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juushikaTitle: Dangerous Angels: The Weeztie Bat Books (Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop)
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Published: New York: HarpersCollins Publishers, 1998 (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995)
Page Count: 478
Total Page Count: 35,323
Text Number: 101
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Generations of young women and their lovers and friends grow up surrounded by genies, by love, and by the magical world of urban Los Angeles. Dangerous Angels is a compilation of the original Weetzie Bat book series, five novels that make up stories two generations—their love stories, deaths, births, and artistic adventures. The text is vivid, rich with sensual description and the hipster-cool slang that surrounds Weetzie's family. The magical-realist style intertwines angels, genies, and spirits with real-world issues of finding and nurturing love, having sex, creating identity and independence, being gay, and coping with death. The result is a remarkably engrossing, readable, and magical writing style that brings to life both Los Angeles and the characters, and deals with difficult, even controversial issues, that are rarely found in other young-adult books. I very highly recommend it.
It is difficult to do a plot summary of the Dangerous Angels books because the compilation contains so many books and the plot of each book is secondary to all the other factors that make up the text. In one story, Weetzie finds love for herself and for her best friend when a genie grants her wishes. In others, Weetzie's daughters struggle with their own identity and the power and music of their group of friends. In another, Weetzie's best friend comes to terms with his homosexuality. The plots are important, but what matters more is what character growth they prompt, what issues they deal with, and what text surrounds them.
The primary theme of the book is love--the most beautiful and most dangerous angel. Love, however, is mixed in with themes of personal identity, family, independence, and sexuality. The author does not skate over difficult and controversial issues, but neither does she subject them to lengthy angsting. Instead, life difficulties, like its genies, are presented as facts and are treated with the same open acceptance. In my opinion, this makes the book a wonderful and eye-opening read for young adults that is still relevant to grown-ups.
Finally, the delight of Dangerous Angels is the writing style. It is urban magical-realistic and richly, sensually detailed. Action, both of the characters and of the overall plot, is presented in short direct sentences. Description is also presented in short direct sentences. But in both cases, characters act and the world appears in ways that are distinctly magical. The end effect is a quickly-paced, no-nonsense style that nonetheless makes the books sing with lush description and very real magic. It makes very little sense to discuss the style when it so easy to simply quote it. One example: "Fifi's house was a Hollywood cottage with one of those fairy-tale roofs that looked like someone has spilled silly sand. There were roses and lemon trees in the garden and two bedrooms inside the house--one painted rose and the other aqua. The house was filled with plaster Jesus statues, glass butterfly ashtrays, paintings of clowns, and may kinds of coasters. Weetzie and Dirk had always loved the house." The writing style is a joy to read and sweeps the reader into the magical world of Weetzie and her family, bringing to life their stories and their challenges. It is unlike any other book you'll read, and I highly recommend it to all readers of all age groups.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Published: New York: HarpersCollins Publishers, 1998 (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995)
Page Count: 478
Total Page Count: 35,323
Text Number: 101
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Generations of young women and their lovers and friends grow up surrounded by genies, by love, and by the magical world of urban Los Angeles. Dangerous Angels is a compilation of the original Weetzie Bat book series, five novels that make up stories two generations—their love stories, deaths, births, and artistic adventures. The text is vivid, rich with sensual description and the hipster-cool slang that surrounds Weetzie's family. The magical-realist style intertwines angels, genies, and spirits with real-world issues of finding and nurturing love, having sex, creating identity and independence, being gay, and coping with death. The result is a remarkably engrossing, readable, and magical writing style that brings to life both Los Angeles and the characters, and deals with difficult, even controversial issues, that are rarely found in other young-adult books. I very highly recommend it.
It is difficult to do a plot summary of the Dangerous Angels books because the compilation contains so many books and the plot of each book is secondary to all the other factors that make up the text. In one story, Weetzie finds love for herself and for her best friend when a genie grants her wishes. In others, Weetzie's daughters struggle with their own identity and the power and music of their group of friends. In another, Weetzie's best friend comes to terms with his homosexuality. The plots are important, but what matters more is what character growth they prompt, what issues they deal with, and what text surrounds them.
The primary theme of the book is love--the most beautiful and most dangerous angel. Love, however, is mixed in with themes of personal identity, family, independence, and sexuality. The author does not skate over difficult and controversial issues, but neither does she subject them to lengthy angsting. Instead, life difficulties, like its genies, are presented as facts and are treated with the same open acceptance. In my opinion, this makes the book a wonderful and eye-opening read for young adults that is still relevant to grown-ups.
Finally, the delight of Dangerous Angels is the writing style. It is urban magical-realistic and richly, sensually detailed. Action, both of the characters and of the overall plot, is presented in short direct sentences. Description is also presented in short direct sentences. But in both cases, characters act and the world appears in ways that are distinctly magical. The end effect is a quickly-paced, no-nonsense style that nonetheless makes the books sing with lush description and very real magic. It makes very little sense to discuss the style when it so easy to simply quote it. One example: "Fifi's house was a Hollywood cottage with one of those fairy-tale roofs that looked like someone has spilled silly sand. There were roses and lemon trees in the garden and two bedrooms inside the house--one painted rose and the other aqua. The house was filled with plaster Jesus statues, glass butterfly ashtrays, paintings of clowns, and may kinds of coasters. Weetzie and Dirk had always loved the house." The writing style is a joy to read and sweeps the reader into the magical world of Weetzie and her family, bringing to life their stories and their challenges. It is unlike any other book you'll read, and I highly recommend it to all readers of all age groups.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
