Thursday, January 13, 2011

Review: Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Tags: YA, paranormal, sisters, murder, horror

Summary

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are more than simply sisters: they’re practically the same person. The daughters of an infamous killer, the girls keep to themselves, yet are always aware that their father’s tendencies may manifest in them as well. So when they begin to kill—only those who deserve it, of course—the sisters are not all that surprised.

What shocks Fancy, however, is when Kit begins to want to branch out beyond their close relationship. The more Fancy kills, the more she tries to hold on to the way things were, the more things change. Turns out there are some things more horrifying than killing, and that may be acknowledging the real world.

Review

Dia Reeves is like a bucket of cold water on YA lit’s face…and I mean that in the best way. Her debut novel, Bleeding Violet, turned paranormal inside out and made it fascinating, in a sexy and gruesome sort of way. Her sophomore novel, SLICE OF CHERRY, is like a twisted childhood fantasy come true. Which is to say that I LOVED it.

As she did in Bleeding Violet, Dia kind of simply throws readers to the wolves and makes you fight to understand and be sympathetic to what’s going on in the story. In a world where some YA writers seem to “baby” their readers, this is a refreshing challenge. Things are not outright explained to us, but rather allowed to unfold gradually over the course of the book’s many pages. SLICE OF CHERRY focuses greatly on the horrors of the human psyche. I mean, Portero is weird enough on its own, but Kit and Fancy’s sociopathic behavior could technically happen in any normal American town, which is the truly creepy part of this novel.

The characters in SLICE OF CHERRY are fantastically messed up, definitely out there in a caricature-like but still completely understandable way. Little time is wasted on backstory, on explanations of what made the girls the way they are. Instead, they—especially Fancy—believe so thoroughly in their oddness that they leave us no room to question how they came to be that way…and that was totally fine with me. We don’t need complicated psychiatric explanations because they are so fully realized, their bizarreness so beyond our comprehension of typical human behavior that they successfully straddle the line between the real and the macabre.

SLICE OF CHERRY is in a genre all its own. If Bleeding Violet didn’t convince me that Dia is a genius, then this book most definitely did. This book will appeal to anyone who has even a pinch of darkness to them, who ever felt like they were weird and enjoyed things that no one else seems to.

Similar Authors
Cecil Castellucci


Cover discussion: It's not what I'd expected. I had wanted something darker, something that perhaps shared elements similar to the cover of Bleeding Violet. But that doesn't mean I dislike it. It may be a bit misleading for anyone who's heard nothing about this book, but I like its unusual creepiness.

Simon Pulse / Jan. 4, 2011 / Hardcover / 512pp. / $16.99

Review copy sent by Simon & Schuster on behalf of the author. Thank you!

10 comments:

  1. This makes me really want to read the book! I've mostly heard that Reeves is a cofusing author, but I honestly prefer authors that don't baby the audience.

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  2. Steph, this was a great review. I love that you used the word GRUESOME. That is totally what I'm looking for in a book. I like to be a little freaked out by crazy things and this sounds FAB. I have both Bleeding Violet and Slice of Cherry. I CANNOT WAIT TO READ!

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  3. Great review. I can't wait to read this. I agree with you, Dia creates such wonderfully bizarre stories.

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  4. This book sounds great. Awesome review. I can't wait to read it.

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  5. Those books are going straight to my Amazon wishlist and TPR pile this year! Thanks for the awesome review!!

    Btw, I'm a new follower :)

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  6. *gasps* SO, jealous! I really want to get this book! quickly!

    Today I posted a review of a grand Steampunkery Book!  Please do check it out, I highly recommend Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar if you want Steampunkery and a mix of many genres.  A new favorite... indeed a huggable book!

    Mad Scientist
    Steampunkery & Book Reviews
    Forbidden Steam
    Where the Mad Scientist can be found behind the bed chamber doors!

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  7. Like Jen, the fact that you used the word gruesome in this review makes me SCARED and HAPPY. Dia is sosososo lovely as well, so that makes me even more freaked that she seems to be able to write books that are so fantastically gross. I need to get this book it seems. I need to get it right now.

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  8. Great review! I just got Slice of Cherry this week! I can't wait to read it. I love the creepiness of the cover. Glad to hear it's good!

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  9. This right here says it all: **Dia Reeves is like a bucket of cold water on YA lit’s face**
    I love that line!!

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Hello! I'm so excited to read what you have to say. Due to high amounts of spam, I'm forced to disabled anonymous comments for the time being. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and I hope you can understand and still appreciate the content here!

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