Indelible (The Twixt #1)

Thank you to Harlequin Teen for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Indelible is one strange novel with an extremely original premise and out of the ordinary mythology. Metcalf definitely explores uncharted paranormal territory in Indelible; I definitely give Metcalf props for thinking out of the box with this book. The problem is that I really wanted to like Indelible, but it was one of those "It's not you--it's me" cases. Indelible is by no means a bad novel, it's just not my cuppa tea. I have a feeling that Indelible will strike a chord with many readers, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking to read.

Immediately straight from the first-few pages, Metcalf creates a mysterious vibe that the reader won't be able to shake off. There was a ton of intrigue in the beginning of Indelible that urged me to delve further into this novel. Indelible introduces to the reader to a world unlike any other and I loved how Metcalf slowly, eased the reader into it. The problem was that this world wasn't all that memorable and that I felt like I was split between two worlds.

There's a scene in Indelible where Joy is told by Ink that she has to choose between the human world and the world of The Twixt. I felt like throughout the novel I was caught in a limbo between the two worlds. Metcalf creates an interesting contemporary world to contrast the world of The Twixt, but they didn't blend too well. Whenever I felt invested in the world of The Twixt, I felt like Metcalf quickly rushed me into the contemporary world. The vice-versa is also true for Indelible and I feel like the author didn't transition well between the two worlds. I hoped the two worlds would coexist in a better matter like in other Urban Fantasy novels like The Mortal Instruments. I really felt like I never fully had a chance to appreciate either world, because the worlds didn't really mesh well together. Instead of being amazed by the unique world of the Twixt, I felt slightly disinterested while reading this novel.

I feel bad when I compare novels to other novels I've read in the past, but I can't help myself. Throughout the novel, I kept getting this City Of Bones vibe that I couldn't shake off. The whole Scribe aspect of the novel reminded me of how the Shadowhunters in CoB use their steles to create runes. Also the opening scene of Indelible seemed like a playoff of the opening scene of City Of Bones. I wasn't sure if these were simple coincidences that I nitpicked or whether this novel was trying to mimic The Mortal Instruments. These similarities were a bit disconcerting, but they didn't mar my opinion of the book.

I was pretty apathetic towards our heroine Joy; she was nothing special and was a bit too ordinary for my tastes. I didn't even get a sense why I was even supposed to like her because she was just so unappealing to read about. The love interest, Ink was supposed to be this mysterious, brooding character. Instead of being mysterious, Ink felt to me like he was uncomfortable in his own skin and a bit too shy. There's nothing wrong with being shy, but reading about Ink just was pretty awkward and difficult. I really hoped Ink would eventually accept who he was and he would show his true colors, but this never really came into fruition.

I never felt any chemistry between Ink and Joy, their relationship never really interested me and it felt a bit forced. The supposed romance wasn't distinct enough and was overshadowed by the central plotline. If the author had wanted to include romance in this novel, I feel as if the author should have made the romance more evident.

I never really felt compelled to read more of Indelible and I had to trudge through the slow-paced middle. I kept waiting for something extraordinary to happen to completely alter my opinion of this novel. I didn't even enjoy the ending of this novel and I was so disinterested that I could have abandoned this book at any time without having a strong urge to continue. I was unimpressed with Indelible's plot for the most part and I expected more from Metcalf.

Indelible wasn't the novel for me, but many of my friends seem to have enjoyed reading it. I can only hope that the next novel in The Twixt series is more engaging and will capture my attention better. I will give Metcalf another chance with the next Twixt novel. It saddens me that I didn't enjoy Indelible more, but this wasn't the ideal paranormal novel for me.

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you will know that this is my first review about a book with fairies. I don't normally like fairies, but I saw the cover for this one and decided I wanted to read it... (Yes I know its a bad habit lol) But overall, it wasn't a terrible read. There were some things I was annoyed at, but it wasn't bad enough for me to swear off the rest of the series.
One thing I was a little unnerved about was the use of unnecessary facts. I call that "fluff." They are fillers to make the book longer. For example, "She got up, wincing around an old injury of two broken toes..." I just didn't see the relevance to the rest of the story. It was just something I could do without. Now if that were the only time, I would have been ok with that, but it was throughout the ENTIRE story.
Another thing I didn't like was the choppy writing style. I'm not sure if it was because this was an e-ARC or what, but there weren't any chapter markers and it was driving me insane. I was confused whenever they jumped from subject to subject. I felt like it was just all over the place. It was a lot to process.
What I did like was the way it jumped right into the action. There was honestly never a dull moment in the book. It kept me going and worried about what would happen next. I just wish the creepy parts were a bit more creepy.
Overall, I'm happy I decided to pick up this book. It really opened up my world to a different genre. But there were some things I wish I could change.