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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Leathley, Philippa

Inkbound: Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo

352 pp. | HarperCollins/Harper | January, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780063376519 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780063376533 $11.99
(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Brie Schmida. At her “fating” ceremony in an alternate London, ten-year-old Meticulous Jones receives the magical tattoo that reveals her fate: a skull held by a purple glove. Metty (erroneously) believes this means she is fated to murder someone using magic and so avoids magic for that reason—until her father disappears. She’s then whisked away by her aunt to the flying city of New London, where ink-powered magic is legal. Aunt Magnificent buys Metty the tether needed to perform magic and begins instructing her in its use, but the no-nonsense woman won’t give her any information on efforts to find her father. Metty secures the help of Aunt Mag’s unfated ward, Sundar, by suggesting they can get the prophetess who tattooed her to give Sundar a fate and to change Metty’s. But their unsanctioned excursion draws the attention of the Black Moths—the terrorists who are holding Metty’s father and want Metty herself for reasons having to do with her fate. The story is almost perfectly balanced between the protagonist’s wonder at her magical environment, creatively crafted by Leathley, and her relatable heartbreak at the absence of both her devoted father and neglectful mother. Similarly, every character introduced in the plot has a role to play in its eventual resolution, one of the ways in which this entire fantastical story fits together so neatly. From the unique ink-based magic, elegantly suggested by tattoo-like black-and-white chapter heading illustrations, to the delightfully brusque Aunt Mag, this novel will likely enchant fantasy lovers.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

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