Wasteland

Her poetic writing style drew me in, and kept me captivated while she wrote about a topic very rarely discussed. She managed to twist it around beautifully, and I enjoyed reading the different perspectives. A short read, and I learn something new each time I read it.

I can honestly say I've never read a better book. It took the very cliched theme of love and turned it upside down. Block took it in a direction that many people dare not to go. She pulled it off gorgeously. This book impacts you, it stays with you and it makes you think. The way she writes it makes it so effective. After I read this book I realized what, as a writer myself, I wanted to achieve. I wanted to write something that blew my mind as much as this book did.

Incest is one of those subjects we just don't like to talk, or even think, about. In her latest novel, WASTELAND, Francesca Lia Block forces readers outside their comfort zones and into a story in which the love between a brother and sister provides both great joy and incredible anguish. Lex and Marina have always been close. One of Lex's earliest memories was of his sister as a baby: "Then you reached out and curled your fingers around me, so tight, I knew you recognized me. That was the first time I knew I had a heart inside my body." The siblings' connections only grow deeper as they get older; Lex is obsessively protective of his baby sister, and Marina finds herself dressing and acting like Lex to ensure his acceptance of her. As they enter adolescence, both siblings become intensely aware of each other's bodies, until their attraction to each other comes to a crossroads one night. As a result of their encounter, Lex betrays Marina and then commits suicide. Marina is torn apart by her own grief and her unanswered questions about her brother's death. She turns to Lex's friend West, who is willing to stand back while Marina searches for answers and wait for her to be able to love again. It probably won't surprise anyone that this book is for mature teen audiences. Readers should be emotionally ready to deal with WASTELAND's complex subject matter. In addition, the rapidly switching narrators and points of view (including some chapters written from the perspective of the dead brother) require a sophisticated reader, as does the extended passage from T. S. Eliot's poem that inspired the novel's title. One of the book's major weaknesses is the surprise ending, which is probably meant to provide dramatic irony but instead feels tacked on and unnecessary. Readers who are ready to grapple with Block's lyrical prose and challenging topic will be rewarded by an emotionally rich novel about a compelling and thought-provoking relationship. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I love books like this. It's disturbing, beautiful, and different. Most people would think that a book about incest is disgusting, but this one is touching and believable. You fall in love with the characters from the very beginning and wish that things could have been different with them. I don't like love stories all that much, but this one has a twist that is definately worth making an exception for.

This book is purely amazing, Lia Block does it again. With the subject of this book I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am soo glad that I trusted Lia Block and read it. I recommend it to everyone!

I'll admit, I thought Block's last fictional piece (Echo) was not quite up to her usual standards. Maybe it's because I only read it once (as opposed to the several times I've devoured her other books), but Echo struck me as a bit rambling and disjointed. As she did in Echo, Block employs a very poetic style in Wasteland, switching various narrators & time periods without explanation or warning. This time, however, it works! It works really, really well!!! The characters are believable and real, the story is honest and touching, and Block's language is beautiful and vividly descriptive (as always). Wasteland is, to me, every bit as classic as her other amazing novels.