Review: Tattoo

Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Tattoo. Delacorte Books for Young Readers: 2007.

Tattoo is a fun little book about a group of four teenage girls who get temporary tattoos at the mall and find themselves possessed with superpowers. Soon, they are caught in the middle of a supernatural battle between life and death that combines Celtic and Greek folklore into a fun mythology adventure.

Personally, I liked this story quite a lot. It's in no way a challenging read but it moves quickly and it presents a playful vision of mythology mixed with contemporary teenagers. I loved the group of four girls with a loving, unproblematic friendship; they laughed and quarreled and teased each other and loved each other. Each of them was distinct, although their characteristics were more descriptions and quirks than character development, but that's at least partially because the book was short - there may be more development over multiple books. I totally love Zo, who wasn't our main character but she was the one who wasn't into clothes and boys and the mall. She was a little athletic and protective toward her friends. But really, all four of the girls were cute and likable.

I must admit, I only picked up this book because the cover of the sequel, Fate, is so awesome. I really do love it, and I liked Tattoo enough that I'm excited to read Fate. Tattoo is a good, quick read and lots of fun. You'll like it if you like mythology. It's a girly version of <The Lightning Theif* without the adult supervision. It's not great literature, but I enjoyed it anyway.



*I keep comparing things to the Percy Jackson series for some reason. Am I missing diversity in my frame of reference, or is it just because I like those books so much? What else should I be comparing this book to?