I’d say the book’s second strong feature is its use of viewpoint. Valynne is very good with promises watch how she eases the reader through the transitions between family/school life and the action scenes. Pay attention to the solid mystery hook, followed by balancing family life, then the escalation of discovery into true danger. The first thing I’d highlight for you to examine is how Valynne juggles the genres, and expectations for them, as mentioned above. I highly recommend the book to anyone who likes Young Adult fiction. I particularly enjoyed how the writer turned a major trope-the single girl in a cast of mostly guys-on its head by making it a feature of the story. An artful blend of Japanese culture, solid mystery, interesting characters, and an excellent use of viewpoint. I can sincerely say this was one of the best books I’ve read this year, and might even be in the top spot. Not so here, and I thoroughly enjoyed the blend. Often when someone tries this, one of the two (either the daily life or the mystery) ends up feeling perfunctory. I was impressed by how well she balanced the growing tension with a girl struggling through day-to-day challenges. While many books use these themes as seasoning, I believe that Valynne successfully creates a straight-up hybrid. However-and few books manage to pull this off as well as Ink and Ashes-it’s also a slice of life drama, mixing family dynamics, friendships, and romance. (They are more about the characters discovering secrets than they are about people being in danger.) However, as the story escalates, it does move into thriller territory.
The opening chapters focus more on mystery, by my definition, than thriller. The packaging lists it as a thriller, and that’s not a bad way to present it.
This excellent YA book sits carefully nestled between several genres. (Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see here.)
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