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A review by poachedeggs
Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar
4.0
I read this in the Blue Mountains/Sydney, after doing the Bondi to Bronte part of the walk that is actually supposed to span Bondi to Coogee. I saw the mad surfers walking barefoot across the road to get food after catching some waves; some not even in wetsuits even though the weather is currently just barely spring-like. I read Kirsty Eagar's book partly to understand this obsession, partly because Australian YA fare is so exciting right now, and partly because I am now in this fascinating place with weird plants, and amongst people whose casualness, graciousness and (rare) offhand outbursts of racism I am seeing a bit more closely than the first time I visited Australia (Melbourne) for a whirlwind work-trip in 2008.
I think Raw Blue fills a vital niche in the 17-22-year-old YA market: Carly is 19 and Ryan is 26, and the former has dropped out of university to work a part-time job as a cook in a cafe while the latter has a somewhat colourful past... The secondary characters are quirky to the point of being rather bizarre - the Dutch roommate who keeps saying 'Go vaginas', the Eurasian boy Danny who has synesthesia (the second time I've heard of this - the very first was, strangely, when I found [b:A Mango-Shaped Space|171020|A Mango-Shaped Space|Wendy Mass|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172384853s/171020.jpg|165142] (I forget how) on goodreads - while they are interesting, however, the motivations for their actions are rather unbelievable to me (why would Danny be so compelled to hang around Carly?). I think the novel is a great one but for these slight inconsistencies.
I think Raw Blue fills a vital niche in the 17-22-year-old YA market: Carly is 19 and Ryan is 26, and the former has dropped out of university to work a part-time job as a cook in a cafe while the latter has a somewhat colourful past... The secondary characters are quirky to the point of being rather bizarre - the Dutch roommate who keeps saying 'Go vaginas', the Eurasian boy Danny who has synesthesia (the second time I've heard of this - the very first was, strangely, when I found [b:A Mango-Shaped Space|171020|A Mango-Shaped Space|Wendy Mass|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172384853s/171020.jpg|165142] (I forget how) on goodreads - while they are interesting, however, the motivations for their actions are rather unbelievable to me (why would Danny be so compelled to hang around Carly?). I think the novel is a great one but for these slight inconsistencies.