What do You think about Belinda (2001)?
November 16 2009So much to say about this book and so many reasons why I loved it.If you pick up this book keep an open mind. Jeremy is not a perv and this is no regular 16 year old girl. She has lived and lived hard in her short 16 years. I loved them. Great plot, fleshed out Characters. I could actually see the movie in my head as I was reading. Belinda's letter to Jeremy is so great. Alex's friendship with Jeremy was so wonderful and G.G. is so cute! Belinda's relationship with her mother is such a tragedy on so many levels. She is evil yet you feel sorry for her. This is a book that I could read again and probably will. Holy Communion! I loved it. ReRead March 3, 2010I knew this would be a book that I would enjoy over and over again. I did pick up on a few things. I didn't think Jeremy was 5 years older that GG. WOW. For me I still had no problem with the age thing. Read it! Read it! You will be in for a treat!
—Kelly
NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, AND CONTAINS A LOLITA-ESQUE TALE. If you prefer a more Real Life angsty story with a fairly nice end over Rice's Over the top supernatural bru-ha-ha, look no further. Unless, of course, you are squicked by a teenage girl sleeping with and being in a romance with a middle aged man. That, perhaps, is the major determent in recommending this book. It's rather frightening to know how good a book is but know that because of the plot, someone will judge you for your enjoyment of it. I remember reading it red faced, not because of the content but rather because I knew that if someone recognized what it was, they would raise their eyebrows. The red face may also have been because I was a 16-year-old girl who frequently lust after men in their thirties and forties, reading a story about a man lusting after and eventually falling in love with someone my age. Nothing like haveing a double guilty conscious, eh?In any case, there is Art, there is a debate over art vs obscenity, there is beautiful description, there is a compelling love story that at the same time makes you want to step back, and a hot topic plot. hmmmm. . . sounds like a good read to me! Perhaps I shall reread it now that I'm several years older and my lust objects are a hell of alot closer to my own age. . .
—Savannah
Belinda has been one of my favorite books since I first read in back in 2001. Re-reading during the years that Anne Rice was writing Jesus books was difficult. This book celebrates unashamed sensuality, totes a kind of openness towards sexual identity, nudity, and the female body and was proof that Rice didn't completely believe in the Catholic morals she was trying to purport through her painfully tedious re-telling of Christ's life. Reading it now, after she's come back to her senses, for lack of a better phrase, was like seeing the book breathe itself back to life. It's a philosophy that came into my life at the most important time, and a philosophy that I still hold try - say yes to what feels good, and be unashamed of your body, your creativity.
—Su Abeille
