JOBS FOR GIRLS WITH ARTISTIC FLAIR is a unique and completely addictive read. Getting to spend time in Gina Mulley's world is a gift that the author has given her readers. Loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I ended up buying this book from a local store after reading most of the ARC so it did take me longer than anticipated to finish it. I loved the premise and the cover is absolutely gorgeous. I was so warmed by the narrative which was enhanced ten-fold by the stunning prose. I'm glad to have the physical copy now to lend to friends before they buy it. It was such a delight and I'm completely endeared to Gina. It firmly planted me in a time and place - New York 1985 - to the point where I feel myself reaching to reread it again to get another glimpse of that place .

This book appealed to me for one big reason—the main character wanted to be a tattoo artist! I loved that plot point and I was eager to read it simply for that! I have two full tattoo sleeves and tattoo culture has changed SO MUCH since I got my first tattoo. When I was 18 (1999 ish) I was sure no one would hire me with a visible tattoo so I got a tiny one on my shoulder, flash forward 20 years and here I am with a professional job and full sleeve tattoos and PLENTY of other visible ones too.

I love tattoos and the tattoo culture and I thought it would be so exciting to have a book written about a character who wants to be a tattoo artist—especially a female tattoo artist! Plus the book is set in the 1980s which would no doubt be a difficult time for a female tattoo artist to enter the field. I was so excited to see how the story would unfold and what fun bits of counter culture would be included in it!

I also loved that this book featured an LGBTQ plot. I know this isn’t for everyone but I thought it would be fun to read an LGBTQ book for Pride month even if I am straight etc I love broadening my horizons and reading tastes and trying something new and modern! I personally felt like this book was more coming of age story than LGBTQ romance centered but it did have a bit of both but I felt the coming of age part was the solid focus of the story over all. If you love coming of age stories and want something a little different I think this would be a wonderful reading option for you!

Summary
An uplifting, feminist coming-of-age love story about a young woman who dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, and living life on her own terms

Introvert Gina Mulley is determined to become a tattoo artist, and to find somewhere she belongs in her conventional Long Island town. But this is 1985, when tattooing is still a gritty, male-dominated fringe culture, and Gina’s funky flash is not exactly mainstream tattoo fare. The good news is that her older brother Dominic owns a tattoo shop, and he reluctantly agrees to train her.

Gina has a year to prove herself, but her world is turned upside down when a mysterious psychic and his striking assistant, Anna, arrive on the scene. With Anna’s help, Gina recognizes that the only way she has a shot at becoming a professional tattoo artist is to stand up for herself, and embrace her quirkiness both in her art and her life.

When Gina and Anna fall in love, Dominic gives Gina an ultimatum. She’s faced with an impossible choice: Is the romance and newfound independence she’s found worth sacrificing her dreams? Or can she find a way to have it all? (summary from Goodreads)

Review
I really liked the general feel of this book. It has this great nostalgic/vintage vibe mixed with the misfit-ness of the 1980s tattoo counter culture. It was a very fun way to explore a time in our not so recent past and dig a little into the social aspects of our society. I thought this was where the novel shined. The author did a wonderful job developing the time period, plot, and climate of the novel and I really felt like I was living in that time period and experiencing some of what Gina was up against in the tattooing world and just society in general.

I enjoyed Gina as a main character. She has grit, determination, but also this innocents about her that I really enjoyed and felt connected to. The problem I had was all the characters around her. I didn’t care for her brother for example and while Gina was a solid main character the people around her just weren’t (except Rick, Rick was great!). I had a hard time reading how other characters treated Gina which made me admire her tenacity but also question why she let some of these people into her life in the first place.

Normally this wouldn’t be a book that I picked up to read. I prefer historical fiction and it’s subgenres along with a good old fashion dose of murder—-reading coming of age books generally isn’t my go to genre. Plus this book is set in a time period that I grew up in so generally I tend to pass on books like that since it always feels a little too close to home and serves as a reminder of my age, meaning I want to read to escape, not to relive my childhood memories. But there was just something about this book that called to me and made me want to read it. I am glad I did as it’s a great read that was surprising for me. I wasn’t expecting to be drawn into this one in the way that I was. Even though I didn’t have anything in common with the main character (beyhond a love for tattoos), I still felt a connection and investment in her character and story. If you are looking for something a little off the beaten path that is solid and fulfilling, I think this one would be a great option for you! At the very least it’s deserves a spot on your TBR list!

Book Info and Rating
Hardcover, 384 pages

Published June 21st 2022 by Pamela Dorman Books

ISBN 0593298799 (ISBN13: 9780593298794)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Pamela Dorman Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: general fiction, LGBTQ fiction, romance

