Search This Blog









2023 Literary Escapes Challenge





2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Bleed Too Plotless, Pointless

It may be the season of good tidings and great joy, but I've been stuck in bleak, depressing YA drama-land. Thank goodness this stuff's fiction. At least I hope it's mostly made up - otherwise, the teenage world is a scary, hopeless to be. I appreciate the raw honesty in these books, it's just that wow, they're unsettling. Maybe I should stick with cheesy, Christmas tearjerkers instead? Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Take Bleed by Laurie Faria Stolarz, for instance. The book's about a group of kids, mostly high school juniors, who are floundering around one summer trying to fill the emptiness in their lives. Nicole Bouchard's spending her school-less days obsessing over Sean O'Connell, who just happens to be going out with her best friend, Kelly Pickerel. Meanwhile, Kelly's in California, conveniently forgetting to call Sean while she sneaks out to meet the 21-year-old ex-con she's been secretly writing to for the last 5 years. Maria Krito's got only one thing on her mind: cutting. Just like her mother's boyfriend uses Maria to get what he wants, she uses other people to help her feel something. Anything. The problem is, not everyone wants to pierce her flesh with a safety pin. So, she convinces them. Derik LaPointe's a player, Joy just wants to be loved, and poor Sadie Dubinski - she wants to be accepted so badly that she's willing to do anything, even cut Maria, just to belong. And then there's Mearl Aremian. No one knows what to make of her, least of all herself. As the kids' paths cross and re-cross one sweltering summer in Salem, Massachusetts, they're lives become increasingly more interesting.
The back cover of this book offers very little in the way of story description, which makes sense since the novel itself has no discernable plot. Unfortunately, this aimlessness makes the whole book seem kind of ... pointless. I mean, yes, it's illuminating in some ways and yes, it kept me reading and, yes, I cared about the characters (some of them, anyway), but, overall, it's a depressing read that doesn't offer much in the way of hope or positivity. The writing's solid, but that just isn't enough in this case - I wanted plot, I wanted purpose, I wanted some kind of powerful message. And none of that shows up in Bleed. Bummer.
(Readalikes: Hm, I don't know. Nothing's really coming to mind. Any ideas?)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language, sexual content and intense situations
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Bleed from the generous folks at Hyperion Teen. Thank you!
3 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!




Reading
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Listening
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday4 hours ago
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday- Circus stories5 hours ago
-
-
-
-
TOP TEN TUESDAY-COTTAGE SETTING6 hours ago
-
TTT – Books Set In New York7 hours ago
-
-
-
184. The Sky Over Rebecca15 hours ago
-
The Sands of Time Ch. 6517 hours ago
-
Farm to Trouble by Amanda Flower23 hours ago
-
-
-
-
I have been reading...1 day ago
-
-
-
The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Happy Thanksgiving, 2023!!5 days ago
-
2024 Motif Reading Challenge1 week ago
-
-
-
-
Friday Flicks: A Haunting in Venice2 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?1 month ago
-
Reading Recap August 20232 months ago
-
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra5 months ago
-
-
Dotty Beanie with Ears6 months ago
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
Eep, I must say, this sounds absolutely disturbing :s I just can't read books about stuff like that (the cutting and the safety pins), it's like watching a scary movie, the images stay in my brain, haunting me :(
ReplyDeleteSheesh! This book sounds depressing! If it had, had a message or good plot it might have been worth it but without one it sounds awful!
ReplyDeleteIben - Definitely disturbing. It makes my heart ache (and my stomach turn) to think there are teens out there who really do live like that.
ReplyDeleteJenny - Exactly! I can stomach disturbing books as long as they're disturbing in a purposeful way. Or a hopeful way. Or something that's more than just disturbing disturbing, you know?