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Wasteland
An exquisite novel about the consequences of who we choose to love.
Lex and his sister, Marina, are inseparable. The air they share has always been light and boundless, but suddenly it's weighted down. And now Lex is gone. When the one relationship that cradled her turns out to shatter her sense of self, Marina needs her friend West to help put the pieces back together. But Marina won't feel truly complete until she faces the past that is haunting her.
Highly acclaimed and award-winning author Francesca Lia Block tells the tale of a brother and sister whose loving relationship is too intense for them to bear. With the sensitivity and refinement that Block is known for, she manages to weave together her characters and their lives into this beautiful and thought-provoking tale.
Lex and his sister, Marina, are inseparable. The air they share has always been light and boundless, but suddenly it's weighted down. And now Lex is gone. When the one relationship that cradled her turns out to shatter her sense of self, Marina needs her friend West to help put the pieces back together. But Marina won't feel truly complete until she faces the past that is haunting her.
Highly acclaimed and award-winning author Francesca Lia Block tells the tale of a brother and sister whose loving relationship is too intense for them to bear. With the sensitivity and refinement that Block is known for, she manages to weave together her characters and their lives into this beautiful and thought-provoking tale.
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2003
About the author
Francesca Lia Block
99 books3,341 followersFrancesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
January 28, 2011
"We keep burning in the brown smog pit. The girls swarm in their black moth dresses. Their scalps are shaved like concentration camp ladies. Rats click my head. Everything broken.".
This is how Wasteland begins. This is why I love love Francesca so much. She uses words good.
When I'm particularly down, I can pick up any of FLB's books and feel light again. Sometimes, that makes me feel icky and not so sure of my mental well being, seeing that her stories usually involve some sort of abuse, whether it being sexual, mental physical, and/or metaphysical. But to be part of the world that she creates is a real treasure. I thank the gods for her.
Open any page, I dare you...
"I looked down at my lap and you knew what it was. You took off your sweatshirt and put it around me. You tied it on my hips. You helped me up. My body sticky and hot. The cramps were roiling, tight pain. You held me against you for a second. I could feel your heart beating through your pilling green-and-white striped gym shirt. I wanted to sink down again into you. If I were you I would be tall and strong and I'd never bleed like this, this shame stain pain of blood every month until I get old. I was old, all of a sudden. I wanted to be a little girl. A little boy."
I mean, I love Judy Blume, but at 13, I would have appreciated this depiction much, much more.
Another:
"We got quiet. The garden was combing her hair and putting on her earrings. The house was full of dancing creatures, not male not female but both, two lovers in one body. The books downstairs were reciting their poetry to each other, rubbing together, whispering through the leather covers. Wine was flowing through the water pipes. You had caught my leaping heart in your hand like a fish."
Okay, time to let you in on a little secret. This story is about incest. Yeppers. She pulled a VC Andrews, a Robert Cormier, a Cement Garden...See what I mean about icky? Yeah. Right.
Okay, so why only 3 stars? Not for the language, no, never that. But, I felt that FLB pulled a Pretty in Pink on us. You know how that Molly Ringwald character was supposed to end up with Ducky, but she didn't like that one bit and had the ending rewritten to end up with Andrew McCarthy? Yeah, that blows.
So, here we have this really intense subject matter that pulls you in, makes you want to scrub yourself with your louffah really really hard and then---- she phones it in! WTF?
Did she lose her edge when she became a mom? Because I'm feeling that she rewrote this and it was so unlike her. Too bad for us.
I still love her, I will always love her. She will be rainy days in the Harvard subway station reading Witch Baby and snowy days in the mountains reading The Rose and the Beast.
She will remind me that this is what I wanted to do and do well.
This is how Wasteland begins. This is why I love love Francesca so much. She uses words good.
When I'm particularly down, I can pick up any of FLB's books and feel light again. Sometimes, that makes me feel icky and not so sure of my mental well being, seeing that her stories usually involve some sort of abuse, whether it being sexual, mental physical, and/or metaphysical. But to be part of the world that she creates is a real treasure. I thank the gods for her.
Open any page, I dare you...
"I looked down at my lap and you knew what it was. You took off your sweatshirt and put it around me. You tied it on my hips. You helped me up. My body sticky and hot. The cramps were roiling, tight pain. You held me against you for a second. I could feel your heart beating through your pilling green-and-white striped gym shirt. I wanted to sink down again into you. If I were you I would be tall and strong and I'd never bleed like this, this shame stain pain of blood every month until I get old. I was old, all of a sudden. I wanted to be a little girl. A little boy."
I mean, I love Judy Blume, but at 13, I would have appreciated this depiction much, much more.
Another:
"We got quiet. The garden was combing her hair and putting on her earrings. The house was full of dancing creatures, not male not female but both, two lovers in one body. The books downstairs were reciting their poetry to each other, rubbing together, whispering through the leather covers. Wine was flowing through the water pipes. You had caught my leaping heart in your hand like a fish."
Okay, time to let you in on a little secret. This story is about incest. Yeppers. She pulled a VC Andrews, a Robert Cormier, a Cement Garden...See what I mean about icky? Yeah. Right.
Okay, so why only 3 stars? Not for the language, no, never that. But, I felt that FLB pulled a Pretty in Pink on us. You know how that Molly Ringwald character was supposed to end up with Ducky, but she didn't like that one bit and had the ending rewritten to end up with Andrew McCarthy? Yeah, that blows.
So, here we have this really intense subject matter that pulls you in, makes you want to scrub yourself with your louffah really really hard and then---- she phones it in! WTF?
Did she lose her edge when she became a mom? Because I'm feeling that she rewrote this and it was so unlike her. Too bad for us.
I still love her, I will always love her. She will be rainy days in the Harvard subway station reading Witch Baby and snowy days in the mountains reading The Rose and the Beast.
She will remind me that this is what I wanted to do and do well.
October 22, 2008
This is one of the most beautiful and hauntingly sad love stories I've ever read. I have read it over fifteen times and still, I get the urge to pick it up and read all over again every day. It tells the story of Lex and Marina, a brother and sister with a deep bond that is both beautiful and frightening. Early on the reader can see that the bond proves to be harder and harder for Lex to deal with. Marina's world is turned upside down when her brother commits suicide. The bulk of the story revolves around Marina's journey to find out why her brother committed suicide, coming to terms with what existed between them, and making peace with the haunting of her heart. Francesca Lia Block uses the most whimsical and lush vivid language to save this from being just a raunchy spin on an incestuous relationship. It truly is one of the most heartbreaking love stories I've ever read.
August 1, 2023
Phenomenal; so lyrical and told with such restraint for so taboo a topic, resulting in a book that's beautiful, raw, and speaks to some of life's more difficult realities.
I'm beginning to wonder where Francesca Lia Block has been all my life. Her words have me so moved, my heart's hardly stopped racing since I finished.
I read this in one sitting while listening to the "Mandy Love Theme" by Jóhann Jóhannsson on repeat, late at night. The pairing was perfect <3
I'm beginning to wonder where Francesca Lia Block has been all my life. Her words have me so moved, my heart's hardly stopped racing since I finished.
I read this in one sitting while listening to the "Mandy Love Theme" by Jóhann Jóhannsson on repeat, late at night. The pairing was perfect <3
May 14, 2007
This book was so gorgeous that it broke my heart.
"You were just a boy on a bed in a room, like a kaleidoscope is a tube full of bits of broken glass. But the way I saw you was pieces refracting the light, shifting into an infinite universe of flowers and rainbows and insects and planets, magical dividing cells, pictures no one else knew ... Your whole life you can be told something is wrong and so you believe it."
-Wasteland
"You were just a boy on a bed in a room, like a kaleidoscope is a tube full of bits of broken glass. But the way I saw you was pieces refracting the light, shifting into an infinite universe of flowers and rainbows and insects and planets, magical dividing cells, pictures no one else knew ... Your whole life you can be told something is wrong and so you believe it."
-Wasteland
August 23, 2021
Weird. The writing though was so surreal, had me in a trance until the book got over and I was like "What the hell did I just read"
July 2, 2008
You know, I always think I should like Francesca Lia Block, that I do like her, and then I read her stuff and am reminded that, no, she's not particularly my cup of tea. She does a lot of interesting things with her narrative structure and the way she tells her story, but 1) I don't think her flights of structural fancy always help her tell her story better (which in my mind should be a requirement), 2) they often add an offputting distance between the reader and the characters, and 3) I don't think she always has as much control over them as she thinks she does (see also: #1 and #2). When your structure gets in the way of communication, it need tweaking.
Or maybe I'm just not 14 anymore. Maybe I've read too much, become too set in my ways, too judgmental to let her brilliance shine down on me. But if my struggle to figure out what's going on, who's who in her books, doesn't ultimately lead to some sort of revelation or insight into those characters (which, for me, that struggle is just a struggle and not an illumination), then it's kind of pointless. There are moments in this book when it does help, when it creates a mood or helps you understand how a character is dealing with/processing the events in his or her memory, which just makes those moments when it seems like artifice for artifice's sake seem even more pretentious.
Okay, I think I'm also kind of mad at this book because she punked out. She's got this Ooooh After School Special Incest OMG OMG OMG FORBIDDEN NO REALLY And Not In The Romeo And Juliet Sense LOVE thing going on, and then she freakin' punks out and has one of them be sekritly! adopted!
I'm sorry; that's a V.C. Andrews novel, and whatever my feelings about FLB are, I know that she's better than that. She didn't even have West(?) turn out to be Marina's long-lost real brother.
If it was an attempt to make Lex's death even more tragic, in my mind it failed. It's too soap opera-y (too, well, V.C. Andrews) in a book that takes a very soap opera idea and treats it very seriously. It makes what comes before rather hollow. It gives it a whole feel of, "oh, if only they had known!!", rather than looking at what happens when Marina loses the most important person in the world to her, for reasons, good or bad as you choose, that involve her.
Maybe it's an attempt at commentary on the fact that the relationship between them would be deemed wrong because of the way they grew up - i.e. as siblings - rather than their genes - i.e. completely different. That what makes incest incestual is the transgression of a relationship, not of bloodlines. Which is an interesting idea, but if that's what it was, I think the book fails. Instead it's a last-minute d'oh! to which there is no narrative resolution.
I will give the book credit for clearly expressing the idea that, however tragic you choose to see Lex and Marina's relationship in all its levels, a young man's suicide is even more tragic.
Or maybe I'm just not 14 anymore. Maybe I've read too much, become too set in my ways, too judgmental to let her brilliance shine down on me. But if my struggle to figure out what's going on, who's who in her books, doesn't ultimately lead to some sort of revelation or insight into those characters (which, for me, that struggle is just a struggle and not an illumination), then it's kind of pointless. There are moments in this book when it does help, when it creates a mood or helps you understand how a character is dealing with/processing the events in his or her memory, which just makes those moments when it seems like artifice for artifice's sake seem even more pretentious.
Okay, I think I'm also kind of mad at this book because she punked out. She's got this Ooooh After School Special Incest OMG OMG OMG FORBIDDEN NO REALLY And Not In The Romeo And Juliet Sense LOVE thing going on, and then she freakin' punks out and has one of them be sekritly! adopted!
I'm sorry; that's a V.C. Andrews novel, and whatever my feelings about FLB are, I know that she's better than that. She didn't even have West(?) turn out to be Marina's long-lost real brother.
If it was an attempt to make Lex's death even more tragic, in my mind it failed. It's too soap opera-y (too, well, V.C. Andrews) in a book that takes a very soap opera idea and treats it very seriously. It makes what comes before rather hollow. It gives it a whole feel of, "oh, if only they had known!!", rather than looking at what happens when Marina loses the most important person in the world to her, for reasons, good or bad as you choose, that involve her.
Maybe it's an attempt at commentary on the fact that the relationship between them would be deemed wrong because of the way they grew up - i.e. as siblings - rather than their genes - i.e. completely different. That what makes incest incestual is the transgression of a relationship, not of bloodlines. Which is an interesting idea, but if that's what it was, I think the book fails. Instead it's a last-minute d'oh! to which there is no narrative resolution.
I will give the book credit for clearly expressing the idea that, however tragic you choose to see Lex and Marina's relationship in all its levels, a young man's suicide is even more tragic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2024
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block is a book I revisited as part of a journey through five of her novels that held a special place in my heart during high school. As I read these stories again, some resonated deeply with me, while others fell flat, no longer holding the same magic they once did. However, Wasteland stood out as a work of rare beauty—harrowing, devastating, and heartbreakingly profound.
At first glance, the narrative may seem straightforward, perhaps even predictable. Yet, Block’s prose transforms the journey into something much more complex and haunting. Her lyrical style captures the depth of emotion in a way that is both beautiful and tragic, leaving a resonant impact that feels powerful and genuine.
The subject matter of this book is undeniably taboo, and I would be remiss not to mention that there were moments when I nearly set the book aside due to its content. Yet, there is something undeniably compelling about the way Block explores themes of love, fate, and the bonds that tie us to those we cannot help but love, no matter the consequences. It's a story about soulmates, about the choices we make, and those we are powerless to make. Block's exploration of these themes is both unique and deeply affecting.
Despite its brevity, Wasteland is a difficult read, steeped in sadness and complexity. For those who appreciate tragic love stories, this book offers a powerful and poignant experience. While some may find the plot predictable, it’s not the twists and turns that make this book exceptional—it's the perspectives Block provides, perspectives that are rendered with such sensitivity and depth that they touch the soul. 🩶
At first glance, the narrative may seem straightforward, perhaps even predictable. Yet, Block’s prose transforms the journey into something much more complex and haunting. Her lyrical style captures the depth of emotion in a way that is both beautiful and tragic, leaving a resonant impact that feels powerful and genuine.
