Title: Indelible (Book 1 of The Twixt series)
Author: Dawn Metcalf
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 384
Age Rating: Readers above the age of 10
My Opinion: 5/10
Hi, Readers!
I personally like to believe that everyone loves a great fantasy novel. Fantasy is the only genre that can completely take readers away from reality and into a world of mythical beings and wacky scenarios. Indelible, by Dawn Metcalf, is a decent fantasy book, but it also has some odd qualities.
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| My vision of what Ink would look like |
Indelible starts off in an under-18 club, where the main character, Joy Malone, is dancing with strangers. She is having a great time until a mysterious teenage boy with black eyes, named Ink, tries to stab her eyes out. What a way to start a book! Joy's eyes are fine, but her adventures are just beginning. Over the next few days, she is visited by various creatures claiming to have messages for Ink. Out of the blue, Ink reappears with his sister, Inq, to claim his messages. Ink explains that he accidentally "marked" Joy as his servant and lover in the Twixt world, where all fantastical creatures live. Joy learns all about Ink's role of marking humans to signify their pasts. Meanwhile, a malevolent sorceress, Aniseed, is threatening to upset the balance of the Twixt and all of Ink's hard work. Now, Joy must stay safe from Aniseed and protect Ink while dealing with earthly problems, such as her parents' divorce and her brother's sexuality. A fast-paced battle scene culminates the novel, bridging the way for the next book in The Twixt series.
One of the quirky aspects of Indelible is Dawn Metcalf's descriptive wording. I had to read certain sentences a few times in a row to understand what she was trying to say. For example, when describing symbols on the wall in Aniseed's lair, Metcalf wrote,
"Archaic symbols fought one another for space - anorexic in some corners, a traffic jam in others."In my opinion, "anorexic" and "traffic jam" are unique word choices for inanimate drawings on a wall. However, in certain instances, Metcalf's descriptions also create vivid images in the reader's mind.
The main reason that I rated this novel a 5/10 is that Joy Malone is not a strong main character. There are so many new novels with tough heroines who don't need help from any Prince Charming, such as Katniss from The Hunger Games, and Tris from Divergent. In the case of Indelible, Joy relies too heavily on Ink's protection and is constantly getting taken care of. She is always falling into traps, and she does nothing to help defeat Aniseed. Joy becomes obsessed with Ink and feels that she needs to be in a relationship with him in order to be happy. Teenage girls in modern society should be reading novels with strong heroines, not frail girls who rely on a hero to save the day.
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| Joy is not a strong heroine, unlike Katniss and Tris. |
Pick up a good book!
You bring up some really awesome points. I agree that Joy is kind of just helpless the entire time. The quote that you used is also a perfect example of why I found the book to be so confusing. I just had such a hard time picturing what the author was trying to describe.
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