The girl in the mirror wasn't who I wanted to be, and her life wasn't the one I wanted to have.
Despite how much Louise insists, no one will call her Weetzie. It's her dad's nickname for her, but it won't stay put. Neither will her dad. Charlie left Louise and her mom and he took everything with him: her family, her home--and her understanding of who she's meant to be.
But Los Angeles is a city full of strange angels, and Louise embarks on a journey to sift through the smog of her heartbreak, to grow her own wings, to become Weetzie.
4 out of 5 stars
Pink Smog is a prequel to Weetzie Bat.
Louise "Weetzie" Bat's life has turned upside down. At 13, she is dealing with middle school and mean girls. At home, her life went from a cute cottage fairy tale to a fractured family... and then her father leaves. Her mother drowns herself in alcohol and Weetzie is desperate to connect wit her father. She meets her "angel" and also faces her demons while she comes to terms with her father leaving, her friends' problems and her own self.
Weetzie Bat was published in 1989. Pink Smog, the prequel, was written 23 years later. I think that it's hard to capture the same feel when that much time has gone by. It was also the only book with Weetzie as the main character that was in 1st person POV (Missing Angel Juan was also 1st person but was focused on Witch Baby).
I'm not really sure what to say about Pink Smog. I liked it, but it lacked something that Weetzie Bat and the other 4 books in the Dangerous Angels anthology had. The main thing that I can think of is the whimsical feel in both characters and language.
In the end, I gave it 4 stars. It was hard to decide because it was good, but a little disappointing. I loved Weetzie Bat and it just wasn't on the same level. While I've reread my Dangerous Angels anthology so many times, I'm not sure I'd reread this one. The writing was still good and above average for me. It would be near the bottom of the list, though, if I was going to recommend one of Francesca Lia Block's books.
*Picture and description from Goodreads
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