Rating: 
Summary: Echo~ Poetic and Sensual
Review: This book was amazing. I could not put it down, and when I finished it for the second time I got online and looked for more by the same author. If you want something that is very very well written, read this. It's AMAZING. I would rate it R, coz there's sex and drugs there. But that's not the focus, that's real life. You'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best of Block but still wonderful
Review: Block is a literary genius and my favorite writer; therefore, this book cannot be bad. However, this is not her best.This book is written as a journey of self-discovery, centered around Echo, a young girl growing up in the shadow of her goddess-like mother. Her life is spent trying to shed that shadow and become a person in her own right. The book interweaves chapters of Echo's life with chapters telling the stories of the main figures in her life. This is an interesting device that works here. Something that more intense Block fans will notice is that the chapter of this book revovling around Echo's health obsession is drawn, sometimes verbatim, from Block's short story Blood Oranges. Although good, this is not Block's best. If you're starting out, read Girl Goddess #9 or I Was A Teenage Fairy.
Rating:
Summary: This novel teaches great lessons in life.
Review: Francesca Lia Block uses realism in her novel Echo to reveal the central theme of self-discovery in a college setting. The antagonist Echo, goes to college and she finds that the people she meets help her to grow as a person and to discover her true identity. Lia Block uses realism to portray a college atmosphere in order to create a life-like situation. Through Echo, Lia Block has captured the essence of college, the unbearable task of discovering who you are.
Nevertheless college is a hard time of acceptance and the long-term adventure of defining you as a person. Echo's experience is one of discovering new friendships and using these relationships as a basis of understanding her inner characteristics. "And here I am poised above with my arms spread flying and there are halos of light spinning out of us and yes this is em becoming holy human and my own self." (Pg. 215, Echo) Lia Block, in her amazing talent, brings to life this familiar, life-altering journey.
Subsequently an element of realism is needed in order to understanding the events in Echo's life. Lia Block perhaps uses her real-life stories to recreate the emotions associated with college in hopes to relay an important message to her readers. College can be an overwhelming experience as it is the start of a new life and Echo is used to depict those students who also are struggling with problems outside of school, such as death. "And then I cried a flood of tears as I really were a mermaid who had absorbed too much sea into herself. The tears spilled like a balm, like a potion, like a charm. In them swam a little girl whose father was dying without ever having seen her. In them swam a girl whose mother's magic-the thing the girl envied more than anything else in the world, the thing that had made her invisible, the most precious thing-might be dying too. In them swam a green-haired girl who had never been touched by the boy to who she so devoted that she would have lived with him forever in a shack by the sea or a ruined sand castle even if he never made love to her." (Pg. 45, Echo) Lia Block uses these raped-up emotions as she helps Echo to find her way through a dark world.
In conclusion the stressful task of self-discovery is a vital part of college life. Echo is used as an example of the difficulties that some go through, and the bad choices we all make. Lia Block shows that college is a time to make mistakes, and that these mistakes are crucial in making a better person. It is comforting to understand that all students struggle as this period in life is one that becomes the basis for life here after. It maybe that Lia Block set out to relieve the tension and fearful times of college through the experiences from her life and that of those around her. Thus Lia Block is an amazing author as she uses her real-life experiences and uses them to teach her teenage readers life's lessons that are other wise covered up in hopes they aren't apparent.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting
Review: A captivating storyline, this books seems almost bewitching, each line read seemingly converting plain, simple words into pure magick. Although some of the contained texts are clearly not intended for audiences beneath the age of 8, this author has still managed to capture the spirit of youth, fantasy, and innocence and project it through dynamic characters gracefully within this book.
Rating:
Summary: This Was The Best Book Ever!
Review: Echo is a wonderful, exciteing story of how when you find true love that you should try to hold on to it, but only if it feels right. Echo falls in love with an amazing boy and even after many, many, many years and many, many, many boyfriends she still loves him and proves that no matter what, if someone loves someone that much, they should show it. It also shows that if you want something bad enough and you try your hardest to get it you won't have a problem getting it. She shows that by trying to get the boy to like her and inturn he falls in love with her.
Rating: 
Summary: predictable but still good
Review: 'echo' has all the trapping of now what seems to be francesca lia block's signature style - teenage girl with some sort of insecurity who is trying to find her way in life. you have to hand it to francesca, she writes passionately about following your dreams, surviving adversity, and believing in yourself. she's sensualist with an eye for detail with food, flowers, locations, people. but too much of it seems like a rehash of her other books, character and theme-wise. as much of a cult following that she's got, maybe it's time for her to write a novel about something other than teenage girls in l.a., as they're all beginning to sound the same, though the names are different.
Rating:
Summary: another increadible Block book
Review: Honestly. Francesca Lia Block's writing has only gotten better and better. This book is amazing!!! The mythological imagery... angels and vampires... creates intriguing characters and story development. Her descriptions of food are always great, but in this book they are absolulely increadible. I wish she'd write a cookbook/narrative, like a lot of the other magical realist writers have done. A must for any Block lover's bookshelf
Rating: 
Summary: Too long...should have stopped after first chapter!
Review: Block's writing has a flow to it that makes it read like a poem, or like watching a movie. That holds up in her latest book ECHO. The problem with ECHO is that it is not linear. It is 95 percent flashbacks of stuff ECHO could not know about her perfect mother and the father who ignores her. You have to pay extra attention, or you will not even figure out who is being talked about. Has a great first chapter--would have worked better as a short story. Read THE HANGED MAN or VIOLET & CLAIRE instead.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful . . .
Review: Dark,Sensual,Fairytale . . .Block has done it again!This book is wonderful,rich,intoxicating and full of fairy like magic twisted with every sense of the world around us.You can tell from the first page that Block has talent and a rich type of writing that attracts many fans. . .
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Summary: The Dance of Light & Shadow
Review: Lyrical, intoxicating, sensual and dark. Fallen Angels and human suffering, mermaids and wistful love-dreams. All this and more brought together in an alternative Los Angeles. Rarely does a writer bring Shadow and Light together in such a magical way. I love Francesca and her vision. What a feast!
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