Customer Reviews

Amazon Ink (Amazons, Book 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this novel because the reviews were really positive about the story and Mel, the main character. I was not disappointed! Loosely based on Amazon myths and legends, this is the story of Mel, an Amazon who left her people ten years ago. According to tradition if an Amazon is pregnant with a boy the child is either aborted, given away (and forgotten) or crippled physically to prevent the child from growing stronger then his female kin. Mel left because she had a suspicion that one of the stronger high priestesses had a hand in the death of her newborn son; a son she had planned on keeping and raising despite her traditions and culture.

The only outcast of her people, she has been doing great on her own mingling with the humans. Her mother and grandmother, who followed her all those years back, still practice their traditions and are on Mel to start teaching her daughter, Harmony, about who she is, where she comes from, and what powers she will inherit. But Mel just wants her daughter to live a normal life first before she inducts her daughter into a world she still holds a lot of anger for.

But the deaths of Amazon girls left on Mel's doorstep have taken that decision out of her hands. Before she knows it she has the queen of the Amazons moving in with a bunch of her warriors, a police detective hounding her because he suspects she knows more than she's telling, and a connection with the murdered girls because she was the one to release their spirits after their death. If that's not enough she's not only hired a male tattoo artists for her tattoo shop (against her better judgement), but she's starting to feel this attraction for him. There's an even bigger suprise waiting for her as she works to solve these murders.

I thought Lori Devoti did an awesome job creating this urban fantasy world that had nothing to do with vampires or werewolves, but everything to do with a fresh approach and a really good mystery. I thought I knew who was responsible for the girls' murder and it turned out I was so wrong! There's nothing better to a mystery that has great twists and turns and you can't see what's coming. I also like the idea of this whole family of women, four generations, living all together and loving each other despite some really big differences. I'd recomend this for fans of urban fantasy who are getting a little tired of the vampire/werewolf scene.

Melanippe Saka left her Amazon tribe due to the death of her son whom she believes was killed by someone in the Amazon tribe. Amazon's see no need for sons and they usually maim them and give them away. Mel feeling different about her son, left with her daughter, Harmony, and was shortly followed by her Mother and Grandmother. Now she's finding dead Amazon girls on her doorstep. The first one she quietly disposes of but not before releasing the girl's spirit, but when a second dead Amazon shows up, she is compelled to let the tribe know about it. Soon the Amazon tribe descends upon her at her home which is an old school. Mel must deal with the queen, who was also her best friend, a new male tattoo artisan, Peter, a young pregnant Amazon woman and a detective who is looking into the deaths of the two girls.

I found the initial idea of Amazon women to be new and refreshing from the normal urban fantasy of vampires, shape shifters or fae. However, I must disagree with all the five star reviews. I found the book to lack at times in the interest department. By that I mean there came a time when the book did not hold my interest and I was very tempted to put it down and not finish it. I hate to do that as I spent good money for the book so I made myself continue to read and I'm glad I did. It did turn out to be a fairly interesting read after the "hump" I had reached. I also found Mel's powers to be somewhat wishy washy. Most of the time she held off on using her powers and when she finally did I really didn't care. All in all, it was a decent book but I don't think I liked it well enough to read a second if there should be one.

Strong female protagonist who is a mother first and Amazon second. I was worried it would be another romance masquerading as a fantasy novel and it wasn't. There was some romance, but it was a very light touch. The main story was about being self-exiled from a culture with deep roots and how those roots can hold you even while you are trying to make a normal life.
The Amazon culture in the story is based loosely off how gypsies are portrayed in pop culture, a strong mystical, nomadic group who live on the fringes of society.
I'm looking forward to a sequel and seeing more development in the female relationships, Mel's relationships with her mother, daughter, grandmother and best friend are great and deserve more time.

Updating the world of the Amazon was a unique concept and if the author stuck to one, two or at the most three plot points the book may have worked but she just keep on adding things until the book became more and more chaotic and as a result weaker.

Her characters for as old as they were suppose to be weren't the brightest of beings and I`m not referring to tech knowledge. After living in the real world for ten years, running a business, interacting with the general population should have taught them something. Grandma and her cons, uh clients and Mother, a Xena imitation, were caricatures and even though their actions were understandable given the Amazon society Mel's reaction to what they did wasn't.

The author had a tendency to repeat points over and over again but yet managed to leave out important information in other areas. We, the reader, can easily grasp the fact that Mel was angry with her tribe and left on her own after the loss of her son however, beating the point until it bled was overdoing it.

The mystery led you one way and then without any clue or logic it led back in another direction. A good mystery will leave you with at the very least a `Yeah now that makes sense', not `where the [blank] did that come from'.

The story was hard to get into; a woman finds two dead bodies on her porch and nothing. Nothing grabs the reader in, there was a lack of emotion, oh the words were there but the author's style just made the emotional connection impossible. It takes the reader to get half way though the book before it get better. I did say better not good.

With editing, this could have been an excellent book but her editor failed her horribly. Several points including the Dana story line for example, would have worked better in the next book. Hopefully, it will be better.

