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The Asylum Tales #1
Angel's Ink
Buyer beware . . .
Looking for a tattoo—and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions—a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks—to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart's desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price.
No one knows that better than Gage. Turning his back on his own kind, he left the magical Ivory Tower where cruel witches and warlocks rule, a decision that cost him the right to practice magic. And if he disobeys, his punishment—execution—will be swift.
Though he's tried to fly under the radar, Gage can't hide from powerful warlocks who want him dead—or the secrets of his own past. But with the help of his friends, Trixie, a gorgeous elf who hides her true identity, and a hulking troll named Bronx, Gage might just make it through this enchanted world alive.
Looking for a tattoo—and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions—a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks—to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart's desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price.
No one knows that better than Gage. Turning his back on his own kind, he left the magical Ivory Tower where cruel witches and warlocks rule, a decision that cost him the right to practice magic. And if he disobeys, his punishment—execution—will be swift.
Though he's tried to fly under the radar, Gage can't hide from powerful warlocks who want him dead—or the secrets of his own past. But with the help of his friends, Trixie, a gorgeous elf who hides her true identity, and a hulking troll named Bronx, Gage might just make it through this enchanted world alive.
338 pages, Paperback
First published October 16, 2012
About the author
Jocelynn Drake
136 books2,815 followersNew York Times Bestselling author Jocelynn Drake loves a good story, whether she is reading it or writing one of her own. Over the years, her stories have allowed her to explore space, talk to dragons, dodge bullets with assassins, hang with vampires, and fall in love again and again.
This former Kentucky girl has moved up, down, and across the U.S. with her husband. Recently, they’ve settled near the Rockies.
When she is not hammering away at her keyboard or curled up with a book, she can be
walking her dog Ace, or playing video games. She loves Bruce Wayne, Ezio Auditore, travel, tattoos, explosions, and fast cars.
She is the author of the urban fantasy books: The Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales. For gay romance, she has completed The Exit Strategy and Shadow Elite series, and is now working on a spin-off of her MM paranormal series, Lords of Discord. She has also co-authored with Rinda Elliot the following series: Unbreakable Bonds, Ward Security, Pineapple Grove, the Weavers Circle. In addition, she has co-authored with AJ Sherwood the following series: Scales 'N' Spell and Wings 'N' Wands. She can be found at JocelynnDrake.com.
This former Kentucky girl has moved up, down, and across the U.S. with her husband. Recently, they’ve settled near the Rockies.
When she is not hammering away at her keyboard or curled up with a book, she can be
walking her dog Ace, or playing video games. She loves Bruce Wayne, Ezio Auditore, travel, tattoos, explosions, and fast cars.
She is the author of the urban fantasy books: The Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales. For gay romance, she has completed The Exit Strategy and Shadow Elite series, and is now working on a spin-off of her MM paranormal series, Lords of Discord. She has also co-authored with Rinda Elliot the following series: Unbreakable Bonds, Ward Security, Pineapple Grove, the Weavers Circle. In addition, she has co-authored with AJ Sherwood the following series: Scales 'N' Spell and Wings 'N' Wands. She can be found at JocelynnDrake.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 489 reviews
September 11, 2012
I’m always excited about new urban fantasy series, hoping I’ll discover a new Kate Daniels, new Mercy Thompson or Kara Gillian (or in this case, a new Atticus O’Sullivan). I never do, of course, but a girl can dream, right? In many ways, Angel’s Ink was better than I expected, but parts of it were disappointing as well. I’ll try not to focus only on them.
Gage is a loner, owner of the Asylum Tattoo Parlor and the only person ever to escape the infamous Ivory Towers, home of warlocks and witches. He was taken from his home and forced to start training when he was only seven years old, and despite his enormous talent, he never really fit in with the warlocks that thought themselves superior to every other race on the planet. He didn’t want to be feared, so he left - under the condition that he must never use magic unless it is in self-defense. After some wandering, he opened his tattoo shop and did his best to live unnoticed. But powers like his are hard to ignore, and in trying to help a dying girl, Gage attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Suddenly, things are coming at him from five deadly sides and he has absolutely nowhere to turn to.
On my long list of pet peeves, faulty and incomplete worldbuilding is at the very top. While Drake focused on her plot and at least four more subplots, her world remained murky and undefined. There were warlocks, witches, elves, trolls, werewolves, and just about every other supernatural creature you can think of, but apart from warlocks and elves, none of those groups were defined, there were no limitations, no boundaries, no background whatsoever. Usually, first installments suffer plot-wise because of the need to outline the world as clearly as possible, and that’s how it should be. It is even expected. But to neglect the world in favor of a plot that ends up being overly complicated anyway is almost a crime. In my head, at least.
As a fan of all body art, I enjoyed reading about Gage’s shop, and I thought that mixing ink with various potions, thus making the tattoos magical to some extent, was a pretty great idea.
While I certainly liked the Asylum crew, I never really felt close to them, mostly because of Gage. Deciding to write from an adult male’s perspective when you’re a woman is a tricky (and unnecessary) move, and I just feel that Jocelynn Drake wasn’t very successful at it. Gage is an example of what we women expect (or rather hope) men to be, and a far cry from reality, I’m afraid. I’ve read more than a few urban fantasy novels by male authors with a male protagonist, and believe me, they’re nothing like Gage. Now, I wouldn’t dare presume to understand the inner workings of the male mind, but female voice is one thing I can unfailingly recognize, and with Gage, I didn’t even have to try very hard.
To make the long story short, The Asylum Tales is a series I will be continuing in the hopes that these few problems I’ve mentioned might disappear in the next book.
Gage is a loner, owner of the Asylum Tattoo Parlor and the only person ever to escape the infamous Ivory Towers, home of warlocks and witches. He was taken from his home and forced to start training when he was only seven years old, and despite his enormous talent, he never really fit in with the warlocks that thought themselves superior to every other race on the planet. He didn’t want to be feared, so he left - under the condition that he must never use magic unless it is in self-defense. After some wandering, he opened his tattoo shop and did his best to live unnoticed. But powers like his are hard to ignore, and in trying to help a dying girl, Gage attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Suddenly, things are coming at him from five deadly sides and he has absolutely nowhere to turn to.
On my long list of pet peeves, faulty and incomplete worldbuilding is at the very top. While Drake focused on her plot and at least four more subplots, her world remained murky and undefined. There were warlocks, witches, elves, trolls, werewolves, and just about every other supernatural creature you can think of, but apart from warlocks and elves, none of those groups were defined, there were no limitations, no boundaries, no background whatsoever. Usually, first installments suffer plot-wise because of the need to outline the world as clearly as possible, and that’s how it should be. It is even expected. But to neglect the world in favor of a plot that ends up being overly complicated anyway is almost a crime. In my head, at least.
As a fan of all body art, I enjoyed reading about Gage’s shop, and I thought that mixing ink with various potions, thus making the tattoos magical to some extent, was a pretty great idea.
While I certainly liked the Asylum crew, I never really felt close to them, mostly because of Gage. Deciding to write from an adult male’s perspective when you’re a woman is a tricky (and unnecessary) move, and I just feel that Jocelynn Drake wasn’t very successful at it. Gage is an example of what we women expect (or rather hope) men to be, and a far cry from reality, I’m afraid. I’ve read more than a few urban fantasy novels by male authors with a male protagonist, and believe me, they’re nothing like Gage. Now, I wouldn’t dare presume to understand the inner workings of the male mind, but female voice is one thing I can unfailingly recognize, and with Gage, I didn’t even have to try very hard.
To make the long story short, The Asylum Tales is a series I will be continuing in the hopes that these few problems I’ve mentioned might disappear in the next book.
December 4, 2013
Update 9/27:
I had given this 2 stars on the singular premise of a good idea.
This was a gross misuse of stars. I am retracting that previous rating and instating the appropriate ZERO.
I climbed in bed and realized I had forgotten to update my kindle and all that was on there unread was this piece of garbage. I decided as I had not gotten to the sex scene I would read on, perhaps it had some unforeseen redeeming qualities, I plowed on. As I suspected it was not long off from the point in which I decided I was done with this book, so thankfully I didn't have too many painfully meaningless pile of words to wade through. The fact is there is nothing wrong with the sex scene, except for everything.
Here is what I know. Trixie is CENTURIES old, and a fucking magical creature, wrap you mind around that one.
He's kind of, whatever.
You know what their sex was like? Regular. Run o' the mill, girl on top, she finishes, he turns her on her back, he finishes. Oh wait, wait for it, then he leaves. Nothing worth reading. In fact I was mildly insulted, she is centuries old she was sort of bumbling and lacked any control or input. You know who has sex like this on the regular? EVERY MARRIED PERSON EVER. Except for him leaving, input "him going to sleep".
You have this chance to write a confident, empowered, strong, sexually focused woman and you right a bored housewife? I fucking hate this book.
This book is so boring. I have never heard a man talk so much about mundane shit. If this is what they are thinking all of the time, no wonder they always respond with "nothing" when you ask them what is on their mind. They are not being facetious, they are simply being honest.
Shallow
Dull
Narcissistic
Arrogant
Hot Tempered
Repetitive
Boring
I want to like Gage (Ugh, really? That's the best name you could come up with? I have a real issue when MC's have ridiculous names, let's take this guy WHO CAN FEEL MAGIC and give him some mundane name filled with all sorts of stigma. Barf) and his world. It's actually INTERESTING. Gasp! Warlocks are psychos, elves, wood nymphs, and trolls abound all sort of hiding in plain sight, you can do magic with tattoos and vampires have OCD, oh and grim reapers are real and they work for a union (think Dead Like Me). It has all these great elements but I'm so bored, it's so wordy, his inner voice sounds a little too female and I keep having to reminds myself that it's Gage. I feel no understanding or connection with him, I mostly think he's stupid.
He is gearing up for some battle for his life and he has to do it without getting caught using magic, which of course is not going to happen. I'm bored of this. I'm done. I don't care what happens to any of these characters. I'm not finishing this book, but I gave it 2 stars because frankly, the world is awesome.
I bid you adieu, lack luster waste of time!
I had given this 2 stars on the singular premise of a good idea.
This was a gross misuse of stars. I am retracting that previous rating and instating the appropriate ZERO.
I climbed in bed and realized I had forgotten to update my kindle and all that was on there unread was this piece of garbage. I decided as I had not gotten to the sex scene I would read on, perhaps it had some unforeseen redeeming qualities, I plowed on. As I suspected it was not long off from the point in which I decided I was done with this book, so thankfully I didn't have too many painfully meaningless pile of words to wade through. The fact is there is nothing wrong with the sex scene, except for everything.
Here is what I know. Trixie is CENTURIES old, and a fucking magical creature, wrap you mind around that one.
He's kind of, whatever.
You know what their sex was like? Regular. Run o' the mill, girl on top, she finishes, he turns her on her back, he finishes. Oh wait, wait for it, then he leaves. Nothing worth reading. In fact I was mildly insulted, she is centuries old she was sort of bumbling and lacked any control or input. You know who has sex like this on the regular? EVERY MARRIED PERSON EVER. Except for him leaving, input "him going to sleep".
You have this chance to write a confident, empowered, strong, sexually focused woman and you right a bored housewife? I fucking hate this book.
This book is so boring. I have never heard a man talk so much about mundane shit. If this is what they are thinking all of the time, no wonder they always respond with "nothing" when you ask them what is on their mind. They are not being facetious, they are simply being honest.
Shallow
Dull
Narcissistic
Arrogant
Hot Tempered
Repetitive
Boring
I want to like Gage (Ugh, really? That's the best name you could come up with? I have a real issue when MC's have ridiculous names, let's take this guy WHO CAN FEEL MAGIC and give him some mundane name filled with all sorts of stigma. Barf) and his world. It's actually INTERESTING. Gasp! Warlocks are psychos, elves, wood nymphs, and trolls abound all sort of hiding in plain sight, you can do magic with tattoos and vampires have OCD, oh and grim reapers are real and they work for a union (think Dead Like Me). It has all these great elements but I'm so bored, it's so wordy, his inner voice sounds a little too female and I keep having to reminds myself that it's Gage. I feel no understanding or connection with him, I mostly think he's stupid.
He is gearing up for some battle for his life and he has to do it without getting caught using magic, which of course is not going to happen. I'm bored of this. I'm done. I don't care what happens to any of these characters. I'm not finishing this book, but I gave it 2 stars because frankly, the world is awesome.
I bid you adieu, lack luster waste of time!
February 25, 2017
**3.5 stars**
Gage is a warlock in hiding, living his life as a tattoo artist, when pretty much everybody and his mother wants a piece of him. After a tattoo went wrong (or terribly right, depending on your POV), his former mentor tries to kill him and his friends are threatened, Gage decides that enough is enough.
I really liked Gage, the world, the magic system, the love interest and I found his (sort of) unrequited love super romantic (I so love this trope) and the sexytimes were hot!! (You seldom see explicit love scenes in UF with male leads...why is that, I wonder?) However, I'm not rating it higher because there was just too much going on in this book. Too many villains and sometimes Gage did stupid things just to advance the plot when you would know he was smarter than that.
Definitely continuing the series though.
Gage is a warlock in hiding, living his life as a tattoo artist, when pretty much everybody and his mother wants a piece of him. After a tattoo went wrong (or terribly right, depending on your POV), his former mentor tries to kill him and his friends are threatened, Gage decides that enough is enough.
I really liked Gage, the world, the magic system, the love interest and I found his (sort of) unrequited love super romantic (I so love this trope) and the sexytimes were hot!! (You seldom see explicit love scenes in UF with male leads...why is that, I wonder?) However, I'm not rating it higher because there was just too much going on in this book. Too many villains and sometimes Gage did stupid things just to advance the plot when you would know he was smarter than that.
Definitely continuing the series though.
October 17, 2012
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Dark, urban fantasy set is a masterfully built world with lots of action but with so much going on it can be distracting.
Opening Sentence: The hammer of a gun clicked as it was cocked.
The Review:
Angel’s Ink starts off a fascinating new series where humans live alongside the supernatural. This world has seen its fair share of blood spilled, most of it by witches and warlocks. Gage is currently a tattoo artist but was once a warlock in training. But once a warlock, always a warlock, he has to hide what he is for fear of hate, retribution and revenge against warlocks.
Gage tries to act like a tough, cold hearted man but he really has a soft spot when it comes to the ladies and even some of his close male friends. So when a girl with terminal cancer walks into his tattoo parlor wanting angel wings tattooed onto her back, he tries to use his special potions to come up with a way to prolong her life. Unfortunately this backfires in such a way that he ends up in a fight for his own life.
Gage is a trouble magnet. Just when you think that this guy can’t get drug down any deeper he gets thrown down another hole. Angel’s Ink is filled with many plot devices that sometimes may have you wondering where this story is going. The story is not just about the girl getting the angel tattoos. Gage also has to face his evil ex-mentor that is out to kill him and the trouble that his friends Trixie and Bronx are going through that he takes it upon himself to help solve.
One of the main elements that I really enjoyed about Angel’s Ink was the tremendous cast of characters. I got to learn more about Trixie and Bronx from the novellas than in the actual novel and I thought Chang was funnier in the novella. He was in but his eccentricity that finds him really intriguing. Gideon, the warlock watching Gage, has many secrets but it was his actions at the beginning of the novel that had me wanting to know more about him. My favorite character has to be Sophie, the witchy talking cat.
Angel’s Ink is told entirely through Gage’s point of view. Gage is not supposed to use magic as a part of his leaving his warlock training but he often uses it when he gets into trouble, using his magic just gets him into even more trouble. The romance may seem to play out quickly but in the timeline of the book, it has been playing out for two years.
In the end, Angel’s Ink will appeal to fans of dark, urban fantasy. As the beginning of a series, it sets up many storylines that will be finished later. As it is, I can’t wait to see what is next for Gage and his circle of friends.
Notable Scene:
As I focused on directing more lightning at Simon, it felt as if a large hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed tightly, threatening to close off my breathing. I couldn’t stop myself from raising both hands and clawing at nothingness as I struggled to catch my breath. The hand tightened and proceeded to pull me, on my back, across the open space behind the tattoo parlor. I commanded the lightning to pound the ground where Simon stood, but I was blind to his exact location. If I was lucky I would take him down before I was strangled to death.
And then the invisible hand released me. Holding my throat, I rolled onto my stomach and looked up at where Simon had last been standing. The air rushed from my lungs. Trixie stood behind him with one arm thrown across his chest, her other hand holding a large knife tightly against his throat. I don’t know how she’d managed to sneak past us both unnoticed, but I wasn’t going to question this change in events.
Shoving to my feet, I gathered together the energy swirling about me and reached out for Simon’s soul once again. This time I would simply pull it from his body and release it into the air. The soul would not be able to reenter the body and the warlock would be dead. Sure, I would lose a year of my own life for killing him with magic, but it was a price I was willing to pay for Trixie. Only those with a death wish attacked a warlock.
FTC Advisory: Harper Voyager/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Angel’s Ink. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: Dark, urban fantasy set is a masterfully built world with lots of action but with so much going on it can be distracting.
Opening Sentence: The hammer of a gun clicked as it was cocked.
The Review:
Angel’s Ink starts off a fascinating new series where humans live alongside the supernatural. This world has seen its fair share of blood spilled, most of it by witches and warlocks. Gage is currently a tattoo artist but was once a warlock in training. But once a warlock, always a warlock, he has to hide what he is for fear of hate, retribution and revenge against warlocks.
Gage tries to act like a tough, cold hearted man but he really has a soft spot when it comes to the ladies and even some of his close male friends. So when a girl with terminal cancer walks into his tattoo parlor wanting angel wings tattooed onto her back, he tries to use his special potions to come up with a way to prolong her life. Unfortunately this backfires in such a way that he ends up in a fight for his own life.
Gage is a trouble magnet. Just when you think that this guy can’t get drug down any deeper he gets thrown down another hole. Angel’s Ink is filled with many plot devices that sometimes may have you wondering where this story is going. The story is not just about the girl getting the angel tattoos. Gage also has to face his evil ex-mentor that is out to kill him and the trouble that his friends Trixie and Bronx are going through that he takes it upon himself to help solve.
One of the main elements that I really enjoyed about Angel’s Ink was the tremendous cast of characters. I got to learn more about Trixie and Bronx from the novellas than in the actual novel and I thought Chang was funnier in the novella. He was in but his eccentricity that finds him really intriguing. Gideon, the warlock watching Gage, has many secrets but it was his actions at the beginning of the novel that had me wanting to know more about him. My favorite character has to be Sophie, the witchy talking cat.
Angel’s Ink is told entirely through Gage’s point of view. Gage is not supposed to use magic as a part of his leaving his warlock training but he often uses it when he gets into trouble, using his magic just gets him into even more trouble. The romance may seem to play out quickly but in the timeline of the book, it has been playing out for two years.
In the end, Angel’s Ink will appeal to fans of dark, urban fantasy. As the beginning of a series, it sets up many storylines that will be finished later. As it is, I can’t wait to see what is next for Gage and his circle of friends.
Notable Scene:
As I focused on directing more lightning at Simon, it felt as if a large hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed tightly, threatening to close off my breathing. I couldn’t stop myself from raising both hands and clawing at nothingness as I struggled to catch my breath. The hand tightened and proceeded to pull me, on my back, across the open space behind the tattoo parlor. I commanded the lightning to pound the ground where Simon stood, but I was blind to his exact location. If I was lucky I would take him down before I was strangled to death.
And then the invisible hand released me. Holding my throat, I rolled onto my stomach and looked up at where Simon had last been standing. The air rushed from my lungs. Trixie stood behind him with one arm thrown across his chest, her other hand holding a large knife tightly against his throat. I don’t know how she’d managed to sneak past us both unnoticed, but I wasn’t going to question this change in events.
Shoving to my feet, I gathered together the energy swirling about me and reached out for Simon’s soul once again. This time I would simply pull it from his body and release it into the air. The soul would not be able to reenter the body and the warlock would be dead. Sure, I would lose a year of my own life for killing him with magic, but it was a price I was willing to pay for Trixie. Only those with a death wish attacked a warlock.
FTC Advisory: Harper Voyager/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Angel’s Ink. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
August 12, 2021
I LOVED this book. It was one of the better urban fantasy books I have read. Angel's Ink was right up there with Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson. I really liked that it was a male lead too. That gave this series a little something different to set it apart from the before mentioned books.
The characters were all so interesting in this book. I was pretty much instantly enthralled in their stories. I feel like I have only scratched the surface with all if them. I need more!!! I can tell you that what I do know about them, I LOVE! There was never a dull moment in this book. It seemed there was always a new intriguing character, or interesting twist around every corner. I can't wait to see what happens next in this incredible world Jocelynn Drake has created :)
The characters were all so interesting in this book. I was pretty much instantly enthralled in their stories. I feel like I have only scratched the surface with all if them. I need more!!! I can tell you that what I do know about them, I LOVE! There was never a dull moment in this book. It seemed there was always a new intriguing character, or interesting twist around every corner. I can't wait to see what happens next in this incredible world Jocelynn Drake has created :)
October 7, 2012
3.5 stars-
You may read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/10/...
After a tattoo gone wrong, Gage Powell finds himself at the receiving end of a gun barrel. Seems a good luck tattoo’s ingredients weren’t up to snuff, but it didn’t help that the customer wasn’t willing to shell out more than $50. A misfiring tattoo is bad enough, and after taking care of the disgruntled customer (with his fist), Gage is visited by his warden, Gideon, who is determined to catch Gage practicing unsanctioned magic. Gage left the life of an Ivory Tower warlock a long time ago, but he’s on probation, and if he gets caught using serious magic, the punishment will mean death. The fact that his old nemesis Simon Thorn is also on his trail is just icing. Simon considers Gage a blot and means to wipe the blot that is Gage out. Gage can hold his own, but is only able to use magic in self-defense, which isn’t always convenient. When he’s visited by a dying girl who wants a pair of wings tattooed on her back he decides to put “a little bit extra” in the tattoo, to simultaneously wonderful and disastrous effect.
Poor Gage. He just wants to live his life, run his tattoo shop, The Asylum, and work a little magic, preferably to help people, but the warlocks he does his best to avoid make his life a living hell, and he must find a way to correct the tattoo that was supposed to save a dying girl’s life, but ended up doing much more, or his very soul will be in jeopardy. He’s allowed to use magic in self defense, but never to kill, or he will lose a year of his life (which would be spent in the underworld and not without pain.)
Warlocks and witches are universally feared and he never wanted to be cruel and heartless like so many of his kind. He was taken away from his family at a very young age, when he began showing magical promise, and for their safety, hasn’t contacted them since. Makes for a pretty lonely existence, but it’s not all bad. For example, he has good friend in Bronx, the big hearted (and just plain big), troll that tattoos in his shop, and Trixie, the beautiful elf that’s hiding a secret of her own, and who he’s been nursing a crush on from the moment he laid eyes on her. All the magic in the world won’t save him if his friends get hurt because of him, and that severely hinders him in what he can and cannot do.
Gage reminds me a little bit of Harry Dresden, and although this isn’t (yet) quite as good as that series, it certainly shows promise. It’s always refreshing for me when we get a new male protagonist to root for in urban fantasy, and Low Town is a wonderful world to escape to for a while if you need to get your fix of fey, vampires, weres, etc. I enjoyed this first book in a new series, and the author also has e-shorts out about Bronx and Trixie if you’d like to know more about those characters. Gage is a great new UF voice, and his devotion to his friends (who he considers his family) is partly what makes this such a fun read. Fans of urban fantasy should enjoy this one, and will certainly look forward to the next installment.
You may read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/10/...
After a tattoo gone wrong, Gage Powell finds himself at the receiving end of a gun barrel. Seems a good luck tattoo’s ingredients weren’t up to snuff, but it didn’t help that the customer wasn’t willing to shell out more than $50. A misfiring tattoo is bad enough, and after taking care of the disgruntled customer (with his fist), Gage is visited by his warden, Gideon, who is determined to catch Gage practicing unsanctioned magic. Gage left the life of an Ivory Tower warlock a long time ago, but he’s on probation, and if he gets caught using serious magic, the punishment will mean death. The fact that his old nemesis Simon Thorn is also on his trail is just icing. Simon considers Gage a blot and means to wipe the blot that is Gage out. Gage can hold his own, but is only able to use magic in self-defense, which isn’t always convenient. When he’s visited by a dying girl who wants a pair of wings tattooed on her back he decides to put “a little bit extra” in the tattoo, to simultaneously wonderful and disastrous effect.
Poor Gage. He just wants to live his life, run his tattoo shop, The Asylum, and work a little magic, preferably to help people, but the warlocks he does his best to avoid make his life a living hell, and he must find a way to correct the tattoo that was supposed to save a dying girl’s life, but ended up doing much more, or his very soul will be in jeopardy. He’s allowed to use magic in self defense, but never to kill, or he will lose a year of his life (which would be spent in the underworld and not without pain.)
Warlocks and witches are universally feared and he never wanted to be cruel and heartless like so many of his kind. He was taken away from his family at a very young age, when he began showing magical promise, and for their safety, hasn’t contacted them since. Makes for a pretty lonely existence, but it’s not all bad. For example, he has good friend in Bronx, the big hearted (and just plain big), troll that tattoos in his shop, and Trixie, the beautiful elf that’s hiding a secret of her own, and who he’s been nursing a crush on from the moment he laid eyes on her. All the magic in the world won’t save him if his friends get hurt because of him, and that severely hinders him in what he can and cannot do.
Gage reminds me a little bit of Harry Dresden, and although this isn’t (yet) quite as good as that series, it certainly shows promise. It’s always refreshing for me when we get a new male protagonist to root for in urban fantasy, and Low Town is a wonderful world to escape to for a while if you need to get your fix of fey, vampires, weres, etc. I enjoyed this first book in a new series, and the author also has e-shorts out about Bronx and Trixie if you’d like to know more about those characters. Gage is a great new UF voice, and his devotion to his friends (who he considers his family) is partly what makes this such a fun read. Fans of urban fantasy should enjoy this one, and will certainly look forward to the next installment.
April 12, 2013
2.5 stars for the audio, 4 stars for the story- I liked it, it was very similar to Harry Dresden's story and character-like but not as well done. It had some really good moments and a lot of everything else, perhaps too much. It's a busy little book. It was a terrible audiobook, in my humble opinion, bad narration. I think I would have enjoyed it more reading it. I am not sure if I'll continue with the series.
There is a rouge warlock , he just is trying to live his life outside the control of the warlock society. His former mentor wants him dead, he hunts him, watching his every move looking for him to mess up so he can kill him. Sound familiar ? This warlock travels to other realms seeking magic goodies to save others, he also does really stupid things to save people. Sound familiar yet ?
Ok, enough of that, he is also very different, he does magic through his tattoos. While doing one he steps over the 'ok' line and steps on all kinds of toes, calling up some wickedly bad characters who want him to fix it or else. He bumbles and trips all over different messes and complicates his life more with every 'fix' he tries. He has friends, a Pixie, a troll and a cat who happens to be a witch. The story ended and didn't leave me with a "I can't wait for the next book" feel.
The cat/witch Sophie was a wonderful story addition, my favorite and she was just a side character.
There is a rouge warlock , he just is trying to live his life outside the control of the warlock society. His former mentor wants him dead, he hunts him, watching his every move looking for him to mess up so he can kill him. Sound familiar ? This warlock travels to other realms seeking magic goodies to save others, he also does really stupid things to save people. Sound familiar yet ?
Ok, enough of that, he is also very different, he does magic through his tattoos. While doing one he steps over the 'ok' line and steps on all kinds of toes, calling up some wickedly bad characters who want him to fix it or else. He bumbles and trips all over different messes and complicates his life more with every 'fix' he tries. He has friends, a Pixie, a troll and a cat who happens to be a witch. The story ended and didn't leave me with a "I can't wait for the next book" feel.
The cat/witch Sophie was a wonderful story addition, my favorite and she was just a side character.
November 21, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. I did enjoy it at the start (and the OCD vampires were a riot), but by the end Gage had completely slid into the TSTL category for me.
The author was just too heavy-handed on this one. One-- MAYBE two-- insurmountable problems would have been plenty, but by the end of the tale, Gage has racked up NINE of them (if I counted right). Almost all of his enemies are ridiculously overpowered. There is NO WAY he *should* have made it to the end of the book. (Frankly, given what a reckless, arrogant, oblivious idiot the man is, I'm amazed he lasted even a month out of the Ivory Towers.)
There was just... no balance. To let him survive-- much less win-- the author had to turn Gage into the worst kind of (to use a gamer term) munchkin imaginable. Even the world building wasn't very believable in the end-- the Greek gods had more weaknesses and restraint than the Ivory Tower residents seem to.
The author was just too heavy-handed on this one. One-- MAYBE two-- insurmountable problems would have been plenty, but by the end of the tale, Gage has racked up NINE of them (if I counted right). Almost all of his enemies are ridiculously overpowered. There is NO WAY he *should* have made it to the end of the book. (Frankly, given what a reckless, arrogant, oblivious idiot the man is, I'm amazed he lasted even a month out of the Ivory Towers.)
There was just... no balance. To let him survive-- much less win-- the author had to turn Gage into the worst kind of (to use a gamer term) munchkin imaginable. Even the world building wasn't very believable in the end-- the Greek gods had more weaknesses and restraint than the Ivory Tower residents seem to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2013
Original Romancing the Dark Side Review:
I've found a new urban fantasy hero in Gage!
In a world where humans and the supernatural co-exist, rogue warlock Gage prefers to practice his magic in the art of tattooing. His sanctuary is his tattoo parlor, Asylum, where he infuses his ink work with special ingredients and a touch of magic to deliver luck, wealth, or whatever desire his client wishes. Working alongside Gage are his friends Trixie and Bronx, an elf and moody troll who have secrets of their own and never ask questions.
When a young girl walks into Asylum looking for an angel wing tattoo as her dying last wish, Gage gives in and adds a little extra to her ink. His intention was to give her a little bit of happiness during her last days and it all backfires when he accidentally turns her immortal.
Soon after Gage receives an unexpected visit from the Grim Reaper who demands he reverse what was done or take the place of the soul he was sent to collect. If that weren't enough, Gage is being hunted by the warlocks he deserted long ago who's motto is "join us or die." All the magic in the world isn't enough to get Gage out of his latest predicament, but lucky for him he has friends that are willing to join in him in the fight to stay alive and keep his freedom.
This might be my first urban fantasy told by the male POV and I absolutely loved it! Gage is not your typical alpha hero but his down to earth attitude and knack for running into trouble at every turn make him intriguing. He's a powerful mage that stood up to his own kind and prefers to live by his own rules and not apologize for it, who doesn't love a rebel? Gage is an imperfect hero with a troubled past but while he may seem to have a rough exterior, he has a heart of gold and will stop at nothing to protect those he cares about. I love that the author lets us explore more than one facet of his character and his relationships with others throughout the story.
I wasn't expecting a budding romance in Angel's Ink but am thankful to Ms. Drake for including one. After everything Gage goes through you want the guy to at least get a little action! I enjoyed the flirty banter between Gage and Trixie so I had no problem when these two finally put all that tension to good use. The author adds just enough of a romantic element without taking away from the story at hand.
Angel's Ink has a supporting cast of characters just as engaging as its protagonist. From Bronx, the mysterious troll to the charming Gideon, a fellow warlock following Gage to a witch turned talking cat named Sophie, every character brings something to the table. The world building is beautifully laid out without confusion or too much detail. This fast paced novel gives us a few different story lines that keep the suspense at a high level from beginning to end so there's never a dull moment! Angel's Ink is sure to appeal to urban fantasy fans who prefer their heroes flawed and their supernatural worlds dark and gritty.
I've found a new urban fantasy hero in Gage!
In a world where humans and the supernatural co-exist, rogue warlock Gage prefers to practice his magic in the art of tattooing. His sanctuary is his tattoo parlor, Asylum, where he infuses his ink work with special ingredients and a touch of magic to deliver luck, wealth, or whatever desire his client wishes. Working alongside Gage are his friends Trixie and Bronx, an elf and moody troll who have secrets of their own and never ask questions.
When a young girl walks into Asylum looking for an angel wing tattoo as her dying last wish, Gage gives in and adds a little extra to her ink. His intention was to give her a little bit of happiness during her last days and it all backfires when he accidentally turns her immortal.
Soon after Gage receives an unexpected visit from the Grim Reaper who demands he reverse what was done or take the place of the soul he was sent to collect. If that weren't enough, Gage is being hunted by the warlocks he deserted long ago who's motto is "join us or die." All the magic in the world isn't enough to get Gage out of his latest predicament, but lucky for him he has friends that are willing to join in him in the fight to stay alive and keep his freedom.
This might be my first urban fantasy told by the male POV and I absolutely loved it! Gage is not your typical alpha hero but his down to earth attitude and knack for running into trouble at every turn make him intriguing. He's a powerful mage that stood up to his own kind and prefers to live by his own rules and not apologize for it, who doesn't love a rebel? Gage is an imperfect hero with a troubled past but while he may seem to have a rough exterior, he has a heart of gold and will stop at nothing to protect those he cares about. I love that the author lets us explore more than one facet of his character and his relationships with others throughout the story.
I wasn't expecting a budding romance in Angel's Ink but am thankful to Ms. Drake for including one. After everything Gage goes through you want the guy to at least get a little action! I enjoyed the flirty banter between Gage and Trixie so I had no problem when these two finally put all that tension to good use. The author adds just enough of a romantic element without taking away from the story at hand.
Angel's Ink has a supporting cast of characters just as engaging as its protagonist. From Bronx, the mysterious troll to the charming Gideon, a fellow warlock following Gage to a witch turned talking cat named Sophie, every character brings something to the table. The world building is beautifully laid out without confusion or too much detail. This fast paced novel gives us a few different story lines that keep the suspense at a high level from beginning to end so there's never a dull moment! Angel's Ink is sure to appeal to urban fantasy fans who prefer their heroes flawed and their supernatural worlds dark and gritty.
October 8, 2019
Actual rating: 3.5*
This review was originally posted on my blog, RockStarlit BookAsylum.
Probably not many people knows as I hardly ever review urban fantasy for the blog, but the genre has a special place in my heart. After all it was an UF series that really hooked me to fantasy and forced me to start to read in English for real. And now here we are.
Angel’s Ink had been sitting in my Audible library since December 2017, so I couldn’t say I was in a hurry to get to it. Audiobooks aren’t my main format for reading, so that’s not much of a surprise. I guess I got it because it was on sale and the blurb seemed really interesting and pretty much had everything that could hook me to a book. The funny thing is, at the time I didn’t have a tattoo yet (but I wanted to have one!) or the blog (funny coincidence with the series title, but then I don’t believe in coincidences), so I had no idea what a good fit it’ll be within 2 years, hah!
As urban fantasies go, I pretty much enjoyed Angel’s Ink, but I also had a few issues, which is why I ultimately decided to review it.
Gage lives a, well, let’s call it quiet life, running a tattoo parlor along with his friends Trixie, a beautiful (of course) and mysterious elf and Bronx, a troll who doesn’t talk much but knows more than you’d think. All three of them has their own secrets and troubling pasts they try running from, but past has that annoying habit to catch up with you when you least expect it. Trouble comes knocking on the Asylum’s door in the face of a young woman with terminal illness, looking for a tattoo to fulfill her last wish. Things go downhill from here as Gage tries to unmake his mistakes and avoid early retirement – for the disappointment of many parties.
I liked Gage as a character – he is somewhat your typical UF male MC with a quirky attitude, a knack for trouble, a tortured past and a big kind heart. But of course it works, because, let’s face it, we all love characters like him – though poor guy could have do with a much better name than Gage. The narrator – Michael Urie – did a pretty good job impersonating him, and most of the characters. I hated his voice for Trixie with a passion though. He made her sound like an affecting bitch, and I don’t think she was that. Especially since she liked to listen to bands like Papa Roach, and that’s a nice big point from me. The chemistry between the characters worked well, banters and all. I especially liked Bronx and Sophie – I hope she’ll get a bigger part in the story later on, because she has an interesting background and I’m pretty sure she’s a mischievous one.
What I had an issue with was the plot(s). Where to start? The love plot. Because, yes, there is a love interest *eyeroll*. To be fair I liked the relationship itself, they are good together. However. It would have worked much better if they were already in a relationship to begin with and were introduced as such. Personally I just don’t see the necessity to insert such a cliché into the story. It was OBVIOUS to even blind people that they were in love, and that the author intended for them to have a relationship, and I don’t think it added anything to the story in general that – conveniently – they started to realise their feelings right around the time we dropped into their lives. Seriously, I would have just left this whole thing out as it was annoying, and that sex scene was just… ugh, a bit too much information. If I was interested in some steamy scenes, I would have picked a romance book. And I don’t like romance books.
So, that was one unecessary plotline, without which there would have been space for a bit more worldbuilding. All we know is that we are in a city, and that the world is ruled by warlocks who live in Ivory Towers – but why and where the name comes from and a few other questions are never answered. There are hints about a past war which made some races extinct, but these are only hints. We never really learn about that either. Or about why the warlocks are said to be evil and why they need to practically kidnap young kids who have magical abilities. There is a lot of saying and not much showing which makes the world feel like its built out of carton shapes. You know what I mean? Like it’s all an illusion, a stage decoration. Everything is subordinated to cram as many plotlines (and creatures) into the book as possible, while it would have benefited if there was only one or two but those were well rounded out. It feels like the author wanted to add a lot of action and throw in a lot of hardships for the characters to deal with, but it resulted in chaos and too many unanswered questions. Drake wanted to give a history to all three characters – Gage, Trixie, Bronx – by dragging their past into the present, but all she managed to do was overcomplicate things and take away the focus from worldbuilding and from her characters to really have time to shine. Less would have been more as I’m sure there would be plenty of time as the series progressed to slowly introduce these plotlines and actually make more sense out of them.
Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed Angel’s Ink. Books with snarky protagonists are my weaknesses and besides I really dug the idea of a magical tattoo shop. Especially one in which there is at least one person with a great music taste – fun fact, when I almost got my first tattoo, I bonded with my artist over my favourite Hungarian band, so that was cool and set the mood early on. The Asylum Tales (I swear this wasn’t an inspiration for my feature) has the potential to be a good series if it gets a bit cleared up and the world itself gets a bit more attention. I blew through the audiobook pretty fast, so I imagine it must be a fast read as well. If you need a palate cleanser, as I did and look for some fun – although a bit dark – UF read, then absolutely give a go to Angel’s Ink.
This review was originally posted on my blog, RockStarlit BookAsylum.
Probably not many people knows as I hardly ever review urban fantasy for the blog, but the genre has a special place in my heart. After all it was an UF series that really hooked me to fantasy and forced me to start to read in English for real. And now here we are.
Angel’s Ink had been sitting in my Audible library since December 2017, so I couldn’t say I was in a hurry to get to it. Audiobooks aren’t my main format for reading, so that’s not much of a surprise. I guess I got it because it was on sale and the blurb seemed really interesting and pretty much had everything that could hook me to a book. The funny thing is, at the time I didn’t have a tattoo yet (but I wanted to have one!) or the blog (funny coincidence with the series title, but then I don’t believe in coincidences), so I had no idea what a good fit it’ll be within 2 years, hah!
As urban fantasies go, I pretty much enjoyed Angel’s Ink, but I also had a few issues, which is why I ultimately decided to review it.
Gage lives a, well, let’s call it quiet life, running a tattoo parlor along with his friends Trixie, a beautiful (of course) and mysterious elf and Bronx, a troll who doesn’t talk much but knows more than you’d think. All three of them has their own secrets and troubling pasts they try running from, but past has that annoying habit to catch up with you when you least expect it. Trouble comes knocking on the Asylum’s door in the face of a young woman with terminal illness, looking for a tattoo to fulfill her last wish. Things go downhill from here as Gage tries to unmake his mistakes and avoid early retirement – for the disappointment of many parties.
I liked Gage as a character – he is somewhat your typical UF male MC with a quirky attitude, a knack for trouble, a tortured past and a big kind heart. But of course it works, because, let’s face it, we all love characters like him – though poor guy could have do with a much better name than Gage. The narrator – Michael Urie – did a pretty good job impersonating him, and most of the characters. I hated his voice for Trixie with a passion though. He made her sound like an affecting bitch, and I don’t think she was that. Especially since she liked to listen to bands like Papa Roach, and that’s a nice big point from me. The chemistry between the characters worked well, banters and all. I especially liked Bronx and Sophie – I hope she’ll get a bigger part in the story later on, because she has an interesting background and I’m pretty sure she’s a mischievous one.
What I had an issue with was the plot(s). Where to start? The love plot. Because, yes, there is a love interest *eyeroll*. To be fair I liked the relationship itself, they are good together. However. It would have worked much better if they were already in a relationship to begin with and were introduced as such. Personally I just don’t see the necessity to insert such a cliché into the story. It was OBVIOUS to even blind people that they were in love, and that the author intended for them to have a relationship, and I don’t think it added anything to the story in general that – conveniently – they started to realise their feelings right around the time we dropped into their lives. Seriously, I would have just left this whole thing out as it was annoying, and that sex scene was just… ugh, a bit too much information. If I was interested in some steamy scenes, I would have picked a romance book. And I don’t like romance books.
So, that was one unecessary plotline, without which there would have been space for a bit more worldbuilding. All we know is that we are in a city, and that the world is ruled by warlocks who live in Ivory Towers – but why and where the name comes from and a few other questions are never answered. There are hints about a past war which made some races extinct, but these are only hints. We never really learn about that either. Or about why the warlocks are said to be evil and why they need to practically kidnap young kids who have magical abilities. There is a lot of saying and not much showing which makes the world feel like its built out of carton shapes. You know what I mean? Like it’s all an illusion, a stage decoration. Everything is subordinated to cram as many plotlines (and creatures) into the book as possible, while it would have benefited if there was only one or two but those were well rounded out. It feels like the author wanted to add a lot of action and throw in a lot of hardships for the characters to deal with, but it resulted in chaos and too many unanswered questions. Drake wanted to give a history to all three characters – Gage, Trixie, Bronx – by dragging their past into the present, but all she managed to do was overcomplicate things and take away the focus from worldbuilding and from her characters to really have time to shine. Less would have been more as I’m sure there would be plenty of time as the series progressed to slowly introduce these plotlines and actually make more sense out of them.
Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed Angel’s Ink. Books with snarky protagonists are my weaknesses and besides I really dug the idea of a magical tattoo shop. Especially one in which there is at least one person with a great music taste – fun fact, when I almost got my first tattoo, I bonded with my artist over my favourite Hungarian band, so that was cool and set the mood early on. The Asylum Tales (I swear this wasn’t an inspiration for my feature) has the potential to be a good series if it gets a bit cleared up and the world itself gets a bit more attention. I blew through the audiobook pretty fast, so I imagine it must be a fast read as well. If you need a palate cleanser, as I did and look for some fun – although a bit dark – UF read, then absolutely give a go to Angel’s Ink.
October 14, 2023
Audiobook, 3.75 Stars!
October 16, 2012
Posted at Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks
Angel’s Ink is the first book in Jocelynn Drake’s new The Asylum Tales series. I have heard wonderful things about this author’s work so when I noticed that she was starting a new series I jumped at the chance to read her. I’m glad I did.
Angel’s Ink is about a warlock ‘sort-of-in-hiding’ who runs a tattoo parlor called Asylum. People and beings can come into the shop to either get a ‘regular’ tattoo or to get Gage and his crew to mix in a bit of potion to heighten the tattoo and giving it extra power such as luck or love. In Jocelynn’s new world, warlocks use their power to make others fear them – something Gage wanted nothing to do with and the reason he left The Ivory Towers. The premise of the series is fantastic. And it’s told from Gage’s perspective which I also found unique. You don’t often find books written by female authors being told using a man’s point of view. And she did a good job with it. Not once did I think “this is a woman writing as a man”.
I loved Gage as a character. We’ve only just started scratching the surface of his story and I for one am looking forward to reading more about him. His power, even though he is not supposed to use magic at all, seems to have grown since leaving the Towers and I’m curious to see how that will impact not only his life but his friend’s too.
Gage has two co-workers in his tattoo parlor. Trixie and Bronx. Trixie is an elf and doesn’t realize that Gage knows what she is. She was cute and fun to read. She’s also Gage’s love interest and I found they went well together. Trixie has a pretty important plot line in the book that sort of came out of nowhere a bit into the book and it continues on. The book ends hinting that hers will be a main plot in the next book.
