Known for lyrical, intoxicating prose and magical realism, Block delves into the vampire mythos with a racy story that sizzles and satisfies. While the story she spins (century-old vampire lives as Charlotte, a 17-year-old girl who has everything except true love, real friends and mortality) offers nothing new to the overstuffed niche, its simple beauty—and its slight heft—lies in its lustrous details (Paris of the 1920s comes alive in Charlotte’s “celery-green silk crepe sheath”). Many iconic moments from this past century—the bombing of Hiroshima, Woodstock, John Lennon’s murder, Kurt Cobain’s suicide—are given brief but vividly described due. Charlotte’s master-and-servant relationship over several decades with her “maker,” William Stone Eliot, is overtly erotic (“death in the guise of love, a dark-haired man... who bows his head to your breast, and bares, and punctures, and raptures and drains until you are empty and he is full”), as is her twisted and only slightly less sultry romance with the tragically handsome Jared Pierce, which acts as the perfect contemporary foil. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)
Gr 9 Up—Charlotte Emerson is tall and beautiful, and lives by herself in a gorgeous mansion. She's also a vampire. Before she turned, she was a bright young woman with an idyllic life. Then her beloved twin died, and his death so devastated her that she had to find a way to dull the pain. Thus, she became a vampire, a decision that has haunted her for nearly 100 years. Now she is faced with another tragic loss: that of her best friend, Emily, to an apparent suicide. Lost and lonelier than before, she seeks comfort and solace in Emily's boyfriend, Jared. At first, he is bitter and angry with her, but she opens up to him, telling him about her past, and they eventually fall in love. But there is one secret that she keeps from him: she suspects that she may, somehow, be turning into a human again. When Charlotte's maker, William, returns to taunt her, Charlotte is forced to face a horrific mistake from her past that may cost her everything. In Pretty Dead, Block takes what has up to now been the norm among vampire novels for teens and attempts to turn it on its head. This is a startlingly original work that drives a stake deep into the heart of typical vampire stories, revealing the deep loneliness and utter lack of romance in eternal life.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA
Charlotte has been a vampire for 80 years, and for the first time she wants something she thinks she can have: beautiful Emily Rosedale. But Emily kills herself, leaving Charlotte alone but for a growing friendship with Emily's boyfriend and the terrifying return of the vampire who created Charlotte in 1925. That's pretty much it for plot, but this being Block, every element of the narrative is really about sex: food, clothes, death, disaster, siblings and, of course, sex itself. Luckily, sex is enough to provoke character growth. Charlotte's coming-of-age-more apropos for a young woman than for a teenager-may have taken 80 years, but it's no less satisfying for all that. The people who surround Charlotte are caricatures of need whose actions follow no logic, but Charlotte's internal journey is what is important, so the senseless plot doesn't detract significantly. Wine-drinking, brand-name-adorned and gothically tormented, Charlotte provides a nice interlude for those readers who'd rather be a vampire than marry one. (Fantasy. YA)
A true original…[Block] has created something psychologically complex, erotically charged, and unusually poignant.” — Booklist (starred review)
“I love the lush, melancholy world of this novel, and its heroine, with her century of secrets.” — Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of EVERNIGHT
“A startlingly original work that drives a stake deep into the heart of typical vampire stories.” — School Library Journal
“Sizzles and satisfies.” — Publishers Weekly
“Will be gobbled like candy by teen readers.” — The Horn Book
“With her characteristic flair and seductive prose, Block makes this tangled story of betrayal and love a standout. Sensuous and heartbreaking, sure to both satisfy and challenge fans of the supernatural romance.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
I love the lush, melancholy world of this novel, and its heroine, with her century of secrets.
A true original…[Block] has created something psychologically complex, erotically charged, and unusually poignant.
Booklist (starred review)
Will be gobbled like candy by teen readers.
With her characteristic flair and seductive prose, Block makes this tangled story of betrayal and love a standout. Sensuous and heartbreaking, sure to both satisfy and challenge fans of the supernatural romance.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
With her characteristic flair and seductive prose, Block makes this tangled story of betrayal and love a standout. Sensuous and heartbreaking, sure to both satisfy and challenge fans of the supernatural romance.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"A true original…[Block] has created something psychologically complex, erotically charged, and unusually poignant."
With her characteristic flair and seductive prose, Block makes this tangled story of betrayal and love a standout. Sensuous and heartbreaking, sure to both satisfy and challenge fans of the supernatural romance.
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
