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heather4994 's review for:
Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains)
by Laurie Boyle Crompton
Okay, no doubt about it, you must read this if you enjoy contemporary coming of age stories. It's humorous, uplifting, heartbreaking and triumphant all in the same book. Blaze is a girl that has had to grow up faster than the rest of her friends with the disappearance of her father to NYC to pursue his acting career. Being left to be the only breadwinner, Blaze's mother works as a physician's assistant in the ER and Blaze becomes the soccer mom and all around errand runner, chauffeur to her brother Josh's friends and chief cook of burned casseroles. It's no wonder when Mark, cute soccer coach of Josh's team shows some interest, Blaze dreams of a life of her own, one that doesn't involve prepubescent boys and Superturd, her brown mini van. But, when she gets a little taste of the life, she finds she might be in over her head.
As Blaze's life spins out of control, she finds herself turning more to her comics and creating The Blazing Goddess vs. Mark the Shark, to get her revenge against Mark. Her brother tried to warn her but...
Here is what I love about this book, besides the fabulous plot. Blaze does not care that she has to haul around four 13 yr old boys who are alternately obsessed with her boobs, farting, food and Nintendo. She is protective of them, as much as any mother would be and they play goofy games like Cows in the car. In return, the boys are just as protective of her, especially her brother, Josh.
Mom is a bit absent- she's lost her husband to his dreams, thinking he would come back after only a few months. Instead it's been years and life has been hard on her. But she doesn't realize the toll it's taken on Blaze. Until she finds out the mess Blaze is in and realizes she has been more than relying on Blaze. But its not just Mom, Dad's mother MeMa bashes him every chance she gets and whenever they visit it's like a slamfest on her Dad, something Blaze just can't take because she still sees the fun dad, the good times, the guy in the family portrait before things fell apart.
It takes a unplanned trip to comic con, four well meaning 13 yr olds and two caring truckers to help Blaze see her way out of the mess she's in and see her father for what he really is, a poor excuse for a dad. I absolutely love the relationship between brother and sister, how she seems to be taking care of him and then all of a sudden he seems wiser than her. I love his friends much more than hers. And mom, who for all her faults, loves her kids and is just stuck. Blaze definitely grows up in this novel for mature readers and shares her wit and knowledge about comics with us as she does.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing an E-ARC through NetGalley for review. This in no way influenced my review nor was I compensated for my review in any way.
As Blaze's life spins out of control, she finds herself turning more to her comics and creating The Blazing Goddess vs. Mark the Shark, to get her revenge against Mark. Her brother tried to warn her but...
Here is what I love about this book, besides the fabulous plot. Blaze does not care that she has to haul around four 13 yr old boys who are alternately obsessed with her boobs, farting, food and Nintendo. She is protective of them, as much as any mother would be and they play goofy games like Cows in the car. In return, the boys are just as protective of her, especially her brother, Josh.
Mom is a bit absent- she's lost her husband to his dreams, thinking he would come back after only a few months. Instead it's been years and life has been hard on her. But she doesn't realize the toll it's taken on Blaze. Until she finds out the mess Blaze is in and realizes she has been more than relying on Blaze. But its not just Mom, Dad's mother MeMa bashes him every chance she gets and whenever they visit it's like a slamfest on her Dad, something Blaze just can't take because she still sees the fun dad, the good times, the guy in the family portrait before things fell apart.
It takes a unplanned trip to comic con, four well meaning 13 yr olds and two caring truckers to help Blaze see her way out of the mess she's in and see her father for what he really is, a poor excuse for a dad. I absolutely love the relationship between brother and sister, how she seems to be taking care of him and then all of a sudden he seems wiser than her. I love his friends much more than hers. And mom, who for all her faults, loves her kids and is just stuck. Blaze definitely grows up in this novel for mature readers and shares her wit and knowledge about comics with us as she does.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing an E-ARC through NetGalley for review. This in no way influenced my review nor was I compensated for my review in any way.