Bronx, I loved him! He’s a troll and the strong silent type. But when he did talk it was important and meaningful. And his actions spoke so much of him. He’s loyal, smart and I found myself smiling when he was on the page. There was just something about him. He too is the subject of an odd and out of nowhere sub-sub-plot line that I know will continue in the next book. His plotline really seemed forced in there though since it was introduced close enough to the end of the book and not enough of an explanation came along with it. Let’s hope a little clarification comes in the next installment.
As I already mentioned twice, there are a lot of plotlines in this book. The book opens with Gage facing off against an irate customer and then facing off with his guardian, Gideon (another great character by the way). Then we meet Tera, a young woman who is dying of cancer and who wants angel wings tattooed onto her back. That one was a great storyline. I would have loved for the entire book to be just about that one but it wasn’t. In fact, I found that this story fell to the side of the others after a while and that was a shame. I liked Tera and her story broke my heart. Her explanation of why she wanted the wings on her back gripped my heart. But then Gage’s tattoo mentor and warlock mentor are thrown into the mix and Trixie and Bronx’s problems are shoved in there on top of the already too many story lines…it really was just too much. And the storylines weren’t all introduced in the beginning of the book. Nope. Once you settle into one plot, the next one jumps out so you can’t focus on the first one or two or three because you are finding yourself thinking on the fourth, fifth and sixth! I understand that the author was setting things up for the next books in the series but in doing so, she made it difficult for me to fully embrace any of the stories. With a couple out of the way by the end of Angel’s Ink, I’d hope that the stories will be more refined in book two.
The world the author created, while a good one, seemed just thrown together. I am thinking it’s like this because it is stuck in the middle of all of these plots and sub-plots and sub-sub-plots and that in the next book the world will become more refined. At least I’m hoping that is the case because the frame is there and what I see, I liked.
Because the bones of the story were solid and the characters were good, I am not kicking this series to the curb quite yet. I feel that this series has a lot of potential and I just think that the author has to streamline things a little bit. Because really, Jocelynn has a great writing voice and the pacing of the book was nice. So before giving you my true opinion on the series, as opposed to just this first book, I am going to give book two a try. Then I think I’ll have a better feeling of where this series is headed. Angel’s Ink had its issues but I still believe it is worth reading.
3.5 stars
Angel’s Ink is the first book in Jocelynn Drake’s new The Asylum Tales series. I have heard wonderful things about this author’s work so when I noticed that she was starting a new series I jumped at the chance to read her. I’m glad I did.
Angel’s Ink is about a warlock ‘sort-of-in-hiding’ who runs a tattoo parlor called Asylum. People and beings can come into the shop to either get a ‘regular’ tattoo or to get Gage and his crew to mix in a bit of potion to heighten the tattoo and giving it extra power such as luck or love. In Jocelynn’s new world, warlocks use their power to make others fear them – something Gage wanted nothing to do with and the reason he left The Ivory Towers. The premise of the series is fantastic. And it’s told from Gage’s perspective which I also found unique. You don’t often find books written by female authors being told using a man’s point of view. And she did a good job with it. Not once did I think “this is a woman writing as a man”.
I loved Gage as a character. We’ve only just started scratching the surface of his story and I for one am looking forward to reading more about him. His power, even though he is not supposed to use magic at all, seems to have grown since leaving the Towers and I’m curious to see how that will impact not only his life but his friend’s too.
Gage has two co-workers in his tattoo parlor. Trixie and Bronx. Trixie is an elf and doesn’t realize that Gage knows what she is. She was cute and fun to read. She’s also Gage’s love interest and I found they went well together. Trixie has a pretty important plot line in the book that sort of came out of nowhere a bit into the book and it continues on. The book ends hinting that hers will be a main plot in the next book.
Bronx, I loved him! He’s a troll and the strong silent type. But when he did talk it was important and meaningful. And his actions spoke so much of him. He’s loyal, smart and I found myself smiling when he was on the page. There was just something about him. He too is the subject of an odd and out of nowhere sub-sub-plot line that I know will continue in the next book. His plotline really seemed forced in there though since it was introduced close enough to the end of the book and not enough of an explanation came along with it. Let’s hope a little clarification comes in the next installment.
As I already mentioned twice, there are a lot of plotlines in this book. The book opens with Gage facing off against an irate customer and then facing off with his guardian, Gideon (another great character by the way). Then we meet Tera, a young woman who is dying of cancer and who wants angel wings tattooed onto her back. That one was a great storyline. I would have loved for the entire book to be just about that one but it wasn’t. In fact, I found that this story fell to the side of the others after a while and that was a shame. I liked Tera and her story broke my heart. Her explanation of why she wanted the wings on her back gripped my heart. But then Gage’s tattoo mentor and warlock mentor are thrown into the mix and Trixie and Bronx’s problems are shoved in there on top of the already too many story lines…it really was just too much. And the storylines weren’t all introduced in the beginning of the book. Nope. Once you settle into one plot, the next one jumps out so you can’t focus on the first one or two or three because you are finding yourself thinking on the fourth, fifth and sixth! I understand that the author was setting things up for the next books in the series but in doing so, she made it difficult for me to fully embrace any of the stories. With a couple out of the way by the end of Angel’s Ink, I’d hope that the stories will be more refined in book two.
The world the author created, while a good one, seemed just thrown together. I am thinking it’s like this because it is stuck in the middle of all of these plots and sub-plots and sub-sub-plots and that in the next book the world will become more refined. At least I’m hoping that is the case because the frame is there and what I see, I liked.
Because the bones of the story were solid and the characters were good, I am not kicking this series to the curb quite yet. I feel that this series has a lot of potential and I just think that the author has to streamline things a little bit. Because really, Jocelynn has a great writing voice and the pacing of the book was nice. So before giving you my true opinion on the series, as opposed to just this first book, I am going to give book two a try. Then I think I’ll have a better feeling of where this series is headed. Angel’s Ink had its issues but I still believe it is worth reading.
3.5 stars
February 7, 2019
I was rather disappointed with this one.
Good points:
Characterization: Some of the characters weren't too badly drawn, such as Brock (i.e. the troll friend of the main character) who was shown to have secrets of his own but to be a loyal friend. He was shown to have worked for the local organized crime lord, but had gotten out. In general he was a good guy who protected those he cared about and tried to be a decent person.
I had some issues with the characterization of the two main characters however, which I will detail below.
World building: In general there were several interesting details, yet I couldn't help but feel as though some important elements were missing. (More on this below)
Plot: In general this book was a good example of, in my opinion, the fact that a book's plot doesn't always need to proceed at a breakneck pace. (More on this below)
Bad points/constructive criticism:
Characterization: The two main characters, quite honestly, came to annoy me.
The main female character could have been referred to generically as 'The Love Interest' (i.e. for the main male character who also narrated the story), because that was really all she was: whenever she was mentioned she was always characterized as 'sweet' and as physically attractive.
That's it. That's pretty much all that is EVER mentioned about her. Which... given that the narrator is supposed to be in love with her, made me wonder whether this was really the case (i.e. did he really care about her?).
Oh, and she was running from some nasty guys who wanted to force her into a marriage she didn't want.
The main problems I had with the main male character were as follows:
1. He was a Marty Stu/Gary Stu. (Do you doubt it? Consider this: He was virtually the only 'rogue' member of the most powerful group of magic users in the world; even for a human gifted with magic he had an 'instinctive' grasp of it that other humans didn't (i.e. he stated that magic and its use came more easily to him than other mages, which made his former teacher really jealous); he had also studied martial arts and could apparently 'handle himself' in that regard; the absolutely stunning female Love Interest (TM!) lusted over him; given his unprecedented rebellion against the warlocks and witches (mostly or exclusively male, apparently) council he was now an inspirational figure to many warlocks and witches.)
While I tend to think that having a character who is a Marty Stu/Mary Sue type of character does not automatically ruin a book, this character does need to be tempered with *something* if the character is to be at all likeable. In this particular instance, while this character was shown to have been humbled by certain circumstances (i.e. not being allowed to use magic, being spied on constantly by a warlock assigned by the warlock council) it still felt to me as though what saved the day was this guy's innate 'awesomeness', which made the character kind of annoying.
For example, most of the answers to his (often self-inflicted!) problems originated in the fact that he was such a BRILLIANT.MAGIC.USER. He was also sought after by several because of this SPESHUL status: the local mob boss forcibly recruited him in order to have a warlock on his payroll (and because he knew that our main character was banned from offensive magic). Countless people came to get tattoos from the main character because he was such a BRILLIANT.MAGIC.USER., that he could infuse tattoos with mystery ingredients to make one's heart's desire come true, which made him the most sought-after tattoo artist in town.
The plot ended with him defeating his former mentor among the warlocks (cue more magic being pulled out of his ass), and his undoing a big mistake he had made (i.e. he was actually powerful enough to have made a young human woman immortal but the book ended with him figuring out how to fix that too, mostly by pulling magic out of his ass).
2. There were times where he seemed to care about ethics and doing the right thing, yet it wasn't clear to me exactly when that was. For example, he would sometimes create magical tattoos for various individuals, without much care to the potential consequences (i.e. one specific example of this is that of a group of satyrs or non human beings who came to ask for magical tattoos which would have an effect on women, and the Love Interest had to remind him that magical tattoos could have different effects on different species and that this could affect the capacity to consent of some beings by making the females of some species more suggestible when it came to sex... and he didn't seem to care much about this and seemed to have mostly changed the tattoos to make HER happy, rather than because his own conscience told him to do so).
Ugh.
Also, other times he was supposed to be heroic (e.g. saving the Love Interest and wanting her to be free to choose who she wanted to marry and be with) while other times he seemed to be something of a douchecanoe, so his ethics were somewhat inconsistent.
World building: The expression I would use here is 'half-assed'. There were several interesting details, yet I felt that the various details never made up a cohesive *whole*.
For example, it is explained that the warlock and witches council has pretty much been ruling things on earth ever since a war some time before, with everyone else being deathly afraid of them. Nothing is explained regarding the nature of this war, who fought against whom, and so on. It is also mentioned that the main character had a special ability to use magic instinctively, or something, unlike other humans. The Love Interest notes that this is an ability (i.e. the ability to 'sense' magic) which exists mostly in non human species (i.e. she is an elf, btw). This seemed contradictory to me: if this was indeed the case, it would give non human magic users a serious advantage over human magic users (i.e. the witches and warlocks) yet non humans tended to cower in fear of the warlocks and witches. This was NEVER explained.
Another detail which didn't make sense was that the main character was supposedly incredibly gifted, so much so that he was a threat to his former warlock teacher, who was next in line for a seat on the warlock and witches council. He also finally managed to defeat and kill his former mentor at the end of the book, despite not having trained in magic use for years. Yet the warlock who was assigned to watch our main character inevitably and consistently kicked his ass, and why this other warlock was so powerful was never explained. And if he was so powerful, why was he afraid of the rest of the council and why couldn't he help the main character against his former mentor who sought to kill him (i.e. apparently he sympathized but couldn't help the main character). Why this was the case was never explained. (This particular item seems to be a combined world building and plot hole type of nitpick, btw.)
A third example would be the background provided for the Love Interest: she is the intended concubine of the king of the Summer Court (she never wanted the marriage) and has been on the run from this forced marriage for centuries. Her brother is among those who have pursued her. WHY she has to marry the king is never explained all that well, except to say that the king was obsessed with her (mostly because she didn't want him) and that his word is law. The nature of elvish society is very briefly touched upon, in that apparently there are three courts (i.e. Summer, Winter, and Svartalfar/dark elves) and the Love Interest mentions she was an artist. Or something. The queen of the Summer Court was infertile and so the king wanted to choose a concubine and decided on the Love Interest. NOTHING else and no other information regarding elvish society is provided, yet somehow Marty Stu (er.... the main character) manages to convince the Love Interest's pursuers that they should leave her alone.
Basically, a bunch of interesting details were put forward (e.g. the powerful witches and warlocks who lorded it over everyone else using fear; a main character who was secretly a former warlock; a world where warlocks and witches lived hand in hand with elves, trolls, satyrs, and many other non human species), yet these were never really finalized into a cohesive whole, such that I still had many questions about how this world worked, as well as things which seemed inconsistent (i.e. see above for examples).
Another aspect which made me pretty uncomfortable: apparently the dark elves/svartalfar are literally dark-skinned and are, I quote, "known for only two things: ruthless cunning and merciless cruelty".
...Was it really necessary to have the dark-skinned elvish race be evil?
I'll just leave that question up here to ponder.
Plot:
Where do I begin? This was rather a mess.
Basically, I felt like Wile E. Coyote after trying to keep up with this plot, thank you very much. This was just exhausting.
Basically, the main character screws some things up and finds himself in various impossible situations, with one situation and event happening after another and after another. There was literally NO PAUSE for ANYTHING in this book, including for letting the poor reader take a breath!
The main character: (1) creates a tattoo that makes a dying human girl immortal and has to fix it in order to not have his soul reaped instead of hers, (2) spends time trying to save the Love Interest (of course she couldn't have saved herself!), (3) goes to the underworld and picks a fight with THE Lilith, (4) has several fights with his former warlock teacher who is trying to kill him where he winds up killing the man with magic (apparently this will also put the main character's soul in the possession of Lilith for a year), (5) tries to find his his former mentor in the tattoo world, (6) finds out that said mentor has betrayed him, (6) is forced to join the organization of the local mob boss (i.e. after being kidnapped and beaten by his goons), (7) has several fights/disagreements with the warlock (i.e. Gideon) tasked with watching him to make sure he doesn't use magic, (8) manages to find time to get it on with the Love Interest (although this involved very little addition to the characterization, so I was still left wondering why I should care about these two).
I'm exhausted!
I am rating this two stars rather than one because there were some interesting details which could have made a good book, but in general I would suggest not bothering with this one.
Good points:
Characterization: Some of the characters weren't too badly drawn, such as Brock (i.e. the troll friend of the main character) who was shown to have secrets of his own but to be a loyal friend. He was shown to have worked for the local organized crime lord, but had gotten out. In general he was a good guy who protected those he cared about and tried to be a decent person.
I had some issues with the characterization of the two main characters however, which I will detail below.
World building: In general there were several interesting details, yet I couldn't help but feel as though some important elements were missing. (More on this below)
Plot: In general this book was a good example of, in my opinion, the fact that a book's plot doesn't always need to proceed at a breakneck pace. (More on this below)
Bad points/constructive criticism:
Characterization: The two main characters, quite honestly, came to annoy me.
The main female character could have been referred to generically as 'The Love Interest' (i.e. for the main male character who also narrated the story), because that was really all she was: whenever she was mentioned she was always characterized as 'sweet' and as physically attractive.
That's it. That's pretty much all that is EVER mentioned about her. Which... given that the narrator is supposed to be in love with her, made me wonder whether this was really the case (i.e. did he really care about her?).
Oh, and she was running from some nasty guys who wanted to force her into a marriage she didn't want.
The main problems I had with the main male character were as follows:
1. He was a Marty Stu/Gary Stu. (Do you doubt it? Consider this: He was virtually the only 'rogue' member of the most powerful group of magic users in the world; even for a human gifted with magic he had an 'instinctive' grasp of it that other humans didn't (i.e. he stated that magic and its use came more easily to him than other mages, which made his former teacher really jealous); he had also studied martial arts and could apparently 'handle himself' in that regard; the absolutely stunning female Love Interest (TM!) lusted over him; given his unprecedented rebellion against the warlocks and witches (mostly or exclusively male, apparently) council he was now an inspirational figure to many warlocks and witches.)
