Imaginary Girls review -- Nova Ren Suma
Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.
But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.
With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.
Author: Nova Ren Suma
Pages: 347
Publisher: Dutton/Penguin
Release Date: June 14th 2011
Format: Hardcover ($17.99)
Buy it Here: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Review
Imaginary Girls is one of those books reviewers cringe about after reading the first page, because they can tell it's going to be one of those books. One reason I will have an extremely hard time reviewing this book is because I'm still pretty unclear about most of the book.
Nova Ren Suma's writing is the most exquisite form of gorgeous -- it's kind of like drinking the most expensive, most pure bottled water instead of filling a cup with tap water. It's inspiring, amazing, and scintillating. I can't wait for future releases of hers. I will surely buy each and every one.
The central theme of Imaginary Girls is the complex sisterhood the main character, Chloe, and Ruby share -- all the ups, the downs and the secrets they have naturally as sisters. They have a rare bond that only sisters can have, and that's displayed well in the book by the author.
The plot moves relatively slow, but Ms. Suma's prose saves the day. If her prose weren't as marvelous as it is, and when I say marvelous, I mean marvelous, the book's plot would collapse and rot like a burning house. In fact, there isn't really a plot. Nothing happens. All the book is composed of is a pair of sisters, some weed, and a reservoir that conceals the flooded town of Olive. But it's okay, because the writing is all that matters.
According to Ruby's myths, the town of Olive was bought out to be turned into a reservoir, and the residents of the town apparently didn't see a need to leave, which plays into the mystery of the story, including the body she found. Throughout the book, Suma leads you to believe one thing, and it's actually quite the opposite. Only strong writers can coerce you in this way.
To everyone who didn't already get the memo in the five-plus paragraphs of this review already written, Nova Ren Suma's prose is freaking brilliant and made me shit bricks.
The plot of this book in certain places makes me go
.This rest of this book (especially its prose) makes me go
.Imaginary Girls is haunting, truly, and it's a book you won't soon forget. The thing I like the most about Imaginary Girls (besides its prose) is how Ms. Suma doesn't answer every question presented. Books like that are very appealing to me, because sometimes I'm not looking for a clear-cut, everything-is-roses happy ending and I want a little more . . . or, more specifically, a little less.
It's official: I will buy anything this lady's name is stamped on.
Five Owls
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