The subject matter of this book is undeniably taboo, and I would be remiss not to mention that there were moments when I nearly set the book aside due to its content. Yet, there is something undeniably compelling about the way Block explores themes of love, fate, and the bonds that tie us to those we cannot help but love, no matter the consequences. It's a story about soulmates, about the choices we make, and those we are powerless to make. Block's exploration of these themes is both unique and deeply affecting.
Despite its brevity, Wasteland is a difficult read, steeped in sadness and complexity. For those who appreciate tragic love stories, this book offers a powerful and poignant experience. While some may find the plot predictable, it’s not the twists and turns that make this book exceptional—it's the perspectives Block provides, perspectives that are rendered with such sensitivity and depth that they touch the soul. 🩶
December 20, 2008
For such a small book, this took me a while to finish. Shifting perspectives between three different points of view, the book reads like a dizzy, drunken dream. Images pop out and then vanish, scenes happen with minimal connection to what came before. As Marina grapples with the loss that is driving her mad, the story comes into focus.
Like most of Block's writing, this is as much an exercise in style as it is in story. If you want a great story, this isn't really it. If you like stretching boundaries and can appreciate a writer's style, this might work for you.
Like most of Block's writing, this is as much an exercise in style as it is in story. If you want a great story, this isn't really it. If you like stretching boundaries and can appreciate a writer's style, this might work for you.
February 20, 2020
[3rd Reading] Breaks my heart every time in the most beautiful way.
[2nd reading] One of the most exquisitely painful stories I've had the pleasure of reading.
The word that best describes Wasteland is: aching. The perils of forbidden love mingle with the more resonant pangs of a soulful bond stronger than love or lust...that is necessary.
What becomes of an individual when someone else becomes "necessary"? Bronte attempts to answer that between Catherine and Heathcliff, Leroux between Christine and the Phantom. Here, Lia Block echoes the sentiment between Marina and Lex. She does so in her usual, brilliant, artful way, weaving in the quiet, mournful backdrop of LA and all of its lost souls.
Wasteland is a tragic love story devoid of any ick factor that might be associated with the conflict. I found it interesting that Block compensated for the idea of incest by making it a tragic misunderstanding; I wonder if the story would have been more impactful if Lex and Marina had been true brother and sister? It surely would have presented a stronger challenge to the reader in making us question our own preconceptions. How do you not feel for two people so achingly in love?
Once again, Block's writing resonates within me long after I've turned the last page, like a beautifully sad symphony I can't get out of my head. But sad songs are the best.
[2nd reading] One of the most exquisitely painful stories I've had the pleasure of reading.
The word that best describes Wasteland is: aching. The perils of forbidden love mingle with the more resonant pangs of a soulful bond stronger than love or lust...that is necessary.
What becomes of an individual when someone else becomes "necessary"? Bronte attempts to answer that between Catherine and Heathcliff, Leroux between Christine and the Phantom. Here, Lia Block echoes the sentiment between Marina and Lex. She does so in her usual, brilliant, artful way, weaving in the quiet, mournful backdrop of LA and all of its lost souls.
Wasteland is a tragic love story devoid of any ick factor that might be associated with the conflict. I found it interesting that Block compensated for the idea of incest by making it a tragic misunderstanding; I wonder if the story would have been more impactful if Lex and Marina had been true brother and sister? It surely would have presented a stronger challenge to the reader in making us question our own preconceptions. How do you not feel for two people so achingly in love?
Once again, Block's writing resonates within me long after I've turned the last page, like a beautifully sad symphony I can't get out of my head. But sad songs are the best.
July 12, 2009
I can't begin to describe how much i adore this book. The language is so delicate and descriptive, i find it utterly absorbing. There's something really haunting in the combination of the controversial theme, (incest), and the way Francesca Lia Block writes. Which i find strangely childlike, yet so vivid and intricate. The sentances all weave into each other. Perfect. Parts of it just read like a song to me. The ending completely broke my heart too
'You were just a boy on a bed in a room, like a kaleidoscope is a tube full of bits of broken glass. But the way I saw you was pieces refracting the light, shifting into an infinite universe of flowers and rainbows and insects and planets, magical dividing cells, pictures no one else knew'.
UH. i just love it.
'You were just a boy on a bed in a room, like a kaleidoscope is a tube full of bits of broken glass. But the way I saw you was pieces refracting the light, shifting into an infinite universe of flowers and rainbows and insects and planets, magical dividing cells, pictures no one else knew'.
UH. i just love it.
September 15, 2010
When I first picked up this book from the library I thought that it would be somewhat like a trashy love story between a brother and sister. But after reading it, it changed into something not quite like anything I've ever read. Beautifully written with poetry that grips you, I actually had to read this book twice. Its a short story with a lot of impact but switches between characters and half way through the story I realized that there were 3 characters actions I needed to account for, not just one. So though the first time I read it I was quite confused. The second time took me through a heart wrenching journey of love that I did not expect from such a tiny book.
March 29, 2017
To some people this writing style might be genius- to me it was just unnecessarily confusing with an author screaming "Look at me, I write differently!" The story itself was okay once i finally actually understood what was going on by page 100 (of 150). It would be much easier to read if you went through and actually wrote quotation marks where people were talking.
May 10, 2019
book review: Franceca Lia Block, Wasteland(2003)
Is it canon: Yes
Is it explicit: No
Is it endgame: Ahahaha no he’s dead from the get-go the book is about her processing her grief
Is it shippable: Depends on your tolerance for angst — mine is high so yes
Y’all can safely ignore the publisher’s summary which makes it sounds like this is a book about her falling in love with some other guy, how he helps her “put the pieces back together” and “face the past that is haunting her.” Lol like >70% of the scenes are in the “past,” her brother is not her past he is her everything.
