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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
"Fade to Blue" Won't Fade Away
Sean Beaudoin's "Fade to Blue" stays in your mind long after the last page is turned. And those pages turn increasingly fast as the reader gets enthralled by the misadventures of Sophie Blue, the novel's adorable goth (not an oxymoron in this case) heroine.
Like its main character, the book combines humor and menace. You may not understand all the plot twists, but...
Published 11 months ago by Maria Behan
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
I Didn't Know What To Make of It
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of this book. Fade to Blue is an off-beat, confusing read, and I'm pretty sure it's meant to be. Parts of the story find Sophie and Kenny questioning their sanity, and as I read this, I found myself wondering if I was going crazy, as well. The book is that difficult to follow, but at the same time I found myself wanting to find out just...
Published 12 months ago by Melissa B. Owens
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
"Fade to Blue" Won't Fade Away, September 15, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
Sean Beaudoin's "Fade to Blue" stays in your mind long after the last page is turned. And those pages turn increasingly fast as the reader gets enthralled by the misadventures of Sophie Blue, the novel's adorable goth (not an oxymoron in this case) heroine.
Like its main character, the book combines humor and menace. You may not understand all the plot twists, but you likely won't care, since you'll be caught up in the thrill ride the author provides with bizarre characters, irreverent wit, and clever (and sometimes audacious) pop culture references. Despite all the sizzle, "Fade to Blue" delivers real substance, too: Both the teenage protagonists and the adults who make up the supporting cast are rendered with insight and humanity.
This book works on many levels and will appeal to audiences from savvy teens to adults who haven't outgrown their ability to laugh and wonder at the world--both the one they live in, and the one they can imagine.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A fun book !, September 18, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
A little complex, perhaps, but full of sharp, self deprecating humor. I could see this book becoming a cultural touchstone for generations of young adults. It's that original in it's rigor and empathy. He captures the post-cynical sophistication of today's blossoming intelligentsia. He is writing UP to the young adults of today.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Lost in the vacuum store, July 7, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
I LOVE this book. It's simultaneously hilarious and sinister. Sophie Blue is the girl every girl I knew in high school wanted to be but would never admit it. This is a really original book, which is nice since I'm so tired of stuff about mean fathers and vampires. I also laughed out loud, which I rarely do, and it was embarrassing because at least twice it was on the bus. People are looking at me like What's so funny, Spaz? This is a lot different than Going Nowhere Faster, more complex and darker. I may never eat ice cream again. But I am going to start wearing all black.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Mindtricks Galore!, July 22, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
Sophie Blue, who went goth on her last birthday- the birthday when her dad just up and disappeared. She has nothing in common with Basketball God Kenny Fade, except- well, it's complicated. But there's an ice cream truck that keeps circling the block- maybe the one that hit Sophie- oh yeah, she so totally got hit by a truck. And she and Kenny think they're probably going crazy, which would explain why they have anything to do with each other at all. Of course, the explanation of what they have to do with each other at all is a twisty, turny, total mindtrick. Fade to Blue is a tasty surrealist comedy, complete with graphic novel interlude, about who we really are deep down inside.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
I Didn't Know What To Make of It, September 9, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of this book. Fade to Blue is an off-beat, confusing read, and I'm pretty sure it's meant to be. Parts of the story find Sophie and Kenny questioning their sanity, and as I read this, I found myself wondering if I was going crazy, as well. The book is that difficult to follow, but at the same time I found myself wanting to find out just what in the world was going on!
For the sake of being up front, this is the strangest book I've read all year. (And possibly the most frustrating.) The plot feels like it is all over the place, yet it is obviously intricately written. It is as if the story is going forwards and then backwards again. The characters are all pretty quirky, and various names and brands sound suspiciously like names and brands we are familiar with, yet often they convey something else.
I should probably note that Fade to Blue is not a graphic novel, though the cover art suggests it may be. However, the story does revolve around comic books--well, one in particular... I can't say that this is a book for everyone, but I think that readers who like books that are out there and off-beat will enjoy this one. While not one of my favorite reads, I can appreciate what Beaudoin was working to achieve with Fade to Blue.
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Great concept, not as stellar execution, July 3, 2010
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
On Sophie Blue's last birthday, her dad disappeared. Since that day, she's worn all black. Now, her birthday is approaching again, and Sophie thinks she might be losing her mind. She keeps having these weird dreams that she's going to get run over by an ice cream truck with tinted windows, and there's one just like it that keeps circling her house, which also keeps getting broken into. Then there's this whole thing about a lab and an evil Nurse. Of course, no one but Sophie seems to know about these things, but Sophie knows that they must be real. Her attempt to find out the truth will be a hilarious and strangely dangerous romp through a world she never knew existed.
