Review - Blue by Lou Aronica

Blue by Lou Aronica was sent to me originally to be part of a book tour. I was hoping to have either a guest post or an interview with the author, but I never heard back about either so, my review will have to be it. :-P It's ok, because I loved the book.

Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Becky is Chris's fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges to become a vibrant, vital young woman - and now faces her greatest obstacle yet. Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little, a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own and now finds itself in terrible, maybe fatal trouble. Together, Chris, Becky, and Miea need to uncover a secret. The secret to why their worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them. Blue is a novel of trial and hope, invention and rediscovery. It might very well take you someplace you never knew existed.

Becky was diagnosed with cancer when she was little. The way her parents dealt with the diagnosis and subsequent treatment eventually drove a wedge in between them and resulted in the inevitable break in their marriage. Chris sat with Becky every night weaving tales of fantasy and wonder about a place called Tamarisk. Polly, Becky's mother, was desperate to find treatments and alternate treatments and experimental drugs that might sure her.

Unfortunately, the divorce also succeeded in driving a wedge between Chris and Becky. Stories about Tamarisk stopped. As hard as Chris tried, he and Becky just didn't connect anymore. Until one day when Becky was 14 and staying the night at her dad's. She finds out that night that not only did the stories about Tamarisk never really die, but that it had literally come to life.

*

The story, at first, was a tad bit confusing. The point of view shifted very quickly from one person to the next and it threw me off. I had to go re-read the beginning. Once I figured out who everyone was and who was talking when, the rest of it was a breeze.

I loved this book. The struggle Becky and Chris face with their not-so-make-believe world is what draws them back together and saves their relationship. Becky seemed like your typical ungrateful teenager at first and Chris seemed to just be content to let her be ungrateful. Always worried about pushing her to do more than shrug or say something other than "Whatever" or "It's fine". Polly, I never really liked her. She seemed like the rude, stereotypical awful ex that always blamed everything on the ex-husband and could never give him a break. Everything kind of flip flops (although I still never liked Polly) for Chris and Becky, though.

Miea was a wonderful character. Strong but not uncaring. Always trying to think outside the box and find the solution that will benefit everyone. She fought to prove herself as a monarch because due to her age she was viewed as inexperienced. She definitely had some tough decisions to make but came through the story with flying colors.

I think one of  the things I wish there was more of in this book was description. The descriptions that were there were amazing and I could picture what was being described in my head. But some things just fell short. And it was a bit disappointing. They were never talked about past their description and I was like "Wait a second..." but never got more than that.

Overall, like I said, I loved the book. Absolutely loved it. I can no longer say that Maggie Stiefvater is the only author that has made me cry. The ending of this book had me in tears. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. And I would recommend this as a read to EVERYONE.