While I tend to think that having a character who is a Marty Stu/Mary Sue type of character does not automatically ruin a book, this character does need to be tempered with *something* if the character is to be at all likeable. In this particular instance, while this character was shown to have been humbled by certain circumstances (i.e. not being allowed to use magic, being spied on constantly by a warlock assigned by the warlock council) it still felt to me as though what saved the day was this guy's innate 'awesomeness', which made the character kind of annoying.
For example, most of the answers to his (often self-inflicted!) problems originated in the fact that he was such a BRILLIANT.MAGIC.USER. He was also sought after by several because of this SPESHUL status: the local mob boss forcibly recruited him in order to have a warlock on his payroll (and because he knew that our main character was banned from offensive magic). Countless people came to get tattoos from the main character because he was such a BRILLIANT.MAGIC.USER., that he could infuse tattoos with mystery ingredients to make one's heart's desire come true, which made him the most sought-after tattoo artist in town.
The plot ended with him defeating his former mentor among the warlocks (cue more magic being pulled out of his ass), and his undoing a big mistake he had made (i.e. he was actually powerful enough to have made a young human woman immortal but the book ended with him figuring out how to fix that too, mostly by pulling magic out of his ass).
2. There were times where he seemed to care about ethics and doing the right thing, yet it wasn't clear to me exactly when that was. For example, he would sometimes create magical tattoos for various individuals, without much care to the potential consequences (i.e. one specific example of this is that of a group of satyrs or non human beings who came to ask for magical tattoos which would have an effect on women, and the Love Interest had to remind him that magical tattoos could have different effects on different species and that this could affect the capacity to consent of some beings by making the females of some species more suggestible when it came to sex... and he didn't seem to care much about this and seemed to have mostly changed the tattoos to make HER happy, rather than because his own conscience told him to do so).
Ugh.
Also, other times he was supposed to be heroic (e.g. saving the Love Interest and wanting her to be free to choose who she wanted to marry and be with) while other times he seemed to be something of a douchecanoe, so his ethics were somewhat inconsistent.
World building: The expression I would use here is 'half-assed'. There were several interesting details, yet I felt that the various details never made up a cohesive *whole*.
For example, it is explained that the warlock and witches council has pretty much been ruling things on earth ever since a war some time before, with everyone else being deathly afraid of them. Nothing is explained regarding the nature of this war, who fought against whom, and so on. It is also mentioned that the main character had a special ability to use magic instinctively, or something, unlike other humans. The Love Interest notes that this is an ability (i.e. the ability to 'sense' magic) which exists mostly in non human species (i.e. she is an elf, btw). This seemed contradictory to me: if this was indeed the case, it would give non human magic users a serious advantage over human magic users (i.e. the witches and warlocks) yet non humans tended to cower in fear of the warlocks and witches. This was NEVER explained.
Another detail which didn't make sense was that the main character was supposedly incredibly gifted, so much so that he was a threat to his former warlock teacher, who was next in line for a seat on the warlock and witches council. He also finally managed to defeat and kill his former mentor at the end of the book, despite not having trained in magic use for years. Yet the warlock who was assigned to watch our main character inevitably and consistently kicked his ass, and why this other warlock was so powerful was never explained. And if he was so powerful, why was he afraid of the rest of the council and why couldn't he help the main character against his former mentor who sought to kill him (i.e. apparently he sympathized but couldn't help the main character). Why this was the case was never explained. (This particular item seems to be a combined world building and plot hole type of nitpick, btw.)
A third example would be the background provided for the Love Interest: she is the intended concubine of the king of the Summer Court (she never wanted the marriage) and has been on the run from this forced marriage for centuries. Her brother is among those who have pursued her. WHY she has to marry the king is never explained all that well, except to say that the king was obsessed with her (mostly because she didn't want him) and that his word is law. The nature of elvish society is very briefly touched upon, in that apparently there are three courts (i.e. Summer, Winter, and Svartalfar/dark elves) and the Love Interest mentions she was an artist. Or something. The queen of the Summer Court was infertile and so the king wanted to choose a concubine and decided on the Love Interest. NOTHING else and no other information regarding elvish society is provided, yet somehow Marty Stu (er.... the main character) manages to convince the Love Interest's pursuers that they should leave her alone.
Basically, a bunch of interesting details were put forward (e.g. the powerful witches and warlocks who lorded it over everyone else using fear; a main character who was secretly a former warlock; a world where warlocks and witches lived hand in hand with elves, trolls, satyrs, and many other non human species), yet these were never really finalized into a cohesive whole, such that I still had many questions about how this world worked, as well as things which seemed inconsistent (i.e. see above for examples).
Another aspect which made me pretty uncomfortable: apparently the dark elves/svartalfar are literally dark-skinned and are, I quote, "known for only two things: ruthless cunning and merciless cruelty".
...Was it really necessary to have the dark-skinned elvish race be evil?
I'll just leave that question up here to ponder.
Plot:
Where do I begin? This was rather a mess.
Basically, I felt like Wile E. Coyote after trying to keep up with this plot, thank you very much. This was just exhausting.
Basically, the main character screws some things up and finds himself in various impossible situations, with one situation and event happening after another and after another. There was literally NO PAUSE for ANYTHING in this book, including for letting the poor reader take a breath!
The main character: (1) creates a tattoo that makes a dying human girl immortal and has to fix it in order to not have his soul reaped instead of hers, (2) spends time trying to save the Love Interest (of course she couldn't have saved herself!), (3) goes to the underworld and picks a fight with THE Lilith, (4) has several fights with his former warlock teacher who is trying to kill him where he winds up killing the man with magic (apparently this will also put the main character's soul in the possession of Lilith for a year), (5) tries to find his his former mentor in the tattoo world, (6) finds out that said mentor has betrayed him, (6) is forced to join the organization of the local mob boss (i.e. after being kidnapped and beaten by his goons), (7) has several fights/disagreements with the warlock (i.e. Gideon) tasked with watching him to make sure he doesn't use magic, (8) manages to find time to get it on with the Love Interest (although this involved very little addition to the characterization, so I was still left wondering why I should care about these two).
I'm exhausted!
I am rating this two stars rather than one because there were some interesting details which could have made a good book, but in general I would suggest not bothering with this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2012
I like this new Urban Fantasy world from Jocelynn Drake. It's different. Supernaturals live openly among humans, but the magic-wielding witches and warlocks are set apart from everyone else. They are powerful, ruthless, and consider themselves gods. No one can stop them. No one even dares to question them.
Gage changed that. Primed to be a warlock from childhood, he turned his back on it all. He refused to look at humans as chattel and left the Ivory Towers behind to become a tattoo artist. Of course, he's not only pushing ink, his tats are imbued with special potions that give the recipient a little something extra, from good luck to love spells and beyond. He remains under the watch of the warlocks, though. If he uses his magic for anything other than self-defense, he's a dead man.
Gage has a little trouble clamping down on his gifts, but he tries. He wants to keep the new life he has made for himself: his tattoo parlor and his two employees and best friends Bronx and Trixie. Of course, to call Trixie a friend may be a little bit of an understatement. He is head over heels for the beautiful elf in hiding. He knows she has secrets, but as he learns why she is on the run, the two of them become closer and closer.
Things are going on along pretty well for Gage until a woman dying of cancer comes into his shop, asking for a special tattoo. She tells him she wants wings on her back, saying it may be closest she ever comes to being an angel. Gage is touched by her story and ends up mixing a powerful potion that inadvertently makes her immortal. He must spend the rest of the book trying to clean up his mistake, all while trying to help Trixie out of her problems, and staying away from his old warlock mentor who is hellbent on killing him.
If it sounds like there is a lot going on, that's because there is. The book is faced paced and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I love how easily Drake slips in the details of the world-building. There are no big info dumps, but I always felt like I understood what was going on. I liked Gage, and though I am not used to a male first person POV in my Urban Fantasies, it was easy to slide into his head. He is a good guy, but he's not a perfect guy. He's powerful but he's not infallible. He is impetuous and he makes some bad choices, but I think that's part of why I like him.
I felt like the relationship between Gage and Trixie was a little... easy. I think I would have liked the chance for a little more tension to grow between these two. But romance and deep feelings take a backseat to the action in this book. It's not superficial, but it's not emotionally gripping. It's fast and exciting.
When all is said and done, I feel like we got a solid resolution, but the door is left wide open for the future of Gage and his crew. I look forward to see what is coming for them next.
Rating: B
*ARC Provided by Harper Voyager
Gage changed that. Primed to be a warlock from childhood, he turned his back on it all. He refused to look at humans as chattel and left the Ivory Towers behind to become a tattoo artist. Of course, he's not only pushing ink, his tats are imbued with special potions that give the recipient a little something extra, from good luck to love spells and beyond. He remains under the watch of the warlocks, though. If he uses his magic for anything other than self-defense, he's a dead man.
Gage has a little trouble clamping down on his gifts, but he tries. He wants to keep the new life he has made for himself: his tattoo parlor and his two employees and best friends Bronx and Trixie. Of course, to call Trixie a friend may be a little bit of an understatement. He is head over heels for the beautiful elf in hiding. He knows she has secrets, but as he learns why she is on the run, the two of them become closer and closer.
Things are going on along pretty well for Gage until a woman dying of cancer comes into his shop, asking for a special tattoo. She tells him she wants wings on her back, saying it may be closest she ever comes to being an angel. Gage is touched by her story and ends up mixing a powerful potion that inadvertently makes her immortal. He must spend the rest of the book trying to clean up his mistake, all while trying to help Trixie out of her problems, and staying away from his old warlock mentor who is hellbent on killing him.
If it sounds like there is a lot going on, that's because there is. The book is faced paced and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I love how easily Drake slips in the details of the world-building. There are no big info dumps, but I always felt like I understood what was going on. I liked Gage, and though I am not used to a male first person POV in my Urban Fantasies, it was easy to slide into his head. He is a good guy, but he's not a perfect guy. He's powerful but he's not infallible. He is impetuous and he makes some bad choices, but I think that's part of why I like him.
I felt like the relationship between Gage and Trixie was a little... easy. I think I would have liked the chance for a little more tension to grow between these two. But romance and deep feelings take a backseat to the action in this book. It's not superficial, but it's not emotionally gripping. It's fast and exciting.
When all is said and done, I feel like we got a solid resolution, but the door is left wide open for the future of Gage and his crew. I look forward to see what is coming for them next.
Rating: B
*ARC Provided by Harper Voyager
April 23, 2013
First off, this was a free book as part of the Free Friday Giveaways on the Nook. Otherwise, I never would have read it. I have read urban fantasy, and I have really liked some of it but this was not it.
This is the story of Gage, a ex-warlock that had a parting of ways with his evil peers and struck out to live on his own among the puny mortals. As far as urban fantasy goes there were some new things in here that I liked, but for the most part it was a let down of a book.
I have to give this two stars. It was well on it's way to four stars in terms of the plot and all of that and then two things happened that I could never quite get over throughout the rest of the book.
The first thing is that the writer chose to sneak a ten or so page sex scene in here that was something straight out of a porno script or a story you'd find shelved under erotica. I don't think that it really fit and I understand that maybe the writer was trying to appeal to a certain audience that digs that sort of thing, heck, I can dig it when it's in the right time and place, but this wasn't it. It just didn't fit or flow. I found myself reading about half of it and then flipping pages on the Nook to hurry up and get to the end of it so that I could get back to the story itself. Minus one star for including a scene that was ridiculous and that editors should have insisted be cut.
The second thing that got me was a combination of the lack of detail and glossing over of certain aspects of the story, such as Gage's trip to the underworld and the fact that setting the story in another world that isn't Earth, but is never explained in terms of what it is or where it is detracted from the story a little. Is it an alternate Earth? Is it another dimension? Another planet? Who knows. I don't. Does the writer?
A trip to the underworld is arguably a momentous event and one that not many people come back from (obviously). But when the writer builds up to it as being rare, unheard of, and incredibly dangerous, yet the character pulls off the entire event in a just a few pages . . . well I don't know. Something doesn't jive about it. Was it difficult or not? If it was so easy why is it that no one has EVER done it before? The character didn't DO a whole lot of anything. Just negotiated with a dead dude and walked out basically.
If you're looking at this in hopes of finding another Atticus (Iron Druid), Lawton (The Fixer), or Harry (The Dresdan Files) then I suggest you keep looking. This was not it for me.
This is the story of Gage, a ex-warlock that had a parting of ways with his evil peers and struck out to live on his own among the puny mortals. As far as urban fantasy goes there were some new things in here that I liked, but for the most part it was a let down of a book.
I have to give this two stars. It was well on it's way to four stars in terms of the plot and all of that and then two things happened that I could never quite get over throughout the rest of the book.
The first thing is that the writer chose to sneak a ten or so page sex scene in here that was something straight out of a porno script or a story you'd find shelved under erotica. I don't think that it really fit and I understand that maybe the writer was trying to appeal to a certain audience that digs that sort of thing, heck, I can dig it when it's in the right time and place, but this wasn't it. It just didn't fit or flow. I found myself reading about half of it and then flipping pages on the Nook to hurry up and get to the end of it so that I could get back to the story itself. Minus one star for including a scene that was ridiculous and that editors should have insisted be cut.
The second thing that got me was a combination of the lack of detail and glossing over of certain aspects of the story, such as Gage's trip to the underworld and the fact that setting the story in another world that isn't Earth, but is never explained in terms of what it is or where it is detracted from the story a little. Is it an alternate Earth? Is it another dimension? Another planet? Who knows. I don't. Does the writer?
A trip to the underworld is arguably a momentous event and one that not many people come back from (obviously). But when the writer builds up to it as being rare, unheard of, and incredibly dangerous, yet the character pulls off the entire event in a just a few pages . . . well I don't know. Something doesn't jive about it. Was it difficult or not? If it was so easy why is it that no one has EVER done it before? The character didn't DO a whole lot of anything. Just negotiated with a dead dude and walked out basically.
If you're looking at this in hopes of finding another Atticus (Iron Druid), Lawton (The Fixer), or Harry (The Dresdan Files) then I suggest you keep looking. This was not it for me.
April 25, 2013
For me, this book had great parts and not so great parts. Your mileage may vary, and there are plenty of reasons someone else might enjoy the book more than me. Here's the breakdown of my experience.
Liked:
---------------------
* The idea that tattoo ink can be mixed with potions to make magical tattoos. This aspect of the book was immensely cool.
* Characters are consistent, never acting contrary to what you would expect, but still able to surprise you.
* Told from male point of view, a neat departure from similar books in the urban fantasy genre.
Didn't care for:
------------------------------
* Relationship development between main characters. Feel like author depended to much on telling the reader the characters had known each other for two years and allowing that to reduce the relationship development in the book. I didn't feel the sexual tension between the characters, and when they consummated it, I wasn't really in the same "I must have you" space as they were.
* The sex is not terrible, but not great. If that's something you look forward to in books like these, you might want to take a pass and check out Delilah Dawson, Kelley Armstrong or Meljean Brooke (just to name a few).
* Characters other than the main character aren't as well developed - maybe too many of them? I definitely would have liked to see the female lead and the troll friend/coworker get a lot more involvement and character development.
* For me, the main character had too many problems, leaving many of them less developed or clear than others. Since this is obviously a lead in to a series, it might have been nice to leave some of the problems for later. That said, it's definitely action packed. :)
* Not a fan of characters who isolate themselves by keeping everything they're involved in a secret. For me that can get really frustrating, and I find myself irritated by the "excessive loner" archetype. Again, that's personal preference, and it might be just the style you're looking for.
If you aren't sure if this is your type of book or not, and you have the option to get a digital sample, I recommend doing that first to see if you like the voice and writing style of the author.
Liked:
---------------------
* The idea that tattoo ink can be mixed with potions to make magical tattoos. This aspect of the book was immensely cool.
* Characters are consistent, never acting contrary to what you would expect, but still able to surprise you.
* Told from male point of view, a neat departure from similar books in the urban fantasy genre.
Didn't care for:
------------------------------
* Relationship development between main characters. Feel like author depended to much on telling the reader the characters had known each other for two years and allowing that to reduce the relationship development in the book. I didn't feel the sexual tension between the characters, and when they consummated it, I wasn't really in the same "I must have you" space as they were.
* The sex is not terrible, but not great. If that's something you look forward to in books like these, you might want to take a pass and check out Delilah Dawson, Kelley Armstrong or Meljean Brooke (just to name a few).
* Characters other than the main character aren't as well developed - maybe too many of them? I definitely would have liked to see the female lead and the troll friend/coworker get a lot more involvement and character development.
* For me, the main character had too many problems, leaving many of them less developed or clear than others. Since this is obviously a lead in to a series, it might have been nice to leave some of the problems for later. That said, it's definitely action packed. :)
* Not a fan of characters who isolate themselves by keeping everything they're involved in a secret. For me that can get really frustrating, and I find myself irritated by the "excessive loner" archetype. Again, that's personal preference, and it might be just the style you're looking for.
If you aren't sure if this is your type of book or not, and you have the option to get a digital sample, I recommend doing that first to see if you like the voice and writing style of the author.
September 11, 2015
This review was posted at Under the Covers
This author came highly recommended so I was very excited that she was starting a new series, since her other one is already a few books in and I have to catch up. Add to that when I saw her at a panel at NY Comic Con earlier this year she was one of my favorite authors when I heard her speak. Of course, you add tattoos to that and it just seemed like a winner. When I picked up the actual book and saw that there were quotes by two of my favorite authors (J.R. Ward and Kim Harrison) I was sold.
ANGEL’S INK is a little bit different than other UF’s I’m used to reading, especially because it’s written from a male POV. Gage is the only warlock that left training and is now the owner of a tattoo parlor. In this world, people can come get tattoos with potions mixed in for whatever they want, good luck, sex appeal, etc. Gage works with an elf in hiding (Trixie) and a troll (Bronx). All the problems start when a human comes in asking for a tattoo of angel wings and says she’s dying of cancer. Gage, being the nice guy he is, decides to help her by mixing an angel feather into the potion with the ink.
Problem is this makes her immortal and now he’s in trouble with the Grim Reaper and if he doesn’t reverse his mistake in three days, the Grim Reaper will take him in her place. And this is just the beginning of a crazy ride. Warlock wars and even the Royal Summer Court looking for Trixie to bring her back. Magic, tattoos and a bit of a scary world. This book was action packed and entertaining.
In between all that, I loved to see Gage and Trixie getting together. They’ve been dancing around each other for a long time and these trying situations for both have brought them together. This book was full of wonderful and strong characters!
I really can’t wait to read more from this author. I found her writing was excellent, able to keep me interested and turning the pages, as well as very smooth and easy to read. Now that Gage’s story is pretty much set, I wonder what will come next.
This author came highly recommended so I was very excited that she was starting a new series, since her other one is already a few books in and I have to catch up. Add to that when I saw her at a panel at NY Comic Con earlier this year she was one of my favorite authors when I heard her speak. Of course, you add tattoos to that and it just seemed like a winner. When I picked up the actual book and saw that there were quotes by two of my favorite authors (J.R. Ward and Kim Harrison) I was sold.
ANGEL’S INK is a little bit different than other UF’s I’m used to reading, especially because it’s written from a male POV. Gage is the only warlock that left training and is now the owner of a tattoo parlor. In this world, people can come get tattoos with potions mixed in for whatever they want, good luck, sex appeal, etc. Gage works with an elf in hiding (Trixie) and a troll (Bronx). All the problems start when a human comes in asking for a tattoo of angel wings and says she’s dying of cancer. Gage, being the nice guy he is, decides to help her by mixing an angel feather into the potion with the ink.
Problem is this makes her immortal and now he’s in trouble with the Grim Reaper and if he doesn’t reverse his mistake in three days, the Grim Reaper will take him in her place. And this is just the beginning of a crazy ride. Warlock wars and even the Royal Summer Court looking for Trixie to bring her back. Magic, tattoos and a bit of a scary world. This book was action packed and entertaining.
In between all that, I loved to see Gage and Trixie getting together. They’ve been dancing around each other for a long time and these trying situations for both have brought them together. This book was full of wonderful and strong characters!
I really can’t wait to read more from this author. I found her writing was excellent, able to keep me interested and turning the pages, as well as very smooth and easy to read. Now that Gage’s story is pretty much set, I wonder what will come next.
July 7, 2018
This is the first book in the Angel’s Ink trilogy. It was an okay urban fantasy that seemed to pull lots of elements from urban fantasy series that have already been written. I thought the story was a bit scattered and that the characters were a bit underdeveloped. However, it was okay.
This story reminded me a lot of the Dresden Files. Gage is a warlock that has fallen out of favor with the Ivory Towers. He is trying to keep a low profile running a tattoo parlor. However, things get rough for him when in one day he draws the attention of the Guardian that’s supposed to watch his magic use, accidentally makes a girl immortal..drawing the attention of a grim reaper, and is almost killed by his old teacher.
A lot happens at once very quickly in this book and you can tell that Drake is struggling to juggle all the rapidly introduced plot lines. Because of all these intertwining plotlines the character development really suffers and characters that could be really interesting end up lacking.
This is more of an urban fantasy(UF) than a paranormal romance(PNR); in fact the romance in here is pretty weak. The love scenes that are here are poorly written and awkward, so if you are looking for a good PNR this isn’t it.
This book also seems to steal a lot of elements from other PNR/UF series out there. There just wasn’t a lot unique here. Pretty much everything was mediocre and this whole book was kind of blah.
Overall this was a mediocre urban fantasy book. Some of the plot elements are interesting but there are too many things introduced at once and as a result character development really suffers. This is a lot in here that seems like its pulled from other UF/PNR series. I am not going to be continuing the series, it was just too “blah” for me.
This story reminded me a lot of the Dresden Files. Gage is a warlock that has fallen out of favor with the Ivory Towers. He is trying to keep a low profile running a tattoo parlor. However, things get rough for him when in one day he draws the attention of the Guardian that’s supposed to watch his magic use, accidentally makes a girl immortal..drawing the attention of a grim reaper, and is almost killed by his old teacher.
A lot happens at once very quickly in this book and you can tell that Drake is struggling to juggle all the rapidly introduced plot lines. Because of all these intertwining plotlines the character development really suffers and characters that could be really interesting end up lacking.
This is more of an urban fantasy(UF) than a paranormal romance(PNR); in fact the romance in here is pretty weak. The love scenes that are here are poorly written and awkward, so if you are looking for a good PNR this isn’t it.
This book also seems to steal a lot of elements from other PNR/UF series out there. There just wasn’t a lot unique here. Pretty much everything was mediocre and this whole book was kind of blah.
Overall this was a mediocre urban fantasy book. Some of the plot elements are interesting but there are too many things introduced at once and as a result character development really suffers. This is a lot in here that seems like its pulled from other UF/PNR series. I am not going to be continuing the series, it was just too “blah” for me.
December 10, 2014
As this book doesn't come out until October, I read the ARC. Halfway through the book I knew I was going to have one big problem with this series. I knew I would finish book one before it even officially came out for sale, which would mean I'd have to wait even longer for book two. I can't recommend this book enough. I LOVED it. The characters were beautifully written, well rounded, and I loved all of them. The world building was awesome and the plot just kept spinning, leaving me in awe and wondering what would happen next.
I laughed a lot at some of the things that went on. And yet, there was one scene that just made me cry toward the end. I love stories about close friends who are like family to each other, and this is one such story, along with a bit of het romance thrown in for good measure.
In short, if you like urban fantasy with many different varieties of characters and people, vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, elves, trolls, and so on and so forth... get the book and read it. You won't be disappointed.
I laughed a lot at some of the things that went on. And yet, there was one scene that just made me cry toward the end. I love stories about close friends who are like family to each other, and this is one such story, along with a bit of het romance thrown in for good measure.
In short, if you like urban fantasy with many different varieties of characters and people, vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, elves, trolls, and so on and so forth... get the book and read it. You won't be disappointed.
Read
October 18, 2012I made it 32% through this before I realized that no matter how much I wanted to like, it just wasn't going to happen. I really liked Drake's Nightwalker series, and love the premise of this one, but instead of reading a seasoned author (that I enjoyed) I felt like I was reading something I could have put out; which is to say it wasn't any good. Not a single moment had me living in the story, and I ended up just forwarding to the end to see if the guy lived or not. I still didn't care when I saw either. I didn't even know our protag was male until I think 4% into it. I thought it was a lesbian character (which would have been awesome!) but no. Instead we get the boy that reads like a girl. Why she chose to write from the male's perspective is beyond me, especially when she has a successful series under her belt with a female POV. Just lame.
Unfortunately I won't be recommending this to any of my friends.
Unfortunately I won't be recommending this to any of my friends.
September 9, 2012
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Gage has had magical abilities as long as he can remember, but just how good he was became clear when the warlocks came and took him from his family at the age of seven. He was swept away to the Ivory Towers where he was trained to be a warlock; the most feared beings on Earth. Gage was more powerful than his mentor, Simon, had ever expected him to be. Gage escaped as a teen; something that has never been done before. This could have cost him his life. But when he was taken in front of the council they decided to let him live as long as he ceased to use his magic except for in self-defense.
Once back in the human world, Gage was quickly taken in by tattoo artist, Atticus Sparks, who taught him all he knows about the art of tattooing and potion stirring. Gage learned quickly and was able to move out on his own, opening his own tattoo parlor, Asylum. The business has grown over the years and now he has two employees, who are also his best friends, Bronx the troll, and Trixie the elf.
But a cheapskate client, Russell Dalton, is out to cause problems when his lucky tattoo has had a reverse effect then what he wanted. He jumps Gage with a gun demanding that he fix the tattoo, which doesn’t put Gage in an accommodating mood. The confrontation ends with Gage using his magic and now Dalton has turned him into TAPSS (Tattoo Artists & Potion Stirrers Society) and they are breathing down Gage’s neck looking for any chance to shut his business down, to say nothing of his warlock guardian that comes calling now that Gage has used the magic he has been forbidden to use.
And, if that wasn’t bad enough Gage accidentally turned a client that was dying of cancer immortal and the grim reaper has given him a deadline to undo what he has done of forfeit his own soul. The problem? He has no clue how to counteract the ingredients he used, but after asking around it seems he will have to die in order to retrieve the one item that might turn the girl mortal again.
Meanwhile, Gage is growing closer to Trixie and now the men that she’s hiding from come storming into Asylum to take her from him forever and to force her into a marriage and a lifetime of servitude to her king.
Gage definitely has a lot of irons in the fire. How can he solve these problems without using magic that could mean his instant execution? And, how will he do all this while ducking his warlock mentor who is determined to put an end to Gage’s life for his own political career? It just might take a miracle! But anything can happen with a little luck on your side and the company of good friends.
After reading the second prequel to this series, The Asylum Interviews: Trixie, I just HAD to read this book! And, I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed!!
Gage is a fun and engaging lead character. He doesn’t backdown from anything, even death! And, he seems to attract trouble without even trying, like a really big magnet! He is fiercely loyal when it comes to his friends, no matter what the consequences are to himself. You just can’t help, but like a guy like that. There is nothing like an underdog to make you stand up and cheer and route him on!
As I said in my review of The Asylum Interviews: Trixie, I absolutely loved that tattoo shop being called Asylum; it’s just so fitting especially in a world when a majority of the clients are more than human. I also liked the idea of the potions being mixed in with the ink for various effects. Seriously, if I could have anything I wanted (money, luck, beauty, etc) based on having a little ink done, I would totally do it, no questions asked, despite the added cost.
The storyline of Angel’s Ink is packed full of action. Poor Gage can’t take a breath between all the confrontations with his various problems. From Dalton, TAPSS, Simon, The Grim Reaper, and the Royal Guards of the Summer Court just for starters. It keeps the story hopping and keeps you reading and wondering what else could possibly go wrong for our favorite tattoo artist.
I found the different creatures that Drake introduced into the story to be a lot of fun even if most of them where just background characters. Several of them, such as satyrs, gorgons, and minotaurs rarely make it into books, and I found them to be interesting. Not to mention it helped paint a picture of Gage’s world, a world where all different species live out in the open; it just drew me in.
Overall, I just found this book to be a lot of fun. It’s Harry Potter for grown-ups (and yes I realize several adults have read Harry Potter myself included!) This was definitely a great start to a new series that guarantees to only get better. I can’t wait to see more of Gage and Trixie’s growing relationship and to see if Gage will have to forfeit that year in the underworld with Lilith. There are so many questions left unanswered and I’m truly glad some were left open as I don’t feel it would be much fun if everything was wrapped up in a nice neat bow at the end of every book. This leaves so many possibilities for Gage and his friends and promises of things to come in the next book; a book that I can’t wait to read!
http://openbooksociety.com/article/an...
Gage has had magical abilities as long as he can remember, but just how good he was became clear when the warlocks came and took him from his family at the age of seven. He was swept away to the Ivory Towers where he was trained to be a warlock; the most feared beings on Earth. Gage was more powerful than his mentor, Simon, had ever expected him to be. Gage escaped as a teen; something that has never been done before. This could have cost him his life. But when he was taken in front of the council they decided to let him live as long as he ceased to use his magic except for in self-defense.
Once back in the human world, Gage was quickly taken in by tattoo artist, Atticus Sparks, who taught him all he knows about the art of tattooing and potion stirring. Gage learned quickly and was able to move out on his own, opening his own tattoo parlor, Asylum. The business has grown over the years and now he has two employees, who are also his best friends, Bronx the troll, and Trixie the elf.
