Release Date: July 30th 2013
Published By: Harlequin Teen Australia
Pages: 384
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back
Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future…and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

THE TWIXT

Review: Thank you HarlequinTeen Australia for the copy of Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Indelible starts in a contemporary setting, but quickly you are thrown into a dark, mysterious world where monsters are real, honour is worth everything, and sometimes reality is far scarier than you could have ever imagined - welcome to the Twixt.

Joy Malone goes out for a night of dancing with her best friend, trying forget her family troubles, and while dancing her troubles away she catches the eye of a mysterious boy. What Joy doesn’t realise is that she should be able to see him, or his sister, as they are from the Twixt, and humans cannot see them unless they have the Sight. This mysterious boy realises that Joy has the Sight so he tries to blind her … However, instead, he accidentally places his signatura on her - she is now marked, she belongs to him… And once marked, it cannot be undone.

Ink is a Scribe, created specifically for the task of placing signaturae upon humans. And now he has marked Joy as his lehman, his love, his slave. Now Joy finds herself in a nightmare of monsters who want to use her to get to Ink and Joy must convince everyone that she is Ink’s chosen one to save them both - but as she is thrust into this strange, scary and deadly world, Joy discovers that sometimes there are no mistakes - and that she may have a bigger role to play in the Twixt.

Indelible is unique and captivating and it is a fantastic start to a promising series. It is dark, filled with hideous creatures and does not shy away from some terrifying moments. I loved the originality of the Scribes and the signaturae in this story, along with the descriptions of the process - there was an element of beauty to the descriptions, so vivid you imagine the swirling lines as they were being applied. The wonderful descriptions also extend to the varied and interesting Twixt characters throughout the story - some were quite frightening, and some were quite engaging - all described so that you imagine their almost human like features, or the rows of deadly teeth, or a massive toad like creature.

Joy was put through a lot in this story, however, she was never the damsel in distress. While yes, she did need to be rescued at times, she stood her own as much as she could, and she did not walk away unscathed. At times, I did find her whiny and annoying as she carries a lot of emotional baggage from her family issues, and this spills over into her relationships with her family and friends (sometimes resulting in childish behaviour). But when she is thrown into a world she never knew existed, and other people cannot see, she rolls with it, but she is still very cautious about this new and strange world. She is horrified by some of its nightmarish creatures but yet equally curious and amazed (especially things regarding Ink).

When you first meet Ink he seems blunt, completely oblivious, and incapable of emotion - and the reason for that is - he is. Ink was made, not born, and does not know how to be human. He has always distanced himself from emotions, and humans in general, learning what little he knows from his sister Inq - who has a fondness for humans. Ink is adorable in his vulnerability and innocence as he slowly discovers his humanity - finding something he did not realise he was missing. The slow transformation in Ink was endearing and there were many sweet moments between Ink and Joy. And Joy found something she needed as well - something to ask for.

There were some parts of this story that where a little confusing. It does take a while to understand who and what Ink is, and how that works. The mythological creatures in this book are not actually labelled, and in fact it is even discussed in the book when Joy is trying to work out “what” Ink is. The question is not answered as such, but due to complexity of the world, and the various powers the different characters, the “politics” that seem to be involved in Twixt and their varying physical descriptions, it seems that you are in the world that can only be fae (faeries).

Although parts of the Twixt are a little confusing… all of this is a part of building the world. It leaves some intrigue along the way rather than spelling everything out for the reader and some parts are complex, but I loved the intricate, original world that is the Twixt.

And on a side note; as much as I love the Australian cover for Indelible (and I do - I love anything purple), I do prefer the US cover. The US cover is not only extremely appealing, but it has a lot of relevance to the storyline. But regardless of which cover you have access too, I recommend you pick it up :)

Quotes:

“The whole night was awkward—impossible and frightening and beautiful and strange. The moment sputtered and sparked with unsaid things.”

“It had been an innocent question! But lately innocent questions had had unexpected answers and caused all sorts of trouble.”

“No Stupid”

Book Trailer: