Book Review: Waters & the Wild by Francesca Lia Block

Title: The Waters & the Wild

Author: Francesca Lia Block

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy,

Summary:

When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. "You are me," the girl said. Then she was gone.
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back.

Review: I had an idea what to expect when diving into this book. I originally bought it because I had read Block's verse novel Psyche in a Dress a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it for it's evocative descriptions of passion and love and for still being such a compelling despite its short length. Waters in the Wild delivered on all these fronts as well.

The story, while it does have some fantastical elements to it (such as the idea of fetches and changelings) is at its core a very relatable and fundamental story about being a teen trying to find yourself in the world. The way that Block presents this notion though is absolutely brilliant. It's fresh and original and the prose was as beautiful and breath-taking as it was in Psyche in a Dress.

Rating: Worth Buying/Owning

Needless to say I'm going to keep reading more of Block's work. She's making her to being one of my all-time favorite authors and is definitely a voice in YA that should be heard. While this book was short, it was definitely just as sweet. It's different and refreshing, and while this might turn some people off, I really enjoyed it.