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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received a copy free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book is a tough call for me. I work with teens and it is very true to problems facing them today but it is certainly not an example I would want them to follow.
At first blush Blaze seems to be a bit more mature than teens around her, she definitely has more responsibility. But she falls into typical teen traps when crushing on a boy. She also has terrible friends! With friends like hers who needs enemies!
She also makes really bad decisions!! Peer pressure is a major factor! I am not so sure my teens would exactly how bad some of her life choices are, i.e sex without a condom. In this day an age it is seriously dangerous!
The bullying was very true to life, especially the social media angle. I was also annoyed by Blaze's attitude most of the book. It was a interesting story and I really wish it could have been a bit more responsible.
I would be interested in my teen book club reading this book ad having a discussion after to see their opinions. As they are the real target audience.
Cover Art - Really awesome and made me want to read it right away!
This book is a tough call for me. I work with teens and it is very true to problems facing them today but it is certainly not an example I would want them to follow.
At first blush Blaze seems to be a bit more mature than teens around her, she definitely has more responsibility. But she falls into typical teen traps when crushing on a boy. She also has terrible friends! With friends like hers who needs enemies!
She also makes really bad decisions!! Peer pressure is a major factor! I am not so sure my teens would exactly how bad some of her life choices are, i.e sex without a condom. In this day an age it is seriously dangerous!
The bullying was very true to life, especially the social media angle. I was also annoyed by Blaze's attitude most of the book. It was a interesting story and I really wish it could have been a bit more responsible.
I would be interested in my teen book club reading this book ad having a discussion after to see their opinions. As they are the real target audience.
Cover Art - Really awesome and made me want to read it right away!
Blaze is a total comic book fanatic. She reads them and draws them. She even has her own superhero persona, the Blazing Goddess; complete with her very own nemesis.
Mark is her brother’s soccer coach and the boy she’s been crushing on forever. One day, after her brother’s game, Mark asks for a ride home in the “superturd”, Blaze’s crap colored van. It didn’t take long for Blaze and Mark to become an official couple.
Amanda, Blaze’s BFF, takes a provocative picture of her with her cell and sends it to Mark before Blaze can stop her. Mark leaks the photo to the internet, betraying Blaze to the max. But Blaze finds her own way to get back at Mark. She releases a comic about the player he really is, Mark the Shark.
I really enjoyed reading this advanced copy of Blaze. Though I didn’t find much in common with this lead character, her situations were realistic and very relatable to my life in middle school. Since my copy was only an ARC, I can’t wait to see how the author adds her personal illustrations throughout. I have certainly created some interest in Blaze with my group of friends. I see this being a very successful book.
Mark is her brother’s soccer coach and the boy she’s been crushing on forever. One day, after her brother’s game, Mark asks for a ride home in the “superturd”, Blaze’s crap colored van. It didn’t take long for Blaze and Mark to become an official couple.
Amanda, Blaze’s BFF, takes a provocative picture of her with her cell and sends it to Mark before Blaze can stop her. Mark leaks the photo to the internet, betraying Blaze to the max. But Blaze finds her own way to get back at Mark. She releases a comic about the player he really is, Mark the Shark.
I really enjoyed reading this advanced copy of Blaze. Though I didn’t find much in common with this lead character, her situations were realistic and very relatable to my life in middle school. Since my copy was only an ARC, I can’t wait to see how the author adds her personal illustrations throughout. I have certainly created some interest in Blaze with my group of friends. I see this being a very successful book.
What I thought: Wow, this book was definitely not what I expected, but in such a good way. I absolutely loved Blaze's character. She's just a geeky, comic-loving girl who doesn't know the first thing about boys- and it bites her in the backside. Blaze is witty, dorky and completely blind to what's going on around her. Sure, she has snagged the attention of the hot-guy Mark, but does a quickie in the back of a mini-van sound like a good idea? Not really. However the consequences and the chain of events that follow are the best bit about this story. Blaze learns, fights and even has a break-down or two. In the end, you just can't help loving her, and cheering her on.
Blaze's little brother Josh and his horde of 'cretin' friends just add to the atmosphere, and give this book something different. These four thirteen-year old's give Blaze the support and help she needs, rather than her two friends who don't really seem to be much use at all, if only to make things worse. You know Mark is a snake (or shark!) from the beginning so I never really had much love for him, although I was definitely on Team Quentin!
Blaze is a typical high-school story surrounded by a fresh and exciting overlay of comics and superheroes. We all want to find our place in the world and of course, learn to fly. I highly recommend this to all readers!
The Good: I love the geeky-ness that explodes in this novel - it calls out to me as a fellow geek!
The Bad: I didn't really like the whole way Blaze got herself into this mess, and half-way through I considered giving the book the flick, because Blaze was acting so pathetic, it made me want to tear out my eyes.
Rating: 4 bookstacks
Blaze's little brother Josh and his horde of 'cretin' friends just add to the atmosphere, and give this book something different. These four thirteen-year old's give Blaze the support and help she needs, rather than her two friends who don't really seem to be much use at all, if only to make things worse. You know Mark is a snake (or shark!) from the beginning so I never really had much love for him, although I was definitely on Team Quentin!
Blaze is a typical high-school story surrounded by a fresh and exciting overlay of comics and superheroes. We all want to find our place in the world and of course, learn to fly. I highly recommend this to all readers!
The Good: I love the geeky-ness that explodes in this novel - it calls out to me as a fellow geek!
The Bad: I didn't really like the whole way Blaze got herself into this mess, and half-way through I considered giving the book the flick, because Blaze was acting so pathetic, it made me want to tear out my eyes.
Rating: 4 bookstacks
I really enjoyed this book! i have never read a fiction book which features superheros and comics! i will definatley picking up more books like this. Blaze was such a fun and lovable character. she was a nerd which allows us all to relate to her easier and is very care caring for her family. she has also never had a real relationship before which allowed me to relate to her more which was a bonus. she has a very close relationship with her brother and will do anything to help him out. i love seeing their bond throughout the book and how it was tested but still stayed strong.
This book dealt with alot of issues that teens go through nowadays and i feel that this book handled them ok but could have handled them a little bit better because of the outcomes.
I gave this book a 4 stars because of some of the issues and how they were dealt and also there was one character who by the end of the book i wanted to kill myself as i got so annoyed and angry with them!
This book dealt with alot of issues that teens go through nowadays and i feel that this book handled them ok but could have handled them a little bit better because of the outcomes.
I gave this book a 4 stars because of some of the issues and how they were dealt and also there was one character who by the end of the book i wanted to kill myself as i got so annoyed and angry with them!
The author of Blaze is Laurie Boyle Crompton. The genre of this book is Realistic fiction and the main character is Blaze. The setting is in present day. Blaze wishes that her invisibility power were to just fade away and maybe get noticed by her little brother's cute soccer coach, Mark. When her invisibility does disappear, though, her whole entire flips upside down and ZAP, her wish has come true in the worst way possible. Does invisibility sound pretty good now? I rated this book FIVE stars because Blaze is such a geeky girl but figures out how to get through life.
Comics and superheroes are not my thing, however I am glad they did not deter me from reading Compton's novel, Blaze. I instantly enjoyed the snarky, quick wit of the protagonist Blaze. The characters were well developed and completely believable. Josh and his friends will keep you chuckling; the banter between Blaze and Ajay had me in stitches. I seemed to be fairly vocal while I read, which is completely out of character for me, but there was out loud laughter, groans, and several cheers of: "You go girl." Blaze was a quick read and one that I will recommend. I am looking forward to more by Laurie Boyle Crompton.
Remember when you were 17 and the world revolved around you and your problems? Yeah, that's this book. Blaze is 17. She obsesses about her crush. He turns out to be not a nice guy. It happens. Shit hits the fan with her friends. It happens. Being a teenager sucks. It happens. You grow up. You realize that the dorky quiet guy is the better person anyways. Add in a humorous, hormonal teenage Greek Chorus, and it's an enjoyable read.
In attempting to tackle slut-shaming, this story ends up reinforcing it -- and just about every tired stereotype there is about teenage boys, teenage girls, deadbeat fathers and single mothers.
The knowledge about comics put into the story is extensive and the enthusiasm the character has for art is appealing, but that doesn't make up for the story's superficial handling of the serious subject it chose to tackle. At the end of they day, the girls accused of being sluts aren't sluts, not because there's nothing wrong with girls being sexual, but because they were either virgins or duped/manipulated by guys, which ends up reinforcing the idea that there really are sluts in the world.
You know -- the girls who want to have casual sex, who may even actually like casual sex, and who end up "being what they're accused of", as one woman put it near the climax of the book.
On behalf of every girl who ever had a great time exploring her sexuality without buying into the attitude that it makes her a slut, I give this book the finger.
You know which one I mean. ~~~
The knowledge about comics put into the story is extensive and the enthusiasm the character has for art is appealing, but that doesn't make up for the story's superficial handling of the serious subject it chose to tackle. At the end of they day, the girls accused of being sluts aren't sluts, not because there's nothing wrong with girls being sexual, but because they were either virgins or duped/manipulated by guys, which ends up reinforcing the idea that there really are sluts in the world.
You know -- the girls who want to have casual sex, who may even actually like casual sex, and who end up "being what they're accused of", as one woman put it near the climax of the book.
On behalf of every girl who ever had a great time exploring her sexuality without buying into the attitude that it makes her a slut, I give this book the finger.
You know which one I mean. ~~~
BLAZE has its feminist heart in the right place: seventeen-year-old narrator Blaze, a comic book aficionado, plots revenge on a love 'em and leave 'em boy who slept with her one time by creating "The Blazing Goddess vs. Mark the Shark" and distributing it via the Internet. Alas, Mark isn't willing to accept his comeuppance, and proceeds to make Blaze anathema by posting a photo of half-naked Blaze in turn.
Blaze makes about a zillion bad decisions (such as ignoring the warnings of her younger brother about Mark and his womanizing; allowing Mark to have sex with her, without her really ever consenting; allowing Mark to have sex with her without using ANY birth control; publishing her revenge comic when she knows Mark the incriminating photo, etc. etc.). An accomplished writer might have been able to make readers feel sympathy for such a misguided character, despite the poor choices she makes (or perhaps even because of them). But new author Crompton isn't quite skilled enough to convince us that Blaze isn't simply TSTL (in romance novel parlance, too stupid to live).
ARC courtesy of Netgalley
Blaze makes about a zillion bad decisions (such as ignoring the warnings of her younger brother about Mark and his womanizing; allowing Mark to have sex with her, without her really ever consenting; allowing Mark to have sex with her without using ANY birth control; publishing her revenge comic when she knows Mark the incriminating photo, etc. etc.). An accomplished writer might have been able to make readers feel sympathy for such a misguided character, despite the poor choices she makes (or perhaps even because of them). But new author Crompton isn't quite skilled enough to convince us that Blaze isn't simply TSTL (in romance novel parlance, too stupid to live).
ARC courtesy of Netgalley