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The Candy Darlings: A Darkly Lyrical YA Tale of Urban Legends and Friendship
The candy became an obsession between two outcasts—one who only wanted to fit in, the other who knew she never would.
Urban legends, rumors, lies, myths, mysteries, fairy tales. Stories, in all their magical forms, bound them together.
“Satin Chocolate–Covered–Chicken Bones,” “Astro Pop,” “Fun Dip,” “Thrills.” The candy stories—outrageous, twisted, hysterical— were an escape from a harsh reality and revealed a startling truth.
Darkly lyrical, sensual, suspenseful, and disturbing, The Candy Darlings is a celebration of friendship, story, and the power of each to help you define yourself—or simply survive.
Urban legends, rumors, lies, myths, mysteries, fairy tales. Stories, in all their magical forms, bound them together.
“Satin Chocolate–Covered–Chicken Bones,” “Astro Pop,” “Fun Dip,” “Thrills.” The candy stories—outrageous, twisted, hysterical— were an escape from a harsh reality and revealed a startling truth.
Darkly lyrical, sensual, suspenseful, and disturbing, The Candy Darlings is a celebration of friendship, story, and the power of each to help you define yourself—or simply survive.
310 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2006
130 people want to read
About the author
Christine Walde
22 books7 followersChristine Walde has been published in several national and international journals, including The New Quarterly, Descant, The Antigonish Review, and Plath Profiles. She was most recently shortlisted for The 2009 Descant Winston Collins Award. Her first novel, The Candy Darlings, was published by Houghton Mifflin in the US (2006) and by Penguin Canada (2007). She is currently the Writer-in-Residence at The Windermere Manor and is at work on a number of new projects, including a book of poetry and her second novel. She lives in London, Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 7, 2007
This book was very readable and very disturbing. Children can be so horrible to each other, and I had nightmares after finishing this book. It was so good, though, that I read it all in one evening, devouring it like the candy it celebrates. Recommended.
June 8, 2008
After her mother dies, a girl and her father move out of their house filled with memories to a smaller house and a new neighborhood. Our narrator (whos name we never learn) is desperate to reinvent herself, to be popular, and it works for a time, until Megan Chalmers moves in. Megan is weird and unabashed - and though our heroine tries to keep away from her, they form an instant bond of outcast friendship. Megan is also addicted to candy, a stark contrast to our heroine, who vowed never again to eat candy after her mother died. The two of them spend more and more time together, and Megan tells candy stories - dangerous, erotic, sugar-coated tales that end abruptly. As Megan starts dissapearing for long, mysterious stretches of time, and the mean girls (Meredith, Angela and Laura - called MAL) get dangerously meaner, our heroine must decide who she is, where she stands, and how to take that stand.
This is a hard book to sum up, in part because our heroine is nameless, but it is also one of the best, most intricate YA novels I've read in a long time. It has high school cattiness, but taken to a sharper level, candy as candy and candy as metaphor, and stories that are sometimes stories and sometimes are mirrors for the truth. And the writing is gorgeous. This book is hot. The book is a puzzle where all the pieces don't quite fit. It leaves you thinking, wondering, and hungry for more. I read this book quite a while ago, but I have been mulling it, trying to do it justice for a while. It won't leave my head. Megan's voice, and our heroine's, haunt me. There is nothing else like this book, and if you have any interest in YA fiction or high school stories, or the power of stories, this is a book you need to read.
This is a hard book to sum up, in part because our heroine is nameless, but it is also one of the best, most intricate YA novels I've read in a long time. It has high school cattiness, but taken to a sharper level, candy as candy and candy as metaphor, and stories that are sometimes stories and sometimes are mirrors for the truth. And the writing is gorgeous. This book is hot. The book is a puzzle where all the pieces don't quite fit. It leaves you thinking, wondering, and hungry for more. I read this book quite a while ago, but I have been mulling it, trying to do it justice for a while. It won't leave my head. Megan's voice, and our heroine's, haunt me. There is nothing else like this book, and if you have any interest in YA fiction or high school stories, or the power of stories, this is a book you need to read.
January 29, 2013
I first discovered The Candy Darlings over six years ago when I was seventeen or sixteen in a clearance bin a Borders.
I always would look through the clearance out of curiosity, and the title and cover of this book intrigued me.
Now, it has been my experience with fiction that the title of a book is often not describing the plot at all.
'The Last Unicorn', for instance, is in fact truly about the last unicorn on Earth.
But 'The Mermaid Chair' is not about mermaids. At all.
So, I was pleasantly surprised that the back cover of this book confirmed that the plot revolves around candy.
But although I was intrigued, I never did purchase The Candy Darlings, despite it being on clearance, because I was a broke teenager.
I have spent years looking for it though, because it stuck in my mind.
I finally found it last year through using key words in advanced search engines online.
I immediately requested it from my library (along with a horde of other books), pleased that I had tracked it down.
When I began reading it however, I was disappointed that the beginning was not as dynamic as I had hoped. This has been a recurring element in the YA books I've been reading.
I thought the plot of this book has a lot of promise and was very unique. One reviewer on here wrote that they felt that the plot is not original, but that is ridiculous. Maybe she was just referring to the beginning of the story, before the theme of candy really shines through.
What made the book hard for me to get through in the beginning is that it read like a bland version of the film Mean Girls.
Very typical-three mean girls, and they are all (surprise) blonde white chicks.
Seriously, who in this world has been bullied by JUST blonde girls?
I envy you.
So, the beginning writing is very weak.
However, as soon as our protagonist meets her new best friend, the book picks up.
The two lonely girls create a slightly obsessive friendship revolving around the consumption of candy (one loves eating it, the other never eats it).
And the protagonist's new friend, named Megan Chalmers, narrates her own twisted stories involving candy.
I have read a lot of disturbing fiction (and non-fiction), and I did not find the "stories" remarkably disturbing. I thought the most disturbing part in The Candy Darlings was actually I did find 'Ring Pop' to be creative, and the biting humor in 'Sacred Hearts' amusing.
They are definitely the strongest parts in the book.
I think it is a cool concept to write short fiction around various kinds of candy.
My favorite scene in the story was when
I thought the protagonist was inconsistent, because she says,
"Megan is everything I am not and nothing I want to be."
But she clearly DOES want to be how she sees Megan; free and brave, burping and cursing and making three daily meals out of candy.
The protagonist even succumbs
I think that the journey of the protagonist is to accept herself and finally stand up to her bullies.
I think the bullies (named with the acronym 'MAL') were one of the weakest parts of the book.
They were far too stereotypical and black and white and one dimensional.
Just spoiled blonde rich kids with no real motives for their evil.
Another element for me: the drug descriptions.
I also found the protagonist's extreme weakness frustrating. None of the characters ever told the school the truth about the bullying. I understand that it is realistic for kids in high school to keep quiet about that stuff, but when it comes to the point where , I think that would push any quiet kid to telling someone.
When the protagonist finally stands up to the bullies, it is very anticlimactic. That should have been the most powerful part of the story, but for me, it fell flat.
Overall, I think this book presents an original metaphor for the mindset of typical teenagers.
I praise the author for having a confident developed writing voice that I have not been seeing in YA fiction lately.
I always would look through the clearance out of curiosity, and the title and cover of this book intrigued me.
Now, it has been my experience with fiction that the title of a book is often not describing the plot at all.
'The Last Unicorn', for instance, is in fact truly about the last unicorn on Earth.
But 'The Mermaid Chair' is not about mermaids. At all.
So, I was pleasantly surprised that the back cover of this book confirmed that the plot revolves around candy.
But although I was intrigued, I never did purchase The Candy Darlings, despite it being on clearance, because I was a broke teenager.
I have spent years looking for it though, because it stuck in my mind.
I finally found it last year through using key words in advanced search engines online.
I immediately requested it from my library (along with a horde of other books), pleased that I had tracked it down.
When I began reading it however, I was disappointed that the beginning was not as dynamic as I had hoped. This has been a recurring element in the YA books I've been reading.
I thought the plot of this book has a lot of promise and was very unique. One reviewer on here wrote that they felt that the plot is not original, but that is ridiculous. Maybe she was just referring to the beginning of the story, before the theme of candy really shines through.
What made the book hard for me to get through in the beginning is that it read like a bland version of the film Mean Girls.
Very typical-three mean girls, and they are all (surprise) blonde white chicks.
Seriously, who in this world has been bullied by JUST blonde girls?
I envy you.
So, the beginning writing is very weak.
However, as soon as our protagonist meets her new best friend, the book picks up.
The two lonely girls create a slightly obsessive friendship revolving around the consumption of candy (one loves eating it, the other never eats it).
And the protagonist's new friend, named Megan Chalmers, narrates her own twisted stories involving candy.
I have read a lot of disturbing fiction (and non-fiction), and I did not find the "stories" remarkably disturbing. I thought the most disturbing part in The Candy Darlings was actually I did find 'Ring Pop' to be creative, and the biting humor in 'Sacred Hearts' amusing.
They are definitely the strongest parts in the book.
I think it is a cool concept to write short fiction around various kinds of candy.
My favorite scene in the story was when
I thought the protagonist was inconsistent, because she says,
"Megan is everything I am not and nothing I want to be."
But she clearly DOES want to be how she sees Megan; free and brave, burping and cursing and making three daily meals out of candy.
The protagonist even succumbs
I think that the journey of the protagonist is to accept herself and finally stand up to her bullies.
I think the bullies (named with the acronym 'MAL') were one of the weakest parts of the book.
They were far too stereotypical and black and white and one dimensional.
Just spoiled blonde rich kids with no real motives for their evil.
Another element for me: the drug descriptions.
I also found the protagonist's extreme weakness frustrating. None of the characters ever told the school the truth about the bullying. I understand that it is realistic for kids in high school to keep quiet about that stuff, but when it comes to the point where , I think that would push any quiet kid to telling someone.
When the protagonist finally stands up to the bullies, it is very anticlimactic. That should have been the most powerful part of the story, but for me, it fell flat.
Overall, I think this book presents an original metaphor for the mindset of typical teenagers.
I praise the author for having a confident developed writing voice that I have not been seeing in YA fiction lately.
July 23, 2015
I ended up liking this a little bit more at the end. I think the ideas were good elementarily, but the ways they were presented were not beneficial to the quality of the book. Some parts were really weird and twisted, and I didn't feel like I really got closure on a lot of the conflicts at the end. I guess this could be drawing parallels to the nature of stories, their ability to sustain and endure, but we never find out who Rose is or what happened to Blake.
I liked that the name of the protagonist was never really give and how it reflected that she was not the kind of person who would have social authority. It also, I think, portrays what the main message of the book was: Our stories are mixes of honesty and fiction, and how true a story is is not always relevant. The reader gets to decide. I've always wanted to write a story where the protagonist is never given a name.
I don't think the characters were developed very well, especially the protagonist. We know only that she's frustrated and grief-stricken; she has no idiosyncrasies or particularly defining character traits.
The writing bored me ugh. Appositive phrases were often detached from sentences and made whole sentences by themselves, which I know is stylistic but is really annoying because it read really choppily. It could have been much better if the writing were better. I guess I kind of liked it a little.
I liked that the name of the protagonist was never really give and how it reflected that she was not the kind of person who would have social authority. It also, I think, portrays what the main message of the book was: Our stories are mixes of honesty and fiction, and how true a story is is not always relevant. The reader gets to decide. I've always wanted to write a story where the protagonist is never given a name.
I don't think the characters were developed very well, especially the protagonist. We know only that she's frustrated and grief-stricken; she has no idiosyncrasies or particularly defining character traits.
The writing bored me ugh. Appositive phrases were often detached from sentences and made whole sentences by themselves, which I know is stylistic but is really annoying because it read really choppily. It could have been much better if the writing were better. I guess I kind of liked it a little.
June 14, 2013
I just gave this book away to a boot shop last time I cleaned off my bookshelves. Why, you may ask? Because I knew that I would never read it again and would never recommend it to anyone. It is a strange, pseudo-fairytale retelling of a variety of stories made to involve candy.
It chronicles the lives of two friends; the more mature and "new kid" friend and a more naive partner. The "new kid" goes on to tell all of these disturbing and often paranoid stories about candies and sweets that is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies. Especially for the age that I believe this book is geared toward (11-13), it is way too much: there is no plot, no problem solving, no humour: just ghastly, sometimes sexual, sometimes frightening stories about how sweets can be used it grotesque ways.
The book itself is not inherently bad; it has a half-nice cover and the writing is alright; but the story and the more gruesome points are just too much for anyone to bear. I wouldn't pick this up again if someone paid me.
It chronicles the lives of two friends; the more mature and "new kid" friend and a more naive partner. The "new kid" goes on to tell all of these disturbing and often paranoid stories about candies and sweets that is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies. Especially for the age that I believe this book is geared toward (11-13), it is way too much: there is no plot, no problem solving, no humour: just ghastly, sometimes sexual, sometimes frightening stories about how sweets can be used it grotesque ways.
The book itself is not inherently bad; it has a half-nice cover and the writing is alright; but the story and the more gruesome points are just too much for anyone to bear. I wouldn't pick this up again if someone paid me.
August 16, 2018
One of the first few 'young adult' books I've dabbled into although I am pretty sure I was just an 11 year old then. Overall, it was a memorable read and I think what really caught my attention throughout the whole books were the little stories with the assortment of candies and sweets. It solved my sweet tooth cravings. Dark and twisted, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in something just a little kinkier.
October 4, 2009
This is one of my favorite books I've every read it's so twisted and chilling
November 1, 2017
As an avid reading of YA, I am at a loss of words for the disappointment this book brought me. Terrible character development, limp story lines, no plot direction, and a theme of candy is supposed to bring the whole thing together. Sorry, but could not wait to be done this one.
October 30, 2023
Raunchy, but real. It makes you want more and always wondering what comes next. I'm actually tempted to write my own continuation of this book because that's the beauty of it: it's up for you to determine what is the truth and how it all ends.
May 4, 2008
Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
What the new girl wanted was to start over, find a completely new identity. Now that she and her dad had moved, she was able to do just that. She had it all mapped out--start the new school year at a new school, make some new friends and become part of the "in" crowd. Then all chances of being popular were ruined when Megan Chalmers entered the scene, with her weird self, eating candy all the time.
But now the girls befriend each other, united by one bond--candy. One who absolute despises it when she discovers the effects, while the other loves it to death. Well, that and the evil forces of MAL--Meredith, Angela, and Laura, the girls who rule the school and whose targets are the two girls.
All the new girl, now dubbed Dead Girl by MAL, and Megan Chalmers need to do is get back at MAL and eat candy, the only thing that will help Dead Girl hide the pain. But it isn't simple when MAL gets meaner by the minute and no one is able to help them. It's all up to the two girls to stand up for themselves, but is it possible?
At first glance THE CANDY DARLINGS seems to be like any other "Mean Girls" story, but once the reader delves deeper into the novel, they discover a completely different universe. Christine Walde interweaves candy stories along with her main storyline to create a novel that is hard to divide into what is the real world that the girls live in and what is just the fantasy world that Megan creates. A unique novel that makes for an interesting read.
What the new girl wanted was to start over, find a completely new identity. Now that she and her dad had moved, she was able to do just that. She had it all mapped out--start the new school year at a new school, make some new friends and become part of the "in" crowd. Then all chances of being popular were ruined when Megan Chalmers entered the scene, with her weird self, eating candy all the time.
But now the girls befriend each other, united by one bond--candy. One who absolute despises it when she discovers the effects, while the other loves it to death. Well, that and the evil forces of MAL--Meredith, Angela, and Laura, the girls who rule the school and whose targets are the two girls.
All the new girl, now dubbed Dead Girl by MAL, and Megan Chalmers need to do is get back at MAL and eat candy, the only thing that will help Dead Girl hide the pain. But it isn't simple when MAL gets meaner by the minute and no one is able to help them. It's all up to the two girls to stand up for themselves, but is it possible?
At first glance THE CANDY DARLINGS seems to be like any other "Mean Girls" story, but once the reader delves deeper into the novel, they discover a completely different universe. Christine Walde interweaves candy stories along with her main storyline to create a novel that is hard to divide into what is the real world that the girls live in and what is just the fantasy world that Megan creates. A unique novel that makes for an interesting read.
July 10, 2010
this book was very weird yet intriguing. its about a girl, whose name is never given out in the book, and she is dealing with the loss of her mother. She wanted to fit in and the three popular girls pick her up. everything went fine until Megan came along.
