First two confessions:
1. I passionately loved the Weetzie Bat books, therefore I will always be biased when it comes to Francesca Lia Block.
2. I also love sparkly glittery things, rainbows, fantastical creatures, phenomenal love, and blurred reality.
So, it's hard for me to be totally neutral when reviewing a book by said author. Still, I've read millions (hyperbole? You decide.) of vampire books over the past few years and this one stand out from the crowd. First and foremost it's the love story of Charlotte and William, Jared and Emily... and in typical Block fashion the lines of love are all smeared about. Charlotte the vampire befriends fragile-human, beautiful Emily. Their friendship is deeper than any love Charlotte has ever know, even more how much she originally loved William, her maker. But as often happens, tragedy strikes, and Charlotte finds out that she can feel again for the first time since she was changed. The more pain she feels, the more human she becomes. And just when she learns to love again, trickery and deception threaten to take away all she has gained.
Basically, Block weaves a unique twist to the typical vampire romance, and I think teen girls will really like it. She writes poetically, but her style is still accessible. Also, her books tend to be very short, which can also be a perk depending on the teen.
4 comments:
Yay! I'm in line for it...
The Weetzie Bat books haven't weathered the years well. I will have to look into this one, but there won't be automatic readership for this author.
Well, I read it, and while I agree that it is far better written than most vampire lit out there, I have to say it really didn't draw me in the way I expected it to. Kinda disappointing. :(
I am wondering if FLB has jumped the shark... but then again just the other day I had two girls asking for Weetzie Bat randomly, so who knows!
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