If the summary to Fade to Blue sounds confusing, it's with good reason; the story itself is very convoluted. The book starts with a bunch of separate narratives, but most importantly Sophie's and Kenny Fade's. This is interesting and easy enough to follow--until the reader finds out that one of these characters isn't quite real. Then Beaudoin proceeds to reveal a series of strange new developments in the story, each of which is more twisted than the last. The effect is startling; though most readers will be thoroughly baffled, they will still want to read on to see if they can figure out the rest of the story. I am sorry to say that I was unable to do this. Beaudoin's writing, particularly toward the end of this novel, reminds me of a TV show's season finale just before cancellation in the sense that writers try to cram the answer to almost every plotline; the result is that while the story undoubtedly comes to a close, too many details are neglected in the process. This is what happened with Fade to Blue, and though I was very impressed with the start of the story and Beaudoin's ideas for the Virtuality, I was disappointed that this wasn't done is a clearer manner.
Fade to Blue may appeal to fans of The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty and The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott.
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Very odd and very confusing, April 23, 2010
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
One day Sophie Blue's father disappeared and no one knows what happened. Sophie has since noticed a Popsicle truck with tinted windows that seems to be everywhere. Kenny Fade is a popular basketball jock. He seems to have a normal life, up until he doesn't. The only thing linking Kenny and Sophie is that they are both starting to see and hear things that aren't really there.
It says that this book keeps you guessing until the last paragraph. It does because half the time you have no idea who's who and what the heck is going on. Why then did I give it a three star rating. Well, I liked it. I probably won't recommend it to many people and probably won't read it again; but I loved it's originality. One thing I'm wondering is how the title is pronounced. In the book the character Kenny's last name is pronounced fah-day. I'm wondering if these are the same? Anyone... anyone? It was a very interesting novel, something to do with death/virtual reality/reality/things not always being what they seem/fighting "the man"(not so much this last one *shrugs*). I'd say if you had already planned on reading it go for it, but be forewarned things get a little tricky to navigate once you're inside.
First Line:
"The place was packed."
Favorite Line:
"'Yo, dude, watch it, she's got and Uzi!'"
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Bizarre & Confusing, but Hilarious, November 10, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
Reviewed by Maggie Desmond-O'Brien (age 14) for Reader Views (11/09)
Sophie Blue and Kenny Fade seem to have nothing in common: she's the goth, he's the school's dreamboat basketball star. But now, one year after Sophie's father mysteriously disappeared on her seventeenth birthday, nothing seems to make sense. First, a freaky popsicle truck begins to circle Sophie's house and follow her to school. And then Kenny starts to feel like his life...isn't really his life. Now they must investigate a very shady bio-lab and some dubious school experiments, all before a psychotic nurse and the Popsicle Man find out what they're up to...
I can honestly say that, perhaps for the first time ever, I was stumped by a novel. I loved it, I hated it; I was utterly confused by it. One part "The Matrix," one part "Donnie Darko" and the other just plain weird, it's a hilarious thrill-ride that shouldn't be missed by any teen fan of the offbeat and satirical. But it's also overcomplicated, too quick-moving and too witty for its own good.
From the constant plot twists, raunchy, snarky humor and comic-book sci-fi pace, everything about this book could be construed as either good or bad or both, depending on what you like to read -- which, of course, makes it a reviewer's worst nightmare. I literally felt listless and depressed while I was reading it, knowing that, at some point, I was going to have to face the dreaded blank page and dredge up the words to describe this sardonic little gem.
So now I've filled that page with four paragraphs of saying that I was confused. In "Fade to Blue" by Sean Beaudoin the writing was good, the story clever if a little unoriginal--so what was my problem? I don't really know. Something about it just didn't add up, and while a little mystery is the spice of life, this book had way too much. Part of me wants to read a sequel, if only for a little bit of closure, but the rest of me thinks that I'll only end up more nonplussed.
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Way better than another vampire story!, October 30, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
Where were books like this when I was a teen? Smart, edgy and well thought out. It's science fiction, but not in the sense that most people think of these days. There are no spaceships, aliens or talking robots but instead Sean Beaudoin touches upon the themes of altered and separate realities in a way that's very reminiscent of the great Phillip K. Dick.
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interesting book, although somewhat confusing at times, September 17, 2009
This review is from: Fade to Blue (Hardcover)
I don't know what to make of Fade to Blue. For the first half I was very interested in what was going to happen with Sophie and Kenny, yet VERY confused about what was going on in this book. I am pretty sure that the author meant it to be somewhat confusing and convoluted, like a puzzle that the reader has to unravel, but I had a difficult time unraveling that puzzle. I'm still not sure that I even "got" the book, having finished it. The second half of Fade to Blue was less confusing, but as there were elements I was still not comprehending, I still found myself feeling a little lost throughout the entire book, even up to and including the ending.
Even though the book confused me, I did enjoy the characters - well, one character in particular, and that would be Sophie. You'd have to read the book to understand why I didn't "like" any of the other characters. I found Sophie interesting and sympathetic and I really rooted for her to solve all the huge questions she had about her life, about her father leaving, and about this Popsicle truck obsession.
Fade to Blue was really different from the books I typically read, and even though I didn't really "get" the novel I think people who enjoy more out-there, different, and interesting types of fiction may enjoy this one. It's also marketed as YA, so perhaps it would be better for teens than it was for me.
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