My father was first introduced to Aronica’s work through a Free Book Friday for the Nook, and as soon as he’d finished reading Blue, he urged me to do the same. I was a little more hesitant, my shelves already filled with books I hadn’t read yet and no time to pick up another one. But finally, as I started into book reviews and being serious about this side of my life, I finally took my father’s advice and had him LendMe the two books from his Nook.

I can’t say as I’ve ever been more pleased about a choice of reading material.

Aronica takes two very different worlds – the “real life” view of Connecticut and a family that’s falling apart, and the “fantasy” world of Tamarisk with a queen seated too young facing over a catastrophe too big – and meshes them together seamlessly. The narrator switches between Chris, an aimless man divorced (badly) from his wife and estranged from his daughter; Becky, Chris’ daughter who has more imagination than the next six people combined and is dealing with not only all the troubles that come with being a fourteen-year-old but also the remission of her leukemia; and Miea, the queen of Tamarisk by her early twenties and faced with the largest disaster her kingdom has faced in decades.

With so many plot lines, it seems like it would be easy to lose track of the narrative and what is happening where – but Aronica’s storytelling never lets you get lost. You wander with Chris, desperate to save his relationship with Becky even after his divorce sent a monkey wrench into its gears. We relive high school with Becky, who still after four years doesn’t understand what happened with her parents and just wants to make her way through her freshman year without remark. We mourn with Miea, as she grapples with the difficulties of being queen and making decisions she doesn’t – and can’t – entirely understand. And we flip between the three with ease.

And as the paths begin to intersect in ways that no one would have expected, it’s easy to sit in your armchair with a grin on your face, cheering them on every step of the way. I know that I did.

The fact that I personally sat down and devoured Blue whole in a matter of hours is testament to how superb the writing of this book is, and how well it draws the reader in and makes the world real in their mind. And though I can’t “darken” like Chris and Becky do in the book and find myself in one of my own fictitious worlds (or possibly not so fictitious…), I can certainly imagine how that might feel.

Definite five-star rating for both Blue, and its prequel, Until Again. Must-read, on both counts.

Until again, Mr. Aronica. I’ll be waiting for your next book. ( )

This book was really a short story as a prequel to the fantasy regarding Chris and his daughter Becky who tell a story of a fantasy land. It's their father/daughter bonding which is greatly reflected in their story telling.

Very interesting and caught me wanting more.

I was sent a copy of Blue by Lou Aronica for review.

Blue is a YA fantasy that introduces us to a family that's been broken by a child's serious illness, divorce, and a loss of communication. Becky, daughter of Polly and Chris, battles her way through a horrible illness as a young child. Her father, Chris helps her through this time by helping her to create a fantasy world, Tamarisk, to mentally escape to. The details of this world they build together is amazing and I loved watching Becky discover all the games, creatures, smells, and sounds that she and her father created once she discovers that she can actually go to Tamarisk, that it, in fact, exists. Sadly, however, the real stress of dealing with this illness has caused Becky's parents' marriage to reach its breaking point and somehow Becky and her father lose that connection they had with each other as well as Tamarisk.

I didn't like the parents, Polly and Chris. Polly was an overbearing, hypocritical, controlling toad of a woman and Chris was a weak, pathetic, clueless mess of a man. These two were such perfect caricatures of so many divorced couples that I've seen, the power and control games that get played and nobody bothers to notice that the child gets caught in the middle and ends up lost and confused. Polly and Chris couldn't have been more true to life, and while I didn't really like either of them, I understood them and their place in this story. Their one redeeming quality was that they did genuinely love their daughter. Becky was such a brilliant character. The depth of friendship she shared with Lonnie, the easy relationship she had with step-father Al, and the hope she was always willing to reach for made me really connect with her. I loved reading the slow process of Becky's reconnection with her father and the surprise and delight Chris felt at having that communication with his daughter back again. It was beautifully written.

I absolutely loved this story. I was hooked from the very beginning and there wasn't a single point where I ever lost interest in what I was reading. The novel flows easily from one chapter to the next, the plot is clearly laid out, and while I figured out long before the ending where it was headed, it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed getting there.

I found only one fault with Blue, there were a couple of chapters about Gage, seemingly some sort of God-like being maybe. These chapters were a little awkward and confusing and personally I just didn't get it. But they were a very small part of the story and overall I loved this book so much that it didn't even matter that I didn't understand Gage.

Blue is definitely an emotional roller-coaster, with flawed realistic characters, an extraordinary elaborate fantasy world, and a plot that will tug at your heart strings, this novel is one that I will certainly read again. I hope that Lou Aronica returns to the world Tamarisk for future novels.

Rating 5- Amazing, beautiful touching story. ( )

This has got to be one of the best books I have ever read,this story has stayed with me since I read it almost two years ago. ( )

Blue is magical, the relationship between Chris and Becky was so sweet. It's amazing how love and belief can create miracles. This story will make you feel anger at times at Polly, Becky's mother, sadness, hurt and a bit of joy. I liked the concept of this imaginary place Tamarisk, that started as a way to help Becky get through her cancer treatments and as a bonding experience between father and daughter. I didn't really connect to Polly, mainly because I couldn't relate to her anger towards Chris, and her stubbornness to be open-minded about Tamarisk. It was like she felt she would lose Becky, if she allowed herself to believe. I say give Blue a chance, and you may just walk away with a touch of the magic. Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author. ( )