A couple of stylistic disclaimers before we get into it: The dust jacket describes the novel as “darkly opalescent” and “poetic and lush.” If that’s not your cup of tea then you know who you are. It’s not exactly Second Person POV but it might as well be: the pronoun “you” is the siblings’ special name for each other, so the chapters are told in alternating POVs and there is a lot of “you” this “you” that. Nonlinear narrative too but you probably surmised that from the “poetic” bit. Francesca Lia Block’s prose is spare and sharp but the plot is nonexistent and the character development is scarcely less so. It’s a slim volume, 150 not-very-densely-spaced pages with generous margins, and we already know what’s going to happen. Spoiler alert they were iN lOvE!!!!! What this book does have in spades, however, is alllllllll the best brosis incest tropes; checks every damn box. Spoilers ahead. To wit:
Gahhhhh I cannot get enough of this! That instant, bone-deep, lifelong connection! I look forward to seeing it develop into romantic love, of course, but you cannot skimp on establishing the depth of their relationship prior to that. Let the record reflect that I am 132% here for the older sibling gravitating to the crib to calm the crying baby. You know what I’m also here for? Teenagers walking in on each other masturbating:
She’s clearly aware of her burgeoning attraction to him but she’s also confused by it, and even more confused about whether he reciprocates. She’s barged into his room before going on a date specifically so he’ll see her outfit and her makeup and I don’t think it’s even to make him jealous — jealousy is, if anything, a secondary objective. She wants him to tell her she’s beautiful. She needs his praise and validation in order to feel real; she needs it like a plant needs sunlight. One of my favorite things about incest ships is how they know each other inside out:
Just the use of the customary we would stop instead of the one-off we stopped says volumes about this bonding ritual. Then she goes on to describe how she got sunburnt at the beach and he was the one to apply aloe/ointment to the blisters. The blisters on her CHIN and her CHEST. After that they have a convo about reincarnation, which ends thusly:
Later on he gets a mermaid tattoo. Adkjkdfjkdfdjk. At this point I should probably mention that the main characters’ names are Lex and Marina and Marina means “from the sea.” It is unclear what Lex is short for but probably Alexander? Which means something like “defender.” Check it out though this is what happens when Marina gets her first period:
She doesn’t even say anything just casts her eyes downward into her lap and he knows right away what it is. He takes off his sweatshirt, ties it around her hips, pulls her upright, HOLDS HER AGAINST HIM FOR A SECOND, then goes on to walk behind her down the hall, shielding her body with his. When will you fave ever.
TRIED TO STICK HIS TONGUE IN MY MOUTH BEFORE HE EVER SAID HI. Why would she ever go for any of these jerkwads when Lex is right there.
So in addition to the Lex and Marina POVs there are also sections narrated by a kid named West, a friend of Marina’s. He is lowkey interested in her, but I’m okay with that since it’s not like he’s bitter or whinging about being friendzoned. I’m actually partial to Outsider POVs when they serve the important narrative function of confirming the untouchability of the main relationship, which West absolutely does. He literally thought Lex was her boyfriend the first time he saw Marina in seventh grade:
Imagine how many people must have thought the same thing though. And West is very matter-of-fact when he describes Lex as “the person you love more than anyone,” and when he sees Marina completely dry-eyed at Lex’s funeral he is super concerned because how the hell do you hold all of that in girl — “to hold your brother’s life and his death inside of her,” is the way he puts it.
One time Lex goes to a fortune teller. She tells him “There’s someone who loves you too much,” which is exactly the sort of vague but broadly applicable prognostication that con artists are known for tendering. For fifty dollars she promises to tell him more, but Lex thinks What more could she tell me? I already knew. He fights it but he can’t help it because him and Marina? It’s like fighting gravity. Tbh most of the tension in their relationship is a result of them trying to fight the gravitational pull of their attraction. Lex goes to a prostitute because, well:
The next logical thing to do, of course, is to date Marina’s bff, thereby damaging Marina’s own relationship with the girl but Lex explains he’s desperate to do something, anything to “sever” himself from Marina definitively. Needless to say I am 200% here for siblings engaging in unsatisfactory sex with other partners in order to cope with their forbidden feelings … as long as they hook up in the end. Which they do. While housesitting for Lex’s English teacher. It’s this grand old house with a sunken garden, filled with old books and plenty of wine, and outside the jasmine is in full bloom. I mention this because the scene is carefully framed as a romantic one, not some sordid sweaty physical encounter. I’m pretty sure there was fumbling — it was Marina’s first time after all — but it’s in keeping with the genre that Marina draws herself a bubble bath and throws the window open and calls for Lex to bring her a refill of wine … and that’s when we fade to black. Guys their story is TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD.
They go to a club:
Lex is torn between being overprotective because Marina is his sister or jealous because Marina is the love of his life and I am dyyyyying. Lex, later:
Straight up threatening to end anyone who even looks crosswise at his (objectively drop-dead gorgeous) sister? YES.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
After Lex dies a random girl whom Marina has never laid eyes on before comes to their door and demands a memento so she can make an honest-to-god altar to Lex. This is creepy af and I don’t at all blame Marina for telling her to get lost. Well, it turns out this girl was in love with Lex probably. And you know how sometimes when you’re in love even if it’s one-sided you notice things about the object of your affection that other people don’t? This girl feels like she was entitled to Lex’s affection as much as his leather jacket. Lol bitch no he belongs to Marina heart and soul.
Genre: YA
Is it the main pairing: Yes
Is it canon: Yes
Is it explicit: No
Is it endgame: Ahahaha no he’s dead from the get-go the book is about her processing her grief
Is it shippable: Depends on your tolerance for angst — mine is high so yes
Y’all can safely ignore the publisher’s summary which makes it sounds like this is a book about her falling in love with some other guy, how he helps her “put the pieces back together” and “face the past that is haunting her.” Lol like >70% of the scenes are in the “past,” her brother is not her past he is her everything.
A couple of stylistic disclaimers before we get into it: The dust jacket describes the novel as “darkly opalescent” and “poetic and lush.” If that’s not your cup of tea then you know who you are. It’s not exactly Second Person POV but it might as well be: the pronoun “you” is the siblings’ special name for each other, so the chapters are told in alternating POVs and there is a lot of “you” this “you” that. Nonlinear narrative too but you probably surmised that from the “poetic” bit. Francesca Lia Block’s prose is spare and sharp but the plot is nonexistent and the character development is scarcely less so. It’s a slim volume, 150 not-very-densely-spaced pages with generous margins, and we already know what’s going to happen. Spoiler alert they were iN lOvE!!!!! What this book does have in spades, however, is alllllllll the best brosis incest tropes; checks every damn box. Spoilers ahead. To wit:
When you were a baby I sat very still to hold you. I could see the veins through your skin like a map to inside you. How could skin be that thin? I was afraid you might drop and break. I stopped breathing so you wouldn’t …. Then you reached out and curled your fingers around mine … That was the first time I knew I had a heart inside my body.
Gahhhhh I cannot get enough of this! That instant, bone-deep, lifelong connection! I look forward to seeing it develop into romantic love, of course, but you cannot skimp on establishing the depth of their relationship prior to that. Let the record reflect that I am 132% here for the older sibling gravitating to the crib to calm the crying baby. You know what I’m also here for? Teenagers walking in on each other masturbating:
You jerked up and looked at me. You were in bed with the sheet over you and the room smelled close. I smelled your pot and beer and your smell — salty, warm, baked. I read in a magazine that women aren’t supposed to be attracted to the smells of their father and brothers.
She’s clearly aware of her burgeoning attraction to him but she’s also confused by it, and even more confused about whether he reciprocates. She’s barged into his room before going on a date specifically so he’ll see her outfit and her makeup and I don’t think it’s even to make him jealous — jealousy is, if anything, a secondary objective. She wants him to tell her she’s beautiful. She needs his praise and validation in order to feel real; she needs it like a plant needs sunlight. One of my favorite things about incest ships is how they know each other inside out:
We’d stop for rocky road ice cream in Westwood on the way home and I picked out the nuts and gave them to you, you plucked marshmallows out for me.
