More on fantasy book, part 2
The main point I was making with the original post about the upcoming “Ink Exchange” is that the book is apparently marketed for the 12 and up crowd.
It does not have explicit sex, but does have a fair amount of suggestion. (There are also some vulgar words - just a few- in the book I can’t quote here. They’d be against our rules. And like I said in part one of this post - the heroine also apparently is drugged and raped at one point, although the references are not explicit. )
Here is a quotation from page 115: “But his hands were on her skin, under the edge of her shirt, and she didn’t know him. It wasn’t normal; whatever she was feeling was off, but she couldn’t seem to say stop. She tried to speak, but couldn’t find any words.
Laughing softly, he slid his hands over her hips, his fingers bruisingly tight on her skin. ‘My lovely Shadow Girl. Almost mine…’
She didn’t like him, but she wouldn’t have pulled away for anything. Her anger shifted into something territorial. The dual desire to resist being claimed as property and to claim him as hers surged through her.”
On page 67: “When Niall had first walked among them, he’d found mortals enthralling. They were filled with passion and desperation, carving out what joy they could in their all-too-finite lives, and most were willing to lift their skirts for a few kind words from his lips.”..
Niall shook her off again. “She’s been drinking, I suspect. She wasn’t so” - he grabbed her hand as she began unfastening….”
Anyway, this kind of stuff certainly does remind me of the Hamilton series, although less explicit. I just wonder if should be marketed more for 15- 16- and 17-year-olds.
Movies, TV, books, etc. have gotten much more explicit, of course, so maybe there is nothing new here. But with a cover picture that is so evocative of the Hamilton books, will young teens mistakenly think that if they like Marr they might like Hamilton’s books?
When I was in high school I was reading adult books on the sly. It’s just that the steamy books my friends and I were reading weren’t actually promoted to 12-year-olds.
Please keep comments on target and don’t distort the title of the book, the gist of my comments or whether they are statements or questions intended to promote discussion.
“But with a cover picture that is so evocative of the Hamilton books, will young teens mistakenly think that if they like Marr they might like Hamilton’s books?”
No. Because both books are shelved in completely different sections of the bookstore. No person in their right mind is going to think “This cover is pretty. Let’s go find one just like it and I’ll read it too!” And it surprises me that anyone would think to make that assumption, as it’s just a stupid question.
And I do not see any resemblance between the two covers. One (Marr’s) is very pretty and fits with the series itself. The other (Hamilton’s) is just erotic, plain and simple. I do not think anyone would get aroused by Marr’s covers as much as they might from Hamilton’s. I mean, I honestly do not see how anyone in your position (12 years as book editor) or even just anyone in general would even attempt to compare the two when it is obvious they are not all that similar.
Also, pish tosh to 12 year olds reading about “inappropriate” stuff- they’ll learn about it eventually, so why does it matter when they learn about it? I mean, is the book actually saying “Go out and do this stuff now, reader. Put the book down and grab some pot, and let’s get the party started.” No, it is not, so why does it matter?