Review: Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun
Ink
by Amanda Sun
First book in the Paper Gods series
After the death of her mother, Katie Greene is sent to live with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan. Halfway across the world from everything she knows and loves, Katie struggles to learn the language and make friends in her new home. One day, she witnesses the school’s bad boy Tomohiro breaking up with his girlfriend, and stumbles across his secret: Tomo creates drawings that move on the paper. Katie and Tomo become friends, and the friendship quickly escalates into something more. But danger follows Tomo everywhere: his drawings come to life and he can’t always control them, the yakuza want to recruit him, and a secret organization is searching for talented people like him. But no matter how much Tomo tries to push Katie away, she’s determined to stay by his side.
Amanda Sun has set up a very interesting premise with this book. Tomo is able to draw on the power of the kami, the powerful beings that once controlled Japan and are remembered by most Japanese as the spirits that embody nature. For each person, the kami’s magic manifests differently, and Tomo’s ability to create life through his art can be extremely formidable if channeled properly. Something about Katie magnifies Tomo’s ability, but when he uses it his character transforms, as if his true self is erased due to possession by the otherworldly kami.
When I was in junior high or high school, I would have loved this book. I was at the height of my anime obsession, and the combination of supernatural powers, Japanese life, and teenage romance would have had me captivated. But I’m not fifteen anymore, and it’s hard to overlook some of the glaring flaws in the story.
The biggest problem is the heroine, Katie Greene. She has very little personality - her only distinguishing characteristics are mourning her mother and an initial aversion to Japanese culture - and throughout the story she makes foolish, impulsive decisions. She is constantly crying and irrationally jumping to conclusions. She flings herself into the relationship with Tomo, allowing it to consume her until she’s nothing but a satellite revolving around him. By the end of the book, she’s willing to forsake everything and everyone she knows for him. It’s hard to read her obsession as anything but a coping mechanism for the loss she feels over her mother’s death.
The dialogue is peppered throughout with random Japanese phrases, and the context is not always apparent from the surrounding text. True, there is a glossary at the back for readers to reference, but it still interrupts the momentum every time I have to stop to check a word’s meaning. But again, while this annoys me as an adult I think my fangirl teenage self would have LOVED this, because if I look at diaries from that time that’s how I was writing.
So while this isn’t an outstanding novel, I think that for a certain segment of the young adult market the book series will be hugely successful. If you’re an anime or manga fan who wants a story set in Japan that has romance, magical powers, and a dark, brooding hero with a sensitive, artistic side I think you will love this book.
3 out of 5 stars
To read more about Ink, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: The Visitors by Sally Beauman
2013: Limit Vol. 1 by Keiko Suenobu
2012: Congratulations to the winners!
2011: Update: Tales of the Tudors Giveaway
2010: Fallen by David Maine
2009: News: Neil Gaiman’s Library on Shelfari
2008: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
by Amanda Sun
First book in the Paper Gods series
After the death of her mother, Katie Greene is sent to live with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan. Halfway across the world from everything she knows and loves, Katie struggles to learn the language and make friends in her new home. One day, she witnesses the school’s bad boy Tomohiro breaking up with his girlfriend, and stumbles across his secret: Tomo creates drawings that move on the paper. Katie and Tomo become friends, and the friendship quickly escalates into something more. But danger follows Tomo everywhere: his drawings come to life and he can’t always control them, the yakuza want to recruit him, and a secret organization is searching for talented people like him. But no matter how much Tomo tries to push Katie away, she’s determined to stay by his side.
Amanda Sun has set up a very interesting premise with this book. Tomo is able to draw on the power of the kami, the powerful beings that once controlled Japan and are remembered by most Japanese as the spirits that embody nature. For each person, the kami’s magic manifests differently, and Tomo’s ability to create life through his art can be extremely formidable if channeled properly. Something about Katie magnifies Tomo’s ability, but when he uses it his character transforms, as if his true self is erased due to possession by the otherworldly kami.
When I was in junior high or high school, I would have loved this book. I was at the height of my anime obsession, and the combination of supernatural powers, Japanese life, and teenage romance would have had me captivated. But I’m not fifteen anymore, and it’s hard to overlook some of the glaring flaws in the story.
The biggest problem is the heroine, Katie Greene. She has very little personality - her only distinguishing characteristics are mourning her mother and an initial aversion to Japanese culture - and throughout the story she makes foolish, impulsive decisions. She is constantly crying and irrationally jumping to conclusions. She flings herself into the relationship with Tomo, allowing it to consume her until she’s nothing but a satellite revolving around him. By the end of the book, she’s willing to forsake everything and everyone she knows for him. It’s hard to read her obsession as anything but a coping mechanism for the loss she feels over her mother’s death.
The dialogue is peppered throughout with random Japanese phrases, and the context is not always apparent from the surrounding text. True, there is a glossary at the back for readers to reference, but it still interrupts the momentum every time I have to stop to check a word’s meaning. But again, while this annoys me as an adult I think my fangirl teenage self would have LOVED this, because if I look at diaries from that time that’s how I was writing.
So while this isn’t an outstanding novel, I think that for a certain segment of the young adult market the book series will be hugely successful. If you’re an anime or manga fan who wants a story set in Japan that has romance, magical powers, and a dark, brooding hero with a sensitive, artistic side I think you will love this book.
3 out of 5 stars
To read more about Ink, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: The Visitors by Sally Beauman
2013: Limit Vol. 1 by Keiko Suenobu
2012: Congratulations to the winners!
2011: Update: Tales of the Tudors Giveaway
2010: Fallen by David Maine
2009: News: Neil Gaiman’s Library on Shelfari
2008: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman