Bliss by Lauren Myracle
It’s 1969, the war (excuse me, “military action”) is raging in Vietnam, Charles Manson is on trial for mass murder, and fourteen-year-old Bliss In-the-Morning-Dew is fresh off the commune. Her hippie parents have fled to Canada to escape the draft and left Bliss high and dry with her prissy southern grandmother in Atlanta. But this is not a tragedy. Bliss discovers that she actually likes real soap, clean sheets and remote-controlled television. She’s even looking forward to making friends at the chi-chi private school her grandmother has enrolled her in. That is, until she steps on campus and hears the otherworldly voice that keeps whispering in her head, speaking of blood, death, and sacrifice. Until she explores the abandoned third floor of the school’s oldest building, once a convent, and discovers the room of the young novice named Liliana who plunged to her death to escape the soul-cleansing whip of a sanctimonious Mother Superior. Until she finds out that one of her new chums actually plans on becoming a vessel for the vengeful Liliana and needs Bliss’s blood to seal the deal! OMG, Lauren Myracle, who knew you were hiding a bloody butcher knife behind that Mayberry smile? Myracle, lately she of the sweet, pastel-covered stories of girlhood has returned to her darker, a la Rhymes with Witches roots with this delicious package of scary goodness all wrapped up in a blood-soaked bow. Lately I have been pissing and moaning about the fact that there is not enough true YA horror to fill the desperate need of teens everywhere for some good old-fashioned thrills and chills. Well, I’m here to tell you that YA horror is BACK because Lauren Myracle has BROUGHT IT with this spine-tingling nightmare that is 1/3 Carrie, 1/3 classic Lois Duncan, and the rest gorgeously gory urban legend. The YA horror gauntlet has been THROWN my adolescent, Stephen-King-reading friends, and I can’t wait to see how many YA writer-peeps start penning their own terrifying tales in order to reach the bar raised by this bloody Myracle! Haunting a library or bookstore near you September 2008.
Em said,
June 30, 2008 @ 12:30 pm
Would this be appropriate for 11 yr olds who are already reading (and devouring) the Twilight series?
Thanks!
Jen Hubert said,
July 1, 2008 @ 11:33 am
Em, I think it’s kinda scary for an 11 year old, but that would depend on what you’re used to reading. This is true horror, whereas Twilight is more supernatural romance.
mitzi said,
July 10, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
does any one suggest this bbok to a 14 yr old who is in love with twilight??
Donna said,
July 11, 2008 @ 9:17 am
I second Jen’s assessment in terms of appropriate audience. I finished Bliss last night - normally a 10PM to bed gal, I lasted until 12:30AM because I couldn’t stop this one in the middle. I have to say first that I am not a horror reader - at all. Even Breathe: a ghost story creeped me totally out and it’s on our Texas Lone Star 08-09 list. (for middle schoolers)
Factoring in my personal horror aversion, I still would not hand this to a 6th grader. I’m in a middle school with a lot of truly advanced readers in terms of complexity and maturity so I’ll probably offer it to the kids I know well enough to know they read adult horror already or those who like to read “up” but will bring a book back and say, “uh, no, think I’ll wait a year or two on this one” if it makes them too uncomfortable.
The jacket detail recommends the book for 14 and up so I’d also have little chance of keeping it in a challenge…and I have some very challenging parents:)
I’m still pondering whether the book worked for me…obviously it was a page-turner..but sometimes Bliss’s internal dialogue seemed a bit didactic.
Jen Hubert said,
July 17, 2008 @ 7:10 am
See, I thought Bliss was portrayed as a total innocent, whose voice was moralistic and somewhat simple because she had been so sheltered. The voice worked for me, but I was so enraptured by the good horror story plot that the voice would have had to been REALLY off for me to even notice;)
Donna said,
July 22, 2008 @ 3:57 pm
And this may be where our difference lies…since I’m not an enjoyer of horror I may have tried to lock on to other aspects of the story and keep some distance from the creepiness. I believe that you are right - her moralistic thinking was a fit for her background - maybe it was just a hair too explicit for me, thus making me feel more like I was being “talked to” rather than just listening in on her inner dialogue. That said, I have no doubt that this book will be in great demand in my library both with my horror fans and my girls who like to read about the “horror of teenage-ness.”
Did Bliss remind you at all of Cap in Schooled?
Kiki said,
July 25, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
Do you think this would be appropriate for a 12 year old who is in LOOOOVE with horror stories? Like, does the explicit content come from fear, or…what?
Jen Hubert said,
July 25, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
If you have read any of Lois Duncan’s books (Summer of Fear, Down a Dark Hall, Killing Mr. Griffin) and you were able to handle those, then you can handle this one. It’s not super gory, there are some gross parts, but not particularly graphic. It’s more psychologically scary than “slasher” scary.