But a cheapskate client, Russell Dalton, is out to cause problems when his lucky tattoo has had a reverse effect then what he wanted. He jumps Gage with a gun demanding that he fix the tattoo, which doesn’t put Gage in an accommodating mood. The confrontation ends with Gage using his magic and now Dalton has turned him into TAPSS (Tattoo Artists & Potion Stirrers Society) and they are breathing down Gage’s neck looking for any chance to shut his business down, to say nothing of his warlock guardian that comes calling now that Gage has used the magic he has been forbidden to use.
And, if that wasn’t bad enough Gage accidentally turned a client that was dying of cancer immortal and the grim reaper has given him a deadline to undo what he has done of forfeit his own soul. The problem? He has no clue how to counteract the ingredients he used, but after asking around it seems he will have to die in order to retrieve the one item that might turn the girl mortal again.
Meanwhile, Gage is growing closer to Trixie and now the men that she’s hiding from come storming into Asylum to take her from him forever and to force her into a marriage and a lifetime of servitude to her king.
Gage definitely has a lot of irons in the fire. How can he solve these problems without using magic that could mean his instant execution? And, how will he do all this while ducking his warlock mentor who is determined to put an end to Gage’s life for his own political career? It just might take a miracle! But anything can happen with a little luck on your side and the company of good friends.
After reading the second prequel to this series, The Asylum Interviews: Trixie, I just HAD to read this book! And, I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed!!
Gage is a fun and engaging lead character. He doesn’t backdown from anything, even death! And, he seems to attract trouble without even trying, like a really big magnet! He is fiercely loyal when it comes to his friends, no matter what the consequences are to himself. You just can’t help, but like a guy like that. There is nothing like an underdog to make you stand up and cheer and route him on!
As I said in my review of The Asylum Interviews: Trixie, I absolutely loved that tattoo shop being called Asylum; it’s just so fitting especially in a world when a majority of the clients are more than human. I also liked the idea of the potions being mixed in with the ink for various effects. Seriously, if I could have anything I wanted (money, luck, beauty, etc) based on having a little ink done, I would totally do it, no questions asked, despite the added cost.
The storyline of Angel’s Ink is packed full of action. Poor Gage can’t take a breath between all the confrontations with his various problems. From Dalton, TAPSS, Simon, The Grim Reaper, and the Royal Guards of the Summer Court just for starters. It keeps the story hopping and keeps you reading and wondering what else could possibly go wrong for our favorite tattoo artist.
I found the different creatures that Drake introduced into the story to be a lot of fun even if most of them where just background characters. Several of them, such as satyrs, gorgons, and minotaurs rarely make it into books, and I found them to be interesting. Not to mention it helped paint a picture of Gage’s world, a world where all different species live out in the open; it just drew me in.
Overall, I just found this book to be a lot of fun. It’s Harry Potter for grown-ups (and yes I realize several adults have read Harry Potter myself included!) This was definitely a great start to a new series that guarantees to only get better. I can’t wait to see more of Gage and Trixie’s growing relationship and to see if Gage will have to forfeit that year in the underworld with Lilith. There are so many questions left unanswered and I’m truly glad some were left open as I don’t feel it would be much fun if everything was wrapped up in a nice neat bow at the end of every book. This leaves so many possibilities for Gage and his friends and promises of things to come in the next book; a book that I can’t wait to read!
http://openbooksociety.com/article/an...
January 31, 2018
It was a fun supernatural read. If I came across the 2nd book in the series I'd read it.
May 22, 2023
Great paranormal! I'll continue the series!
September 27, 2024
It was a fun idea, but poorly executed. It feels like it was written by a teenage boy who just discovered boobs.
September 28, 2012
Gage was trained from a young age to become a warlock but in a world where the warlocks and witches rule the other races with an iron fist he didn't feel comfortable with the way his mentor and the other inhabitants of the Ivory Towers lived their lives. Gage doesn't believe that the ability to harness magic makes the warlocks any better than anyone else and he hates the way they treat humans and other supernatural beings with contempt and as little better than insects to be crushed at will. He is the only apprentice warlock who ever chose to leave the Ivory Towers and return to living amongst humans and he was only allowed to leave under the condition that he never uses his magic again except in self defence. Even then the warlocks aren't happy that he decided to leave and he knows that they are constantly watching him and waiting for him to make a mistake.
All Gage wants to do is live his life in peace and remain under the radar of the warlocks. He has become one of the most successful tattoo artists in the area and is skilled at creating potions to add to the ink he uses in his art. If you want a tattoo that will bring you luck or make you attractive to the opposite sex then Gage is the person you want to see. His colleagues, troll Bronx and elf Trixie, are both equally skilled artists and potion stirrers but both have their own secrets and reasons to keep to themselves. It seems like their pasts might be about to catch up with them though so can they work together to keep their freedom?
I really enjoyed the two prequel novellas for Jocelynn Drake's new series so I couldn't wait to start reading the first full length novel Angel's Ink. I was looking forward to learning more about Gage's background and to spending more time at the tattoo parlour with him, Bronx and Trixie. For those who haven't read the prequel novellas I do think that Angel's Ink can be read on it's own, the prequels basically show how Gage met each of his fellow tattoo artists and how they came to work at his tattoo parlour The Asylum. They are fun reads but this information isn't necessary to follow the story.
I have to admit that after really loving the prequels I ended up finding myself slightly disappointed with Angel's Ink. I had hoped to spend more time getting to know Gage, Bronx and Trixie - we had been given hints of secrets that they were all holding back and I wanted to learn more about them. Although we do uncover more about Gage's past and learn who Trixie is hiding from I was sad that we didn't get more of Bronx. In fact his role in this book was mainly backing up Gage when he got himself into various different kinds of trouble and when he wasn't running to the rescue he just kind of disappeared into the background. It was a shame because I really liked Bronx in the prequels and had hoped to learn more about him. I also have to admit that I wasn't a fan of the romance between Gage and Trixie, it happened too quickly and ended up feeling forced.
When I read urban fantasy I'm not looking for something that focuses on the romance - I'm more interested in a fast paced plot and really getting to know the characters and the world that the author has created. Yes a lot of my favourite urban fantasy series do contain a hint of romance but most of the time it has that kind of will they / won't they theme running through at least the first few books and I really enjoy that kind of tension between the characters. In the case of Gage and Trixie there was no tension, everything flows together too easily and at times felt a bit more like I was reading a paranormal romance. I just didn't feel invested in either of the characters and didn't believe that there was any real emotional connection between them, definitely not enough for them to become a couple.
The plot is fast paced but at times it gets a little too complicated - Gage can't go a chapter without finding some new kind of trouble to get himself into! This was amusing at first but it got to the point where I just wanted some kind of resolution to the problems he already had rather than for him to dig another hole to fall into. Some of these issues are dealt with by the end of the book but we are definitely left with questions for future books in the series to answer. In spite of my complaints I did still enjoy the story, the world that Jocelynn Drake has created has a lot of potential and I hope that we will see a lot more time spent developing the characters and the background as the series continues. Gage is a likeable guy but I want to see a lot more of Bronx in future instalments and I'm quite excited to get to know new character Sofie who doesn't make her appearance until nearly the end of the book.
All Gage wants to do is live his life in peace and remain under the radar of the warlocks. He has become one of the most successful tattoo artists in the area and is skilled at creating potions to add to the ink he uses in his art. If you want a tattoo that will bring you luck or make you attractive to the opposite sex then Gage is the person you want to see. His colleagues, troll Bronx and elf Trixie, are both equally skilled artists and potion stirrers but both have their own secrets and reasons to keep to themselves. It seems like their pasts might be about to catch up with them though so can they work together to keep their freedom?
I really enjoyed the two prequel novellas for Jocelynn Drake's new series so I couldn't wait to start reading the first full length novel Angel's Ink. I was looking forward to learning more about Gage's background and to spending more time at the tattoo parlour with him, Bronx and Trixie. For those who haven't read the prequel novellas I do think that Angel's Ink can be read on it's own, the prequels basically show how Gage met each of his fellow tattoo artists and how they came to work at his tattoo parlour The Asylum. They are fun reads but this information isn't necessary to follow the story.
I have to admit that after really loving the prequels I ended up finding myself slightly disappointed with Angel's Ink. I had hoped to spend more time getting to know Gage, Bronx and Trixie - we had been given hints of secrets that they were all holding back and I wanted to learn more about them. Although we do uncover more about Gage's past and learn who Trixie is hiding from I was sad that we didn't get more of Bronx. In fact his role in this book was mainly backing up Gage when he got himself into various different kinds of trouble and when he wasn't running to the rescue he just kind of disappeared into the background. It was a shame because I really liked Bronx in the prequels and had hoped to learn more about him. I also have to admit that I wasn't a fan of the romance between Gage and Trixie, it happened too quickly and ended up feeling forced.
When I read urban fantasy I'm not looking for something that focuses on the romance - I'm more interested in a fast paced plot and really getting to know the characters and the world that the author has created. Yes a lot of my favourite urban fantasy series do contain a hint of romance but most of the time it has that kind of will they / won't they theme running through at least the first few books and I really enjoy that kind of tension between the characters. In the case of Gage and Trixie there was no tension, everything flows together too easily and at times felt a bit more like I was reading a paranormal romance. I just didn't feel invested in either of the characters and didn't believe that there was any real emotional connection between them, definitely not enough for them to become a couple.
The plot is fast paced but at times it gets a little too complicated - Gage can't go a chapter without finding some new kind of trouble to get himself into! This was amusing at first but it got to the point where I just wanted some kind of resolution to the problems he already had rather than for him to dig another hole to fall into. Some of these issues are dealt with by the end of the book but we are definitely left with questions for future books in the series to answer. In spite of my complaints I did still enjoy the story, the world that Jocelynn Drake has created has a lot of potential and I hope that we will see a lot more time spent developing the characters and the background as the series continues. Gage is a likeable guy but I want to see a lot more of Bronx in future instalments and I'm quite excited to get to know new character Sofie who doesn't make her appearance until nearly the end of the book.
December 24, 2018
3.5 stars
I really loved the little prequel The Asylum Interviews: Bronx He is my favorite character and we just didn't get enough of him in this. I like Gage and Trixie and the dynamic between the three of them, tiptoeing around their secrets but still fiercely loyal. There was just a ton of stuff happening in this. Just issues on top of issues, bad guys after bad guys. It was a lot, anything that could go wrong for Gage, did. It was almost a little too much. I liked the storyline with Tera, even though it was sad. I liked how things played out with Gideon as well. The elves part...not so much. I do like this world, where there are these magical creatures and these myths and such are true and part of everyday life. I may give the next in the series a go, but I'm not in a rush for it. I really wanted Gage and Bronx to be together!!!
I really loved the little prequel The Asylum Interviews: Bronx He is my favorite character and we just didn't get enough of him in this. I like Gage and Trixie and the dynamic between the three of them, tiptoeing around their secrets but still fiercely loyal. There was just a ton of stuff happening in this. Just issues on top of issues, bad guys after bad guys. It was a lot, anything that could go wrong for Gage, did. It was almost a little too much. I liked the storyline with Tera, even though it was sad. I liked how things played out with Gideon as well. The elves part...not so much. I do like this world, where there are these magical creatures and these myths and such are true and part of everyday life. I may give the next in the series a go, but I'm not in a rush for it. I really wanted Gage and Bronx to be together!!!
October 13, 2012
Review originally posted here: http://thebookpushers.com/2012/10/16/...
I’m always on the lookout for new UF books, and while I read one or two of Jocelyn’s previous series – Dark Days – it wasn’t a series that immediately hooked me like so many others. When I read the blurb for Angel’s Ink, I knew I’d have to take the chance on this one, and so glad I did!
Gage likes his quiet life of mixing potions and doing tattoos. He’s got a great shop, with two great employees, and mostly keeps below the radar of those looking for him. Although he’s on the fritz with the much-hated wizard council, he manages to keep himself free and clear of their politics and guardians.
But things in Gage’s life take a twist when he tattoos with an ingredient he’s never used before, and turns a dying woman immortal, then his old mentor from wizard training comes back to haunt him, and his longtime employee Trixie (whom he’s in love with) has her past catch up with her…. Things go from seemingly normal to crazy insane in just a few days. With everything piling up, will Gage be able to fix everything, before time runs out?
I loved that Drake’s novel had a different feel to it than most UF books. Sure there are vampires and shifters, but they don’t make up the core of this paranormal world. I like that Drake incorporates a ton of different mythological and supernatural creates into the world, and that they all seem to fear the wizard and witches, whom are the big bad of this paranormal world.
It took me awhile to really get a feel for Gage’s character, but at the same time I instantly liked him. he was sarcastic and funny, and although he was pretty desperate to keep a low profile, he was also willing to do anything and everything within his power to save those he loves. Even when he knew full well it would put him directly in the path of his wizard guardian. I loved his relationship with Trixie, and how the romance played out in the book. I hope we get to see more and more of Gage and Trixie together.
I also thought the tattoo aspect of the book was so neat. I love the idea of tattooing a charm or spell into the skin, and all the good and bad that comes along with it. The potions and mixing was neat too, and I’m glad we got to see a little hint of how the process works, I do hope that Drake really delves more into it in future books.
The secondary characters in this book were amazing, and I can’t wait to see where everyone’s journey takes them. Gideon, the wizard guardian, was an interesting twist, and I can’t wait to see how that plays out in the series. I loved Bronx the troll and Trixie the elf – the two other tattoo artists in Gage’s shop. While we got to learn so much more about Trixie than Bronx in this book, I hope we can focus more on Bronx in the next book. I’m excited to see how things work out with Sofie the witch cat, and if she’ll play a bigger role in future books.
The one thing that did somewhat bother me was that it seemed like there were a MILLION things going on. It felt like Drake kept adding more and more drama and mishaps into the storyline, and it was a wonder that Gage was able to get out alive after just a few short days of his world tumbling down around him.
All in all I really enjoyed this story, and I think readers who enjoy reading male protagonist UF with a heavy romance influence will really enjoy this book. It was different and unique and fresh, and it really did have just enough romance to really whet my appetite, but a strong UF world to keep me entertained. I can’t wait to see what Drake has in store for this series in the future!
I give Angel’s Ink a B-
I’m always on the lookout for new UF books, and while I read one or two of Jocelyn’s previous series – Dark Days – it wasn’t a series that immediately hooked me like so many others. When I read the blurb for Angel’s Ink, I knew I’d have to take the chance on this one, and so glad I did!
Gage likes his quiet life of mixing potions and doing tattoos. He’s got a great shop, with two great employees, and mostly keeps below the radar of those looking for him. Although he’s on the fritz with the much-hated wizard council, he manages to keep himself free and clear of their politics and guardians.
But things in Gage’s life take a twist when he tattoos with an ingredient he’s never used before, and turns a dying woman immortal, then his old mentor from wizard training comes back to haunt him, and his longtime employee Trixie (whom he’s in love with) has her past catch up with her…. Things go from seemingly normal to crazy insane in just a few days. With everything piling up, will Gage be able to fix everything, before time runs out?
I loved that Drake’s novel had a different feel to it than most UF books. Sure there are vampires and shifters, but they don’t make up the core of this paranormal world. I like that Drake incorporates a ton of different mythological and supernatural creates into the world, and that they all seem to fear the wizard and witches, whom are the big bad of this paranormal world.
