Title: Drinker of Ink
Author: Shannon Castleton
Length: 329 pages
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have seen multiple people describe this book as one "to be savored" and I think that is such a great way to describe it!
Drinker of Ink is a story about Vivienne, a college student, told from the perspective of her journal entries. Vivienne is in a poetry course taught by a TA, Peter, that she develops feelings for. There are several family drama elements for both main characters that are big parts of the story as well. It took me a while to feel invested in Peter and Vivienne's relations. It's a real slow burn. But there is an exchange when both characters are in the library where I was like "oooooh, ok, I am in this now!" If you read it, I think you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.
The story is so poetic and beautifully written that I was able to savor the slow pace. I read this one with my book club in April and we had a great conversation about it. There is so much "coming of age" that happens by the end of the book and it gave us a lot to reflect on. We all decided that we wish we were the type to keep journals, but probably never will be. Did anyone else read this and try to calculate how much time Vivienne spent writing in her journal?!
Read this one if you like: journals, poetry, slow burn, character growth.
Content Warnings: mild language, just kissing, cancer, death of family member.