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The Waters & the Wild
When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. "You are me," the girl said. Then she was gone.
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back.
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
22 people are currently reading
951 people want to read
About the author
Francesca Lia Block
99 books3,384 followersFrancesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
August 24, 2011
It's very hard to review a new book by an author you loved as a child. Is the author really not writing as well now as she did when you were young? Or are you simply no longer the target age group for the book?
In the case of The Waters and the Wild, I think the answer is both. Francesca Lia Block is a wonderful writer, and her prose always glistens (even if its heavy, ethereal descriptions are an acquired taste and don't work for everyone). The prose is still beautiful here, but there are so many moments where the poetry gives way to heavy-handed metaphor and social consciousness in language that feels actively clunky. While she's always been a very conscientious writer, my instinct is to say that she's gotten less nuanced with age. On the other hand, I think some of my disappointment comes from simply growing older and not needing as much the stories of 13-year-old outcast girls who believe they may secretly be fairies in a magical realist metaphor for puberty. There are only so many times I can read Block describing jacaranda trees and the magic of Los Angeles and unlikely friendships among oddballs.
Yet if I were still 13, I know my eyes would have lit up when I read this book, just as they did when I read the Weetzie Bat books and I Was a Teenage Fairy. Consequently, I would hand this book to current outcast middle schoolers without hesitation, hoping it would give them the comfort Block's older books gave to me. And Block has a talent for writing teenage characters who are authentic to the time in which she's writing, from the 80s and early 90s kids of the Weetzie Bat books to the late 90s/early 2000s teens of the novels and short stories I first encountered when I was among their number. This is Francesca Lia Block for the teenagers who barely remember the world before 9/11, authentic and devoid of the feeling of being projections of an older author's long-gone youth. Every generation deserves a Francesca Lia Block book of their own, and I sincerely hope this book can be theirs, even if it isn't mine.
In the case of The Waters and the Wild, I think the answer is both. Francesca Lia Block is a wonderful writer, and her prose always glistens (even if its heavy, ethereal descriptions are an acquired taste and don't work for everyone). The prose is still beautiful here, but there are so many moments where the poetry gives way to heavy-handed metaphor and social consciousness in language that feels actively clunky. While she's always been a very conscientious writer, my instinct is to say that she's gotten less nuanced with age. On the other hand, I think some of my disappointment comes from simply growing older and not needing as much the stories of 13-year-old outcast girls who believe they may secretly be fairies in a magical realist metaphor for puberty. There are only so many times I can read Block describing jacaranda trees and the magic of Los Angeles and unlikely friendships among oddballs.
Yet if I were still 13, I know my eyes would have lit up when I read this book, just as they did when I read the Weetzie Bat books and I Was a Teenage Fairy. Consequently, I would hand this book to current outcast middle schoolers without hesitation, hoping it would give them the comfort Block's older books gave to me. And Block has a talent for writing teenage characters who are authentic to the time in which she's writing, from the 80s and early 90s kids of the Weetzie Bat books to the late 90s/early 2000s teens of the novels and short stories I first encountered when I was among their number. This is Francesca Lia Block for the teenagers who barely remember the world before 9/11, authentic and devoid of the feeling of being projections of an older author's long-gone youth. Every generation deserves a Francesca Lia Block book of their own, and I sincerely hope this book can be theirs, even if it isn't mine.
October 14, 2009
For much of its brief length, "The Waters and the Wild" feels like one of Block's most tonally consistent books, a stripped-down tale with charged mythic overtones and so little of Block's usually defiant Shangri-L.A. kitsch that the very few pop culture references feel like missteps. But those fleeting hipster nods, as well as the moment when Bee's mom asks her about condoms, don't drag the book far out from its bedtime-story feel of dream and menace.
But--as noted by many other readers, this is a very brief book. So much so that, as I read it, I began to wonder why it wasn't simply a short story? The essence of the tale feels so fable-like that much of the surface incident sounds extraneous. Why should Bee and her friends crash that party at all, for instance?
And then-- suddenly, just when the goal is in view, Block yanks the rug out from under the reader's feet in an effusion of free verse about AIDS, 9-11 and global warming, all of which apparently has something to do with the realm of fairies and why Bee needs to get back to them. And yet-- this same ending strongly suggests that all that has come before is *not* a tale of a parallel, supernatural realm but simply a little allegory about the pangs of puberty.
