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Ink is Thicker Than Water Entangled Teen Amy Spalding Books

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Ink is Thicker Than Water Entangled Teen Amy Spalding Books

I absolutely adored this author's debut novel earlier this year, which set my expectations quite high for Ink is Thicker Than Water. Unfortunately, it didn't measure up. My rating feels unfairly low, but three stars doesn't feel right either. I didn't think this book was bad, or not for me, or anything like that. In fact, I found it really cute in places and refreshing as a whole, but it bored me like no other! I honestly cannot believe how boring it was. I liked that it was about more everyday teen problems and there was no big, overly dramatic drama for the sake of drama. But oh my goodness. It didn't hold my attention for more than two or three chapters at a time, so it took me forever to finish!

The worst part about Ink is Thicker Than Water was that is was most unmemorable to me. I seriously forgot almost everything that I read whenever I set it down. It was like starting over every time I picked it back up. Luckily, there is no major plot, so it's not like I actually needed to remember all of Kellie's everyday activities and interactions to move forward. I guess this means nothing was happening, and that's mostly true. The story is mainly about Kellie trying to figure out where she fits in the world and in her family. Plus there's some family issues, best friend problems, and an awkward budding romance. It was all missing an essential spark for me though. Maybe the problems were too normal? It was also lacking the fun that The Reece Malcolm List was radiating.

Of course there were things that I liked about Ink is Thicker Than Water. I loved the unique family dynamics. Kellie lives with her mother, step-father, adopted older sister, and younger half-brother. Her dad and his (secret) girlfriend are also around at times, making up a quite unconventional, but loving family. Kellie's mom is big on family time, not having secrets, and letting everyone be themselves. This is all well and good, but we really only get to know Kellie and her mother. Her sister plays a huge role in the story, but she felt like just a name on paper since she spends most of the book avoiding her family.

The romance had me really conflicted. Kellie is dating a college boy named Oliver, whom she had met several months prior. Their meeting is actually really unique and interesting, and I was hoping it would make their romance awkward but adorable. Well, it's definitely awkward, but nowhere near adorable. Oliver says about 10 words whenever they're together, most of which was taken up by "You can talk to me." It's great that he's willing to listen to Kellie's problems, but that's really all we get to know about him. At least until the end, when his huge secret that makes him less than perfect comes out. It's an interesting secret, but doesn't make up for lack of personality.

I did really like how sex was portrayed in Ink is Thicker Than Water for the most part. Kellie is very confident in herself and is able to tell Oliver that she's not ready when things start to heat up. I just wish she didn't have to say it every single time we see them together. There are discussions of gynecologist visits, birth control, and condoms which I think is important. Kellie also talks to her mom about it, so again great family!

Ink is Thicker Than Water also focused a lot on Kellie's crumbling relationship with her sister once she meets her biological mother, her best friend ditching her to become popular, and finding her place on the school newspaper staff. However, none of these plot threads really held my attention at all. There were just kind of there, giving Kellie something to do. The ending was really cute and cheesy though, and I liked it. It also made me start plotting another tattoo to add to my long list of tattoos to get done.

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. No compensation was offered or accepted.


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Ink is Thicker Than Water Entangled Teen Amy Spalding Books Reviews

Normally, I don't read multiple books by the same author back-to-back unless they're in a series, and even then, I don't do it often, mostly because so many of the series I'm reading are still in-progress. That said, earlier this month I spent just ten days reading all three of Amy Spalding's books back to back to back, and IT WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER. Here's why

1. Each of Amy Spalding's heroines are so unique in personality that I never felt like they were blending together or making each other predictable. From Devan in THE REECE MALCOLM LIST to Kellie in INK IS THICKER THAN WATER to Riley in KISSING TED CALLAHAN (AND OTHER GUYS), they're all wonderfully distinct. Of course I have a favorite (looking at you, Kellie Brooks), but each of Spalding's girls are funny and smart and interesting and insecure in their own ways and worth reading about on their own terms, and that, more than anything, is why I was able to enjoy reading these books one after another.

2. I already mentioned that Spalding writes funny girl characters but y'all, they're really, really funny. They're self-deprecating and sarcastic and witty, and they make smart jokes and dumb jokes (though truly, if a joke is actually funny, can we really say that it's dumb?), they joke about life and themselves and sex and their family and school. Sometimes they joke because it's that or cry. A lot of the time they joke because they're funny and they know it. So great.

3. There are boys in these books, but while they're certainly well-developed characters, they're also there to showcase how empowering it is for a high school girl to decide what to do with a boy and when. There's kissing and undressing, and sometimes there's almost having sex, and sometimes there's having sex after really thinking about how this is what you want to do, and sometimes there's having sex because you realize right in the moment that yeah, this is what you want to do, and sometimes there's not having sex because nope, you're just not into this guy after all. And it's all good and confusing and revelatory and normal at the same time.

