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Ink Exchange
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Read Ink Exchange
Wicked Lovely: Book 2

Ink Exchange (2008) (edit title/settings)

by Melissa Marr (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed... read more

Summary edit see section history

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... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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, Leslie fears her family, yet still helps pay 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 human. Aislinn, though partly human, is the Summer Queen in the world of the fey, 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, 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, who she knows to be a faerie, 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, 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.

Over the next few weeks, Leslie blurs in and out of consciousness, incapable of leaving Irial's side for more than a minute. When Leslie begins to understand that Irial is feeding on her negative emotions, leaving her incapable of feeling them, she realizes he has taken away her freedom to live. In an attempt to produce in Leslie more pain to feed his court, Irial and his faeries murder several human companions at once, displaying them in scenes from plays, a gross attempt at humor. When Leslie asks Niall to help free her, he uses sunlight and frost taken from the Winter and Summer Queens to burn and freeze the link and the tattoo off Leslie.

Before restoring her human life and leaving the faerie world behind, Leslie goes to Irial one last time, asking him never to use the ink exchange on another human again. He solemnly agrees. The novel ends with both Irial and Niall watching Leslie and her new human friends.

Characters edit see section history

  • Leslie: Ash's friend from Wicked Lovely. Shadow Girl. The protagonist. She has recently been through traumatic events and is struggling to regain control of her life.
  • Irial: The king of the Dark Court. Faerie King of the Dark Court. He is connected to Leslie by the ink exchange in order to feed his emotion-hungry court of dark fey. He ends up falling in love with her and giving his court to Niall.
  • Niall: Keenan's advisor from Wicked Lovely. Once belonged to the Dark Court.Faerie who previously served Irial and the Dark Court, but left them for to advise the Summer Court. He watches over Leslie, and comes to love her, though he knows he shouldn't. He ends up leaving the Summer Court in an attempt to save Leslie and becomes the Dark King. He is a Gancanagh.
  • Aislinn: The Summer Queen and a friend of Leslie's. She is concerned about Leslie's involvement with the faeries.
  • Keenan: The Summer King and Aislinn's consort.
  • Gabriel: Advisor to Irial. Head of the Hounds.Irial's "left hand" and trusted enforcer. The father of Rabbit, Ani, and Tish, he is forever loyal to Irial and is known for his violent methods of subduing rebellions in the dark fey.
  • Seth: Aislinn's mortal boyfriend. He used to dislike Leslie because of her connection to her older brother Ren, but tries to guide Leslie to talk to Aislinn about her problems.
  • Ani: Halfling fey with the Dark Court. Gabriel's daughter.
  • Tish: Halfling fey with the Dark Court.Rabbit's sister, Gabriel's daughter, and half human. Between herself and Ani, she is the responsible sister.
  • Sorcha: Queen of the High Court
  • Rabbit: The tattoo artist that carries out the Ink Exchange between Leslie and Irial. He is Gabriel's son, and half human. Irial protects him against the wrath of the less tolerant Dark fey.
  • Bananach: The embodiment of war and in Irial's court. She tries to entice Niall into overthrowing Irial and start her war. She is always giving Gabriel trouble.
  • Ren: Leslie's brother
Show all 13 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “What does it mean when nightmares dream of peace? When shadows wish for light?”
  • “Sometimes love means letting go when you want to hold on tighter.”
    Irial's thoughts
  • “He looked good, like sin in a suit.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • What does it mean when nightmares dream of peace? When shadows wish for light?
    Highlighted by 87 Kindle customers
  • Sometimes love means letting go when you want to hold on tighter.
    Highlighted by 78 Kindle customers
  • Sometimes there’s power in the act; sometimes there’s strength in words.
    Highlighted by 60 Kindle customers
  • We are what we are, Niall, neither as good or as evil as others paint us. And what we are doesn’t change how truly we feel, only how free we are to follow those feelings.”
    Highlighted by 60 Kindle customers
  • “Do you ever wonder if what you look at is the same thing everyone else is seeing?”
    Highlighted by 48 Kindle customers
  • The things you do when you’re desperate aren’t who you are.”
    Highlighted by 46 Kindle customers
  • It was a choice. She could look at the ugliness, the oddities, the wrongness, or she could let herself enjoy life.
    Highlighted by 36 Kindle customers
  • It’s an amazing thing when two people’s muses can dance together.
    Highlighted by 35 Kindle customers
  • inky-black eyes gazed up from within black-and-gray knotwork surrounded by wings like coalescing shadows, and in the middle was a chaos star. Eight arrows pointed away from the center; four of these were thicker, like the lines of a spiked cross.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • “A face to meet the faces that we meet,” but not my face—not even the mask I wear for the mortals. Layers of illusions…
    Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

Irial watched the girl stroll up the street: she was a bundle of terror and fury.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue
Chapter 1 - 36
Epilogue

Glossary edit see section history

  • Gancanagh: A kind of fey that is an addictive to humans.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 9 in Wicked Lovely. (standard series)

Preceded by Wicked Lovely, and followed by Fragile Eternity.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Melissa Marr (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: HarperTeen
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-121470-7
Page Count: 325

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PZ7.M34788 Ink 2008
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

PG-13 for implied adult sexual themes and situations, drug use, and some (but not much) language.

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Wicked Lovely

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

   
  • Wicked Lovely
  • Ink Exchange
  • Fragile Eternity

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