The Blue Girl

Marvelous

This was my first Charles de Lint book but is not my last. These characters are awsome. It was great the way Imogene didn't need anyone's help because she could take care of herself. De Lint's imagination is incredible. You have to read this book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I want to read everything he's written

Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors although my constantly writing Derek de Lint instead of Charles de Lint might lead you to think otherwise. He has been one of my top authors for a few years already based solely on the awesomeness that is "The Blue Girl."

I want to read everything he's written, no easy task because he's written a lot, but so far have only polished off two books from his oeuvre (this one and "Little (Grrl) Lost"). Both, coincidentally, have been exceptional enough that they rate as Chick Lit Wednesday books.

Like many of De Lint's books, this novel is set in Newford and firmly grounded in the urban fantasy genre with which he is so often associated. The story opens with the heading "Now" as Imogen describes a nightly ritual, perhaps dream or perhaps reality, that occurs in her bedroom:

It starts with this faint sound that pulls me out of sleep: a sort of calliope music played on an ensemble of toy instruments. You know, as though there's a raggedy orchestra playing quietly in some hidden corner of my bedroom, like the echo of a Tom Waits song heard through the walls from the apartment next door. Rinky-dink piano, tinny horns and kazoos, miniature guitars with plastic strings, weird percussion.

It ends with the appearance of creepy characters parading out of Imogen's closet, "patchwork creatures made out of words and rags and twigs, of bits of wool and fur, skin and bone", followed by Pell-mell the imaginary friend Imogen gave up on years ago now made scary by the intevening years. When Pelly reaches for Imogen's comforter saying, "I've missed you sideways," is it something sinister or an endearment? Only time will tell.

In order to explain how Imogen's now got so weird, De Lint works backward looking at Imogen's past. Specifically, the next section of the book is called "Then" and begins right after Imogen moves to Newford with her mother and Jared, her brother. (The book alternates between "Now" and "Then" segments of varying length until the two points in time converge about a third of the way in.)

As astute readers may have guessed, Imogen is the star of the novel and the "blue girl" mentioned in the title. The fantastic cover art by Cliff Nielsen, incidentally, is exactly how I would have imagined Imogen myself. Anyway, before moving to Newford, Imogen was not the quirky character readers will come to know and love. She has a past that she's trying to leave behind, except for the being tough part--that stays. Imogen, in a Stargirl-esque manner, likes to reinvent herself. As part of her reinvention, Imogen decides she needs a new friend who turns out to be Maxine, whether she likes it or not. Maxine is everything Imogen is not--geeky, bookish, and meek--she is also everything Imogen needs in a friend (and vice versa).

Add to the equation: Adrian, a lonely ghost who spends his time avoiding angels; the aforementioned imaginary friend, and a group of nasty fairies and you have all the makings of a plot rife with action and suspense.

At the same time, De Lint's text here is rich. Sometimes "rich" is a euphemism for "dense" but not in this case. The prose is evocative, creating not only a strong sense of place within the story but also helping readers to actually know each of the characters. The writing never seems excessively long, rather De Lint manages to make each bit of

Exciting!

Imogene is that bold punk girl I wished I could have been as a teen. She kicks-ass and takes names, even if it's just hanging out with her best friend, Maxine. From Maxine to her mother, all who surround Imogene are fantastic characters; de Lint switches points between Imogene, Maxine, and Adrian easily.

This isn't one of those love story YA novels, so that might put some off, but I urge you to try this book on for size. The fact that it's fifteenth in a series doesn't detract from it at all. In fact, I didn't learn about it until I did this review!

Ehh.

Well a friend of mine recommended this book to me so I started reading it. It was an ok book, but not good enough for me to even finish it. I just didn't care enough about the story or the characters for it to matter what happened to them. I usually finish all of my books but just couldn't get through this one. I did try to give it a chance, in fact I read over half of it, but throughout the whole story nothing really grabbed me. I do like reading fantasy so this was a disapointment to me. Can't really recommend it.

great book

i found this book on a website and it seemed really interesting. ive never read a fantasty book before so i had some doubts. the cover let me first say is beautiful. the actual book was very well written and catches your interest in the first page. if your loooking for a book based on reality then this is not the book for you. but if your looking for a story about fairies, ghosts, and the unexplained, then this is the book for you. the main character, Imogene, is very edgy and likable. I would definetly recomend this book and now since reading this i have purchased anither Charles De Lint book.

I loved this bookkk!!!! C:

This book was extremely good! I like Pelly! i want one! I would read this again!

De lint-

This was actually the only book by De Lint that I've really been intrigued by. I read the new one Dingo and it was o.kay.

The Blue Girl's got her own charm though. De Lint has a thick writing style that kind of makes you work at it when you read, but this one was pretty good.

wooow!

i loved this book i recommend it to anyone. i first wasn't sure but i guess i should not have judged a book by its cover(literally).

So Good

i completely loved this book. it was amazing. the characters were fun and easy to relate to even though the story still gave you that fantasy feeling. really amazing. the only problem with it was the cover. thats the only reason i didn't give it a 5. not because i had a problem with it it was just that i had to hide it from my mom. :'

cant find a right word for it... its just great!!!

this book has been the first book that i've read in 3 years!!! it really caught my attention and hit my heart. i loved the ending.. so much i ran some teers. i really recommend this book. it has its tragedies, adventures, and romance.

A reviewer

I found this book creative, witty, and I could easily relate to the main charactor, I loved it! I read this book about a year ago and I have been dying to read it again, I read the book over the course of one day, it sucked me in after the first five or so pages!

Obviously, great.

This book was amazing & if you didn't like it then you're obviously lacking some serious brain cells. Imogene is amazing. The descriptions are amazing. The book is amazing. Read it.

awesome!

it kept me up at night..that reason alone should make you wanna read it

i like this book

this book is good so far but all the bad words are not

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ughh

I really found it hard to get into the book, because the characters weren't real enough to me anyways. I felt that it was really almost fake. I just didnt find it good. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone actually. I just thought it was dull and that many parts of the story could've been edited out then maybe the story would've been better. But still the climax of the story where Imogene and Maxine face the 'soul eaters' it was basicly telling these teenage girls saying 'Dont come near me.' and they backed off. I also thought how everyone reacted to Imogenes' story was unrealistic I mean who would be that accepting.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

great

this book is truelly captivating it pulls together an urban feel and mythology that will push your limits. though many people think it is a difficult read but once i got into it and understood the rules of the book i could read it just fine

Em...?

I did not like this book at all. I felt that the characters, paricuarily Imogene were just characatures of real teenagers. They just didn't seem REAL. I felt like Charles de Lint just saw a girl in his head and didn't make her three dimensional, instead she still lies in the ground of two-D. Poor, imogene. The mythology part was great, but the teen element of the book is lacking. Charles de Lint? Hello? Do you know any teenagers?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Such a great book that I find myself wishing to live in their world!

I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was such a captivating read. I would recommend it for anybody of any age range. It's not a terribly hard-to-read book, however the story is captivating for everyone -- even people that feel the book seems to 'childish.' Unlike the mood the book cover gives off, this book is not depressing at all, it's inspirational, uplifting, and amazing. I constantly find myself wishing to be a part of their world.

WOW

This book was marvolous. I loved it. It had a sensitive side, with action and what seems like a lot of our child hood nightmares. I can very much relate to Imogene, but then again I think there is some of her in all of us.

i loved it

i read a lot of books and this one was really good. i liked how the book seemed real eventhough it was fantasy.