Teaser Tuesday: Ink by Amanda Sun

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Ink by Amanda Sun.

Ink – HarlequinTeen

There’s a saying in Japan, and it has to do with cherry-blossom viewing — hana yori dango — Dumplings over flowers. It basically means that someone should value needs over wants, substance over appearance.
— Chapter 3

He was drawing a dragon, long and angular, and it wriggled on the page like a snake, like the scrap I had picked up that day. The sun glinted on its mouth full of shiny teeth and my whole body went cold.
— Chapter 10

I’m not an artist but I have seen drawings that looked real enough to jump right off the page. The idea that this could somehow happen is equal parts awesome and terrifying. What I really love about this book are all the distinctly Japanese references, customs, and habits that at least to me who has never been to Japan seem real and well-researched. Even if I wished that the Japanese glossary was more easily accessible when reading the eBook. And as a former cultural studies student I appreciate the "find your identity and define yourself via othering". But don’t worry it’s definitely not a case study situation but a really interesting story and refreshingly "other".

Would a setting in a culture that you possibly cannot relate to immediately make you hesitate to pick up a book or rather make you more interested in it? Sound off in the comments and share your Tuesday pick.