Customer Reviews

NECKLACE OF KISSES: A NOVEL

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans of Weetzie and friends from the early 1990's will love seeing them all again facing modern issues. Secret Agent Lover Man has been depressed since seeing the twin towers burn, and there are no more kisses in the marriage, so Weetzie sets out to the pink hotel of her high school prom to find some magic. Her adventures are a delight to the senses, filled with exotic people, foods, tastes, jewels, and Weetzie's bright sense of fashion.

Everyone who loved the first magical world of Weetzie will not be disappointed. She has matured, and she deals with modern issues (including dishing about Botox), but her adventures are every bit as magical as before. I admire Block for creating a middle-aged heroine who is just as snazzy as she was in her 20's. Block also brings us back to the music Weetzie grew up on, which is a fun romp down memory lane.

Witch Baby really comes into her own in this novel, and in a reading by author Block to promote this book, she hinted that she was feeling there was more to the Witch Baby story, and another book might be forthcoming.

How comforting to know how Weetzie and her family are doing! I thought this book was excellent. I read it quickly, telling my husband to shut up when he tried to interupt.

Some of the reviews mentioned the 9/11 thing was a little heavy but I didn't get that, it was mentioned once- and Max always was a little intense.

God, I hope there's more!

I loved Weetzie before, but now... Wow!

I was surprised to find that this book had almost slipped me by. I am usually up to speed on her books. This book was just as amazing and magical as all her Weetzie Bat books. At 26, I was just as enthralled as when I discovered Block's books over 10 years ago. In fact, her mid-life crisis kind of mirrored what I am going through now faced with growing older. I loved it.

I am obsessed with Francesca Lia Block. As a 16 year old, I feel like I can really relate to her stories. I have read all of her books and the Dangerous Angels series is one of my favorites, so I was skeptical upon reading this book because Weetzie is all grown up. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise. This book still has all the magic of her others, and is interesting in a different way. I enjoyed catching up with Weetzie, Witch Baby, Cherokee, etc. so many years later. My only complaint is that her style in this book was slightly different, but I guess it had to be because times had changed for Weetzie. The book also made me a bit depressed about getting older. Regardless, I really enjoyed the book and will read it many times again. A definite read.

I've read the series and this book which catches up with Weetzie is the best, maybe so because she is "current" with us today - all of us who have gone on with life and family and miss a little bit of the freedom and wildness of earlier years. There is much magic in this story. I tried to slow myself down and savor it, but I couldn't. In two days it was done - and I work full-time, too! Dive in and enjoy the mystery of her life......

From the minute the UPS man delivered my book last week I was glued to the pages eating up every word of Weetzie's trip out of the cottage. I loved it so much and feel as though I actually was right there with her on her journey of love. The characters, scenery and images that Francesca Lia Block has woven into this take are as always, breathtaking and sparkling with love and light. I feel maybe there is something left unrevealed though, possibly concerning Witch Baby and her quest to find what she is looking for. Reading this book was like going to a reunion. All the characters we know and love are there as well as some new additions who OF COURSE we fall head over heels in love with. (H.D., Pan, and many others...I won't spoil it!!) Also this story's take on fashion brings to mind an essay that FLB wrote in Fresh Yarn about punk fashion, and couture coming together in different phases of our life. I love that FLB can write about bands we loved so much that we, as well as Weetzie, and FLB also saw and loved while growing up. It makes me shiver and get that feeling, like when you hear music that will eventually come to change your life. As a mother I love how Weetzie wishes love and happiness for her daughter's and once again see how FLB brings such a great sense of alternative motherhood into this story. I know that I am always looking for other mom's who are into different music and different clothes and FLB has embodied Weetzie as just this sort of mom, which coincedently FLB is as well.

I just adored this book, I devoured it in an hour and can't wait to see where Weetzie and FLB will go next. Aren't we expecting another FLB in October? Or is that 2006...the sooner, the better. This is one magical author, woman, mother and goddess.