Just the use of the customary we would stop instead of the one-off we stopped says volumes about this bonding ritual. Then she goes on to describe how she got sunburnt at the beach and he was the one to apply aloe/ointment to the blisters. The blisters on her CHIN and her CHEST. After that they have a convo about reincarnation, which ends thusly:
If you were a mermaid, you said, If you were a mermaid, I was the sea.
Later on he gets a mermaid tattoo. Adkjkdfjkdfdjk. At this point I should probably mention that the main characters’ names are Lex and Marina and Marina means “from the sea.” It is unclear what Lex is short for but probably Alexander? Which means something like “defender.” Check it out though this is what happens when Marina gets her first period:
I asked Michelle to go and get you. I could have told her, I guess, but I didn’t. I wanted you. I was scared and you were always who I went to when I was scared. I was practically stuck to my seat. The wetness pooling underneath me. I looked up at you. You had come running. There was sweat on you face, your eyes all pupil. Hey, you, you said, down on your knees looking at me. Hey you what is it you scared me you okay?
She doesn’t even say anything just casts her eyes downward into her lap and he knows right away what it is. He takes off his sweatshirt, ties it around her hips, pulls her upright, HOLDS HER AGAINST HIM FOR A SECOND, then goes on to walk behind her down the hall, shielding her body with his. When will you fave ever.
I never looked at other boys. I tried, as I got older, to like them. I tried to like my square-jawed dance partner in sixth grade graduation … I tried teen idols with their skinny bodies and whiny voices … I tried to like Robby Rydell because he was a good skateboarder but he caught me with a jump-rope lasso and tried to stick his tongue in my mouth on the playground before he ever said hi. I really tried hard to like Brent Fisher because it seemed important that I find somebody at that point. Not somebody to fill a space. There was never a space.
TRIED TO STICK HIS TONGUE IN MY MOUTH BEFORE HE EVER SAID HI. Why would she ever go for any of these jerkwads when Lex is right there.
So in addition to the Lex and Marina POVs there are also sections narrated by a kid named West, a friend of Marina’s. He is lowkey interested in her, but I’m okay with that since it’s not like he’s bitter or whinging about being friendzoned. I’m actually partial to Outsider POVs when they serve the important narrative function of confirming the untouchability of the main relationship, which West absolutely does. He literally thought Lex was her boyfriend the first time he saw Marina in seventh grade:
They were walking together and laughing and he thought that must be her boyfriend.
Imagine how many people must have thought the same thing though. And West is very matter-of-fact when he describes Lex as “the person you love more than anyone,” and when he sees Marina completely dry-eyed at Lex’s funeral he is super concerned because how the hell do you hold all of that in girl — “to hold your brother’s life and his death inside of her,” is the way he puts it.
One time Lex goes to a fortune teller. She tells him “There’s someone who loves you too much,” which is exactly the sort of vague but broadly applicable prognostication that con artists are known for tendering. For fifty dollars she promises to tell him more, but Lex thinks What more could she tell me? I already knew. He fights it but he can’t help it because him and Marina? It’s like fighting gravity. Tbh most of the tension in their relationship is a result of them trying to fight the gravitational pull of their attraction. Lex goes to a prostitute because, well:
She was the farthest I could get from you. That’s what I wanted.
The next logical thing to do, of course, is to date Marina’s bff, thereby damaging Marina’s own relationship with the girl but Lex explains he’s desperate to do something, anything to “sever” himself from Marina definitively. Needless to say I am 200% here for siblings engaging in unsatisfactory sex with other partners in order to cope with their forbidden feelings … as long as they hook up in the end. Which they do. While housesitting for Lex’s English teacher. It’s this grand old house with a sunken garden, filled with old books and plenty of wine, and outside the jasmine is in full bloom. I mention this because the scene is carefully framed as a romantic one, not some sordid sweaty physical encounter. I’m pretty sure there was fumbling — it was Marina’s first time after all — but it’s in keeping with the genre that Marina draws herself a bubble bath and throws the window open and calls for Lex to bring her a refill of wine … and that’s when we fade to black. Guys their story is TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD.
They go to a club:
One of the guys from out there came over … He said hey, asked you who I was. You asked him why he wanted to know. He flashed his sharp teeth at you. He said why’d you think? because I was a babe. You said I was your sister and you looked like a statue.
Lex is torn between being overprotective because Marina is his sister or jealous because Marina is the love of his life and I am dyyyyying. Lex, later:
He may have a basement full of artillery but if he ever comes near you I am going to kill him.
Straight up threatening to end anyone who even looks crosswise at his (objectively drop-dead gorgeous) sister? YES.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
After Lex dies a random girl whom Marina has never laid eyes on before comes to their door and demands a memento so she can make an honest-to-god altar to Lex. This is creepy af and I don’t at all blame Marina for telling her to get lost. Well, it turns out this girl was in love with Lex probably. And you know how sometimes when you’re in love even if it’s one-sided you notice things about the object of your affection that other people don’t? This girl feels like she was entitled to Lex’s affection as much as his leather jacket. Lol bitch no he belongs to Marina heart and soul.
She said that Marina would regret this. She said it’s one thing to keep someone to yourself when they’re alive, but when they’re dead it’s really sick.
Don’t worry, Marina handles her fine. But it’s strongly implied that this girl, or someone else in her posse, or someone else entirely, guessed or suspected about the incest and threatened Lex with the knowledge and that’s how he winds up committing suicide.
I love this book so much. At the same time it is just.so.painful. to read. It unequivocally frames Lex and Marina’s story as a love story rather than as deviant behavior, which is all to the good. And it’s like Trope City here. But Lex essentially commits suicide out of guilt for the intensity of his feelings for Marina, which — last time I checked the world was not suffering any shortage of incest stories where it ends badly for the protagonists. And then …. plot twist! (I know I said there was no plot but somehow there is a plot twist.) Turns out Lex was adopted. Cue the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic.” Marina is livid when she confronts her mother about it:
I said I had a right to know, why didn’t she tell me?
Do you think I didn’t see what was between you? Do you think I could tell you he wasn’t really your brother ad have my children …
She couldn’t finish it and I couldn’t tell her that it had happened anyway.
Welp. So that happened. And when she recounts the conversation to West, he says:
Isn’t it harder now, that you know you could have?
It’s the same thing. He was my brother anyway. When someone is something to you, it’s always that.
Which about sums up how I feel about it too.
January 10, 2010
Like most Francesca Lia Block books, I can see why people enjoy it and love it and want to get deep into it. And like most Francesca Lia Block books, this just goes straight over my head.
It's beautiful, yes, and it approaches incest in such a delicate way it could almost be seen as not being incest. Everything between Marina and Lex is unsaid. The only time incest is mentioned is when one girl constantly taunts the mourning Marina by saying 'incest is best.'
