If you loved the wave of dystopian YA fiction that shook our shelves in the last few years, your next read should be Inked
In Caenum’s world, coming of age means getting your Ink, and your Ink decides your future. He is all set to run away from home to avoid being branded with a future he doesn’t want when his future meets him abruptly right where he is – and in a way he never could have imagined.
Favorite Quotes:
“Just because I had to go didn’t mean I wanted to leave.”
“Ink was like that. Always suggesting and nudging, always spot on.”
“Which is exactly why it scared me. I wanted to know myself first.”
“I was busy brooding, and I was getting good at it.”
“Great things can happen if you just take the time to help, take the risk, take the chance.”
“As if I finally understood something about my strange, confusing little life. A connection to the earth, in a way my parents never had. They harvested its bounty. But I could control it.”
“The Citadel manages to keep the world under its thumb by never letting anyone try to be something greater.”
“There was joy in this.”
“Be fearless. Be bold. Be Magic.”
“We will not be like the Citadel. We will be better.”
“This wasn’t the same girl who broke down at the sight of her home burning. She radiated strength, glowed with power.”
“According to the Citadel, you might have been born to work the land. But according to the fate you’ve made for yourself, you were meant to save it.”
“When you’re fighting a war, you start to realize how little time you might have left.”
What made this a good story? This novel is quickly paced and full of action. Smith nails all the teenage feelings and heightened emotional states. The plot is superb, both following and upending some YA stereotypes, while introducing some memorable characters. Like both The Hunger Games and Divergent trilogies, Smith uses the turmoil of a dystopian society to discuss right and wrong in a way that makes the conversation relevant and engaging for teens. I could see this book being a conversation starter in middle and high school classrooms, while still capturing the imagination of the students there.
What could have made it a better story? The novel follows a good many YA clichés: there’s a love story, a chosen one (also an orphan), someone alone who can change the course of their world. But they’re clichés for good reason: it’s a formula we have all come to know and to love. We know how to engage with and root for the underdog. We love watching two people slowly swirl toward one another as they discover who they really are. I do wish there had been a little more character development in the beginning: Caenum and Dreya are in love, but why? What do they love about each other? What makes the other person special other than that they live next door? I wish each character would have had a little more story to themselves instead of only as shared with another.
What about you? Have you read Inked
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