I really love this book, and it just might be my favorite of all Francesca's books. I think her stories transcend age and touch something in everyone. They really take you some place else, some place magical. This book for me was no exception. A very personal journey into the heart and mind of heroine/fairy Weetzie Bat. A mid-life crisis coming of age in Los Angeles fairy tale, this book really makes you feel like you're right there with Weetzie in the pink hotel with all of the other more than memorable characters. A must read for Francesca Lia Block fans.

Weetzie Bat is an adult now--just turned forty, with her children in college, and her relationship with her secret agent lover man Max falling apart, Weetzie packs a suitcase, leaves her cottage, and moves to a hotel--an unusual hotel, where she meets a blue receptionist, a room-service faun, and an invisible cleaning lady, among all of the equally unusual guests. She plans to stay there until she rediscovers kisses: the passion, goodness, and love in her life. Continuing the wonderful YA series of Weetzie Bat books in a new adult text, Block writes in her usual style, creating a magical, authentic, and truly approachable, enjoyable text. The setting is fantastic, the writing is at the same time straightforward and quirky, and the characters are vivid and their lessons learned are meaningful. This is a fitting sequel to the Weetzie Bat series but aptly modified for a more mature audience, and a wonderful, meaningful, and ultimately uplifting read. I highly recommend it.

The Weetzie Bat books are young adult classics--magical, enchanting, and in many ways uniquely realistic. To my great pleasure, I found Necklace of Kisses to be an apt adult continuation of the series--it preserves both the magic and the enchanting atmosphere of the YA books, and (while many of the issues in the YA books are mature), deals with more adult topics in a similarly honest, respectful fashion. The original Weetzie Bat series may be YA fiction, but it is a worthwhile read for all age groups; I'm pleased that this novel continues the series in a way that is authentic to the original texts yet still modified to speak and appeal to a more mature audience. In fewer words: if you loved the original Weetzie Bat books and are interested in reading a more mature version, then you will enjoy Necklace of Kisses.

Beyond anything, Block's writing style is magical, transporting both characters and readers to a world that is increasingly delightful and vivid. Don't let the unusual cast of characters fool you: the story is actually all the more realistic and meaningful for for its fantastic elements. Block's visual writing style and fantastic setting and characters make the experiences and messages in the book magical (and so more engrossing and more enjoyable to read) and also more vivid (and so stronger and more meaningful). The otherworldliness gives Weetzie's journey an ethereal, universal sense without ever becoming obvious or preachy. This is a delightful book and easy to get lost in, and Weetzie's journey and the conclusions she comes to are satisfying and meaningful. It is an intensely original coming-of-middle-age novel, and Block storytelling and writing is exceptional.

There are a few minor issues with this book (I found some of the characters unappealing, some of the plot points are predictable, not all of the life lessons are meaningful to all readers), but those issues are minor in comparison to the greatness of the overall text. It may not be perfect, but Necklace of Kisses is wonderful. It's a respectful and authentic continuation of the series, it is well adapted to an increasingly mature audience, and Block's writing style excels here, engrossing the reader in Weetzie's magical world and bringing her new knowledge to life. I was delighted by this book, truly glad to have picked it up, and I highly recommend it. It is wonderful.

A friend gave me a copy of "Weetzie Bat" in the late 90's and told me I must read it because I was very much Weetzie. Unsure what she meant, I took the book and devoured it in one brief sitting. Since then, I've read all the books in the "Dangerous Angels" series, as well as other non-Weetzie titles, and go back to them often. Block's word pictures and fantasy scapes thrill me to no end. Her imagery moves me.

I recently purchased "Necklace of Kisses" and was totally blown away by this book. After recently turning 40 myself, I found I could relate to Weetzie's search for self at the beginning of midlife. This book reinforced the truth that life doesn't end at 40...in some ways, it begins anew.

To anyone contemplating this book (especially those hip New Wave/punk grrls from the 80's who are turning 40 soon) please take a chance on it. It will show you that you can still be you as you are, no matter what age you may be.

Here's to the Weetzie in us all!

I started my journey with FLB through her books for teens so I was overjoyed and surprised a few pages into Necklace...it has all the magic of the Weetzie Bat books as it is a continuation of the legend. How does one keep that magic when she beyond the age of the magical decades of 20's and 30's??? It is well illustrated here...the magic is all around us...read and be enchanted.