4. In each book, these girls have specific THINGS that they do outside of school — musical theatre, writing, working for the family business, playing in a band — and a lot of their stories revolve around how no matter what other drama is playing out, these are smart, passionate teenage girls who take pleasure in doing things, and doing them well. I especially loved how unapologetic Devan and Riley are about how seriously they take musical theatre and playing in a band, respectively. And, going back to point number one and how each of these girls is unique, I also loved that so much of Kellie's development was focused on the dawning realization that yeah, it's actually fun to do things and be passionate and involved and smart.

5. You should read these books because more than most contemporary YA authors I've read, Amy Spalding lets adults be present and realistic and meaningful in their children's lives. In THE REECE MALCOLM LIST, Devan's mother is a character right from the start — her name is right there in the title! And one of my absolute favorite aspects of INK IS THICKER THAN WATER is how complicated Kellie's family structure is — divorce, remarriage, adoption — while being written in such a way that readers will have empathy for all parties involved. If anything, the fact that Riley's family plays such a small role in KISSING TED CALLAHAN is probably one of the reasons I liked it just a little bit less, because by that point I had fallen head over heels for Spalding's families. However, at the same time, Riley's true to who her family is, and I totally laughed every time she referred to her parents as "the United Front."

And finally, you should drop everything to binge read everything Amy Spalding has ever written because she's a wonderful, lovely person (who I know only via the Internet because I couldn't get my act together to meet her for a drink the last time I was in LA, something I've regretted ever since), and the fact that she's a wonderful, lovely person shows in how she writes about teenagers and girls and families and life. These are good books that will make you feel good.
I absolutely adored this author's debut novel earlier this year, which set my expectations quite high for Ink is Thicker Than Water. Unfortunately, it didn't measure up. My rating feels unfairly low, but three stars doesn't feel right either. I didn't think this book was bad, or not for me, or anything like that. In fact, I found it really cute in places and refreshing as a whole, but it bored me like no other! I honestly cannot believe how boring it was. I liked that it was about more everyday teen problems and there was no big, overly dramatic drama for the sake of drama. But oh my goodness. It didn't hold my attention for more than two or three chapters at a time, so it took me forever to finish!

The worst part about Ink is Thicker Than Water was that is was most unmemorable to me. I seriously forgot almost everything that I read whenever I set it down. It was like starting over every time I picked it back up. Luckily, there is no major plot, so it's not like I actually needed to remember all of Kellie's everyday activities and interactions to move forward. I guess this means nothing was happening, and that's mostly true. The story is mainly about Kellie trying to figure out where she fits in the world and in her family. Plus there's some family issues, best friend problems, and an awkward budding romance. It was all missing an essential spark for me though. Maybe the problems were too normal? It was also lacking the fun that The Reece Malcolm List was radiating.

Of course there were things that I liked about Ink is Thicker Than Water. I loved the unique family dynamics. Kellie lives with her mother, step-father, adopted older sister, and younger half-brother. Her dad and his (secret) girlfriend are also around at times, making up a quite unconventional, but loving family. Kellie's mom is big on family time, not having secrets, and letting everyone be themselves. This is all well and good, but we really only get to know Kellie and her mother. Her sister plays a huge role in the story, but she felt like just a name on paper since she spends most of the book avoiding her family.

The romance had me really conflicted. Kellie is dating a college boy named Oliver, whom she had met several months prior. Their meeting is actually really unique and interesting, and I was hoping it would make their romance awkward but adorable. Well, it's definitely awkward, but nowhere near adorable. Oliver says about 10 words whenever they're together, most of which was taken up by "You can talk to me." It's great that he's willing to listen to Kellie's problems, but that's really all we get to know about him. At least until the end, when his huge secret that makes him less than perfect comes out. It's an interesting secret, but doesn't make up for lack of personality.

I did really like how sex was portrayed in Ink is Thicker Than Water for the most part. Kellie is very confident in herself and is able to tell Oliver that she's not ready when things start to heat up. I just wish she didn't have to say it every single time we see them together. There are discussions of gynecologist visits, birth control, and condoms which I think is important. Kellie also talks to her mom about it, so again great family!

Ink is Thicker Than Water also focused a lot on Kellie's crumbling relationship with her sister once she meets her biological mother, her best friend ditching her to become popular, and finding her place on the school newspaper staff. However, none of these plot threads really held my attention at all. There were just kind of there, giving Kellie something to do. The ending was really cute and cheesy though, and I liked it. It also made me start plotting another tattoo to add to my long list of tattoos to get done.

*Disclaimer I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. No compensation was offered or accepted.