Poison Ink by Christopher Golden

Title: Poison Ink
Author: Christopher Golden
Age Group: Older Teens
# of Pages: 279
My Rating: 4.5/5

Sammi used to be a floater. She always moved from group to group in school, never really blending in. It was not until she became friends with Letty, T.Q., Katsuko, and Caryn. They are inseparable.

About to enter their junior year, they are thinking of getting themselves a tattoo to define their friendship. They go to a shady tattoo parlour, meeting the exotic Dante. Even though the girls already have their design, he creates for them a new one that symbolizes the five girls' relationship.

Sammi backs out at the last minute, fearing that she will get in trouble with her parents. After that, her friends shun her out completely for betraying them. Very hurt, Sammi decides that there is no point in trying to be friends with people who do not understand her. Soon, her friends become more bizarre as the days pass, not acting like their usual selves. They start to smoke, skip classes, do hard core drugs, and causing nothing but trouble. Sure there are people like that around, but Sammi knows these girls. They aren't delinquents...are they?

In horror, Sammi discovers the tattoos that the girls have are starting to spread out. Dante did something to them. But what? Can Sammi save her old friends before they completely lose their minds?

Once again, Christopher Golden created an action filled book that captured my attention from beginning to end. He is talented with suspense and knows how to keep the reader hanging onto his every written word, dying to know what will happen next.

I was intrigued the moment that Sammi's friends turned their backs against her. It was so scary how they changed so much and how they were described. After reading this, you will be a bit spooked to get a tattoo!

What I love about Golden's books is that he always have a diverse background of people in his stories. I was pretty happy when I recognized a Vietnamese character. I was like, "Yay! Diversity! Not to mention, Viet!". Because come on, how many Vietnamese characters are there in YA novels nowadays? 1 in a 100? I believe more of 1 in 1000!

Pick up Poison Ink if you would like to read something with action, suspense, and a little bit of supernatural. There is a tiny bit of romance but it is not focused on. However, I am disappointed with the ending because it left off with a couple of questions unanswered. But overall, it's a scary but captivating read.