Imaginary Girls

Oh dear. I may have connected with this a little too much. How strange that a story about girls coming back from the dead and wishes granted via pink balloons would feel so real to me. Something about Chloe's listless wonder, about how the only thing she gives a damn about is this beautiful woman who happens to be her sister, felt really familiar.

I don't have an older sister. But I've known some beautiful women that just ruin your life. One I knew in college was in fact an actress, so I found myself supplanting Ruby's face with hers. Who knows, maybe if Imaginary Girls is made into a movie it'll be her big break. So I get the elements here of longing and thrall, about being close to someone or something that is so untouchable. Chloe is so close to Ruby yet she doesn't share her secrets, and she is so close, even living just a few feet away, from what's buried in the reservoir and yet she can't know what it's hiding from her.

I love the way this book captures being a teenager, and the almost random relationships one has with the world at that age. How the guy you liked suddenly doesn't like you because you're too much like someone that creeps him out, even though you haven't been doing anything any differently its just that his sight is suddenly different and yours is too. So much growing and changing happens in a very short amount of time and I kind of think that's what this book is about when you get down to it. It's also about what doesn't change, and how those things are what we remember as magical.

This book is creepy and unsettling and sweet, I don't think I've read anything else like it, except perhaps The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart, as they both balance those elements of whimsy and suffering in the same way. I almost want to dock stars from it a tad vindictively, because finishing this book was like waking up from a dream before its done. It leaves you exhilirated, but a little uneasy.

Wow! Beautiful! I would compare it to an episode of the Twilight Zone, but that would not do this lovely novel justice. The prose is just gorgeous, the plot is page turning, and I could not put it down. There are parts of this novel that have branded themselves onto my brain and I will never forget them.
I do love books that have something to do with towns that are at the bottom of a body of water, but I think my favorite part was the scene with the balloons with wishes written on red ribbons.
There are no easy answers in this story, and while I would love a sequel (perhaps another person from town), I can't imagine how that would work.
Chloe has a wonderful voice, and the reader just falls in love with her.
Sorry for all of the gushing, this one just blew me away.
I am not sure if I recommend saving this one for Fall reading. It is a little too dreamy for summer, and has a Gothic feeling I tend to liken to the Fall. Most of the story takes place in the Summer, however, so maybe this summer is the perfect time to read it.
Don't miss this one.