Ink is one of my biggest book disappointments of this year so far. Japanese setting? Yes, please! Drawings move? Unique - tell me more. Beautiful watercolor cover? Even better! The premise of Ink drew me in, but the actual book made me facepalm and growl at the book. So while I did like the drawings in the novel (yay! pretty pictures!), the Japanese setting, and the idea of interweaving Japanese mythology and folklore into the story to make it very original, it was not enough for me to continue reading.The WritingNot bad, but not brilliant either. Numerous times, the author mentioned the blooming cherry blossoms and the general setting of where Katie lives. Nothing is wrong with this, in fact it's great that the author included these details into the novel, but I wished she did more. As someone who's never been to Japan and has only experienced it vicariously through anime, I was disappointed that Amanda Sun didn't include more imagery on how beautiful Japan could be. As she didn't do this, the writing felt choppy and action driven. Personally, I felt that certain scenes were quite unnecessary and only dragged out the plot. Katie describes how she would bike to school (okayyy), and how she would immediately look for Tomohiro, who would be nowhere seen. What was the point of this besides emphasizing how much of a stalker Katie is (but more on that later)? The PlotI wish I could tell you more about the plot, but I honestly couldn't tell you where this was going if I was held at gun point. What I got from this story is that the plot is driven by the romance. There's nothing really wrong with this, but it's not a story for me, especially when this novel had so much potential to be original and exciting. Also, if you're going to be all about romance, at least make it good. Katie's and Tomohiro's love for each other seemed to happen too fast for it to be believable considering how little they knew of each other. The Character, or rather, Katie GreeneI have not read a character that I've wanted to throttle in quite a while, so Ink frustrated me to no end. She had no hobbies for her own besides the occasional doodle and learning Japanese in cram school (I guess??), but no, most of her time is dedicated to stalking Tomohiro, the love interest. The worst part of being inside her brain is that she refers to him as "the guy that put his best friend in the hospital - who does that??" and will bring up other negative rumors surrounding him, but when she's around him and he suggests that he's dangerous (insert the "I'm-dangerous-I-need-to-drive-you-away angst from Tomohiro), she thinks, "Maybe he's is dangerous after all. No shit, Katie! I'm ashamed to share my name with you. Katie's friends even had the courtesy to warn her about getting involved with Tomohiro, but these precautions fly over her head, naturally. Her little annoying self-conflicts over Tomohiro would repeat in the never ending circle of life the more she stalked him. For the love of god, please, please, please, pleeeaseAnother irritating trait of Katie Greene is that she came off as immature. When her aunt was happy that Katie was making friends and merely suggested that Tanaka could be "more than a friend - wink, wink," Katie's immediate reaction is "Eww." Isn't there a better response instead of making sounds that you would make for a parasite or something equally "eww"-worthy.I personally did not like Ink, but I know other readers have enjoyed it, so give it a try. If I've scared you off, which hopefully I have because this book should be thrown against the wall, I highly recommend [b:Stormdancer|10852343|Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)|Jay Kristoff|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337359560s/10852343.jpg|15767096] by Jay Kristoff; it's original, action-packed fantasy, has mythology mixed in, and even takes place in Japan if you like Japanese culture!