I really wanted to like this book but it was just so boring! Aside from being predictable, it wasn't even interesting. Someone has been murdering and dumping young girls on Mel's doorstep. Instead of having empathy for the families involved, she just dumps the girls elsewhere and notifies no one. What a cowardly and selfish heroine. It's such a pity this story didn't appeal to me, because I love the idea of a powerful matriarchal society. I'm not sure what went wrong, but this book has all elements needed to ensure a good urban fantasy. This story is vastly different from the usual urban fantasy but once I cracked this book open, the story seem just mundane and lagging. This book reminds me of Ann Aguirre's Blue Diablo, nothing but fluff and hype. I do concede that perhaps this book just isn't for me, however, I have given the author 2-stars for the effort of originality. I definitely will not be reading the next book in the series Amazon Queen.

Amazon Ink was simply wonderful. Having read Devoti's Nocturnes, I was thoroughly impressed by what an amazing job she can do when given a bit more space to work with. Don't get me wrong, I love the heroes and the sprinkling of Norse myth in her Unbound series, but in this novel length contribution Devoti has the time to develop a fascinating world and delve into the culture of her Amazons in addition to developing great characters and it adds a richness and texture to Amazon Ink that would be hard to achieve in the shorter Nocturne format.

There was so much that I liked about Amazon Ink. The story was good, both in the present day pursuit of the truth behind the deaths, and in Mel's struggle to break free from her rigid male-less upbringing and to come to teams with the betrayal by her `sisters'. Also good were the relationships between the characters: Mel's interactions with her mother and grandmother, with her old tribe mates (both friend and foe), with the homicide detective who senses that Mel is holding back critical information, and with the talented male tattoo artist who Mel allows into her previously females only life. And I loved Mel, Devoti has given her a great 1st person voice and has given Mel enough enough emotional depth to bring her to life. And I also liked that Mel was give enough power and intelligence that she is more than capable of handling herself even as she is forced to face down her family, the tribe and the killer.

Top all this good stuff off with some magic and Amazon Ink ends up being one of my favorite books this year. With some secrets near the end of the story which open up an additional dimension in Devoti's Amazon world, Devoti left me hoping that she has a few more of these intriguing and original urban fantasy books in the works

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Synopsis
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Grief and anger had caused Mel to reject her Amazon upbringing and leave the tribe behind using her skills as an artisan to make a normal life for herself and her daughter as a tattoo artist in Madison Wisconsin. But now someone is leaving dead Amazon teenagers on her doorstep and Mel's decision to avoid being drawn back into the world she left behind puts her under a cloud of suspicion, because the murderer is obviously familiar with the secrets of the Amazons. Soon Mel has no choice but to try and find the killer even though it means dealing with her past and reopening old wounds.

Really about 3.5 stars. I've always been intrigued by Amazons and so when I saw this book I had to pick it up and I'm glad I did as I was entertained in my journey through Devoti's mythology. While I agree with the one reviewer that someone as old as Mel shouldn't have been as stubborn as she was, I think it is mostly explained away by her own lack of belief and trust after what happened to her son.

The characters are interesting, the background is intriguing and I am hoping there will be a sequel so we can learn more about Mel, her family, her tribe and the sons.

It is not often that you see a book centered around a mother, amazons, or a tattoo shop, but this novel has all three! The dead amazon plot line was interesting but there wasn't enough mystery solving for my liking. The main character was focused mainly on how much she dislikes the amazons, and was a bit too proud. Her teenage daughter is pretty much a non character, as she only has a small part in the novel. I'm also not a fan of the way the novel turned out. I can't say much about it since it would be a major spoiler, but I wasn't happy about it. Overall a decent book. I did find myself interested throughout and didn't skip around, but it could have been much better.

Ten years ago Melanippe "Mel" Saka left her Amazon tribe, determined to create a normal life among humans for her daughter, Harmony. Though her warrior mother and priestess grandmother did not officially leave the tribe, they did go with Mel. The small group lives in an old high school in Madison, Wisconsin. Upstairs is their living section. Downstairs Mel runs a tattoo parlor. Harmony has no idea that any of them are Amazons and Mel believes she has succeeded with blending in with normal humans.

It seems as though someone knows the truth about Mel and her family though. Someone is killing young Amazon girls, slicing off their magical tattoos, and depositing the bodies on Mel's front doorstep. Mel wants nothing to do with her old Amazon tribe and they want nothing to do with the tribe's only exile. However, Mel has to warn the tribe that someone is killing their girls. Of course, the tribe suspects Mel and wants her dead. The only way to prove her innocence is to let part of the tribe, including Zery, the Amazon queen and Mel's former best friend, move into the gym building as they investigate.

Mel also has to deal with Milwaukee Detective Alan Reynolds who believes Mel is either guilty or knows who is. Mel cannot tell him everything she knows because it would expose the Amazons to the humans. Mel also has to deal with her new (and only male) employee, Peter Arpada, who seems to have secrets of his own. If Mel wants to live through all this, and keep Harmony from becoming a target, she is going to have embrace her powers and accept that even in exile she is still an Amazon.

***** FIVE STARS! This story is full of surprises and quite a few twists as well. I had no time to get too comfortable before something happened to throw me for a loop. I can hardly wait for the second release in what appears to be a new series. Lori Devoti's writing talent spins a web of magic around the reader. And with a story like this one, I hope never to get free. Outstanding! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This book was suggested to me by a friend. It was not the most amazing book I had ever read, but it was pretty good. You have to give Devoti props for an original storyline and interesting enough characters. Her writing kind of reminds me of the early Kelley Armstrong books, and hopefully, just like Armstrong, Devoti's writing style will only improve.