Blanche is a rather interesting teenager, even if she doesn’t think of her as such. I really like her way of thinking and her ability of seeing every situation in more than one way, and I also liked her love of books and her way of delving into them. Nevertheless she doesn’t think much of her but it’s sort of used to it – though she does hate the way her body looks and the way no one seems to acknowledge her existence. As for Christa… I think she is very well represented by Blanche’s thought: “If being ridiculous would kill…”. She is very preoccupied on making herself look good – I think that’s what had attracted her to Blanche in the first place, the fact that she was so “faded” it made Christa stand out even more (or at least so she thought). She has no problem lying and/or making people feel guilty for no faults of their own. My favorite parts related to her are where she tells all sorts of invented stuff about herself – such as “I love that kind of flower as it’s very delicate like I am and very hard for painters to paint it – like I am”. The other important characters were Blanche’s parents, both teachers. I have to say I really and truly didn’t like them – they were good people but I really didn’t like the way they criticized their daughter (“Ooooh, Christa, you’re so cool for doing this – a pity Blanche is not like you” repeated quite a lot). Especially as teachers they should have known that no two people are alike (not to mention Christa was lying and exaggerating all along anyway).

I found quite interesting the way Blanche considered Christa (after a long while of studying her): as having two different ways/modes/personalities. The first one being Christa, the charming one, the amazingly beautiful one, the way Christa behaved when anyone else but Blanche was present. The second one being the one saved for Blanche herself: Antichrista, stupid, criticizing, with a demonic laugh and grotesque features. Blanche is amazed of Christa’s capacity of transforming from one to another in a split second (like an on/off button without a middle state).

What I liked most: I enjoyed very much almost everything having to do with the way Blanche felt about her invader and the fact that her parents were totally conquered. Especially the parts where she imagined newspapers headlines about her killing both Christa and her parents (might sound gory but it really wasn’t).

What I liked least: I hate to say that I really, really, really missed something about the ending. So Christa starts spreading all these awful rumors about Blanche and her parents. One day Blanche finds her sharing her stories with a whole amphitheater – and what does she do? She goes and kisses her. And no one says a word anymore and the next day Christa disappears. Why? What was I missing? I can’t help feeling that by doing this Blanche sort of confirmed everyone’s thoughts of her – not that we know for sure as we have no idea what the rumors actually are. Plus, from the reader’s point of view, I think that, even though Christa has disappeared, everyone continued to believe her lies and the rumors she had spread. I myself would have liked a more “fireworks filled” ending, where everyone saw Christa as the conniving liar that she was.

Recommend it? Yes. It’s a fast read and quite fun too.

Written by the same author:
Sulphuric Acid

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