Tattoo Girl

by Brooke Stevens

Tattoo girl is an evocative story of perseverance and discovery in the face of insanity and corruption. A young girl is found alone in an Ohio mall long after closing hours, unable to speak, and covered head to foot in fish-scale tattoos. Her identity presents an enigma. She is adopted and named Emma by Lucy, a former circus fat lady. Warned that Emma maybe in in danger from whoever gave her the mysterious tattoos, Lucy goes in search of Emma's real identity, a quest that leads Lucy to a confrontation with the demons haunting her past.

Tattoo Girl is the story of a woman and her adopted daughter, who ndertake a difficult journey into salvation's dark heart in order to rediscover their identities--identities that were crushed by evil men. By turns surreal , nightmarish, and heartwarming, Tattoo Girl is ultimately an affirmation of the powerful bond between two people overcoming adversity.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2001

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel mapped a beautifully strange journey into a world of trauma, redemption and fierce love. Along the way there was plenty of evil but also breakthroughs of compassion and selflessness. Not everything was neatly tied up at the end, either, and I felt that added to the genuine humanity of the story. Overall, there is the promise of hope and healing at the close of this dark venture into the woods.

**Trigger warning: Violence against women and children; sexual abuse & rape**

[Karen Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly very different

[Juushika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl, named Emma, is discovered in a mall after hours, mute, covered in blood, and tattooed with fish scales. Former circus fat lady Lucy adopts her, and the two begin a quest to discover Emma's past. A dark, gritty story with glints of magical realism, Tattoo Girl is primarily a journey of strength through self-acceptance, a strong theme which makes for an equally strong ending. But both characters and antagonists are over-exaggerated, making their struggles unbelievable. Tattoo Girl is still an enjoyable, worthwhile read—but it could have been better. Recommended.

Tattoo Girl is an odd book for me to review. It's well written, dark yet inspiring, with an edge of magic; an intriguing and above-average novel; an all-in-all success. Yet it failed to grab me. One of the book's blurbs is by Francesca Lia Block, and Tattoo Girl shares some similarities to Block's writing: mysterious women with colorful pasts, a gritty world highlighted by magical realism, and a constant theme of self-discovery and self-acceptance. The characters here are freaks, some of them literally so with careers in the circus; their strength lies in their ability to accept themselves as odd and exceptional individuals. As the book continues, self-acceptance evolves into a surprisingly effective theme and the novel ends on a wonderful high note. Only the writing flags a bit: the narrative jumps around and the writing style, while competent, is unremarkable.

Still it's hard to pin down what it was that kept me from loving Tattoo Girl. Despite setting, characters, and the story's strength, I could put the book down for days at a time and never give it a second thought. Perhaps it's that the theme of self-acceptance is so obvious: a little person, a tattooed girl, a fat lady—the characters are literal freaks, and so their search for self-acceptance is too exaggerated to be empathetic. The book is also surprisingly dark, and while its nightmare scenarios are attention-grabbing the excessively evil antagonists make the book's conflicts, and thus the protagonists's victories in them, unbelievable. Had it been toned down a bit, Tattoo Girl may have been less vivid but it would have been more realistic and empathetic, which could only benefit the book's theme. As it is, it's a perfectly readable novel with an unexpectedly successful story, and I enjoyed it and recommend it. But it is not quite all that it could be.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman is found in the mall in the middle of the night. She does not speak. Tattoos of fish scales are covering her body with the exception of her hands, feet and face. A former fat lady from a circus hears about this young woman, and knows that she can care for her; that because of her experiences, she can reach this young woman.

An incredibly fast read. This story engrossed me from page one. While moderately disturbing (oh the twisted and deranged bad guys) there is an underlying story of redemption and love. I enjoyed the exploration of religion (the good sides as well as looking at how religion can be twisted into something very ugly).

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brook Stevens previous book, The Circus of the Earth and Air, is one of my favorites, which makes this one so much more disapointing in how bad it is. Lacking the hypnotic, dream like quality of that previous book, this seems to be a good short story idea padded out to novel length.

[Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It was an action packed story that kept me engaged throughout the entire book. If your interested in a fiction or adventurous book then this book is for you! This was about a girl who had tattoos covering her body and couldn’t say a single word. She escaped the men that had put these tattoos on her and was adopted by Lucy, who used to be a fat lady in the circus so she knew how people treated freaks. The men tried finding her again and that's the basic story line of the book her trying to run away from these men. There were many plot twists throughout the story which made it more interesting to read. The only problem I had with this story was at some points it was hard to follow along because there was so much going on especially near the end because 3 people were telling their own part of the story.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very disturbing book. There are so many things going on in the book, it was hard to keep it straight at first. I had trouble with the first 50 pages or so, but once the quest was on, it just became weird and in the psychological sense, kept you wanting to read the next page even though it might be gruesome or hard to believe.

I thought the writing was very good, but the story wasn't one that I could get behind. I hate when religion is portrayed by fanatics. I believe this was a real zealot that I really hated and couldn't wait until he was brought to justice in whatever form it came in.

I don't believe I would read another like this because it was just a little too weird for me, but I can't fault the writing, just not my taste. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Anne Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling, quirky and dark - a page turner that took longer to read than it's size indicated. It's an intricately woven story of a teenager, Emma, found alone in a mall one night, speechless and her body almost covered with fish scale tattoos. She finds her way into the caring arms of Lucy Thurman, the ex fat lady of a circus side-show, who recognises she needs to uncover the trauma behind Lucy's condition to heal her and in doing so has to confront the trauma with in her own life. It's an outlandish story but the themes of violence breeding violence and evil versus needing to accepting yourself and your inner "freak" to break free of mental slavery are convincing. I enjoyed this novel immensely and will look out for others by the author.

[Victoria B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is one of the most intense thrillers I’ve read in a while. A very peculiar and interesting story!!! Extremely disturbing too

[Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont know how I feel about this one, it was slow to start, but it didnt drag...hard to describe.


Full review can also be found on: Paein and Ms4Tune’s Book Blog

This was a slow to start book, and yet it wasn’t slow at all. It was perfectly the right speed, which doesn’t make sense. The speed you drive on a meandering country road would be far too slow for the motorway and the speed of a motorway would be deadly on a country road. This book was that country road. It dropped you into what you come to realise was actually the middle of the story, and then it proceeded to give you the back information as it became relevant. If you’re interested in a fast moving, high octane thriller, this is not the book for you.
This book is so much more horrific when you consider that it could actually become reality. That there are people out there who are so focused on the printed word that’s been re-translated and rewritten till the original message was lost that they lose sight of reality and believe that if they just kill themselves at the right time all will be well, or that wiping out a group of people with a different characteristic won’t matter because they aren’t really human, blah blah blah. (I could continue in this vein for years, but this is meant to be about the book!).

The characters are…characters and this book is written from a distance so even though you get much insight into them, it’s still hard to envision them as real people. But the story line is all very clever when you realise, the horror that Lucy went through actually saved her from going through what happened to Emma. Is that a blessing? Perhaps, because, together they were able to stop it. But in the end, it’s impossible to measure one horror against another because everyone perceives and reacts to things differently.
It’s hard to say when this was set, no one seems to have a mobile phone and if any mention was made as to the date, I certainly missed it but it has a feel that reminded me of Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen which is set roughly around the 1930′s I think.

Wow, I hadn’t realised how deep this book actually was till I came to the review! It’s not in the print, it’s in the thinking.

[sisterimapoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested to see that the main criticism of this novel among its Amazon reviews is that it wasn't believable.

Now maybe I am strange, but I am quite happy for some of my fiction to be fictional, made-up, imaginative - in fact unbelievable.

Invented stories will sometimes contain twists and turns that are highly unlikely in real life. Thats why reading fiction is entertaining.

As such I had no problem with this book. I found it an easy, entertaining read. I liked the circus / freak show / preacher characters and settings - they made for vivid images in my mind. I liked the strong female characters.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I choose this book for my senior seminar in college, and I remember my professor's words after she read it: "your book is just weird!" It is weird, but in a good way. It's about two women, an older woman who used to be a fat lady in a circus sideshow, and a young girl of 13 or 14 who appears in a mall one night, her clothes covered in blood. She doesn't speak, and 95% of her body has been tattooed with "fish scales", interlocking circles of black ink. The women need each other not only to survive unspeakable horrors but also to heal from terrible, cruel men who have pulverized their identities. It's an amazingly good read.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was OK, if not a little far fetched.

A girl, who doesn't speak is found in a mall at night with fish scales tattooed all over her body. She is then adopted by a former fat lady who goes on a mission to find out what happened to her in order to find out why she has fish scales tattooed all over her body...that is when trouble ensues.

Throw in some circus freaks, a dwarf clown/mechanic and a crazy religious zealot and you have yourself a story.

[Teddi Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is so off-point and makes you wonder if the jacket designer even read the book but regardless...this is a fairly interesting read. The writing itself is questionable but I kept with it and became pretty engrossed in the story about halfway through. Not a masterpiece by any means, but still compelling in its own way.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a allegedly religious person turning a young women into tattoo art.The young women finds what was called in the circus "The Fat Lady" who is in love with a Little Person or in the circus he was most likely called derogatorily a midget.The young women or Tattooed Lady finds family and in this book.

[Tina Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and dynamic book, with interesting supporting characters. I really didn't know how this one was going to turn out. I gave this one four stars because, even though it was a good, and interesting read, I felt a few of my questions weren't answered. But all in all it was a nice read.

[Sequoia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is ridiculous and has nothing to do with the story. The beginning of the story captured my interest, but honestly I finished it just to finish. I really wanted to like the story, I did feel for the characters' stories, but it was just a bit much as far as plots go.

[Selene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that brings the reader into the complicated world of religion and circus freak shows. A heart rendering story of how life can go drastically wrong and how the paths you take are usually controlled by someone other than yourself!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those books where nothing ties together. There just isn't that much coincidence in the world - or anywhere.

I shouldn't have finished it, but I kept thinking it had to come together in the end. It didn't.

[Zefyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise itself started as bizarro, from the assumption that the tattoos were forced on the central character. Allowing the bizarro premises to be what they are though, I remember the characters to be interesting and complex and less tokenizing of folks in freak shows than Geek Love.

[sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleech. Total waste of time.

[Notcathy J · Rating 3 out of 5]

"terrible title, cover just as bad. pulpy but absorbing."

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think that this book is very good

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book about two unlikely people finding each other and helping each other.

[Lori Micho · Rating 3 out of 5]

dark and disturbing read

[Menorca · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago but i remember that it was a story line that was different from anything ells i had read then. i Know i enjoyed it but i cant remember a wholl lot about it.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paperbackswap.com book

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up 100 pages into this book. It is pretty much the worst book I've ever been handed.

[Danyiel McComb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok- I am very on the fence.... Great idea, story but the connections were lacking. At times things just felt as if the pages had to be there and not by choice