Red Heart Tattoo
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication Date: July 24th 2012
From Goodreads:
At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.
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I'm not really quite sure of what I thought about Red Heart Tattoo. In one side, I think it's a realistic book that will remind you of Colombine. On the other hand, I felt there wasn't any real depth to it.
It's hard to review a book that you like for it's message and deep content but also feels like it's unfinished or only touches the surface. A lot of the characters are stereotypical personalities that you will find in every school. Everyone is represented, the queen bee, cheerleader, jock, rebel, and the ignored unpopular. My problem is I wanted to know more about them then what is on the surface. We all know the queen bee is an overachiever, and is dating the jock. We know the jock is always willing/wanting to kick some lower status guy for looking at his chick, or whatever lame reason. I wanted something knew to add life to these characters, especially with the trauma they went through. I also feel when the culprits were caught it isn't a huge factor in Red Heart Tattoo, nor were the characters. I especially wanted to know what Lurlene McDaniel would do with these characters. And she did...really nothing. *Sigh* This could have been so much better.
Though I really didn't love Red Heart Tattoo, I do want to say the subject matter is important and I commend Lurlene McDaniel for taking on a very relevant and hard subject. She did a great job of showing the different ways it affects peoples lives.
Though Red Heart Tattoo left me wanting, I still thought it was an okay read.
Goodreads Rating: 3 stars
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