Indelible - Dawn Metcalf

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf
Series: The Twixt #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks Harlequin!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

Some things are permanent. Indelible. 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. (from Goodreads)

Honestly, there are times that I just can't resist the lure of a paranormal novel, even though it's one of my least read genres. Indelible is an example of a novel that falls straight into the category of typical. It's got a fairly predictable story, a solidly predictable romance and two main characters that just felt a bit too stereotypical to really like. Still, there was something about this book that kept me reading. Here are, in list form, the things I liked and didn't like about it:

The beginning of everything reminds me solidly of another YA novel. Honestly, even with the unique setting and the subtle differences, the beginning reminded me entirely too much of this book. Though what happens to Joy is very different, it still gave off the same vibe.

Joy. While I admired the fact that Joy cared about her father and that she initially possessed a lot of disbelief about the paranormal stuff, there really wasn't much more to her that I liked. She felt too cardboard cutout for me - the innocent human who is suddenly exposed to this crazy paranormal universe. She was also quite dense in certain situations, which did make my blood churn quite a bit.

Ink. Honestly, I can't decide whether I like him or not. Even though he felt like a typical paranormal character - mysterious, broody, intriguing - his abilities certainly set him apart. I was intrigued by what he could do, and that made him slightly more appealing than he would have been otherwise. (Plus, I may have a soft spot for broody, hot boys.)

Ink & Inq. The relationship between these two siblings is actually one of the things that I liked best about the book. While their abilities are similar, they don't necessarily do the same thing or work in tandem all the time. They also remained stark contrasts to each other in personality, which definitely made the book a whole lot more entertaining.

Joy and Ink's romance. I'm sure it won't surprise many of you that there happens to be a paranormal romance. Sure, it starts off as play-acting, but since when did that stop such things from becoming real eventually. I didn't exactly dislike the romance, but I wasn't a big fan either. 

The story got to me. Even with all my reservations, and all the eye-rolling it made me do, the story really caught my attention about 2/3 of the way in (which is actually a bit too long for me). It's got a lot of intrigue, and action, and unexpected villains and revelations.

While I didn't completely dislike the novel, Indelible just didn't work for me. Getting invested in the story took much too long, and the characters were a little too bland. However, this might have a lot to do with my own subjective tastes, so there is the possibility that this might appeal to people who are big paranormal fans.