Friday, December 17, 2010

2010 book 292

Isobelle Carmody's Alyzon Whitestarr
Aside from having to get past a heroine with a somewhat silly-sounding name, this book was fantastic. Seriously, there is some good YA coming out of Australia right now. Anyway, after Alyzon is in an accident, her senses are suddenly hyper-activated, and she can especially smell people's essences and emotions. Her musician father smells of coffee and caramel--but ammonia when he's worried about money. And the boy she had a crush on smells horribly rotten--what can it mean? The aftermath of her injury leads Alyzon to uncover some pretty disturbing things, but also brings new friends and hope--can the latter combat the former? I classify this as fantasy because of the somewhat fantastic elements, but it's grounded in a dark and compelling reality. A.

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