You’ve got to love both the title and the cover of June Gervais’s debut, 𝐉𝐎𝐁𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 𝗪𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑. But, don’t stop there because this is also a great coming-of-age story. It’s 1985 and Gina has just turned 18. Having practically grown up in her older brother Dominic’s tattoo shop, Gina wants nothing more than to become a tattooer herself. She faces many road blocks including attitudes of the time toward tattoo artists in general, and toward female tattoo artists in particular. Her mother is unstable and her brother, usually in her corner, is against it, too. Gina is lonely and confused about things she’s feeling, but she’s nothing if not determined, and tattooing is a dream she’s not giving up on.⁣
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I loved the world of tattooing that this book was set in and the characters who populated Dominic’s small, struggling shop. They added color and heart to the story. The evolution of Gina, as she figured out her own dreams and then fought for them, played a powerful role in the book and was what I most liked. By the end, she was still herself, but had learned to see the world around her with her eyes wide open and isn’t that a big part of what growing up is all about? I seem to have read a lot of coming-of-age stories recently and I think 𝘑𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳 is definitely one to add to your TBR list! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25⁣
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Thanks to @pameladormanbooks for a beautiful finished copy of #JobsForGirlsWithArtisticFlair.⁣
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It's 1985 and Gina Mulley is a recent high school graduate who is trying to figure out what's next in her life. She has been doing odd jobs (unpaid) around her older brother's tattoo parlor in Blue Claw, Long Island, because she has a hard time keeping a part-time job due to what seems extreme introversion and severe social anxiety. Her brother has made a list for her - the titular Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair - to help her find a career that can take her away from Blue Claw and from their mother, who is kind of a mess and who seems to jump from loser boyfriend to loser boyfriend. Gina realizes that what she really wants is to be a tattoo artist, but there are so few women in the profession that no one really takes her seriously. She eventually gets her brother to agree to take her on as an apprentice with a bunch of strings attached, but she loves the work and tries to do her best. While all this is going on, she meets a weird Swiss psychic and his young female assistant, Anna. Once Gina moves out of her mom's house and starts her apprenticeship, she's starting to figure out more about who she is and what she wants. I really enjoyed this coming of age story and found Gina to be a really compelling and realistic character.

Gina's older brother, Dominic, is giving her an ultimatum: once she turns 18 (next week), she has to figure out what she's going to do, and that doesn't include continuing to hang around his tattoo shop making herself useful. The problem is that Gina doesn't want to go anywhere else. Abanonded by their father, and faced with a mentally unstable mother, Gina and Dominic rely on each other, and Gina doesn't want to do anywhere or do anything but apprentice with Dominc and become a tattooist in his shop. But this is the 1980s and a small town on Long Island, so women tattoo artists aren't really a thing. But Gina is determined, and eventually Dominic agrees to train her, thinking that she'll inevitably give up. What follows is Gina's story of learning how to stick to it and find support in unexpected places.

Gina is an engaging character who readers will root for. Many of the supporting characters are also well-drawn I struggled with Dominic, though. At the beginning of the book he seemed like a very strong character, who always had Gina's back and was pushing her out of a concern for her best interests. As the book went on, he came to seem kind of like a weak-willed jerk who really just couldn't be bothered with his little sister anymore. Since the book is told through Gina's eyes, that may have been the point, as she matures and comes to see Dominic more clearly, and I, like Gina just became somewhat disappointed in him. If so, I applaud Gervais for her subtle but effective rendering of a realistic brother-sister relationship.

This is a coming of age novel about a recent high school graduate that's hellbent on following in her brother's footsteps and becoming a tattoo artist (despite his loud & frequent protests). It's also an adorable queer love story, a tale about the joys and frustrations of family, and a thoughtful exploration of how unaddressed trauma impacts other areas of our lives. I wasn't expecting to get as sucked into this as I did, but I quickly found myself cheering on our protagonist and daydreaming of getting more ink.

Gina is deeply endearing. For example, when she's told to dress professionally for an interview, she shows up dressed like Madonna from the Like a Virgin music video because she's a teenager in the 80s and that's what fancy means to her. There were so many passages where I just wanted to jump in and offer some help (or at least a listening ear). I think we all know a Gina - someone that's bright as hell and means well but just needs a push in the right direction.

Beyond feeling for the main character, I was also deeply invested in the glimpses of 1980s tattoo culture. So interesting!

Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair is a huge departure from my usual and… I absolutely loved it. Growing up in the suburbs in the 80s as a kid who didn’t fit in and who is now heavily tattooed… it hit all the right notes for me. And as someone who reached for the arts and was blocked by parents who didn’t understand why, or how, anyone could possibly make a living making it studying them, or why a person would want to, had me feeling some kind of way about Gina’s journey and determination to make a living, and a life, surrounded by paint and ink. Also, as a child of parents who were accepting of queer as a concept but not as a specific, especially not as it “reflected” on them and on the family, well… I identified with Gina in more ways than one.
I love character driven stories and really, REALLY well crafted once’s are few and far between. Jobs for Girls With Artistic Flair is one of them. Adored it.

This is a thoughtful, tender novel with a tenacious protagonist at its heart. Gina Mulley and her dream of becoming a tattooer will stay with you long after the read is finished. My full review will appear in Booklist magazine, which is a publication of the ALA. I recommend this book for fans of coming-of-age stories.

Gina Malley is ready to strike out on her own -- or, really, her brother Dominic is ready for her to head out and get an adult job, while Gina dream of staying on Long Island and becoming the first female tattoo artist at her brother's shop. When he consents to a year-long apprenticeship, Gina jumps at the chance. I enjoyed reading this '80s coming of age novel, which offered a fascinating peek into the hurdles female tattooers had to face in the early days of mainstream tattooing. Gina's burgeoning queerness and her complicated feelings toward breaking free from her close-knit-and-dysfunctional family are the emotional throughlines of the novel, which has a lot of heart and a slightly wacky, slightly rough vibe (extremely accurate for 1985 Long Island!). Overall, the pacing of the novel felt a bit uneven, but I'll certainly pick up the author's next title!

I enjoyed this unique take on a young woman trying to break into the world of tattooing during the mid 1980s.

Both of my tattoos and all of my daughter's tattoos are from female artists so I hadn't spent much time wondering how women broke the barrier in a male dominated field until I read this book. Turns out the usual way, working twice as hard and getting half as much respect.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I really loved this story of a plucky young person trying to make her way as a queer woman in a male dominated industry in the mid-80s. I am a tattoo enthusiast, and a queer person, so I loved this glimpse of what life could have been for me if I'd been born 20 years sooner. The writing wasn't always perfect, and the pacing was a bit off in some places, but I loved the book nonetheless. Highly recommend for queers, feminists, and those who like a good coming of age tale.