Book Review: Blue by Lou Aronica

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Becky is Chris's fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges to become a vibrant, vital young woman - and now faces her greatest obstacle yet. Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little, a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own and now finds itself in terrible, maybe fatal trouble. Together, Chris, Becky, and Miea need to uncover a secret. The secret to why their worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them. Blue is a novel of trial and hope, invention and rediscovery. It might very well take you someplace you never knew existed.

My Thoughts:  I thought this book was a little slow to get into but it is so worth sticking through!  It was an amazing story!

Becky was five years old when she was diagnosed with cancer.  Becky and her father create a magical world, Tamarisk, to help cope with the treatments.  Each night they would invent stories about this fantasy world.  After Becky gets better (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler), they continue with the stories.  When a life changing event alters Becky's life, she quits with the stories.  However, the stories didn't quit on her.  As time went on, so did all the characters in Tamarisk.    Then, Becky falls asleep one days and finds herself in Tamarisk.  She takes her father back to as well and together they work to save the dying Tamarisk.

The descriptions of the world of Tamarisk are amazing!  Who wouldn't love a world that smelled like chocolate?  The animals, blue foilage, musical instraments and more were so well detailed.  I honestly could see everything Aronica described in great detail!  I would love to be able to visit such a fantasy world.

The characters were great and I could easily connect to most of them.  Becky is so strong and even while denying her symptoms are back, she is funny and so smart.  I loved how she was just a normal kid dealing with her parents' divorce, school, etc.

Chris was just sad but how could he not be?  I have never had to deal with a child with such a severe illness (thank goodness!) so I cannot even imagine how that feels but I think his feelings were portrayed really well.  His ex-wife, Polly is horrible!  She is mean, overbearing, controlling and I could go on forever on how miserable she is.  I couldn't stand her!

I loved how the story was told both from Chris's point of view and from Becky's point of view.  It kept things interesting and it was fun to read both from a parent's point of view and from the child's point of view.

I think, despite the slow start, this book is worth the read!  It had many tearful moments and was an amazing story of a father and his daughter and the magical world they make up.  If you like fantasy, you will enjoy this one for sure!