The Turquoise Tattoo

by Vaya Dauphin

Overview

Seventeen year old Australian Scarlet Flint thinks her biggest problem is that she’s telepathic. Until new images keep appearing as ink in her skin. And that’s even before she agrees to move to New Zealand, just to make her aunt Sarah happy ...
There she learns that she is an Elemental, a half-human with special abilities gifted to her by Maori ancestors. Scarlet must control her burgeoning powers and uncover the secrets of her past, before she falls prey to deadly forces locked in an ancient battle, losing everything she has come to love ...

Product Details

BN ID:	2940044900547
Publisher:	ReadOnTime BV
Publication date:	09/03/2012
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	315 KB

About the Author

Seventeen year old Australian Scarlet Flint thinks her biggest problem is that she’s telepathic. Until new images keep appearing as ink in her skin. And that’s even before she agrees to move to New Zealand, just to make her aunt Sarah happy ... There she learns that she is an Elemental, a half-human with special abilities gifted to her by Maori ancestors. Scarlet must control her burgeoning powers and uncover the secrets of her past, before she falls prey to deadly forces locked in an ancient battle, losing everything she has come to love ...

Editorial Reviews

A young woman comes of age while simultaneously realizing her Maori-related powers in Dauphin's debut YA fantasy. Scarlet Flint is a little different from most girls. For starters, she can read the minds and feelings of others, causing her no shortage of trouble. Her unstable life gets more chaotic once she moves from her Australian home to New Zealand. She ends up in the middle of the feud between the mysterious Sterling and his menacing brother, Manu. Her involvement turns out to be greater than she ever imagined just as her telepathic abilities increase. Scarlet is an Elemental, a half-human with supernatural abilities, a gift described in Maori legend. Sterling, another Elemental, quickly becomes her greatest ally--and possibly something more--as she struggles through the dangers she faces because of her powers. While fantasy books based on myth aren't uncommon, stories based specifically on Maori myth are, making this novel unusual. Detailed explanations of Maori myth provide solid context--Dauphin even includes a glossary--but do not slow the narrative. The characters also help set the book apart. Scarlet is a remarkably strong young woman who faces each new challenge bravely. She is loyal to her love interest but also allows herself to be frustrated with him when he deserves it, and she aims to walk beside him, rather than chase after him. Sterling, too, intrigues. At times, he's a charmer, evoking in Scarlet "the same feeling [she has] for stray puppy dogs," but he also has a clouded past that he struggles with, making him a good boy with bad-boy appeal. Skillful foreshadowing appears throughout, and most chapters end with a teaser that keeps the pages turning. Intriguing good guys struggle against ominous supernatural threats amid the lush backdrop of Maori legend.

Kirkus Reviews