I'll admit up front that I'm not the most knowledgeable about the history of tattoos and their meanings, so this book was a great fun read for me. I think it's best suited to people like me who don't already have a ton of knowledge, as some of the information might be obvious to anyone with more experience with tattoos. Even then, some of the meanings are so omni-present that I found them obvious and wished there was a bit more depth or history to pad those entries. The examples of tattoos included were wonderful!

I had no idea there was so many different meanings for each tattoo. This book is really fascinating and will help me decide on a good meaning for my next tattoo.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has and loves tattoos, this was such a good read! Learning about the visual characteristics and histories of certain styles and images was so enjoyable. The illustrations are gorgeous. I'll definitely recommend this to folks interested in arts and tattooing.

This was a simple, succinctly delivered, informative book on the meaning behind traditional tattoos. I learned a lot about the history behind specific symbolism in tattoos including historical origins, cultural significance, and spiritual meanings.

I have a fairly short attention span when it comes to reading nonfiction/informational books, so I really enjoyed that the authors kept the descriptions of each tattoo short. They did a good job of packing a lot of information into a couple or three paragraphs.

My only complaint is that I wish there were more examples shown through different styles of tattoos. Most of the tattoos illustrated in this book are traditional/old school style and I was expecting a variety of examples ranging from traditional to modern.

All in all, this is a really well put together book and now I have some fun facts about tattoo history to share with my friends! :)

A cool look at some traditional tattoo designs, focused on American traditional designs and some Japanese themes. It's a neat if dated look at some of the most common tattoo designs, with only one or two examples of each type and limited background information. If you already like traditional styles of tattoos, this book could be fun for you.

4⭐️ The perfect coffee-table book.

There are several aspects that I really enjoyed about this book – obviously, I love tattoos and I love learning about art and the history behind it. If that’s not your thing, this is probably not your book.

Now, the introduction of this book was brilliant. The deep-seated neglect for history, accuracy, and tradition in the mainstream media – and more specifically, the many people who decide to get these tattoos – can be a bit of a pet peeve of mine. And don’t get me wrong, I whole-heartedly believe in getting tattoos purely for aesthetic purposes (i.e. because you just really f*cking like how they look). But the hypocrisy of racist/intolerant people getting traditional tattoos belonging to other cultures is just… hilarious in a painful way.

This book does a great job of unearthing and showcasing the history of some of the most popular tattoos. It treats the meaning of some in a more general sense, but it mostly explores their origin and how they came to be. It also talks about how some of these tattoos have a specific artist or culture that created them, and what it meant for those people in particular, which was so interesting to read.

The book is divided, separated into distinct sections that serve to classify each of the pieces into categories depending on the meaning and correlation to one another.

Overall, I think it makes for a fun time and the perfect gift for tattoo-crazed people, not unlike myself.

The Language of Tattoos shares 130 symbols and what they mean. Illustrations by Oliver Munden are accompanied by their explanation from Nick Schonberger.
As someone who has tattoos, this book is fascinating. The Language of Tattoos helped me understand a tattoo that my own parent had gotten. Making the idea that even if it’s a personalized tattoo, using some of the traditional flash designs, the meanings are still valid.

The illustrations are stunning, and the history of each tattoo was thoughtful and considerate of the longstanding history of tattoos. Both were very respectful of the art and history of tattooing and that’s appreciated.

Perfect to have in your tattoo studio or if you are thinking about getting a tattoo done. Knowing the meaning of what you want is very important, as a tattoo is an art you get put on yourself to last you a lifetime.

This is a book you read 3 different times. The first time just to admire all the gorgeous artwork. Second time to read the meaning behind each fabulous piece of art. Thirdly, just because it’s such a wonderful book.

I’m not really the target audience for this book as I have no tattoos but a lot of people I love have them. I can see this book being a hit with some but it didn’t do a lot for me. I found the art very dark and unattractive and the text was very dry. Each tattoo has several paragraphs about its historical meanings but I don’t think people really get some of these tattoos for these deep meanings. For instance, the maple leaf had all this talk about transience but I kind of suspect a lot of people just get them because they’re Canadian or something like that. And while the authors acknowledge cultural appropriation, it is rife with images of geishas, Buddhas, etc and uses the G slur for Romani people.