So: either we should be happy that Bee has made her way to her fairy mother, in which case I'm bummed because the whole place sounds pretty frightening, no better a fate for Bee than if she were Proserpina dragged off to Hades (I mean, the doppelganger Bee sounded pretty pissed living there!). Or: Bee has simply come of age and turned into a budding teenage woman, in which case we should be content that a girl who was making friends with people who quote Shelley or sing Billie Holiday is now a bitchy hooch who wears pink camouflage pants?
Either way, this is a bitter pill to swallow, and yet again Block has a) dragged in real-world darkness in a way that's hamfisted and frankly galling; and b) once again prevaricated on whether supernaturalistic happenings are real or not! "They both, in their short present lives, had known war and watched the climate change enough to threaten the earth's existence" (113). Isn't that a bit rich for 13-year olds living in Los Angeles? And in a publishing world where vampire thrillers are stacked to the skies, can't Block just go with the flow and say, Yes, this heroine's a fairy? Does she think she's being all delicately literary by beating around the bush? This isn't "The Turn of the Screw" for heaven's sake!
The prose was often lovely, and I liked Bee in her elusive, minimalist characterization. You could even say her final pages in the book are memorably dreamlike and scary, expect Block isn't giving us a clue as to what's really happening and, whatever it is, it doesn't seem too pleasant. Poor Bee. And poor "The Waters and the Wild". Another missed opportunity.
But--as noted by many other readers, this is a very brief book. So much so that, as I read it, I began to wonder why it wasn't simply a short story? The essence of the tale feels so fable-like that much of the surface incident sounds extraneous. Why should Bee and her friends crash that party at all, for instance?
And then-- suddenly, just when the goal is in view, Block yanks the rug out from under the reader's feet in an effusion of free verse about AIDS, 9-11 and global warming, all of which apparently has something to do with the realm of fairies and why Bee needs to get back to them. And yet-- this same ending strongly suggests that all that has come before is *not* a tale of a parallel, supernatural realm but simply a little allegory about the pangs of puberty.
So: either we should be happy that Bee has made her way to her fairy mother, in which case I'm bummed because the whole place sounds pretty frightening, no better a fate for Bee than if she were Proserpina dragged off to Hades (I mean, the doppelganger Bee sounded pretty pissed living there!). Or: Bee has simply come of age and turned into a budding teenage woman, in which case we should be content that a girl who was making friends with people who quote Shelley or sing Billie Holiday is now a bitchy hooch who wears pink camouflage pants?
Either way, this is a bitter pill to swallow, and yet again Block has a) dragged in real-world darkness in a way that's hamfisted and frankly galling; and b) once again prevaricated on whether supernaturalistic happenings are real or not! "They both, in their short present lives, had known war and watched the climate change enough to threaten the earth's existence" (113). Isn't that a bit rich for 13-year olds living in Los Angeles? And in a publishing world where vampire thrillers are stacked to the skies, can't Block just go with the flow and say, Yes, this heroine's a fairy? Does she think she's being all delicately literary by beating around the bush? This isn't "The Turn of the Screw" for heaven's sake!
The prose was often lovely, and I liked Bee in her elusive, minimalist characterization. You could even say her final pages in the book are memorably dreamlike and scary, expect Block isn't giving us a clue as to what's really happening and, whatever it is, it doesn't seem too pleasant. Poor Bee. And poor "The Waters and the Wild". Another missed opportunity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2012
Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com
Bee knows that she is different from other teenagers. She has a strange affinity with the earth, dreaming of eating it in handfuls to be more connected to it. Bee feels more at home in her mother's garden rather than at school or with other people. She never has an appetite and sees people for who they are, their true selves.
There is also the matter of her doppelganger. Bee begins to see her, in dreams and during her waking hours. She wants something from Bee; she wants her life back.
Bee has also befriended two outsiders, very much like herself. Haze is a tall, gangly boy who believes he was fathered by aliens. Sarah, with her braided hair and beautiful voice, tells Haze and Bee that she is the reincarnated soul of a slave girl. Neither one of these confessions shocks or mystifies Bee; she simply accepts them to be fact. Their differences make them unique and bring them together.
With the help of her two eccentric friends, Bee finally discovers who she is and where she truly belongs.
I have had the pleasure of reading many of Francesca Lia Block's other novels, and this one seemed different to me. It was easier to connect with the characters in this novel. They felt more "real" to me than in previous works.
Obviously, there is still that element of fantasy, but it doesn't saturate the story. Block has found a perfect balance of reality and fantasy. Fans of fantasy novels will love this book because of its fantastical elements, but those who are looking for a story about a young girl who is discovering her identity will also enjoy it.
Block has a way of crossing many genres and groups of readers; she has certainly done so with THE WATERS AND THE WILD.
Bee knows that she is different from other teenagers. She has a strange affinity with the earth, dreaming of eating it in handfuls to be more connected to it. Bee feels more at home in her mother's garden rather than at school or with other people. She never has an appetite and sees people for who they are, their true selves.
There is also the matter of her doppelganger. Bee begins to see her, in dreams and during her waking hours. She wants something from Bee; she wants her life back.
Bee has also befriended two outsiders, very much like herself. Haze is a tall, gangly boy who believes he was fathered by aliens. Sarah, with her braided hair and beautiful voice, tells Haze and Bee that she is the reincarnated soul of a slave girl. Neither one of these confessions shocks or mystifies Bee; she simply accepts them to be fact. Their differences make them unique and bring them together.
With the help of her two eccentric friends, Bee finally discovers who she is and where she truly belongs.
I have had the pleasure of reading many of Francesca Lia Block's other novels, and this one seemed different to me. It was easier to connect with the characters in this novel. They felt more "real" to me than in previous works.
Obviously, there is still that element of fantasy, but it doesn't saturate the story. Block has found a perfect balance of reality and fantasy. Fans of fantasy novels will love this book because of its fantastical elements, but those who are looking for a story about a young girl who is discovering her identity will also enjoy it.
Block has a way of crossing many genres and groups of readers; she has certainly done so with THE WATERS AND THE WILD.
May 20, 2011
Bee felt different from the others, out of place. Everyone felt that way at some time, she understood, but somehow this was different, she could feel it. She felt displaced in the world, but it wasn't until she saw herself standing at the end of her bed claiming that she was an impostor did she really start to believe that maybe she really didn't belong.
Hayze and Sarah were just as different as Bee, just as strange. Yet somehow they still belonged. One by one Hayze and Sarah are drawn to Bee and her acceptance of their differences; one by one Hayze then Sarah begin to find that their differences are what makes them unique. But in order to gain this wisdom something must be lost.
the Waters & the Wild brings together three outsiders forming a bond of friendship through understanding where magic is created. A girl who sings like and angel, a boy who quotes poetry and a doppelganger make up the heart of a story about fitting in, standing out and being who you were born to be. A story that will charm and enchant with a fairy hand in hand.
Hayze and Sarah were just as different as Bee, just as strange. Yet somehow they still belonged. One by one Hayze and Sarah are drawn to Bee and her acceptance of their differences; one by one Hayze then Sarah begin to find that their differences are what makes them unique. But in order to gain this wisdom something must be lost.
the Waters & the Wild brings together three outsiders forming a bond of friendship through understanding where magic is created. A girl who sings like and angel, a boy who quotes poetry and a doppelganger make up the heart of a story about fitting in, standing out and being who you were born to be. A story that will charm and enchant with a fairy hand in hand.
June 4, 2012
Bee, who is a thirteen year old girl, feels like she doesn't belong in the human world. She is an outcast at school and doesn't have friends until she meets Stephanie and Haze. Stephanie thinks that she is actually a slave named Sarah who has been reincarnated into the present-day "Stephanie." Haze believes that he is an alien. The three friends, connected by their strange beliefs and views, become a trio that crash parties, fly, and become invisible using magic. Throughout a series of events, Haze and Sarah determine that Bee is a changeling, accounting for Bee's feelings of separation from the modern world. Bee comes face to face with the girl who wants her life back in dreams and other strange experiences. Within time, Bee returns to her natural world where she belongs. Personally, this book wasn't one of my favorites. I don't really enjoy reading fantasy books where there are fairies and aliens. I think that someone who does like to read fantasy or science fiction would enjoy this book.
July 21, 2024
I haven't read Francesca Lia Block in a long time, but I don't remember her books being so bland. I'll have to hunt some down and find out what I think of them now
July 24, 2019
I randomly picked this book up at a library sale. I usually enjoy YA fantasy books. This one, however, was a let down. I could see it being a good book for a young person who is not in particular “a reader” but wants to or has to read something.
June 8, 2018
She finally managed to write a fat girl and a black girl! Not sure the autism/changeling thing turned out though.
July 22, 2010
The language is pretty, but the story is lacking. It could've been--should've been--longer in order to let the reader get a full sense of the story. Block's shorter books just don't have the same impact as her longer books and I think it's because she doesn't take the time to fully develop the characters and plot.
The sudden reference to AIDS, 9-11, the tsunami (she even mentions Petra Nemcova, the supermodel who was saved by clinging to a palm tree while her photographer boyfriend was swept out to sea) feel so random in a book that has a very sleepy, fairy tale tone. I didn't know what to make of it. I've noticed that these references, save the tsunami, appear in a lot of Block's books and I feel like she's using them too much. Like she's just randomly tossing them in, but I also get this weird sense of a political undertone. Like Block is slyly inserting her political beliefs into a YA book, but I feel like a YA book isn't necessarily the place for that. I don't know, but those references really threw me off.
The sudden reference to AIDS, 9-11, the tsunami (she even mentions Petra Nemcova, the supermodel who was saved by clinging to a palm tree while her photographer boyfriend was swept out to sea) feel so random in a book that has a very sleepy, fairy tale tone. I didn't know what to make of it. I've noticed that these references, save the tsunami, appear in a lot of Block's books and I feel like she's using them too much. Like she's just randomly tossing them in, but I also get this weird sense of a political undertone. Like Block is slyly inserting her political beliefs into a YA book, but I feel like a YA book isn't necessarily the place for that. I don't know, but those references really threw me off.
November 5, 2009
This book is a really quick read, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't pack a punch.
Using the diction we're all so familiar with from "Weetzie Bat" and other books, this novella does a really interesting take on the idea of the changeling and faeries. Is Bee just growing up and changing, or is she actually something else? All of this really resonated with me, especially because I felt the same at her age. I felt like I was something else, not right, not a human girl. Hell, I still don't quite feel like a human girl.
Reading this book is like wading in dreams. I absolutely loved it. Not my favourite of the entire Block canon, but still very good.
Using the diction we're all so familiar with from "Weetzie Bat" and other books, this novella does a really interesting take on the idea of the changeling and faeries. Is Bee just growing up and changing, or is she actually something else? All of this really resonated with me, especially because I felt the same at her age. I felt like I was something else, not right, not a human girl. Hell, I still don't quite feel like a human girl.
Reading this book is like wading in dreams. I absolutely loved it. Not my favourite of the entire Block canon, but still very good.
July 17, 2013
At 113 pages, its more like a tv commercial advertising 'hey girl, remember Francesca Lia Block, she's so cool" and then the book ends. I like how the story took place at Venice Beach and Chateau Marmont. I guess, um, yeah, thats about it. Its, tough to be 13 years old.
September 22, 2013
read this because i loved flb when i was little. i can see why. it would certainly appeal to any preteen who wanted to be different and interesting and beautiful and exciting (i.e. all of them). to me, now? just silly, overly romanticised and trivial.
February 20, 2018
Francesca Lia Block’s The Waters & The Wild is as beautiful and evocative as her other books, moving and full of longing, with a surprise bittersweet ending. The teen years are a time when belonging is essential, and the faerie/changeling metaphor is perfect to describe the despair of not-fitting-in.
Bee wakes up one morning to find her doppleganger, a look-alike who declares that she wants her life back, and promptly disappears. In her search for answers, Bee befriends a brilliant nerd Haze, who thinks he may be the progeny of aliens, and Sarah, a plump would-be starlet who sings like Billie Holiday and believes she is a reincarnated slave girl. The three new friends are powerful together and create their own tribe. They pretend to be invisible to give them the moxy to crash the popular girl’s party. Finally, Bee belongs.
Or does she? Who is the look-alike girl whose life Bee may have unknowingly stolen?
Block creates rich, dynamic characters and deftly shifts point-of-view to give voice to each of the friends. On the downside, the plot is a little thin. The ending has not been seeded well; it bears the surprise of the unexpected and not a fulfillment. Still, Block writes beautifully as always and can get away with just about anything. The occasional poem inserts contribute to the theme and tone. The optimistic resolution demonstrates that the despair of high school doesn’t last forever. This is a near-perfect book for outcasts and ‘alternative’ teens longing to belong.
Bee wakes up one morning to find her doppleganger, a look-alike who declares that she wants her life back, and promptly disappears. In her search for answers, Bee befriends a brilliant nerd Haze, who thinks he may be the progeny of aliens, and Sarah, a plump would-be starlet who sings like Billie Holiday and believes she is a reincarnated slave girl. The three new friends are powerful together and create their own tribe. They pretend to be invisible to give them the moxy to crash the popular girl’s party. Finally, Bee belongs.
Or does she? Who is the look-alike girl whose life Bee may have unknowingly stolen?
Block creates rich, dynamic characters and deftly shifts point-of-view to give voice to each of the friends. On the downside, the plot is a little thin. The ending has not been seeded well; it bears the surprise of the unexpected and not a fulfillment. Still, Block writes beautifully as always and can get away with just about anything. The occasional poem inserts contribute to the theme and tone. The optimistic resolution demonstrates that the despair of high school doesn’t last forever. This is a near-perfect book for outcasts and ‘alternative’ teens longing to belong.
January 22, 2026
Short, but lush and gorgeous story. Reminded me of something Alice Hoffman would write, both in subject matter and narrative style. I loved it.
I'll be honest. It was the title that grabbed me. I adore that poem. Something about it resonates with me. Always has. And this story did too. It centered around Bee, newly 13 and more aware than ever that she just doesn't fit in with the general populace of her peers. She's...other.
The mystery deepens one night when a girl who looks just like Bee appears in her room, demanding her life back.
Bee tries to forget about this as she befriends two other outcasts from her school, a beautiful boy who might be an Alien (as in from Space, the final frontier) and a reincarnated slave girl who can sing better than anyone on the radio. Together, they cast spells of invisibility, discover they can fly, and crash parties so they can dance until dawn.
But something is wrong with Bee. Can the mysterious look-alike hold the key?
Gorgeous story that just hit!
I'll be honest. It was the title that grabbed me. I adore that poem. Something about it resonates with me. Always has. And this story did too. It centered around Bee, newly 13 and more aware than ever that she just doesn't fit in with the general populace of her peers. She's...other.
The mystery deepens one night when a girl who looks just like Bee appears in her room, demanding her life back.
Bee tries to forget about this as she befriends two other outcasts from her school, a beautiful boy who might be an Alien (as in from Space, the final frontier) and a reincarnated slave girl who can sing better than anyone on the radio. Together, they cast spells of invisibility, discover they can fly, and crash parties so they can dance until dawn.
But something is wrong with Bee. Can the mysterious look-alike hold the key?
Gorgeous story that just hit!
May 30, 2018
do you know that feeling of climbing a set of stairs, climbing at an even, enjoyable pace so that each heave and push sends a deep ache through your thighs, muscle, and bone? and with every step you climb that feeling pools and gathers, coiling warm within you as you approach the top - a kind of buildup. that's the feeling i had reading through 3/4s of this book - a kind of slow burn of tension, right in my chest, enough to keep me going but so delicate i knew i had to take my time with it - but beyond the top of the stairs, when you go down, it's a messy descent - it's like the wind is at your back all of a sudden, pushing you to hop and trip down in random intervals until you land with a bit of a huff and a slight twisted ankle. i loved the prose, the syntax, the diction - it's an appeal to literary senses, but the characters and the ending fell short - it felt like the story could have really gone somewhere, but instead the door closed too early, too hurriedly.
February 7, 2017
"They both, in their short present lives, had known war and watched the climate change enough to threaten the earth's existence."
This is another book that I don't think I'm quite the demographic for.
Written in a YA style, this is the kind of book Francesca Lia Block writes in a very ethereal style. Prose-y and at times metaphorical or seemingly vague this distinct style carries the short story through. It's a cute light read that I imagine I would have enjoyed much more when I was younger.
Overall I was hoping for a bit more substance, but the plot was darker than I expected.
This is another book that I don't think I'm quite the demographic for.
Written in a YA style, this is the kind of book Francesca Lia Block writes in a very ethereal style. Prose-y and at times metaphorical or seemingly vague this distinct style carries the short story through. It's a cute light read that I imagine I would have enjoyed much more when I was younger.
Overall I was hoping for a bit more substance, but the plot was darker than I expected.
September 25, 2019
The Waters and the Wild: Thirteen year old Bee wakes up one night and, standing in her Venice, CA bedroom is another 13 yr old who says Bee has stolen her life and she wants it back. As Bee and her two friends bond over their similar experiences of being outsiders at school and in life, they discover that maybe the mystery girl is correct. Block’s writing is full of beautiful, lyrical, haunting prose. This is a very short book, really a novella. It’s a lovely YA urban fantasy with undertones of current events.
July 11, 2022
So let me start with- I remember liking this a lot more when I was a teenager! That being said, this could very much be why my review is the way it is.. I just couldn’t get into it. Although I do love the characters the author created.. (that is why I gave the book as many stars as I did) I feel their individual stories were just too far fetched to all fit into one high school or book? I’m not sure. I also feel like the poetry didn’t really fit too well with the story line and got confusing at parts. Again, this is just my opinion. Easy to read just not my type of read I suppose.
November 16, 2017
I never should have broken my rule of not reading anything rated below 3.75 on Goodreads. But, I liked the cover. Sigh.
This was one of those so out there books, but not in a unique, makes you think kind of way. More like a, I had to constantly re-read entire paragraphs to remember who was speaking kind of way. It was all over the place, far-fetched, and then just ended. Super strange. Random and weird, in all the worst ways.
This was one of those so out there books, but not in a unique, makes you think kind of way. More like a, I had to constantly re-read entire paragraphs to remember who was speaking kind of way. It was all over the place, far-fetched, and then just ended. Super strange. Random and weird, in all the worst ways.
September 19, 2019
A queen. A girl who sang like an angel. An alien boy quoting poetry. A double.
this was like the movie us but more dreamy than sad and horrifying. bee with her double, haze with his poetry and being an alien, stephanie/sarah with her past life. i understand it though. feeling completely disconnected from the world you're in, like you don't belong but you can't explain why. this book was beautiful. i wasn't exactly fond of the ending though.
this was like the movie us but more dreamy than sad and horrifying. bee with her double, haze with his poetry and being an alien, stephanie/sarah with her past life. i understand it though. feeling completely disconnected from the world you're in, like you don't belong but you can't explain why. this book was beautiful. i wasn't exactly fond of the ending though.
September 30, 2020
"When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. "You are me," the girl said. Then she was gone.
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back."
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back."
June 10, 2022
This book was a little confusing at first because of the lack of details but after you read more of the book everything starts to click. It’s a good mix of people with great imagination and also having to come back to real life. If you are looking for a short book to read and also like realism with a tiny bit of fantasy then I would recommend this book.
June 11, 2023
Okayyyyy. That was odd. I, um, do not exactly know what I read. It was at first a story about a quirky girl who believed in the paranormal and the planet. Then it changed (so much) to a story that basically was a sad story following creatures and poems, and in the end, it was very mysterious and vague. I am not satisfied. Where is book 2???
December 29, 2017
Despite finishing this book in less than an hour, I enjoyed the premise. As a teenager I often felt lonely and out of place and would have killed for friends like in this book, even if the relationships weren’t very developed but I didn’t expect them to be as it is written for a younger audience.
April 4, 2019
Its kinda confusing but in the end it sorta makes sense. Couldve been written better.
August 3, 2020
Usually love Block's work, but maybe I'm getting too old for it.
April 1, 2022
Strange and lovely and oh so Francesca Lia Block.
July 17, 2023
Bizarre friendships, magic realism, high school sucks even when you're magical.
November 9, 2023
Excellent. A wonderful, magical tale, a bit sad, yet beautifully told.
April 18, 2024
Quoted from FB, "I loved the book...But I didn't like the ending D:"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews