Review: Nicole Reed's "Beautiful Ink (Beautiful Ink #1)."

Review: Nicole Reed's "Beautiful Ink (Beautiful Ink #1)."

Amazon UK:    http://amzn.to/1ljOGJV

Amazon.com:   http://amzn.to/RYb5SX

Synopsis:

This novel is not a cliffhanger and can be read as a stand-alone. 

WARNING: This book is real, beautifully raw, and not for the faint of heart. It is the story of a young girl’s loss of innocence while growing up around a motorcycle club. It is not suitable for children under the age of seventeen due to language, sexual content, and intense subject matter. Based on true events.

Family.

I have tattooed that single word on more skin than I care to count. It elicits powerful thoughts and emotions for most people.

Loving. Caring. Supportive. Togetherness. Forever.

But not for me. The word family means so much more.

Vicious. Harmful. Dangerous. Corrupt. Deadly. You can’t run forever from the ones who love you.

Review: Surj Harvey

Honestly, I really don't know where to start with this review... I have so many thoughts, so many emotions going around in my head at the moment and part of me feels that even if I do put pen to paper, firstly, I won't do this book any justice and secondly, it will probably sound like a garbled mess. It's been along time since a book got under my skin, the story wrapping itself around my heart but "Beautiful Ink" did that...it did all that and more and giving it 5 stars just doesn't seem enough. Keller's story was real, it was beautiful, it was powerful but most importantly it made me feel. 

My skin has been marked in two ways: freely and by force. Both were life changing experiences. 

One should have scarred me, forever branding me with hatred for this passion of ink and art,

but instead showed me the beauty of choosing living artwork. 

There were so many aspects to "Beautiful Ink" that held my attention but I'm trying so hard not to delve into them because I truly don't want to spoil this book for you. You know that saying... less is more... well in the case of "Beautiful Ink," that couldn't be truer. I'm so glad the synopsis gave very little away because the journey you embark on with Keller will take you on the mother of all emotional roller coaster rides and to go into the story relatively blind will only enhance your enjoyment of the book. Trust me, I never knew what was coming from one page to the next, right up until the very end, I held my breath, my heart beating ten to the dozen waiting for certain aspects of the story line to catch up. I couldn't have predicted it in a million years... and I thank my lucky stars for that!!! 

Dying is the least of my worries. Being found would be a fate worse than death,

the thought of reentering that life that I fled my darkest nightmare. 

He would make my life a living hell.

The various characters in "Beautiful Ink" elicited so many mixed emotions from me. Some I loved, some I absolutely, unequivocally hated and some left me 100% conflicted. But it was Keller's character that brought me to tears.... her strength, her resilience, her bravery, her fighting spirit was just inspirational. She made me thankful for the life I have and the choices I'm able to make so freely. And Vin... god did I fall hard for this man. He was my ray of light in a story filled with so much pain.

"You deserve respect and love and everything your heart desires," he whispers.

"You need to live your life instead of watching it pass you by."

I guess my biggest conflict came with Hold's character. I wanted to hate him... my head was telling me I should. I mean some of his actions...  but there was another side to this man. He was so torn between right and wrong, loyalty and betrayal, love and hate, heart and mind and I felt every ounce of his struggle, his suffering evident in his behaviour. My heart truly hurt for him... for the child he had once been and the man he had become. 

"You stole my entire world and I'm not sure how to live in it anymore."

So who did end up getting the hate card? Well, for those of you expecting a MC romance think again because it was this aspect of the story that filled me with rage. There were no hearts and flowers, no happily ever afters. Instead I got biker culture in its rawest form and it made me sick to my stomach. The brothers and old ladies filled me with so much revulsion, so much disgust, I wondered how I could ever have seen a romantic side to this lifestyle!!! Gah... the joys of fiction!!! 

"Beautiful Ink" was told from the past and present..  the past bringing the pain, heart ache and angst and the present giving me a sense of hope. But as the dates of the past and present chapters ebbed ever closer together, a nervousness settled in the pit of my stomach. I knew at some point I would come face to face with the prologue again!! I wanted to stop time, put my kindle in the freezer, I wanted this book to be a complete work of fiction and not based on true events because in real life, not everyone gets their Happily Ever After and this book gave me no clue as to the direction it was going to take... time to don the big girl panties!!!

"Blood in and blood out.. you're fuckin' choice. 

But know this: it is forever now my blood that runs through your veins. 

And I will drown you in it before I let you escape me again."

Nicole Reed's "Beautiful Ink" was an amazing, thought provoking book that will stay with me for a long while. The story will touch your soul and make you thankful for everything you have... your family, your friends, your freedom. Keller's journey wasn't an easy one to follow and along the way I saw friendships lost, hearts broken and souls shattered. Was it worth it? ... absolutely. This was a powerful, emotional read that I rated  5 Brave Hearts.