Megan was probably one of the most trouble making girls, and she is addicted to candy. MAL( the three popular girls) dropped the main character as part of her group and so she started hanging out with megan. While she did that Blake Starfield, a boy who is known for being "slow" in their school, catches her eyes. after a lot of frightful events the main character was forced to volunteer at the hospital since her father didnt want her just hanging out with megan all the time. so megan and her were candy stripers who sold candy to the old people in the hospital and thats where they met Edie who told them an amazing story. Than one night Megan and the girl were attacked by MAL who tied them up and covered them with snow in the middle of the woods. they were hopeless until Blake came and rescued them. All in all it was an ok book
Megan was probably one of the most trouble making girls, and she is addicted to candy. MAL( the three popular girls) dropped the main character as part of her group and so she started hanging out with megan. While she did that Blake Starfield, a boy who is known for being "slow" in their school, catches her eyes. after a lot of frightful events the main character was forced to volunteer at the hospital since her father didnt want her just hanging out with megan all the time. so megan and her were candy stripers who sold candy to the old people in the hospital and thats where they met Edie who told them an amazing story. Than one night Megan and the girl were attacked by MAL who tied them up and covered them with snow in the middle of the woods. they were hopeless until Blake came and rescued them. All in all it was an ok book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2012
I really really liked this book. This book is about the srtruggle of teenage life at home and in school in a new town with one girl(the main character,unknown name) trying to keep her dad from going mad and the desire to become a popular "normal" girl for the start of her new life. The other girl(Megan) with having to go home to an empty house waiting for her mother to come back from her bussiness trips.Both dealing with a lost loved one and an obsession with candy.The find each other at school where they go through battling a team of three named MAL, the popular girls,who hate the two girls because they don't follow their "rules" like the rest of the class. while after school they found a hideout where Megan would tell her stories ending with murder and mystery while the main character listened. Megan was all mystery when things got sketchy about her family and past and the main character tries to get the most out of her and try to help before she moves away again.Making this book a fantastic read.I would most deffinately read this again!
May 7, 2007
I read about this author in the newspaper and was happy to support local talent. The book was very well-written, but extremely dark for a Young Adult book (unless it's just me getting older!). I'm also a candy fiend, so I identified in that way with the main girls, and loved their interaction with a mentor figure. Overall, though I just felt a little unsatisfied with the characters and the conclusion. I will definitely watch for Walde in the future!
January 1, 2009
This book, was purely amazing.
I got the honor of being proclaimed as Christine Walde's number one fan and she got to visit my Writing Workshop. It was a delight to meet her, and her words create instant pictures in your mind even when not on paper.
The book is my favorite. It's dark and twisted and the candy is described in such a way it makes me crave the candy. Her writing really creates pictures in my mind. The Candy Darlings-a great read!
I got the honor of being proclaimed as Christine Walde's number one fan and she got to visit my Writing Workshop. It was a delight to meet her, and her words create instant pictures in your mind even when not on paper.
The book is my favorite. It's dark and twisted and the candy is described in such a way it makes me crave the candy. Her writing really creates pictures in my mind. The Candy Darlings-a great read!
July 5, 2008
I thought there where some great ideas and concepts for a young person to enjoy but it didn't really go any where interesting like I thought it would at the beginning.
I did love the way the author strung words together to create beautiful images in my mind.
But a bit of a disappointment over all.
I did love the way the author strung words together to create beautiful images in my mind.
But a bit of a disappointment over all.
August 26, 2008
The writing itself was good, and the plot was good, but it was a bit inconsistent, if you will? There was something about it...the writing style didn't exactly fit the plot or the narrator...And the ending could've used more clarification...Overall, it was pretty good. Not revolutionary, but better than a lot of books for teens (in my opinion).
January 9, 2008
juvenille at times, but a good read. kind of a francescia lia block fairytale feel with a middle school new girl meets new girl meets the boy who sits behind her in sugary metaphor.
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May 8, 2008a girl jus lost her mother and wont eat candy but ironicly she befriends a person who eats nothing but that and fins the strenght to stand up for herself.
May 16, 2010
That she slowly accepts what happens to her mother.
June 23, 2010
Are those stories about Megan??? And I can't find the girl name, I think it's creepy like no one ever called her by name in the book.
July 5, 2010
This was a great and sordid combination of Heathers and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with some spooky twists thrown in.
February 27, 2011
This book was amazing. Very thought-provoking. Amazingly realistic.
June 27, 2011
dark and sinister and oddly compelling
September 26, 2012
This book is my favorite book of all time because it brings me back to my best year in middle school that I will never forget and always treasure.
December 21, 2013
I just love this book. I read the whole thing in 2 days I couldn't stop reading it. It was the best
September 15, 2014
The darker side of young adult literature. Totally twisted and unexpected. It's a part of my personal collection.
November 22, 2014
Enticing. Absolutely loved it.
January 19, 2015
Reminiscing on some old reads that I loved
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews