did have such high standards in my mind for the tattoo and magic link – in many ways I was destined to be let down.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting story. It was far too quick for my liking, but there was everything you needed to make an engaging read. I found myself picking up the story whenever I had the chance, interested to see where things would head next. It really did pull me in, even if I do feel as though it was over too quickly. I also feel as though certain themes were given more attention than they should have been. The romance, for example, took up a decent portion of the story but felt rather weak and clichéd. It wasn’t a romance that I cared much for: it simply seemed to exist to add another element to the story. I would have been much happier had the romance not existed, and the magic was given more attention.

As a whole, though, I enjoyed this one. It was an interesting introduction to the series and I’m interested to see where things go from here.

As a final note, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review.

PRO: It feels like it's been a really long time since I've read a 'proper' Urban Fantasy. This is a really good one, with some paranormal elements thrown in. It's such a unique idea. I've never come across magical tattoos before, especially not this type and focusing on a tattoo artist as the MC. Basically, some people will, at some point, have an animal tattoo pushing through their skin, eager to be inked. It's Dan's job to find to ink these magical tattoos, the animals of which can then be released from the person's body to fight, chill out or whatever. (Note: These are not the 'spirit animals' mentioned above.) Now someone is killing people by carving out these animals and he's the only one who can stop them. Pretty cool right?

PRO: Dan (who's name didn't show up for a good while, confusing when you read the summary a while ago) is a pretty likeable if slightly arrogant guy, with a team off really cool friends. His tattoo animals are Aris the snake and Kira the cat, and they both have their own personalities and are characters in their own right. His tattoo partner, best friend and ex, Keirn is an artsy elf and they pick up a socially awkward, asexual, feral fox shifter, Vyx along the way. I loved all of these characters.

PRO: The plot moves quickly and kept me on my toes. The killer kind of appears from nowhere, but there's lots going on throughout the book that I didn't feel like the plot was missing the crime-solving too much.

CON?: The world building is pretty complex with lots of different types of paranormal characters - Ben the dreamwalker, Ethan the magic breaker, Isa the weaver, Keirn, Vyx and a few other types of werewolf-type characters. And of course, there's the tattoo magicians and ink magicians, as well as a meddlesome Council, determined to make Dan's life hell. So there's a lot going on and some of it feels a bit underexplained, especially why being an ink magician is so frowned upon. I think some of this could be smoothed out and developed as the series goes on though. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely pick up the next one.

Note: The term 'spirit animal' used in this book made me a bit uncomfortable. I'm not Native so I really can't comment but I think it's something readers may want to be aware of going in.

This review will go up on my blog 7 March 2017.
https://foxesfairytale.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/review-stolen-ink

Stolen Ink is the first book in the Ink Born series by author Holly Evans. I really love this original take on magic and tattoos. This story is told from Dacian's point of view. He is a person who can do magical tattoos. He also has a few himself. I liked the interaction he has with his tattoos it is funny and cute. He is a really good person. He follows the rules, and has an Elven best friend who runs a tattoo parlor with him.
Isaah is Dacian's love interest in this book. He is a magical weaver. He has being taken advantage of when we meet him. Dacian saves him and gives him the tools to save himself. I liked this character's courage and spunk. He has a drive that will serve him well.
There are a lot of magical beings introduced in this book. This is both good and bad. I wished I knew more, and things were explained more, but I also loved the story as it is. So I am very much looking forward to a book two. I want to know all there is to know about this world and the people who live in it.
This is a perfect blend of fantasy and romance that kept me wanting more.

Five Shooting Stars

So… this book sounded cool because tattoo magic! But it ended up not quite working for me.

One of my issues was that I didn’t understand the world. I know everyone complains about info dumping, but I need a little bit of explanation. I finally got some answers in the second half of the book or so, but there’s still a lot I’m unclear on. It seemed as though the vast majority of the population were either supernatural or had magic, and different types of magic were taught at colleges, but I have no idea if you have to born with an innate skill or if anyone can learn it. I also don’t know how many different types of magic/magicians there are or what any of them do except tattoo magicians and breakers (Isaiah was a weaver, but I still don’t understand what that meant). And I guess having magical animal tattoos inside of you was a common occurrence. Also, there was a council and a guild, but I don’t know what either of them did or were in charge of.

And because I didn’t understand what the council was or did, I didn’t understand why Dacian was so afraid of them finding out about his magic. It was such an important thing, Dacian didn’t want to get involved in the murders because he didn’t want to reveal his ink magic to anyone and was constantly thinking about how he had a bag packed and could flee to Europe… but I had no clue why.

It also seemed like the author was trying to put more meaning into every relationship than was actually there. And there was so much… touching. Not that I have an issue with affection between characters in books, but this felt forced. Caressing and kissing wrists and brushing fingers over lips and rubbing thumbs over wrists/knuckles and cupping faces—between Dacian and Keirn, between Dacian and Isaiah even when they’d just met, even Ethan got in on the lip touching action at one point.

On a similar note, none of the characters felt three-dimensional. Isaiah was the scrawny-but-feisty stereotype, Vyx was kind of the same but female, Ethan was the flirtatious jerk who was actually a good guy, etc. Dacian was the only one who came close to being realistic.

Also, it took long time for anything to really happen. And then the resolution came suddenly and easily and was kind of anticlimactic. At least there was a solid resolution to the problem of this book though (with an opening for the series to continue). And I would still say this was more of a plot-driven than character-driven book.

Lastly, this is one of those nitpicky things, but I have never in my life called someone or been called or heard anyone refer to their friend as “old friend.” Like, “Thank you, old friend.” “I’m sorry, old friend.” It just grated on me until, every time it was used, I would cringe and get twitchy.

Oh! It’s probably also worth mentioning as a positive thing for anyone who likes reading about pets that there were lots of animals since Dacian had a cat and a snake (tattoos, but they came to life as corporeal things) and Keirn had a fox.

Overall, despite all my complaints, I wouldn’t say this was a bad book, and Dacian wasn’t an unlikeable character, but the characters didn’t feel real to me, and I had a hard time getting into the story.

Post goes live 28 JUNE

Fantastic new series

This story is a little bit of everything suspense, fighting, magic, and true friends.

Throughout this story the thing that came through was the true bond between friends. When a mad man was killing the people in the community. Dacian, a tattoo magician, is pulled into the horrific evil that is going on. He must match his magic with that of the evil one.

The amount of day to day living involved makes it feel more real. I felt that the maturity of the characters really built the story to be something entertaining and engrossing. I absolutely can't wait for the next book in this series to come out!