03 August 2009

Book Banter -- Fade to Blue


Title: Fade to Blue
Author: Sean Beaudoin
Genre: YA
Length: 190 pages
Plot Basics: Sophie Blue is a hardcore Goth-girl whose paranoia that somebody's out to get her might just be real. Of course, there was that time she got hit by an ice cream truck... Now, a year later, Sophie is trying to find her dad who mysteriously disappeared, motivate her comic-book loving brother and deal with her breakdown suffering mom, all while working on her Suicide-Bunny-esque drawings and nursing her crush for Aaron Agar. Sophie's paranoia isn't misplaced -- that ice cream truck is still out to get her and she got to figure out what's real and what isn't about her town and her life.
Banter Points: Fade to Blue was an interesting premise -- a little bit Matrix, a little bit Veronica Mars, a little bit Quantum Leap. It also had this unique feature of a mini comic book halfway through that was important to the plot and moving the story ahead. Also, while Word Nerd isn't always a fan of chapters leaping between different characters POV (particularly the switch between multiple first person POV), it really worked for this book. She'd say more about this, but it might get into spoiler land, so she'll refrain.
Bummer Points: As a whole though, Fade to Blue just didn't work for Word Nerd. There could be lots of reasons -- she was reading it outside while staffing a golf outing, she was put off by the f-bombs (not expecting those) and the snarkiness of the characters, the cast of high school student characters felt stereotypical, Word Nerd's not a teenager, she was getting sunburned while reading it outside at a golf outing... Whatever the case, Word Nerd was disappointed that she was disappointed. The book looks cool, it's got neat plot twists, but Word Nerd just wasn't captivated by it.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you are a teen reader and you're done with Gossip Girl and over Twilight, Beaudoin's story is original and worth an afternoon if you like sci-fi. Grown-ups, this a YA that doesn't cross over well.

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