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Home > Categories > Books > Kids - Middle > Inkbound - Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo review
On her tenth birthday, Meticulous 'Metty' Jones receives her fate, as all children do, in the form of a magical tattoo on her hand. She hopes that her tattoo will reveal an exciting destiny: travel, discovery or adventure. What appears is a skull in the palm of a violet glove - Metty's fate is to be a murderer.
When Metty's father disappears in mysterious circumstances, Aunt Magnificent takes her to the glittering city of New London, filled with magic, wonder and enchantment. But when Metty hears rumours of a shadowy organization known as the Black Moths, she begins to suspect they are connected to her own dark fate...
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Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 13th of January, 2025
I was able to read an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of this book and my initial interest was piqued because it was sent with a temporary tattoo (which I, unfortunately, didn't get to keep). However, since I love fantasy, it really wasn't hard work at all to get me reading this book.
Metty is 10, when she gets given her fate, by way of a 'tattoo' appearing on her wrist after a meeting with Madame LeBeau. She's then squirreled away by her father, and spends a year with the pressing knowledge that she will, one day, murder someone with magic. On her 11th birthday, her father goes missing and Metty ends up being taken in by her estranged aunt. Of course, as with most books along this line, things aren't as straight forward, there is a dangerous foe and secrets abound.
I enjoyed Metty's character, there were moments where I had a little chuckle to myself from her comments (I could easily picture my 15yo saying similar things) and liked that while she had some character growth, she stayed true to herself throughout the book. There were, as with a lot of books, plenty of plot twists that you can see coming, but the world that Leathley has built made up for that (giant hearts keeping a city floating!!!). One could also say that I have watched Coraline more than a few times, as anytime the full name of Meticulous Jones was used, I heard it in Coraline's voice.
This is the first in a series, the usual 'bad guy isn't fully defeated, I'll be back' stuff, but I really enjoyed Metty and the world she lives in, so I will be keeping an eye out for the next book.
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"Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?"
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