Francesca Lia Block
HarperTeen (2010)
ISBN 9780061926662
Reviewed by Avni Gupta (age 17) for Reader Views (12/10)
When I received “The Frenzy” in the mail, I was both excited and apprehensive to read it. I had heard wonders about Francesca Lia Block’s writing, and this would be the first book that I read by her, but I had also read reviews about this book that said that it was a disappointment, and that it was her worst book by far. I was dismayed to read that, but I did not let other people’s opinions dissuade me from actually reading it. After I finished “The Frenzy,” I was astonished. How could anyone have thought that this was a bad book? I absolutely loved it!
This book begins with Olivia (Liv) talking about her life and how she is different from her entire family. Liv has orange hair covering her entire body while no one else in her family has red hair at all. Not only does she look different, she acts different too. Her family is rich and they have lots of prejudices. Liv has a black boyfriend and a gay best friend who pretends to be her boyfriend at social gatherings. But then things go bad. Liv’s best friend kills himself and her entire world collapses.
There were so many things that I could relate to while reading this book, but the main one is the fact that Liv doesn’t think that she can relate with her family or that her family can relate with her. I feel like this is a problem that almost all teenagers have, and it is no fun at all.
One thing that I absolutely loved about this book was the cover! The vibrant colors made this book so much more inviting. I would see it sitting there and I could not help but pick it up! The way the green eye on the cover shines is both very creepy and crazy beautiful. I also really like the way that the girl on the cover, who I am assuming is Liv, has her hair is wrapped around the cover, hiding all of her face except for her eye. I feel as though that was one of the coolest things about this book! I absolutely loved this book – “The Frenzy” by Francesca Lia Block.
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