Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, amazing, inspiring
Review: Francesca Lia Block writes half in poetry, half in prose. This story incorporates the Tarot deck into a girl's life, a girl who is searching, like many of her characters, for her sense of self. Rather than having never had it in the first place, Laurel lost it when she was young, having been traumatized. The way this story unfolds little bits of Laurel's life, showing her past and finally building up to a point where it cannot stay hidden any more, is done masterfully. The quote used on the outside, when Laurel is rationalizing her anorexia, "I will be thin and pure like spun glass . . ." or something similar to that, is one of the most haunting and evocative quotes I have ever read. I found this book very inspiring, not as someone who had a traumatized childhood (I didn't, not like this) but as a reader who has found the magic and poetry of the nineties and "pop" modern culture in the writings of an author, finally.
Rating:
Summary: amazingly thought-provoking and magical-realism-beautiful!
Review: great angst novel. language like ripe fruit on a hot, starry
night. all the bewitching romance and soul-searching i was craving. tarot archetypal symbols braided like jewels through the story of a troubled girl. francesca lia block
is like no other writer around. she shows us that there is magic everywhere and her characters are godesses struggling through their humanity.
Rating: 
Summary: Lukewarm compared to Block's other works
Review: I absolutely love most of what Francesca Lia Block has out there. Her writing is one of the most poetic, beautiful, sensual styles out there in print. I just want my adoration of this author made clear before I start ripping into my most recent Block purchase, The Hanged Man. The problem with The Hanged Man is that I guessed the big, shocking 'secret' around page 30 and so I wasn't impressed when the end came around, much too quickly might I add. I've read books about abuse before and while I am definitely admiring how deeply complex the main character seemed, the plot left much to be desired. Another problem I had was how few factual descriptions there were on the secondary characters. Perdita, for example, confused me as I was still thinking she was a teenager until the latter half of the book, which was when I discovered that she was considerably younger. Block is very good at writing poetic descriptions, but surely somewhere in the beginning she could have been more specific when trying to get across the basic facts so as not to confuse the readers. After the story, Block includes some homework-like 'reading questions'. These ask some interesting questions, but strike me as odd considering how many references there are to sex in the book. I just don't think this would be the type of book your average teacher would approve of, reading questions in the back or no. Now, I'm not saying that the book was terrible, but just that it was confusing and predictable. The Hanged Man also has many fine points, including the excellent characterization of Laurel, the tarot theme, all the metaphors Block used, and the poem-like descriptions of the world through the eyes of an abused teenager. Thus, I give it 3 stars for being merely an average offering by an author who has written far, far better novels than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Block at her best
Review: I believe an earlier review commented that they floated through this like a dream, never got too close, like a fog was around it. I understand completely because I felt the same way, except I felt it added to it. I thought Block executed this book masterfully, in a more sophisticated way than any of her other work. Block's beautiful, flowing prose led me around Laurel's universe, not exposing her dark secrets all at once, but giving me glimpses of fragments of her pain that weaved themselves into a dark faerytale by the conclusion. I found the story of Laurel's struggle with her personal demons after the death of her father, her self-destructive friend Claudia, and her bizarre sexual relationship with her pseudo-savior Jack (not to mention the ingenious way this heart-wrenching plot is unravelled by means of the tarot) a dark, mystical, wonderful experience.
Rating:
Summary: could have
Review: I love Ms. Block but and isnt there always a but? I hate how she can write about the same things over and over again in each book. Some times I feel like I read all her work in one book and thats it. I wish she'd expand her mind more and touch on different topics. In this one as well as the others she talks about anorexia, oleanders, sugary doughnuts, mermaids, and molestation. This story should be read by teenagers (15 and up) because the sex parts are graphic. I feel like we hardly got to know the narrator (Laurel) well enough. All she did was talk about her father and how her mother is crazy. She meets a man named Jack and they have sex. Her friend Claudia sounded interesting but no character development there. She just does drugs and alot of them. This book is good though if you've never read Ms. Block before. Read this and skip on Primavera and I was a teenage fairy!
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: i loved this book! i borrowed it from the school library more than a year ago and ever since i'd returned it, i can't find it and i really want to read it again! block's style is so poetic and detailed, i haven't really read her other books, because i'm not really into the short stories about girls with weird names she's written, but the hanged man is great. i love laurel's some-what tragic story, it's interesting to read about such normal seeming people and find out that their lives are more screwed up than my own.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book EVER!
Review: I may be somewhat biased, Francesca Lia Block being my favorite author. But this is a really brillant novel! The tone is incredible and intoxicating. The story almost has a beat to it, I didn't want to put it down; or break the beat. Flowers, anorexia, love, death and the deadly lure of Los Angeles are all running rampant throughout. The book is worth every penny. An investment, because you will be compelled to read it again and again!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I really enjoyed this book. When you here the title "The Hanged Man" you automatically think a hanged man is going to appear someware in the book. Well it comes up diffrently in the book then what most people would think, when the author talks about the hanged man she reffers to tarrot cards and the card: the hanged man. I suggest this book along with all the other Francesca Lia Block books.
Rating: 
Summary: So desperate
Review: I really hated this book. As a big fan of fantasy, mysticism, fairy tales, and strange teenage girls I thought for sure I'd love this book. I had read, "I Was a Teenage Fairy" and really should have learned my lesson from it. Block's writing is contrived, and boring. I felt very unconnected to the characters in this book, and thought it was excessively dull. These types of books are for suicidal teenagers who feel nothing but "angst." It reads like really terrible teenage poetry. And, while I am well aware this book is directed to high school aged kids, I do not recommend it. It seems as though Block tried desperately hard to pour on the angst, I can just smell how dreadfully manufactured this book is. The other thing, this book was quite short. Which is probably a good thing. ...
Rating:
Summary: Teenage Angst
Review: I think I'm too old to read anything Francesca Lia Block writes. Having said that, I'm sure I'm too old. Block's writing appeals to the most base sense of suffering, and therefore I can see why it appeals to teenagers. Since my taste in literature has expanded beyond a diet of angst, feeling misunderstood, and that there is nobility in suffering, it was a chore to make it through this book. Teenagers will love it for the mere fact that it's somehow validates their own overblown sense of angst. I'm sure there is a message within the pages of this book, a triump of the human spirit, but I was left with the impression that the main character would rather continue to suffer valiantly than take the high road. I also worry when reviews contain the words "magical" and "poetic."
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