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A review by allysonbogie
Tattoo Atlas by Tim Floreen
4.0
I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher.
Tattoo Atlas was totally gripping and I could barely put it down. Reading it was kind of like experiencing a really good action movie, and I felt the same way about Floreen’s first book, Willful Machines. The very first sentence is masterfully crafted and the story captivated me from there.
My first thought when I finished this book is that it's not for the faint of heart. It combines a school shooting, a lot of death, a violent video game, questionable human motivations, and some pretty intense technological concepts.
Jeremy, or Rem, lives with his mom and has lost many loved ones. His brother was killed in a war and one of his best friends was killed by another student named Franklin in a school shooting that took place one year before the book begins. It turns out that his mom, a scientist, is trying an experimental treatment on Franklin. She’s trying to understand what causes someone to pull the trigger, or not. Franklin’s treatment is the science fiction aspect of the story, but it doesn’t feel very far from reality at all. Rem is gay and is involved with a friend from his friend group. His sexuality doesn’t dominate the story but it does play an important role. This isn’t a book about being gay. It’s a book about all of the topics I listed above and the main character happens to be gay. He has romantic interests, just like most teens in YA literature.
Rem is mourning his friend and his brother, navigating friendships and possible romance, and developing a more complex relationship with his mother. His experiences feel realistic to me, and I think that many teens will relate to them. I'm a middle school librarian and I would recommend it to mature early high school readers and then any older reader who would be comfortable with these topics. It would be a great young adult book for adults to read, too. I wouldn’t recommend it to middle schoolers or students who have a hard time with violence. It may be appropriate for readers who have lost family or friends, but that would depend on the person.
Tim Floreen is writing very interesting stories and I am looking forward to reading his next book!
Tattoo Atlas was totally gripping and I could barely put it down. Reading it was kind of like experiencing a really good action movie, and I felt the same way about Floreen’s first book, Willful Machines. The very first sentence is masterfully crafted and the story captivated me from there.
My first thought when I finished this book is that it's not for the faint of heart. It combines a school shooting, a lot of death, a violent video game, questionable human motivations, and some pretty intense technological concepts.
Jeremy, or Rem, lives with his mom and has lost many loved ones. His brother was killed in a war and one of his best friends was killed by another student named Franklin in a school shooting that took place one year before the book begins. It turns out that his mom, a scientist, is trying an experimental treatment on Franklin. She’s trying to understand what causes someone to pull the trigger, or not. Franklin’s treatment is the science fiction aspect of the story, but it doesn’t feel very far from reality at all. Rem is gay and is involved with a friend from his friend group. His sexuality doesn’t dominate the story but it does play an important role. This isn’t a book about being gay. It’s a book about all of the topics I listed above and the main character happens to be gay. He has romantic interests, just like most teens in YA literature.
Rem is mourning his friend and his brother, navigating friendships and possible romance, and developing a more complex relationship with his mother. His experiences feel realistic to me, and I think that many teens will relate to them. I'm a middle school librarian and I would recommend it to mature early high school readers and then any older reader who would be comfortable with these topics. It would be a great young adult book for adults to read, too. I wouldn’t recommend it to middle schoolers or students who have a hard time with violence. It may be appropriate for readers who have lost family or friends, but that would depend on the person.
Tim Floreen is writing very interesting stories and I am looking forward to reading his next book!