Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton
Release Date: February 1, 2013
Reading level: Ages 14 and up
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (February 1, 2013)
Language: English
- Summary:
- Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines.
- All she wants is for Mark the Soccer Stud to notice her. Not as Josh's weird sister who drives a turd-brown minivan. And not as that nerdy girl who draws comics.
What she gets is her very own arch-nemesis.
Name: Mark Deninger, aka Mark the Shark
Occupation: Soccer star and all-around lady killer
Relationship Status: Serial dater
Group Affiliation: No loyalty
Known Superpowers: Anti-girlfriend force field, breaking hearts
Mark may have humiliated Blaze supervillian-style, but what he doesn't know is how geek girls always get revenge.
#GeekGrlzRevenge
Review:
The second I saw this cover and read this summary of the book, I just had to have it! It seem to be a quirky and funny read, and I'm glad I read this book! It surely didn't disappoint! But overall, this book was about a girl who just wants a guy to notice her and then get revenge when he does her wrong. I still loved this book.
Blaze
(that's actually her real name) is a complete comic book nerd and a sketchbook
artist. I can imagine everything about her from the way she talks, the way she
acts, everything. She is fighting to get away from this dreadful life situation
where she has to be like a "soccer mom" to her little brother Josh
and his friends. This is only because of her parent's divorce and Blaze has to
be the one who right everything, even with her absent father and her
hard-working mother. But Blaze wants more than that. She wants to live a
normal life, like a normal teenage, comic book, sketch artist nerd. She wants
to get a life on her own, by starting to get the attention of super sexy coach
Mark who coaches her brother's soccer team.
Everything
seems to be going great between Blaze and Mark, even if they really only
had one to two dates s but her brother is constantly trying to warn her, but
will Blaze listen to her protective little brother? Nope.
Eventually things go down between Mark and Blaze, who is completely hurt decides to retaliate by making a comic book of the whole situation, calling him Mark the Shark and she (Blaze) as the Blazzing Goddess. She’s hurt, but a little relief comes when she learns that her comic is getting a lot of publicity and everyone loves it, except Mark, of course. As for revenge he gets back at her and then everthing goes crazy and not even Mark can stop what is happening.
What
upset me about this book was that there was so much bullying going on in
schools, that I couldn't help but feel so bad for Blaze that I wished I could
go into this book and help her. If this was real life, I don't even think this
would even happen because never once did any teachers-not even the Principle!
Where was he?- trying to stop the students to put an end to this. If this was a
real life situation (and it can), there will be a lot more support than just by
the friends. I couldn't get over that.
She decides to run off to meet her dad, trying to run away from her problems and start fresh but if she would have listened to her brother in the first place she would have realized it was not worth her time and effort. It’s sad to see this realization for her, but it was necessary for her to finally move on and agree with everyone around her that they were right about her father. This is also a really pivotal scene where you can see just how much Josh really does love his sister. Family is an important part of our lives and we should always respect them, even if we don't completely agree with them.
There were several lessons that I think Blaze and I learned throughout the book. She learned that sometimes looks can be deceiving; she learned that one the hard way and in relation to her father as well, and also with Mark. She also learned the hard way that sometimes retaliation is not worth it, after all look where it got her. She was simply playing fire with fire. And most importantly I believe she shouldn't have rush into things she didn't know anything about or the consequences of her actions until a little too late. And she should always ask for help, when especially like the bullying got bad. I mean, had she not think of that? Or, I understand that she was afraid to tell her mom, but, telling her now than letting her get a call from work later would've saved everything that had happened even if her mom would've been angry, sad, disappointed and among other emotions.
She decides to run off to meet her dad, trying to run away from her problems and start fresh but if she would have listened to her brother in the first place she would have realized it was not worth her time and effort. It’s sad to see this realization for her, but it was necessary for her to finally move on and agree with everyone around her that they were right about her father. This is also a really pivotal scene where you can see just how much Josh really does love his sister. Family is an important part of our lives and we should always respect them, even if we don't completely agree with them.
There were several lessons that I think Blaze and I learned throughout the book. She learned that sometimes looks can be deceiving; she learned that one the hard way and in relation to her father as well, and also with Mark. She also learned the hard way that sometimes retaliation is not worth it, after all look where it got her. She was simply playing fire with fire. And most importantly I believe she shouldn't have rush into things she didn't know anything about or the consequences of her actions until a little too late. And she should always ask for help, when especially like the bullying got bad. I mean, had she not think of that? Or, I understand that she was afraid to tell her mom, but, telling her now than letting her get a call from work later would've saved everything that had happened even if her mom would've been angry, sad, disappointed and among other emotions.
But
this aside, I really like Blaze's voice. She's funny, quirky, witty, and fun. I
would love to have Blaze as a friend (best friend!), especially because she
likes drawing, like myself. Though a little difference we have is that she's a
comic book nerd, and I'm just a avid reading bookworm.
I
also love Josh, Blaze's little brother. He's smart, caring, and dearly love his
sister, and protects her and tries to warm her when she wouldn't listen. Of
course, like normal brother's and sister's, they get into disagreements, get
one each other's nerves, and annoy each other but they are great siblings. I
just wished that Blaze's mom would not have been so tied up in her
self-loathing for what happened with Blaze's dad because he left them
only because he ran off to chase his dream. But the mother did
show progress throughout the novel that she really cares for Blaze
and her son.
There
were so many characters in Blaze that I liked, but the one character I did like
at first, then end up disliking was of course, Mark. But Quentin and Blaze is
so much better and they have much more in common than Mark and Blaze ever
did.
Conclusion:
Blaze is an amazing book
filled with teenage angst, drama, romance, family, fun and love. There is some
issues with bullying and sexting and a tiny bit of mention of suicide, but this
is a great contemporary novel. Blaze is funny, witty, fresh, and quirky that I
think many teen girls would and could relate to her. There are some good funny
quotes in Blaze's inner and normal dialogue that I
found hilarious and many would too. I
would defiantly recommend this book, especially for comic book nerds
and artists like Blaze (because I sure can relate!)
I really would like to
read Laurie's future books!
Oh, I almost forgot to
mention: within this book, and as soon as you open the page till you turn that
last page, you will see short snippets, drawings and comic strips featuring the
Blazzing Goddess, Mark the Shark, and other characters. That was the most
artistic and best thing that I have ever seen within a book. I hope to see more
of that in the future.
Blaze (or Love In Time
of Supervillans) by Laurie Boyle Crompton deserves a 4.8/5
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