Review: Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun

Title: Ink

Series: Paper Gods #1

Previous novella in this series: Shadow (#0.5)

Author: Amanda Sun

Genre: YA, paranormal romance, Japanese mythology

Publication date: June 2013

Published by: Harlequin Teen

Source: Borrowed paperback from library

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Synopsis: On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was very excited to read this because I love mythology, and yet I know nothing about Japanese mythology. Lol.

So we have our main character, Katie, whose mother just died, and she moves to Japan to live with her aunt, who is a teacher there. She then meets a cute Japanese boy whose drawings come to life.

Let me get one of my biggest complaints of the book out of the way now, cause it’s kind of ridiculous. So Katie studied Japanese for 6 MONTHS and the girl can hold down a conversation?? I don’t think so. Look, I’ve been learning Japanese for almost TWO years, and if you drop me in Japan right now I would not be able to hold down a conversation! Are you kidding me?? This language is HARD to learn and this girl is getting by rather well. I can’t even put on subbed anime in the background and follow along without having to read the subtitles! Japanese grammar is just very different. They have things called particles that have NO equivalent in the English language. And then they always put their verbs at the end. So the way you structure a sentence is just incredibly different and I would think it takes more than a mere 6 months of studying to fully understand.

At least that’s my experience. It might be different for Katie, who is immersed in the culture and surrounded by the language on all sides. I guess that could explain it? Especially when I’m over here just speaking English and Spanish at home with no to talk to in Japanese. But who knows! I just thought it was the most unrealistic thing in this book. Even more so than the Japanese gods and drawings coming to life because I can suspend my disbelief there 😂

Speaking of which, I thought this idea of drawings coming to life was pretty cool. Imagine just looking at a drawing and suddenly it moves right before your eyes! It’s insane! It’s a really cool ability and it’s one I've actually never seen in a book before. But in this case, it’s also really scary because those drawings are dangerous. It’s not all fun and games, especially because it has deteriorating effects on the person who wields this power 😩

When Katie first met Tomohiro, it was very intense because he was literally just breaking up with a girl. However, it was also kinda cute...

I felt heat rise up my neck. Yuki had not warned me he was so, well, pretty. Okay, gorgeous. I almost expected sparkles and rainbows to burst out of the walls anime-style.

At first, Tomohiro really came off as a dick, especially when he broke up with the poor girl. He also had his asshole moments with Katie, and while there is a reason WHY he did this, I don’t think it makes it okay. There was this one thing he did to Katie that was just 😳😠 It was such a classic move to try and push people away (looking at you Will Herondale! Lol). And by this point, Katie knew Tomo pretty well, so I don’t know how she didn’t see through his little scheme. But to be honest, Katie herself was quite nosy wanting to know what’s up with Tomohiro. He calls her a stalker at one point—jokingly, of course—but it’s still true! Lol. Katie, girl, none of your business! Lol. But I guess otherwise there would be no book 😂

But even having said all that, I thought the romance was really cute. BUT it was very instalove-y, which you know I hate. They were literally professing their love for one another at exactly the halfway mark of the book! 🙄 And at one point I was afraid there was going to be a love triangle on top of that (which I also hate), but luckily that didn’t end up happening, so hurray for that! Lol.

As for the mythology, there was a little bit here and there, but not nearly as much as I was hoping. But what we did get with the kami (Japanese gods) was really interesting. I’m really curious to see how Katie is connected to all this because, strangely enough, this American girl is.

I definitely prefer urban fantasy over paranormal romance, but I ended up really enjoying this one! Despite the instalove. I legitimately thought Tomo and Katie were super cute together, so I think that’s why it didn’t bother me as much as it normally would. There was some pretty good action, and I LOVED the setting in Japan. I hardly ever come across books that take place outside the US, so this was a nice change. The whole Katie holding down a Japanese conversation with only 6 months of studying is just... No. Lol. But besides those little nitpicks, I really enjoyed this!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