Rating: Summary: A marvelous wonder of a book Review: This book was the best I had read in months, and it now numbers among my favorites. I enjoyed all the stories, but one in particular affected me like few other books or stories have. This was "Dragons in Manhattan." I recognized myself in the narrator, Tuck, and identified completely with her. Although I couldn't identify with her situation (an alternative family) I could feel for her as she searched for herself, her family and her past. All 9 stories were written beautifully, with terrific descriptions- and if you read carefully, you may notice hidden connections between the tales, and obscure references to the Weetzie Bat books. I would recommend this book highly to anyone.
Rating: Summary: A perfect ode to teen angst Review: This is absolutely the best account of what it is really like to be a teenager that I have ever read. There were parts of every one of the "goddesses" that I could relate too. I think that this book is a profound reflection of today's societal ills and the good that can come from angst.
Rating: Summary: A great book Review: Girl Goddess #9 is one of the best books I've ever read.It makes you think. After most of the stories I started to cry, they are all very touching. Blue, Dragons in Manhattan, and Rave are the three best.
Rating: Summary: Girl Goddesses Reign Supreme Review: This book is absolutely one of my favorite books. I am a guy, and it gave me a lot of insight into myself and others. I was introduced to Francesca Lia Block with "Missing Angel Juan" and now I am enamored with the smoky poetry of Block. From the cute on the outside / insightful on the inside "Tweetie Sweet Pea" to the almost Tori Amos-like final story, you grow and learn and see everything differently. I consider Francesca Lia Block to be like a poetic Rob Thomas or Chris Lynch, in that they all write honestly about teenagers, but Block adds a sort of smoky coolness and poetry to her work. Block is like a young Maya Angelou, in that she will undoubtedly be celebrated now and forever.
Rating: Summary: excellently structured and heartfelt stories Review: All the stories in this book are excellent, but none so much as "Rave". This story of a young and beautiful groupie touched me. This is not only a young adult novel, but for anyone who enjoys good solid writing and interesting characters.
Rating: Summary: bittersweet Review: really profound, insightful, so sad, and yet so sweet. makes you think more of unusual, or veryday matters.
Rating: Summary: changed my life Review: I discovered Francesca Lia Block through Bust magazine. After reading Girl Goddess #9, I continued to read the rest of her novels, regardless of the fact that I'm 19. I admire the values of her characters and would like to live my life like a Block novel. She's made me realize that life is however you interpret it, and you're never alone.
Rating: Summary: fab! Review: a terrific example of strong female protagonists in comtemporary fiction. The writing is witty and smart. Each story stands on its own but even as a whole this book gets an A+
Rating: Summary: goddess dreams Review: I first discovered Francesca Lia Block when the bright, artsy cover of Weetzie Bat caught my eye on the public library shelf. I think it was destiny. Block is my absolute favorite writer and a goddess in her own right. This book collects nine stories, each powerful in its frankness and simplicity, yet strangely absorbing and addictive. Each of Block's characters, no matter how flawed, is beautiful, and by the end of each story you wish you could become the featured girl goddess. This is the kind of book which will mess with your head -- long after you've read (should I say devoured?) it, its stunning images and emotions will haunt your thoughts and dreams. Highly recommended
Rating: Summary: The concentrated dose of beautiful teenage lives Review: The metaphorical and intimidating text of Block's Weetzie Bat series is an experience in itself. The story line which weaves itself through life in a fictional L.A. with a tangy, neon pink-type of twist, is thickly amusing. Block accomplishes again the telling of diverse perspectives of personalities in a style that is all her own.
Girl Goddess #9 featres nine stories of girls; sisters, friends, daughters, girlfriends, freaks.
And it is the freakish aspect of the mounting maturity from story to story, that makes every girl beautiful. Blue, the second story in the book, is about a young girl's imaginary friend that appears after her mother comitts suicide. Blue, the friend, is the girl coming to know her mother after she is dead. It is her mother's story that she needs to write in order for her to escape the trap she has been in. Blue shows her the way out.
Rave, a story of a boy and his beautiful, totured friend, told my a man, is the most delicate of the stories.The slight surrealness and the surprising amount of identifiable aspects makes the story complex and admirable. It zig-zags on the parrell line of teenage life.
It went right to heart.
The way in which Block deals with the teenage years is not matched by any current writer. She lets us laugh at our identifiable qualities, while shying away from putting anyone in a catagory. Sex, drugs, lust, friendship, beauty, love, talent, and the
woven bond in girls that stands invisable, yet
overpowering. Everything about this book is an accomplishment.
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