Francesca Lia Block

After a devastating earthquake destroys the West Coast, causing 17-year-old Penelope to lose her home, her parents and her 10-year-old brother, she navigates a dark world, holding hope and love in her hands and refusing to be defeated.

Love in the Time of Global Warming

Monicap

A modern-day, post-apocalyptic, Odyssey! Sound's awesome, right?

Also, Francesca Lia Block has a pretty good reputation, doesn't she?

The Story felt a little clunky to me, but that's not the reason why I'm giving this a low rating.

I'm giving this a low rating because when I open up a YA book, I'm looking to be entertained, I'm looking to maybe start a discussion on some issue, but I'm not looking to have EVERY SINGE ISSUE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS SHOVED IN MY FACE.

Which is what this book was. 

Now, to clarify, there is nothing wrong with bringing up poitns of political correctness (i.e. sexuality) but if the book is marketed as something else, it should also be about something else, like, you know, what it was marketed as.

Melissa Palmer

Book #96 Read in 2013
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

This YA dystopian book reimagines Homer's Odyssey. After the world is hit by a huge earthquake, Penelope is on her own, knowing her father is dead but not knowing what has happened to her mother or younger brother. She begins to travel to find them. Along the way, she finds some other lost souls...young people on their own as well...and they become a sort of family/pack. 

This book was a quick read. Pen is a great character...she is intelligent, brave and a bookworm. There is a decent amount of action and fighting to keep reluctant readers engaged. I liked it.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Alexa M

Briar Rose

*Review also posted at Briar Rose Reads

Strange, ethereal retelling of The Odyssey in a post-apocalyptic world, focusing on a teenage girl in search of her family. I can see how the choppy back-and-forth structure, lack of internal logic, and sometimes implausible characters might be bothersome, but I was able to somewhat turn my brain off and enjoy the lovely, lyrical prose. Penelope was an enjoyable narrator, especially in her fierce love for her little brother, whom she, with a big sibling's single-minded focus, considered the most beautiful and worthy person alive.

All in all, a weird but quick and enjoyable read.

Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything--her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy. In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm of Love in the Time of Global Warming is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.

Heather Killeen

I really like the premise of a retelling of the Odyssey in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. I also really appreciated that all the main characters in this story have diverse sexual orientations that span a pretty wide range of LGBTQ, which is super uncommon in YA lit. This promps some insightful conversations in the book about acceptance and self love that were really great.

All that being said, the plot was pretty hard to follow. Maybe it was because, being told from first person, when said person jumps back and forth from past reflection and current events, and happens to black out from time to time for no explained reason, it makes the series events jumbled and confusing. Not wanting to give too many spoilers here, but there is a lot of crazy stuff going on, giants and goddesses and magical powers, and the origin and operating rules of each of these were mostly not explained. I am usually fine with a little mystery, especially when there is a sequel, but by the end I was left with a lot of questions about their world and especially the powers, and for the things that were explained there was just no tension or build up. Most of the "climax" of the book was summed up really quickly in a nonchalant and very unsatisfying way.

So I likely won't joining Pen, Hex, Ash and Ez (also, do we have to abbreviate every single name??) in book two, sorry guys!

Love in the Time of Global Warming

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