Rating: 
Summary: If You Have A Best Friend, Who You Love, Get This Book
Review: I found this book, very close, extremely close, to my best friend Kassie and I's relashionship. It was so inceredibly, sad, that they went through the same hard times as my friend and I did but, Francesca Block has a descriptive way of making you feel like you are in the book, and the funny yet scary thing is, I am right now, I recomend 'The Rose And The Beast' by her also, but only if you are open-minded. She is my favorite author and her books I just cant put down.
Rating: 
Summary: my opinion of Block drops a notch
Review: Let me start off by saying that I consider myself one of Block's hugest fans. When I finally got a copy of Violet and Claire, I was thrilled. Most of my friends had said that the tiny drop in quality between the Dangerous Angels series and the Hanged Man era books made up for itself in this novel. Wow, were they WRONG.First of all, faeries. Though I may be the only Block fan to say this, I hate Tori Amos. I hate the faeries. I'm a punk chick by nature and the softest music I can stand is old-school Ani. So screw the faeries. This novel is about a damn subculture I never understood. Block's greatest fans are 15 year old bisexual Wiccan faerie Tori fans who like glitter and play acoustic guitar. If you don't understand The Faeries and hate Brian Froud, don't read this book. Second of all, Violet, the antidote to Claire's faerie-ness, is not Goth, regardless of how DARK Block paints her. There are no fun Bauhaus references. The book is about rampant heterosexuality and movies. Violet's a movie person. I'm NOT. The beginning of this book is all about movies, but I enjoyed it, because it was in a Blockish style- "...she was my star, my Miss Monroe junior, my teen queen extraordinaire, my young diva, my sweet celluloid goddess waiting to be caputured on the luminous screen." Then, her style crumbles and turns to silly teenspeak typical insta-novel. "...manes of synthetic hair." Does this sound like the lush, magical Block we all know and love? Somewhere around page fifty, the novel dies. Remember Girl Goddess number 9 (the actual short story, not the name of the book)? Remember the "goateed angel... wild demon boy... priest of our heart-temple" Nick Agate those two girls worshipped? Violet and Claire is about a watered-down version of him, and the characters of Violet and Claire are watered-down Alabaster Duchess and Lady Ivory. Around page 50, we are introduced to Flint Cassidy, an obvious ripoff even in the nomenclature (flint... agate...) who is a huge jerk but it's ok cuz he's beautiful. For a FLB book, V&C sucks monkey bottom. Compared to, say, the tripe they make us read in school, this book is lovely, and had it been a first novel, I'd say she showed immense promise. But how can anyone live up to WEETZIE BAT? How can we possibly expect anything less? Girl Goddess made us cry, laugh, and feel anger, frustration, and just about every other emotion there is. This book made me wonder why Block keeps writing. Her books get worse and worse. Stick with DANGEROUS ANGELS and you won't have to feel the one emotion we hadn't felt with her earlier novels: disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book...
Review: Violet and Claire was a fantastic book about the roller coaster lives of two teen aged girls. It was dark and moving, proving that the light of friendship will shine through any shadows.
Rating: 
Summary: modern faerie tale
Review: The novel "Violet and Claire" by Francesca Lia Block is beautiful. It is one of the most pure books that I have ever read. Even though I have only read one other book by this author, Ms Block is now one of my favorite authors. I have never read any other books that really capture what it's like to be a girl who has been excluded for being either too eccentric or too true to herself. I highly recommend this book to anyone but especially for young girls to either help them with being themselves or to not see others as harshly. I don't want to give away much of the book, but it is about a friendship between two girls and how their bond cannot be broken. If you have already read books by francesca Lia Block and liked them you will probably like this one as well.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so and a little disturbing
Review: I didn't like the tone of this book. I've read books about sex, drug use and similar stuff, but this book had a creepy, dark feel to it. The girls' friendship throughout the book wasn't even a redeeming quality. Though the words may be poetic, the storyline shows bad taste and poor morals.
Rating:
Summary: Violet and Claire as sweet-smelling as a violet
Review: Violet and Claire is possible one of the best fictional novels I have ever read. Though I am a teenager, I do not often read teenage fiction. It wasn't until my friend told me about this book Girl Goddess #9 and I checked it out did I realize the power of a famous L.A. author known as Francesca Lia Block. In this delightfully bright and often moody account of our teenage years, Block depicts the story of two girls: the dark, moody movie fanatic Violet, and her best bud, the perky-yet-flawed Claire. It's about Violet's struggle to have her film made, for Claire to be the star, and for both of their dreams to come true. Unfortunately, like in real life, their plans backfire and before the two know it, they become enemies, leering at each other's accomplishments, and spewing out the friendship that once made these girls so close. Although Block often writes with faeries in mind, she creates her characters with such zest and imagination that faeries are not needed: they are magical as it is. The book portrays the real world as being cold, dark, and cruel, and friendship as being a rocky road of life, and it is an honest and fresh approach to the superficial heads of Hollywood. Dreams may be smashed and rules may be broken, but there is nothing more refreshing than honesty, and it is shown in this story. I would recommend it to anyone who feels capable of reading a story that could almost have possibly happened (and probably has) and who feels as if they can challenge the world, such as the two fearless heroines of this delightful dish of a story.
Rating:
Summary: Not Her Best Work
Review: I haven't know about FLB for very long. In fact, I have only two of her books including Violet And Claire. I needed a book for school and bought the Hanged Man and I was hooked on FLB's work. A few weeks later I bought Violet and Claire. I must admit, I was very disappointed. The ending seemed like it was rushed and I was fuming when I reached the last pages of the book. It felt incomplete, like their was more to the story. The book was great up until the end and would've been fine narrated just by Violet or in third peron. Claire's part of the story was very short and we don't get to know much about her. (IE. The boys trying to shoot her with the shotgun.) All I have to say is that if you're buying one of FLB's books for the first time, don't buy Violet and Claire because you'll never look at her name again.
Rating:
Summary: Good Reads
Review: This book pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you enthralled all the way through. I read it in one sitting and felt spent afterwards. FLB has a fluid way of writing that takes your emotions along with it, through the ups and downs, conveying emotional passages with such intensity that you feel surrounded by the setting. "Violet & Claire" is a a great book because it explores a truer emotional friendship as opposed to the superficial friendship suggested to so many girls by the media today.
Rating:
Summary: Slam-dunk slinkster cool
Review: A role model for the next generation:Francesca lia Block's books have truely inspired me in everything I do. The zen writing style brings everything to life. I love this book because it describes me and my best friend to a tee. I honestly reccommend any Francesca Lia Block book for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: *Pefect*
Review: I Wrote "*Perfect*" for the title of my review because i did think that it was exactly that. Block has written a book that expresses to sides of a girl; the pretty,faerie like side who is innocent and unexposed, and the dark, sassy side who will do almost anything to get somet- hing done. Together, the two sides form the perfect personality of a teenage girl. It is dark, and light, frightning, yet satisfying. It is written with such full thought and magnifisense that it will make you want to read it over and over again because it pulled you in-- you will not want to tear your eyes from it! Another book i HIGHLY recomend is The Hanged Man (also by Franceska Lia Block).
|
