That the events and actions of your life are forever tattooed on your body is a fantasy concept to die for, and Alice Broadway makes full use of the connotations and consequences in this fine Young Adult debut. A novel of family secrets and standing up to authority, Ink is a triumph of bold, imaginative writing.
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018
The first book in a dazzlingly inventive new trilogy, INK is a powerful story of identity, belonging, community and the relationship between our skin and who we are underneath.
Imagine a world where your every action, your every deed is marked on your skin for all to see. And Leora has something to hide.
She ignored their whispered warnings of what happens to babies who die unmarked. And so, for twenty days, I remained formless and void, until one day my mother said, “let her be Leora.”
In this world, ink matters. Your life is marked throughout your life with tattoos, your body becoming a map of who you are and who you have been. Those deemed worthy will have their lives, their ink, turned into a memorial for all-time. Those who are not, are fated to have their skin cast into oblivion, their lives condemned to be forgotten forever.
When Leora's father dies, she is determined to see her father remembered. She knows he deserves to have all his tattoos removed and made into a Skin Book to stand as a record of his good life.
But as Leora discovers more about her father's shadowy past, and those outsiders known as the 'blanks' who refuse to let their skin be tattooed, she discovers his life holds more secrets than she realised. When she finds that his ink has been edited and his book is incomplete, she begins to wonder she ever knew him at all.
Britiash author Alice Broadway is a former Theology student who does most of her writing in a bright yellow camper van. Her first novel, INK, was drawn in part from her experiences of religious community and her own crisis of faith.
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 9781407172842
Number of pages: 390
Weight: 270 g
Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 25 mm
'Through blood and pain and ink I can be remade.'
As someone who has an ever growing amount of tattoos I knew I had to give this a go, and let me tell you that this is by far one of the best YA books of the...
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When there's so many dystopian young adult novels available, it can be tricky to discern what's good and what's just cashing in on the success of series like 'The Hunger Games'. It's one... More
I really enjoyed this book! It's been a while since I've read something which has had me hooked like this book did. The story is really intriguing and it felt new and exciting the whole way though. As a... More
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