It took me awhile to really get a feel for Gage’s character, but at the same time I instantly liked him. he was sarcastic and funny, and although he was pretty desperate to keep a low profile, he was also willing to do anything and everything within his power to save those he loves. Even when he knew full well it would put him directly in the path of his wizard guardian. I loved his relationship with Trixie, and how the romance played out in the book. I hope we get to see more and more of Gage and Trixie together.
I also thought the tattoo aspect of the book was so neat. I love the idea of tattooing a charm or spell into the skin, and all the good and bad that comes along with it. The potions and mixing was neat too, and I’m glad we got to see a little hint of how the process works, I do hope that Drake really delves more into it in future books.
The secondary characters in this book were amazing, and I can’t wait to see where everyone’s journey takes them. Gideon, the wizard guardian, was an interesting twist, and I can’t wait to see how that plays out in the series. I loved Bronx the troll and Trixie the elf – the two other tattoo artists in Gage’s shop. While we got to learn so much more about Trixie than Bronx in this book, I hope we can focus more on Bronx in the next book. I’m excited to see how things work out with Sofie the witch cat, and if she’ll play a bigger role in future books.
The one thing that did somewhat bother me was that it seemed like there were a MILLION things going on. It felt like Drake kept adding more and more drama and mishaps into the storyline, and it was a wonder that Gage was able to get out alive after just a few short days of his world tumbling down around him.
All in all I really enjoyed this story, and I think readers who enjoy reading male protagonist UF with a heavy romance influence will really enjoy this book. It was different and unique and fresh, and it really did have just enough romance to really whet my appetite, but a strong UF world to keep me entertained. I can’t wait to see what Drake has in store for this series in the future!
I give Angel’s Ink a B-
October 6, 2012
*Rating* 2.5-3
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
I really hate to be a hater, you know what I mean? I have NEVER abandoned a book in my life because I thought it was totally awful. Somehow, someway, I always find a way to get to the ending to find out what happened. Yes, that may include several page flips past the boring stuff.
I loved Drake's Dark Days series with Mira and Danaus and was sad to see it end. The world that she has created for Angel's Ink (Asylum Tales) is a bit bizarre and off the beat and path. You need to totally focus your attention on the fact that there was some sort of war (Great War) between Warlocks, Witches, Humans and the Fey nearly 100 years ago.
You need to know that there are all sorts of paranormals involved in this first book from Elves, to Trolls, to vampires and werewolves. You need to know that Warlocks and Witches can pretty much do whatever they please to anyone who gets in their way without any sort of restraint and Humans are pretty much stuck right in the middle with basically no rights to protect themselves from any paranormal.
The main character in this series is Gage Powell. Gage runs The Asylum Tattoo parlor in an area called Low Town. Gage is something of a magical protégée. He was spirited away from his family when he was 7 years old, only to escape from the so called Ivory Tower when he was 16. Gage met up with Atticus Sparks who taught him everything he needed to know about mixing potions and creating tattoos. Gage doesn't exactly play by the rules for which he was allowed his freedom. This causes all sorts of problems for him and his friends Bronx (Troll) and Trixie Ravenwood (Elf).
Gage’s old mentor, Simon Thorn, has literally become a thorn in Gage's side. (Sorry couldn't resist!) Simon has no intention of allowing Gage to live any longer than necessary which leads to continued strife and hard times for Gage who is being watched like a hawk by Gideon another warlock who is supposed to be Gage’s Guardian who keeps an eye out for him, and reports him to the Ivory Tower when he steps out of line.
Angel’s Ink is an interesting story, I will allow you that. It focuses on Gage’s struggles as he tries to stay out of the limelight which he fails time and time again. Gage really gets himself deep into trouble when he helps a human named Tera who is dying from cancer. I really felt for Tera in the end. The only thing she wanted was a tattoo and to find a way to live a little bit longer. He also runs into the Grim Reaper, and a group of vampires known as TAPSS (Tattoo Artists & Potion Stirrers Society.)
I will say that I enjoyed the friendship between Bronx, Trixie and Gage. I liked that they stuck together through good times and bad times even at the expense of being sent to the Ivory Tower, or back to the Summer Court. I also enjoyed the addition of Sofia, a witch who is stuck in cat form. I will, most likely, read the next installment in this series because there are a bunch of questions and situations left unresolved.
*ARC Recvd 06/01/2012 via Edelweiss for Harper Voyager. Expected publication: October 16th 2012 by Harper Voyager
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
I really hate to be a hater, you know what I mean? I have NEVER abandoned a book in my life because I thought it was totally awful. Somehow, someway, I always find a way to get to the ending to find out what happened. Yes, that may include several page flips past the boring stuff.
I loved Drake's Dark Days series with Mira and Danaus and was sad to see it end. The world that she has created for Angel's Ink (Asylum Tales) is a bit bizarre and off the beat and path. You need to totally focus your attention on the fact that there was some sort of war (Great War) between Warlocks, Witches, Humans and the Fey nearly 100 years ago.
You need to know that there are all sorts of paranormals involved in this first book from Elves, to Trolls, to vampires and werewolves. You need to know that Warlocks and Witches can pretty much do whatever they please to anyone who gets in their way without any sort of restraint and Humans are pretty much stuck right in the middle with basically no rights to protect themselves from any paranormal.
The main character in this series is Gage Powell. Gage runs The Asylum Tattoo parlor in an area called Low Town. Gage is something of a magical protégée. He was spirited away from his family when he was 7 years old, only to escape from the so called Ivory Tower when he was 16. Gage met up with Atticus Sparks who taught him everything he needed to know about mixing potions and creating tattoos. Gage doesn't exactly play by the rules for which he was allowed his freedom. This causes all sorts of problems for him and his friends Bronx (Troll) and Trixie Ravenwood (Elf).
Gage’s old mentor, Simon Thorn, has literally become a thorn in Gage's side. (Sorry couldn't resist!) Simon has no intention of allowing Gage to live any longer than necessary which leads to continued strife and hard times for Gage who is being watched like a hawk by Gideon another warlock who is supposed to be Gage’s Guardian who keeps an eye out for him, and reports him to the Ivory Tower when he steps out of line.
Angel’s Ink is an interesting story, I will allow you that. It focuses on Gage’s struggles as he tries to stay out of the limelight which he fails time and time again. Gage really gets himself deep into trouble when he helps a human named Tera who is dying from cancer. I really felt for Tera in the end. The only thing she wanted was a tattoo and to find a way to live a little bit longer. He also runs into the Grim Reaper, and a group of vampires known as TAPSS (Tattoo Artists & Potion Stirrers Society.)
I will say that I enjoyed the friendship between Bronx, Trixie and Gage. I liked that they stuck together through good times and bad times even at the expense of being sent to the Ivory Tower, or back to the Summer Court. I also enjoyed the addition of Sofia, a witch who is stuck in cat form. I will, most likely, read the next installment in this series because there are a bunch of questions and situations left unresolved.
*ARC Recvd 06/01/2012 via Edelweiss for Harper Voyager. Expected publication: October 16th 2012 by Harper Voyager
August 29, 2015
I enjoyed much of this, but I had a few problems.
Good ideas. Reminded me of a world similar to Harry Potter. Various magical creatures live on earth and some of them enjoy hurting humans. The main character is Gage. At age 6 he was taken from his human parents to live and learn magic at a warlock school. His mentor Simon was evil. Gage ran away from school at age 16 to live among humans. The warlocks reluctantly allowed this and said he could not use his magic except in self defense - or they would kill him. The story begins a few years later with Gage and his friends Bronx and Trixie running a tattoo shop. Tera comes to Gage asking for a tattoo of angel wings on her back. Her picture is on the cover of the book, but she is a minor character - only a couple of scenes. Things happening to and by Gage are the main event.
The story is told in 1st person past tense in the head of Gage. I am female and I was very uncomfortable when I (as Gage) was admiring the breasts of Trixie. Then during sex I (as Gage) was feeling sexuality as she kissed me. It was unsettling. Maybe other female readers can compartmentalize or something better than I can. But this one gave me an ick feeling. (Lesbian readers: you might like this.)
This book is done in 1st person. Can you imagine the Harry Potter books being done in 1st person Harry Potter? HP was much richer being done in 3rd. And I think Angel’s Ink would have been better in 3rd. We could get inside some of the other characters for a change.
A few times it dragged. In the beginning it was ok, but a few times I was annoyed. Characters kept beating up Gage and used magic against him, but he couldn’t fight back because the warlock council didn’t want him using his magic. It was too much helplessness. He frequently broke the rules and used magic - like helping others. But when the mafia had him tied up, he did not use magic and I wished he would have.
THE SERIES:
The Asylum Interviews: Bronx (The Asylum Tales #0.5) 87 pages
The Asylum Interviews: Trixie (The Asylum Tales #0.6) 100 pages
Angel’s Ink (The Asylum Tales #1) 338 pages
Dead Man’s Deal (The Asylum Tales #2) 371 pages
Another reviewer suggested reading the two novella prequels to this story. I did not read them, and I think this story is ok as a stand alone. But if you really like this book, then I’d suggest you go back and read them. Angel’s Ink has a good ending and felt complete. Although there are some open things that will continue in the next book.
CAUTION SPOILER - re stupidity:
I received this book at the RT convention.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 1st person past tense Gage. Story length: 338 pages. Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: current day fictional town Low Town, in a state similar to Kentucky. Copyright: 2012. Genre: urban fantasy with romance.
Good ideas. Reminded me of a world similar to Harry Potter. Various magical creatures live on earth and some of them enjoy hurting humans. The main character is Gage. At age 6 he was taken from his human parents to live and learn magic at a warlock school. His mentor Simon was evil. Gage ran away from school at age 16 to live among humans. The warlocks reluctantly allowed this and said he could not use his magic except in self defense - or they would kill him. The story begins a few years later with Gage and his friends Bronx and Trixie running a tattoo shop. Tera comes to Gage asking for a tattoo of angel wings on her back. Her picture is on the cover of the book, but she is a minor character - only a couple of scenes. Things happening to and by Gage are the main event.
The story is told in 1st person past tense in the head of Gage. I am female and I was very uncomfortable when I (as Gage) was admiring the breasts of Trixie. Then during sex I (as Gage) was feeling sexuality as she kissed me. It was unsettling. Maybe other female readers can compartmentalize or something better than I can. But this one gave me an ick feeling. (Lesbian readers: you might like this.)
This book is done in 1st person. Can you imagine the Harry Potter books being done in 1st person Harry Potter? HP was much richer being done in 3rd. And I think Angel’s Ink would have been better in 3rd. We could get inside some of the other characters for a change.
A few times it dragged. In the beginning it was ok, but a few times I was annoyed. Characters kept beating up Gage and used magic against him, but he couldn’t fight back because the warlock council didn’t want him using his magic. It was too much helplessness. He frequently broke the rules and used magic - like helping others. But when the mafia had him tied up, he did not use magic and I wished he would have.
THE SERIES:
The Asylum Interviews: Bronx (The Asylum Tales #0.5) 87 pages
The Asylum Interviews: Trixie (The Asylum Tales #0.6) 100 pages
Angel’s Ink (The Asylum Tales #1) 338 pages
Dead Man’s Deal (The Asylum Tales #2) 371 pages
Another reviewer suggested reading the two novella prequels to this story. I did not read them, and I think this story is ok as a stand alone. But if you really like this book, then I’d suggest you go back and read them. Angel’s Ink has a good ending and felt complete. Although there are some open things that will continue in the next book.
CAUTION SPOILER - re stupidity:
I received this book at the RT convention.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 1st person past tense Gage. Story length: 338 pages. Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: current day fictional town Low Town, in a state similar to Kentucky. Copyright: 2012. Genre: urban fantasy with romance.
September 10, 2015
First of all, I recommend reading the two prequels prior to reading the first book of the series. It really helps to get a feel of the relationships between Gage, Trixie, and Bronx. The first book starts about two years after the prequels end, so having a bit of backstory is helpful in getting to know the characters.
Gage is in a giant pickle. Several giant pickles. He manages to really screw up a tattoo, causing the grim reaper to pay him a visit. He is also still being watched over by Gideon, and now lucky for him, he has yet another warlock out to get him. Add to that, he is approached (in a very rough manner) by a friend of the local mob who has several propositions for him, none of which benefit him in the slightest. Except for the one where he pays them to stay alive. Trixie also has people looking for her who happen to rough Gage up in the process, so needless to say - Gage is having a shitty week. Magic could really ease some of his troubles, but it could also get him killed. What's a guy to do...
This series still remains very interesting to me. I love the idea of a warlock forbidden to use magic. The whole foundation of being a warlock is magic, so that kind of adds a neat twist. I also really like the main character and the fact that he's a he. Gage is tough, smart, not afraid to get his ass kicked (which happens many times.) He has the power to take down even the strongest warlocks, but being on the magical version of parole really puts a cramp in a guy's magical style. And speaking of parole, Gage's warlock equivalent of a parole officer isn't appearing to be the prick he came off as in the prequels. Gage is a bit dumbfounded by Gideon's actions and is trying to figure out why he is being that way.
I also really like the secondary characters. Gage has his secrets, which he tries really hard (unsuccessfully) to hide from his friends/coworkers, and I like the fact that the same people he is hiding secrets from also have some deep secrets of their own. He feels like a rotten heel having to hide things from them, but he is also aware they are doing the same thing.
Definitely looking forward to the next one. Hopefully Gage manages to not get the crap beat out of him every time he walks out of his front door.
Gage is in a giant pickle. Several giant pickles. He manages to really screw up a tattoo, causing the grim reaper to pay him a visit. He is also still being watched over by Gideon, and now lucky for him, he has yet another warlock out to get him. Add to that, he is approached (in a very rough manner) by a friend of the local mob who has several propositions for him, none of which benefit him in the slightest. Except for the one where he pays them to stay alive. Trixie also has people looking for her who happen to rough Gage up in the process, so needless to say - Gage is having a shitty week. Magic could really ease some of his troubles, but it could also get him killed. What's a guy to do...
This series still remains very interesting to me. I love the idea of a warlock forbidden to use magic. The whole foundation of being a warlock is magic, so that kind of adds a neat twist. I also really like the main character and the fact that he's a he. Gage is tough, smart, not afraid to get his ass kicked (which happens many times.) He has the power to take down even the strongest warlocks, but being on the magical version of parole really puts a cramp in a guy's magical style. And speaking of parole, Gage's warlock equivalent of a parole officer isn't appearing to be the prick he came off as in the prequels. Gage is a bit dumbfounded by Gideon's actions and is trying to figure out why he is being that way.
I also really like the secondary characters. Gage has his secrets, which he tries really hard (unsuccessfully) to hide from his friends/coworkers, and I like the fact that the same people he is hiding secrets from also have some deep secrets of their own. He feels like a rotten heel having to hide things from them, but he is also aware they are doing the same thing.
Definitely looking forward to the next one. Hopefully Gage manages to not get the crap beat out of him every time he walks out of his front door.
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