As I said, I know I’m not the target audience and most people on Goodreads seem to enjoy the book. My own personal rating would be lower but I’ll leave it at three stars for liked it.

I read a temporary digital arc of this book for review.

I enjoyed this book alot. The images were stunning and even the short description were clearly well researched.

Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and Oliver Munden & Nick Schonberger for the advanced copy of The Language of Tattoos via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

This was a very interesting and image-rich book, detailing the meanings and brief histories behind 130 of the most common and traditional tattoos in the Western and Japanese tattooing cultures.

The images featured in the book are a mix of the traditional Japanese style, fine line style and traditional Western bold, colourful styles.

The book is broken up into sections covering Love, Faith & Spirituality, Protection & Guidance, Transformation, Luck, Strength, Desire, Resilience and Loss, Memory & Transience. Each section then features the image by name, with a description and with at least one example, sometimes more.

The descriptions appear well researched, although unfortunately no sources are provided. There are plenty of names and dates given, allowing the reader to do their own research to some extent, and I would think some verification would be needed for some of the claims. As with many things, symbolism of many things, historically, can be interpreted in many ways, by many people, in many different countries.

The focus of the book does appear to be predominantly on Japanese and US traditions and interpretations of symbolism. There is occasional mention of some Chinese symbolism, but other than this, there is little mention of other countries and cultures. When symbolism is older than the formation of the USA, it is often quite generalised. This surprises me, as the author and artist who wrote this book are both from the UK.

Overall, this is a nice book with interesting ideas on the symbolism of common tattoos. It is a gift idea for both fans of body modification and symbolism in art.

Rating: 4/5

This review will be posted to my blog at www.mymentalshelf.com on 22/11/22

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group!

What a fun and interesting read!

I have always loved tattoos and the deep personal meaning they can hold for each person and how much that meaning can vary from person to person.

When I think about tattooing, I think about some very traditional imagery. The Language of Tattoos gives an opportunity to look at the original meaning of these images and see how it has progressed and changed through the years.

This book is an excellent pallet cleanser!

The Language of Tattoos,gives an overview, snippets like 2 liners or small paragraphs, of some of the common tattoo designs we see around.
Pretty basic information some we know some we never expected to be what they are.

Such as well written and illustrated book, it was really nice to see this style of tattoo book being released when so many other styles are trending. Great for any tattoo shop coffee table!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange of my review.

Having tattooes I was really curious about this book and I am happy I read it. It actually discovered more meaning to my own tattoo alongside the popular one. Is really interesting to know the story of popular tattoos. I also have to say that the drawing of the tattoo are beautiful.

I absolutely love tattoos and I was so invested in finding out about the history of popular tattoos! It was such an interesting read.

I 'inhaled' this book. As someone who is a tattoo enthusiast, I enjoyed reading about the symbolism behind these pieces. The author did good research on each art piece, and it was described in a way that is easy to comprehend.

The illustration is beyond amazing. The traditional style and old-school tattoos are something that is considered to be timeless, which makes this book also a timeless read.

Every tattoo shop should have one, and I think this would make a perfect present for any tattoo lover.

Cannot read ARC as NetGalley download isn't compatible with device.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having always been interested in the art of tattoos, and having several pieces, myself, I was delighted to receive a copy of this book. It features an array of beautifully colourful traditional tattoos with loads of information that is simple to digest and fascinating to learn, while not detracting from the art throughout the book. I'd love a physical copy for my coffee table and think every studio should have one too! While the more popular symbols are definitely explored, I loved that there were loads of traditional pieces that I hadn't even thought to research previously. This was such a great and interesting book, and has certainly added to my list of tattoos for the future.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. I am leaving an 100% honest review.

I found this book fascinating. Learning about the origin of popular tattoo designs was rather interesting and knowing when they became popular is neat.