Product Description

What shall we do, all of us?

All of us passionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns of teeth, our mushrooming brains, our watermelon hearts?

What's real is what's imagined in nine tales of transformation by Francesca Lia Block.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #587884 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-01
• Released on: 2008-05-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up—Block is known for her fantastical, edgy, and highly feminized stories of young women, and this book fits neatly into that mold. Blood Roses consists of nine loosely connected short selections focusing on elemental and magical changes in each character. In "Skin Art," straitlaced Elodie Sweet finds tattoos mysteriously appearing on her body as romantic tension—and obsession—builds between herself and an older tattoo artist. With each new tattoo, her perception of herself grows and changes, but she ultimately finds that the tattoos are only superficial and disappear as she realizes that she is not in love with the man. In "Wounds and Wings," Audrey finds a fairy whose wings have been cruelly torn off. She takes him home to nurse him to health and learns to see the similarity between his injuries and insecurities and her own. The characters walk a fine line between the mundane and magical. It is impossible to decide if they are sane or not, or if it even matters. Blood Roses, like Block's other books, brims with sexual suggestion that is meant for more mature teens. This short book will appeal to reluctant readers, though Block's fans will find it on their own.—Stephanie L. Petruso, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Odenton, MD
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From Booklist
“What shall we do, all of us? All of us passionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns of teeth, our mushrooming brains, our watermelon hearts?” Block’s latest book, featuring eight new stories and one reprint, explores female sexuality with wild poetry and a sense of vulnerability that extends to the book’s cover, a discreetly posed nude photo of the author. The stories, which read with brief, flashing intensity, are more like dark, fantastical dreams than developed narratives. Block combines elements used in her previous books—predatory adults, threatened girls, a natural world that both harms and heals, and the terrifying, infinite power of the imagination—to create strange, evocative scenes filled with archetypal fantasy characters, L.A. teens, and sly social commentary. In “My Mother Is a Vampire,” a girl’s mother, struggling in a youth-obsessed culture, drinks her daughter’s blood to stay young. In two of the strongest stories, girls’ bodies are dramatically transformed by the strength of their sexual desires. As disjointed as nightmares, the stories will startle, provoke, and fascinate many older teens, who may find reassurance in one character’s raw, closing message: “You are not fucked up. . . . Your world is fucked up . . . and you are just responding normally to its psychotic vibe.” Grades 10-12. --Gillian Engberg

Review
"A strangely haunting collection of whimsy." -- KLIATT

"Dark, fantastical dreams…will startle, provoke and fascinate." -- Booklist

"Individual stories that are riveting and memorable…an overall collection that invites rereading." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"Lush as ever." -- Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
On Francesca Lia Block's website, there are a bunch of words lumped together, reminding me of magnetic poetry that has been used to describe her work. I couldn't agree more with the words reviewers have used. The one word that kept jumping out at me while reading this was lyrical. I was looking for a word to describe what I thought about her newest literary novella, BLOOD ROSES, and that describes it perfectly. Surreal and dreamy would be good adjectives to use, as well.

The book is broken up into nine short stories. All of the stories deal with a transformation of some sort, whether it is physical or emotional. Not once in any of her stories is the magical element questioned - it is just accepted. My favorite story out of all of them is called Skin Art. Basically, it is about the all-consuming power of first love and how, after time has passed, it is not as great as once thought.

Easy to read, this little book sucks you in, especially if you are a fan of thought-provoking fantasy, as Ms. Block straddles the line between the worlds of magic and reality. The stories seem very personal, emotional; even, at times, irrational. You definitely can't argue with the quality of writing - Francesca Lia Block is a very good writer, but with that said she is not for everyone.

People that are into the art scene will enjoy her work, as well as those who like to analyze dreams, as the stories are rich in sensory detail. Hail to the queen of magical realism.

Reviewed by: coollibrarianchick

Better than most others but not my favorite from Block
In Blood Roses Francesca Lia Block does what she does well--writes evocatively, using poetic language to create a lush mood. Blending fantasy with reality, most of the characters in these short, short stories are young girls who live on the west coast of the United States. The tone and occasional reappearance of characters, from earlier stories in the text, result in a tight focus of mood and moment.

This works wonderfully in her novels but not quite so well in her short story collections. Because almost every story is told in the same voice, the stories barely stand out one from the other. Beautifully written, any one would stand out from another writer's short stories but it is hard to find one from this collection that stands out from the others.

Nevertheless, the images are so rich that it is hard to not recall them all as the protagonists from each story seek to find meaning. And Block, who is not afraid to address some of the more frightening aspects of adolescent reality, does so with a fairy tale elegance that cloaks the darkness in beautiful prose. In this, she is harkening back to the tradition of bedtime stories where children were taught to fear through stories. However, her stories are not meant to inspire fear but to offer healing of psychic and spiritual wounds.

So, although this is not my favorite of Block's many books, it is still superior to most young adult literature.

probably for fans only...
I adore Block's work. Although it sometimes seems very abstract, the imagery and flow of her words is absolutely gorgeous. My favorite story in this particular book was Skin Art.

That said, I wouldn't recommend this to people who weren't fans of Block already. In some ways, it's more difficult to read (although shorter) than her other works.