Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains)
Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: February 1, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Description:
Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines, drawing comics and feeling invisible. She's desperate for soccer star Mark to notice her. And when her BFF texts Mark a photo of Blaze in sexy lingerie, it definitely gets his attention. After a hot date in the back of her minivan, Blaze is flying high, but suddenly Mark's feelings seem to have been blasted by a freeze-ray gun, and he dumps her. Blaze gets her revenge by posting a comic strip featuring uber-villain Mark the Shark. Mark then retaliates by posting her "sext" photo, and, overnight, Blaze goes from Super Virgin Girl to Super Slut. That life on the sidelines is looking pretty good right about now...
Review:
Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) is a really fun teen read that follows Blaze - a high school girl who feels invisible in school - always by herself, drawing comics and living a boring life. She has a huge crush on a soccer player from school named Mark, but he doesn't even know she exists. Then, Mark gets a picture of Blaze in sexy nightwear and suddenly he's definitely aware of her. They go on a hot date and Blaze is feeling great. Just as suddenly as Mark notices her, he goes the complete opposite direction and dumps her for no reason. Blaze puts all of her hurt and anger into one of her comic strips - featuring Mark as the villain. Mark then gets revenge by posting her "sext" all over the place and Blaze is suddenly the school's newest slut. Blaze never thought that she would actually wish for her invisible existence, but it seems very enticing now.
This was a really fun and realistic teen novel. Blaze is a great main character. She's bright, witty, definitely sarcastic at times, but also has an innocent and sweet side. She's the quintessential teen girl in almost every way. The reader can easily connect with her because we've all felt invisible in life before. The story is written very well and done with a great insight into teenage thinking and life. The story is a classic one - the innocent girl getting caught in whirlwind of hurt feelings and revenge created by her classmates. This story gives the tale an original twist by having the main character be artistic - Blaze's comics really mean a lot to her and help her cope with her feelings during the entire debacle. Another modern twist that the author gives to the story is the whole "sexting" issue. This is a hot topic among teens today - the sending of sexual pictures via the Internet or phones. It's not hard to imagine that this story could actually happen to someone these days. It's a cautionary tale as well as one that speaks of believing in oneself, standing up for what's right, doing the right thing, and knowing the boundaries in life. There are a ton of great messages for the readers throughout the story - we need to empathize with Blaze during the terrible things that happen and we also need to learn from her mistakes. Overall, this was an inventive and fun contemporary novel that teens of all ages will thoroughly enjoy.
The graphic art in the book is so important to Blaze's character that I thought it would be interesting to share one of the illustrations with you!
Giveaway:
For this giveaway, I have some signed bookmarks to give to one lucky commenter! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, either about the review or the art - or just something about the book. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you (Email, Twitter handle, etc.). Open to US residents only!
*Disclosure: The banner at the top of this post was not created by me. It originally appeared on Chapter by Chapter's blog.*