It's a very small book, my copy only 150 pages, and like most Block books, it has wide margins and a non-Times New Roman font so it's a very short read. It's filled like all Block novels with vivid imagery and touching pictures and lush LA surroundings. And it has complicated, seemingly platonic relationships.
My favourite thing about this novel is that even when it's revealed that Lex was adopted, Marina still views him as her brother. She was raised that way and she saw him in that light- Lex was her brother, full blooded or not. That's what grates me when TV shows reveal that certain people aren't related, so a sexual relationship is okay. No, those people were raised to see each other in a certain light. Removing a moral boundary won't change that history.
But ultimately, I couldn't enjoy this novel as I would have liked, as Block's writing doesn't suit me. I enjoyed the topic and her way of approaching it- it reminded me of Luna by Julie Anne Peters in its sympathetic portrayal, but it wasn't in my taste.
It's beautiful, yes, and it approaches incest in such a delicate way it could almost be seen as not being incest. Everything between Marina and Lex is unsaid. The only time incest is mentioned is when one girl constantly taunts the mourning Marina by saying 'incest is best.'
It's a very small book, my copy only 150 pages, and like most Block books, it has wide margins and a non-Times New Roman font so it's a very short read. It's filled like all Block novels with vivid imagery and touching pictures and lush LA surroundings. And it has complicated, seemingly platonic relationships.
My favourite thing about this novel is that even when it's revealed that Lex was adopted, Marina still views him as her brother. She was raised that way and she saw him in that light- Lex was her brother, full blooded or not. That's what grates me when TV shows reveal that certain people aren't related, so a sexual relationship is okay. No, those people were raised to see each other in a certain light. Removing a moral boundary won't change that history.
But ultimately, I couldn't enjoy this novel as I would have liked, as Block's writing doesn't suit me. I enjoyed the topic and her way of approaching it- it reminded me of Luna by Julie Anne Peters in its sympathetic portrayal, but it wasn't in my taste.
January 24, 2009
Marina's relationship with her brother Lex has always been different than that of normal siblings. Therefore, it’s not a shock to anyone when she takes his apparent suicide so hard. But there’s more to the story than anyone knows. At least, so she thinks.
As Marina delves deeper into the mystery, struggling to understand what happened to her brother, hidden truths come to light. But none so large as those learned when she takes off to visit her father.
This is a story of love: how it can raise you up and pull you down, heal you and break you
As Marina delves deeper into the mystery, struggling to understand what happened to her brother, hidden truths come to light. But none so large as those learned when she takes off to visit her father.
This is a story of love: how it can raise you up and pull you down, heal you and break you
April 5, 2017
Personal Response:
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block was a confusing book. At first the novel seemed like it would be good because the story took place inside someone’s mind, which was interesting. One issue that became apparent was the fact that the characters were not defined at all. Also it was very difficult to determine who was the narrator and understand the gender of Marina’s brother, Lex. Another problem was that the novel switched between past and present tenses often, or so it seemed. The entire book didn’t have any clear transitions as well. This wasn’t a very good book in my opinion.
Plot:
Marina was a teenager who lived her whole life connected to her twin brother, Lex. They did everything together and were inseparable. Marina seemed to be the shyer one of the two and always wanted to follow Lex everywhere. He was her entire life. One day one decision and one person changed Marina’s life forever, and Lex was no longer her other half. Marina turned to her close friend, West, who tried to comfort her in those depressing times. He always had her back and never judged her and her choices. Marina was in denial about what had happened to her brother and tried to blame others. She had found a letter from Lex inside her old doll that made her change her mind. She had finally accepted his fate and decided it was time to tell the truth.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book to adults. The reason I recommend it to adults is because it was very confusing to read with the tenses switching and the unclarified narrator. Adults, I would assume, would be able to more easily understand this book. Also, I recommend both genders. I recommend girls to read this book because the main character is a girl and girls could relate to her. I also recommend boys to read this book because the novel is mainly focused on Marina’s brother, Lex, who is a boy.
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block was a confusing book. At first the novel seemed like it would be good because the story took place inside someone’s mind, which was interesting. One issue that became apparent was the fact that the characters were not defined at all. Also it was very difficult to determine who was the narrator and understand the gender of Marina’s brother, Lex. Another problem was that the novel switched between past and present tenses often, or so it seemed. The entire book didn’t have any clear transitions as well. This wasn’t a very good book in my opinion.
Plot:
Marina was a teenager who lived her whole life connected to her twin brother, Lex. They did everything together and were inseparable. Marina seemed to be the shyer one of the two and always wanted to follow Lex everywhere. He was her entire life. One day one decision and one person changed Marina’s life forever, and Lex was no longer her other half. Marina turned to her close friend, West, who tried to comfort her in those depressing times. He always had her back and never judged her and her choices. Marina was in denial about what had happened to her brother and tried to blame others. She had found a letter from Lex inside her old doll that made her change her mind. She had finally accepted his fate and decided it was time to tell the truth.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book to adults. The reason I recommend it to adults is because it was very confusing to read with the tenses switching and the unclarified narrator. Adults, I would assume, would be able to more easily understand this book. Also, I recommend both genders. I recommend girls to read this book because the main character is a girl and girls could relate to her. I also recommend boys to read this book because the novel is mainly focused on Marina’s brother, Lex, who is a boy.
January 15, 2019
Personal Response:
I thought that this book was very weird and it was definitely a lot different than any of the other books I’ve read in the past. Some parts in the book were somewhat challenging to understand because it would switch from when the character was alive to when he was dead. I really liked how this book made me think about things that can happen in other peoples lives.
Plot summary:
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block started out with the main character, Marina, as a young child remembering when her brother was first born, and how much she loved him. It then fast forwarded to the present time, where her brother, ended up committing suicide. From here on out in the book it is a series of flashbacks that marina had with her brother, Lex. Lex and Marina had a serious connection, which overall drove Lex to kill himself because he knew that he could never “fall in love” with his own sister. At the end of the book Marinas, mom reaches out and tells Marina that one of them was actually adopted, this made Marina's relationship with her mom very tense and catastrophic.
Characterization:
There was not much of a change in Lex because he was not fully in the book and it was mostly just old memories of him. Marina started out as very outgoing and strong in front of Lex when he was still alive, but after he died she became very subtle and shy. Marina soon changed when she started to realize why her brother had killed himself. She reversed herself and grew back to being more outgoing and reaching out to people for help.
Recommendations:
I would recommend this book strictly to the high school level because there are some events that play out for mature teens. I would also say this because you should really be ready to deal with the complicated subject.
I thought that this book was very weird and it was definitely a lot different than any of the other books I’ve read in the past. Some parts in the book were somewhat challenging to understand because it would switch from when the character was alive to when he was dead. I really liked how this book made me think about things that can happen in other peoples lives.
Plot summary:
Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block started out with the main character, Marina, as a young child remembering when her brother was first born, and how much she loved him. It then fast forwarded to the present time, where her brother, ended up committing suicide. From here on out in the book it is a series of flashbacks that marina had with her brother, Lex. Lex and Marina had a serious connection, which overall drove Lex to kill himself because he knew that he could never “fall in love” with his own sister. At the end of the book Marinas, mom reaches out and tells Marina that one of them was actually adopted, this made Marina's relationship with her mom very tense and catastrophic.
Characterization:
There was not much of a change in Lex because he was not fully in the book and it was mostly just old memories of him. Marina started out as very outgoing and strong in front of Lex when he was still alive, but after he died she became very subtle and shy. Marina soon changed when she started to realize why her brother had killed himself. She reversed herself and grew back to being more outgoing and reaching out to people for help.
Recommendations:
I would recommend this book strictly to the high school level because there are some events that play out for mature teens. I would also say this because you should really be ready to deal with the complicated subject.
August 19, 2020
Very short novel! This is another YA novel that deals with a heavy theme. In this case, incest between a sister and brother!
Now that I've got your attention, I'll start by saying this is first time reading novel by the author. Apparently Block's works are supposed to be very lyrical, emotional and cool.
I read it free on a site; if I'd paid for this short novella, I wouldn't have been satisfied or pleased.
It was an ok book and the theme of incest was handled sensitively, but it was too quick and the characters weren't given much time to develop.
The story itself is set in the 90s, I think because of certain musical, cultural and fashion references like punk.
The brother Lex kills himself and it's up to the sister Marina to discover why he did so. With the help of her friend West, she tries to find answers.
The chapters are short. The descriptions of LA/California are sometimes interesting. And the subject matter is intriguing. But I don't think the second person narrative as well as the multiple flipping of narrative was for me.
The ending was both satisfying and unsatisfying. We discover that Lex was Marina's adopted brother, but she's like "It doesn't matter". I feel like their mother could have told them both, so he didn't feel as guilty for his interest in her. However, Lex did seem overly controlling, so I'm not sure a relationship between the two would have worked out. In the end, I think it was a good thing that Marina and West got together.
The whole book was very silly though. Wouldn't recommend unless you're curious and it's free.
Now that I've got your attention, I'll start by saying this is first time reading novel by the author. Apparently Block's works are supposed to be very lyrical, emotional and cool.
I read it free on a site; if I'd paid for this short novella, I wouldn't have been satisfied or pleased.
It was an ok book and the theme of incest was handled sensitively, but it was too quick and the characters weren't given much time to develop.
The story itself is set in the 90s, I think because of certain musical, cultural and fashion references like punk.
The brother Lex kills himself and it's up to the sister Marina to discover why he did so. With the help of her friend West, she tries to find answers.
The chapters are short. The descriptions of LA/California are sometimes interesting. And the subject matter is intriguing. But I don't think the second person narrative as well as the multiple flipping of narrative was for me.
The ending was both satisfying and unsatisfying. We discover that Lex was Marina's adopted brother, but she's like "It doesn't matter". I feel like their mother could have told them both, so he didn't feel as guilty for his interest in her. However, Lex did seem overly controlling, so I'm not sure a relationship between the two would have worked out. In the end, I think it was a good thing that Marina and West got together.
The whole book was very silly though. Wouldn't recommend unless you're curious and it's free.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2024
This was one of my favorite novels when I was 13 years old. Two decades later, I decided to give it a reread. The prose is excellent (with the exception of a few lines that aren't PC anymore). The shifting perspectives lend it a sense of tension, mystery, and angst. The fashion is keen. The love stories heartbreaking. Novels about taboo relationships always stir up mixed reviews, but I feel this was artfully done.
December 1, 2023
Omg this book sucked. Reading the back I really didn't expect an incest story, but that was most of it. Also it's implied they had sex? Which I'm lost about.
It constantly switches points of view and rarely tells you who is talking, and it's just a mess. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you wanna be frustrated. The ending is also absolutely horrible.
It constantly switches points of view and rarely tells you who is talking, and it's just a mess. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you wanna be frustrated. The ending is also absolutely horrible.
April 22, 2024
i picked this book up from the library discard pile, completely blind to the premise. in some parts of the book, the imagery is very compelling and beautiful; especially in the bath scene.
all in all, incest is usually a pretty uncomfortable topic. i must say, i feel pretty unsettled myself by the whole story…i felt like i could really feel the desperation and despair throughout the writing.
all in all, incest is usually a pretty uncomfortable topic. i must say, i feel pretty unsettled myself by the whole story…i felt like i could really feel the desperation and despair throughout the writing.
July 21, 2019
This was short, strange and beautiful.
February 4, 2022
i was gonna say i should probably start reading the backs of books before i start reading them but all this said was "i'll be inside the one who holds you and then i won't be" im crying I WASNT EXPECTING THAT !!
July 3, 2023
I thought this was beautifully written and a refreshing yet deranged love story. It makes you rethink what is right and wrong and root for them. Definitely recommend!
September 3, 2016
5 stars for writing / 3 stars for plot
I've always had a fascination with incest as a forbidden love plot. I know that some people find it disturbing (disgusting, even). As far as I'm concerned, I'm fascinated because I think incest probably is the most forbidden form of relationship there is. And you know my love of all things forbidden ;)
Wasteland meets most of the criteria for a good forbidden romance (what makes a forbidden romance a good forbidden romance in my opinion anyway).
You can feel how pure and strong the connection between Lex and Marina is from the very first chapter of the story (they are brother and sister).
You can see it, but most of all, you can feel it.
Oh God, how you feel it.
There is no way you can miss it.
Sometimes, you feel their love at the most unexpected moments.
Sometimes, when you read Wasteland, you come across one sentence, or one phrase, that holds all the power of a thousand words. They hit you where it hurts the most, as suddenly and as brutally as a lightning strike.
This is how you know how much Lex loves his sister. He gives away signs of his devotion to her. They are not many, but each time they make an appearance, they are as bright as shooting stars.
These moments when you get a glimpse of the depth of his feelings for her are infinitely precious. Every one of them.
Here are the words that come to my mind when trying to describe Francesca Lia Block's writing: visual, vivid, lyrical, touching, inspiring, beautifully melancholic, beautifully haunting.
I only wish the story weren't so short.
Also, I could have done with one or two love scenes. But I know all too well that I am asking for too much xD
There is no doubt however that Wasteland has all the makings of a good new adult novel.
There are many quotes from this book that I bookmarked, and will remember forever as my favorites, including the following one:
How can you, after reading such beautiful words, not be overwhelmed by a surge of tenderness, and sadness for Lex and Marina, knowing that their love is impossible?
I've always had a fascination with incest as a forbidden love plot. I know that some people find it disturbing (disgusting, even). As far as I'm concerned, I'm fascinated because I think incest probably is the most forbidden form of relationship there is. And you know my love of all things forbidden ;)
Wasteland meets most of the criteria for a good forbidden romance (what makes a forbidden romance a good forbidden romance in my opinion anyway).
You can feel how pure and strong the connection between Lex and Marina is from the very first chapter of the story (they are brother and sister).
You can see it, but most of all, you can feel it.
Oh God, how you feel it.
There is no way you can miss it.
Sometimes, you feel their love at the most unexpected moments.
Sometimes, when you read Wasteland, you come across one sentence, or one phrase, that holds all the power of a thousand words. They hit you where it hurts the most, as suddenly and as brutally as a lightning strike.
This is how you know how much Lex loves his sister. He gives away signs of his devotion to her. They are not many, but each time they make an appearance, they are as bright as shooting stars.
These moments when you get a glimpse of the depth of his feelings for her are infinitely precious. Every one of them.
Here are the words that come to my mind when trying to describe Francesca Lia Block's writing: visual, vivid, lyrical, touching, inspiring, beautifully melancholic, beautifully haunting.
I only wish the story weren't so short.
Also, I could have done with one or two love scenes. But I know all too well that I am asking for too much xD
There is no doubt however that Wasteland has all the makings of a good new adult novel.
There are many quotes from this book that I bookmarked, and will remember forever as my favorites, including the following one:
« Your whole life you can be told something is wrong and so you believe it. Why should you question it? But then slowly seeds are planted inside of you, one by one, by a touch or a look or a day skateboarding in a park, and they start to unfurl uncurl little green shoots and they start to burst out of old hulls shells and they start to sprout. And pretty soon there are so many of them. They are named Love and Trust and Kindness and Joy and Desire and Wonder and Spirit and Soulmate. They grow into a garden so dense and thick that it starts to invade your brain where the old things you were once told are dying. By the time this garden reaches your brain the old things are dead. They make no sense. The logic of the seeds sprouted inside of you is the only real thing. »
How can you, after reading such beautiful words, not be overwhelmed by a surge of tenderness, and sadness for Lex and Marina, knowing that their love is impossible?
October 1, 2011
It took me quite a while to finish this book because, honestly, I never wanted to pick it up.
The book is written in a beautiful and poetic manner, and for a lot of people, I'm sure that's what they enjoy about the book. But for me, it was like the author was trying way too hard to make every. little. thing sound poetic that she fell short on creating plot and character depth. I mean seriously, the only things I caught from the book were the poetic writing and a very vague sad story of incest. Seriously, the story could've been very well written if the author would have been more concerned about the actual content of the book.
Even so, I am excited to try reading more books by Francesca Lia Block, because I know some of her books are very very popular. I just hope they're not all written like this one.
If you've read this book and love it, or if you just love this author, please don't bash me for my opinion on this book. It is, after all, just my opinion. As if I'm that significant, right? :)
P.S. I initially wanted to give this book one star because of all its faults, but I went ahead and gave it two stars because, even though the poetic writing gets in the way of the storytelling, it is still beautiful when you read individual sentences and phrases.
The book is written in a beautiful and poetic manner, and for a lot of people, I'm sure that's what they enjoy about the book. But for me, it was like the author was trying way too hard to make every. little. thing sound poetic that she fell short on creating plot and character depth. I mean seriously, the only things I caught from the book were the poetic writing and a very vague sad story of incest. Seriously, the story could've been very well written if the author would have been more concerned about the actual content of the book.
Even so, I am excited to try reading more books by Francesca Lia Block, because I know some of her books are very very popular. I just hope they're not all written like this one.
If you've read this book and love it, or if you just love this author, please don't bash me for my opinion on this book. It is, after all, just my opinion. As if I'm that significant, right? :)
P.S. I initially wanted to give this book one star because of all its faults, but I went ahead and gave it two stars because, even though the poetic writing gets in the way of the storytelling, it is still beautiful when you read individual sentences and phrases.
January 22, 2013
Reviewed by Jessica for Book Sake.
After reading The Weetzie Bat Series and some of Block’s stand alone books, I jumped to buy this book when I came upon it. At only 160 pages it is a short and quick read, as are some of her other books, but the ending in this one felt rushed and fell short of my expectations. The ending was predictable and way too easy for me. However, the journey there is what makes this book special.
Block has a way of writing that is different from any other author I’ve read. She is descriptive and mesmerizing without being flowery and is often blunt about the way things are. She doesn’t hide the tough subjects and faces the love between a brother and sister and the effects of suicide head-on in this story. Her characters are always flawed, always realistic, and always ones I fall in love with. Block makes writing a book seem effortless, but at the same time the way she weaves her words together takes a natural talent. Even if this ending was disappointing for me, I will still pick up anything else the author writes!
After reading The Weetzie Bat Series and some of Block’s stand alone books, I jumped to buy this book when I came upon it. At only 160 pages it is a short and quick read, as are some of her other books, but the ending in this one felt rushed and fell short of my expectations. The ending was predictable and way too easy for me. However, the journey there is what makes this book special.
Block has a way of writing that is different from any other author I’ve read. She is descriptive and mesmerizing without being flowery and is often blunt about the way things are. She doesn’t hide the tough subjects and faces the love between a brother and sister and the effects of suicide head-on in this story. Her characters are always flawed, always realistic, and always ones I fall in love with. Block makes writing a book seem effortless, but at the same time the way she weaves her words together takes a natural talent. Even if this ending was disappointing for me, I will still pick up anything else the author writes!
August 11, 2012
I loved this book. The subject matter is intense and a little icky; but definately worth checking out if you're not scared off by anything VC Andrews or FLB can put out there. This book will really toss you out of your comfort zone if you let it.
It's told in three shifting perspectives: Lex, his sister Mariana, and their mutual friend West. The time also moves around a bit, going from flashbacks to present day. It's a little confusing at first but I felt it gave the novel a lot of depth and let you look twice at each character.
The writing is exquisite, FLB really knows how to make every word count. I love this description by Lex about his first memory of Mariana: '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'
This is a beautifully written romance; filled with grief and hope. Although the subject is off-putting to many people I would really give this book a chance.
It's told in three shifting perspectives: Lex, his sister Mariana, and their mutual friend West. The time also moves around a bit, going from flashbacks to present day. It's a little confusing at first but I felt it gave the novel a lot of depth and let you look twice at each character.
The writing is exquisite, FLB really knows how to make every word count. I love this description by Lex about his first memory of Mariana: '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'
This is a beautifully written romance; filled with grief and hope. Although the subject is off-putting to many people I would really give this book a chance.
July 24, 2008
This is the story of what happens when a brother and sister are too close for societal standards, which of course then makes it not for everyone. Then again, well-written books and engaging stories are not for everyone. Block describes her characters with transcendent compassion and portrays the grief of a sixteen-year-old girl with certain realism, despite the overall dreaminess of the lyrical paragraphs. This is a haunting story, but so beautifully written I read it in an hour.
January 6, 2020
Aged about 14, I adored Francesca Lia Block. The Strand in NYC often stocked her hardcovers at low, low prices, which I gleefully snatched up. I think I've since outgrown her. In this particular instance, the penultimate chapter's twist made me so annoyed and angry I nearly got rid of the book. 2.5 stars, rounded up.
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