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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
I love Witch Baby and am happy to read anything about her. She is one of my favorite characters. I thought the lesson about letting go of the people and things we love most in order to let them come back to us was beautifully illustrated. And as always she ties in the ever powerful lesson about always remaining true to yourself.
It's taken me a while to get into the series and each book has been better than the previous; this is my favorite so far.
Haunting, magical, romantic, and simultaneously out-of-control and calmly sane, Missing Angel Juan tells the story of Witch Baby, a young woman distraught when her boyfriend -- and love of her life -- Angel Juan leaves for New York City to explore his music and himself... alone. Witch Baby -- Niña-Bruja -- pursues Angel Juan to New York City, where she meets the ghost of her grandfather, two helpful gay men, and a soul-stealing mannequin named Cake. Along the way, she learns the truth of the cliche "if you love something, set it free" and realizes that two independent people can love each other much more powerfully than two whom are dependent on one another.
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Francesca Lia Block has ruined me. She tells a powerful story packed with numerous memorable scenes and beautifully lyrical language in 138 pages -- something I find most modern-day authors I've tried cannot do in 300+. This story is both foolishly juvenile -- as we all are as teens -- and devastatingly mature, something we (or at least I) can only hope to be.
Near the novel's climax, Witch Baby comes to the following realization about "soul-mates", which is so carefully and lovingly worded, it really affected me (edited for length by me): "Then you meet and you think, okay, now we can just get on with it. [...] They feel like you don't really love them but the idea of them, the dream you've had since you were a kid. [...] Which doesn't mean they're not the one. It just means you've got to do whatever you have to do for you alone. You've got to believe in your magic and face right up to the mean nasty part of yourself that wants to keep the one you love locked up in a place in you where no one else can touch them or even see them. Just the way when somebody you love dies you don't stop loving them but you don't lock up their souls inside you. You turn that love into something else, give it to somebody else. And sometimes in a weird way when you do that you get closer than ever to the person who died tor the one your soul married."
This is my favorite YA novel -- and maybe one of my new favorite books ever. The YA bar is a pretty low one (aside from the recent Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue), but this book will be hard to top.
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Francesca Lia Block has ruined me. She tells a powerful story packed with numerous memorable scenes and beautifully lyrical language in 138 pages -- something I find most modern-day authors I've tried cannot do in 300+. This story is both foolishly juvenile -- as we all are as teens -- and devastatingly mature, something we (or at least I) can only hope to be.
Near the novel's climax, Witch Baby comes to the following realization about "soul-mates", which is so carefully and lovingly worded, it really affected me (edited for length by me): "Then you meet and you think, okay, now we can just get on with it. [...] They feel like you don't really love them but the idea of them, the dream you've had since you were a kid. [...] Which doesn't mean they're not the one. It just means you've got to do whatever you have to do for you alone. You've got to believe in your magic and face right up to the mean nasty part of yourself that wants to keep the one you love locked up in a place in you where no one else can touch them or even see them. Just the way when somebody you love dies you don't stop loving them but you don't lock up their souls inside you. You turn that love into something else, give it to somebody else. And sometimes in a weird way when you do that you get closer than ever to the person who died tor the one your soul married."
This is my favorite YA novel -- and maybe one of my new favorite books ever. The YA bar is a pretty low one (aside from the recent Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue), but this book will be hard to top.
This amazingly lyrical, whimsical tale is my favorite of the Weetzie Bat books and one of my favorite stories of all time.
4.5 stars. Witch Baby trails Angel Juan to New York, and finds Charlie Bat's empty apartment and lonely ghost. This is my favorite book in the series. Witch Baby is the best character, of course, and the switch into her first person is beautiful--a coming-of-age story about holding on and letting go which is well-suited to her prickly personality. I like Block's New York and the textural contrast it offers to LA; diversity is a running theme in this series (albeit imperfectly rendered) and it's in joyful profusion here. I'm a sucker for a Jewish backstory. Beautiful, brokenhearted, evocative; the antagonist I find less necessary, but that's a minor part.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i love this series sm. this is my favorite weetzie bat since book 1.
I really connected with the characters in this story.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No