What made me pick this up was actually the cover. A girl at a masquerade ball looking at someone had grabbed my interest and after reading the back of the book I knew I had to buy it.No regret came from my decision. The book was very promising and the author had fullfilled her promise by delivering a good solid plotline with enchanting characters and scenery that just made you gasp with every turn of a page.The writing was amazing. The way everything was described so amazingly using such great w...

Lush language, that seductive grandeur of an artificial lifestyle… I just couldn't get enough. It was perfection and utter terror.But, the most important part of this read was, for me, the question of whether or not you would sink yourself into hell just to see a deceased loved one again. Would you? I just lost a friend, and goodness, I wouldn't. Putting that into perspective, I knew how deep Rafe's love had to run and how delicate a certain part of him had to be in order to make that decision.T...

Elysia is a city that is a carnival of light, sparkle, shimmer and joy. Sweet candy, hot house flowers, music, bars, clubs, circuses and carousels all make up this fun house city of youth and excitement. But, to stay in it you must pay the price. Only the young may stay above, when you grow old you go Under, to a labyrinth of dark tunnels and shadowy places of quiet, dark desperation, wrapped up in linen awaiting your death. In this beautiful city Calliope is a girl that has visions of the futur...

Ecstasia: Now, finally, it's available in the re-issued paperback! In a carnival-town called Elysia, the band Ecstasia lives its enchanted life. Calliope, Rafe, Paul, and Dionisio are the members, each with his or her own story. Though they were born in the desert, siblings Calliope and Rafe are products of the young, bedazzled culture of Elysia, and they have accepted that they will live the good life until signs of aging drive them--willingly--to the Under, where the old ones live. Their own m...

This is one of the oddest of FLB I've read but I really liked it. It's a fantastical resetting of many Greek myths, taking the name of the crux of the myth and twisting it to this new setting. This is basically a world of glamour and beauty where the elderly and ugly are shunned and sent underground where no one will see them. Calliope and Rafe come from Outside and both are drawn to Under. Calliope has always had visions and is haunted by a vision of their mother. Rafe falls in love with a danc...

This was really fun! Reading FLB reminds me of why I love reading in the first place: it's fun! Words are magical! Make-believe is more palatable than unadorned reality! "Rafe knew that Paul could not leave the carnivals, could not live in a place without sweet things. That Paul...would rather live above in false light and pay in total darkness later than find something else, somewhere else, where light and dark took turns, reminding whoever saw the change that sometime everything would end." <3...

I wish more modern YA in the SF/F genre was more like this... *sigh* It wasn't a perfect book -- I didn't mind the dreamy quality (which, admittedly, was more dreamy and disjointed than I remembered), and there were things that could've been better fleshed out and I skipped all the many poems and whatever, but it was still a lot better than a lot of what I've read recently in the YA SF/F genre (and I think this book falls pretty firmly in the fantasy camp).

This was the first book of a two parter, and I read it second. Opps.Kind of an interesting experience though. I liked the characters of this one much better, and found the fluff more palatable. Still, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who wasn't already a big fan of the authors'.

another good book............really sexy and colorful......i LOVED it

A disappointing read, especially given how much I love FLB. This is one just lacking the true magic of her language and beautiful flow I love in her writing across her works. Block has such a unique tone and voice, and the way she uses language is mesmerising, but it’s lacking in this. The words and images are there, the ideas, but the beauty and control isn’t quite there, the images lacking in the whole. It was a good story and unique in its idea but something about the writing felt contrived a...

I’ve tried to read this book several times. It wasn’t until I realized it was written as a Greek mythology, that I finally got into the story. I love Blocks’s writing style. Her use of magical realism and mythology was interesting. The characters are a brother and sister who are dealing with the loss of a parent. It has a lot of Orpheus moments. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

While the book's multiple plots (because it feels like there is more than one) tend to feel unrelated to each other at times, I really enjoy the writing style and the story. I love the mythology and the way it's blended into this other world.

Never finished... and that is extremely unusual for me. While very lyrical in her descriptions the story was very dark with not enough background to the characters to make me care about any of them.

This was the first book I've read by Francesca Lia Block. She has an interesting way of writing with a mix of different styles. The rhythm kept it moving and flowing.

Even Francesca Lia Block's writing couldn't save this book. I'm just not interested in any of the characters or the plot. It feels really juvenile and strange.

Three hours of my life I can't get back.

Definitely a book that beats to the rhythm of it's own lush, metaphoric, and fever-dream like beat.

didn't like this enough to read it.

Yep, this book still slaps! I was afraid I would read it now and struggle to find what once made it so magical for me the way I have with some of Francesca Lia Block's other books, but I'm pleased to report that didn't happen. It's difficult to put into words why I adore this book so much and what makes it hit consistently when it's arguably an example of Block still finding her feet as an author and certainly has plenty of flaws if one looks closely enough. But I love the characters and setting...

Meh. Going to have to go subtract a star from The Elementals. This was better than that, but it wasn't good.I wondered whether Block was getting worse or whether I had outgrown her, so I decided to reread something I'd loved. It seems to have been both. The language here was pretty, but not as intoxicating as I remembered, and the content was a bit muddled.It seems like she's working with myth and legend, so it should be fine for things not to have direct explanations. Sometimes it is. I had no

Disclaimer: I am doing this review from the perspective of someone who has read the sequel (Primavera) first, and treated the first book (Ecstasia) as more of a prequel/backstory. Some of you may have read Ecstasia before Primavera, so your opinions on how I see things may differ.So last summer I had read the 2nd book in this 2 part story which was called Primavera. I had enjoyed that book so, so, so, sooooooo much! It supplied me with SO much imagery, and character sketches and locations for me...

I remember reading this book when I was 13, I think its forever going to be an ingrained memory when/where I came across this book (and Dangerous Angels) because of the beautiful Suza Scalora magical realism cover.When I read it, as a teen, I loved it because it was just that, - magic, it was Los Angeles in a Greek mythos/carnival form. The Los Angeles I used to know and sometimes miss. I loved the lyrical imagery and it was an escape from a teenagers reality. Block's books (especially her older...

This book reads like a young teenager went to a rave and is trying to write a poetic (read: Purple) description of it. Elysia is a magical city in the desert where all youthful desires are realized with abundant food, easy living, and free entertainment; the catch is, when the inhabitants begin to age, they must go underground to a grim city of catacombs where their skin flakes away and they turn into living mummies. It's never explained how and why the city was built, why it is necessary for so...

Please help save Francesca's home so she does not lose it! sign this petition!!! http://www.change.org/petitions/save-...#Ecstasia is not an easy book to describe, it is hard to do it justice. Like other novels by Francesca Lia Block (especially the Weetzie Bat books), it gets into your heart and soul.Brother and sister Rafe and Calliope live in Elysia, a place that is all about joy and pleasure. The youth of Ecstasia spend their time visiting circuses, clubs, cafes, eating sweet sugary foods an...

In Elysia, no one gets old. Or rather, you won't SEE anyone old there. When Elysians get old, they go Under, hiding their signs of age below the city and dying willfully out of sight. Calliope, Rafe, Paul, and Dionisio are the band Ecstasia, and they have come from their desert home to live in Elysia, but Calliope is called Under because she feels her mother is down there dying. Her disappearance causes a rash of her band members following; her brother Rafe is first to go, meeting performer Lily...

I absolutely adore Francesca Lia Block - seriously, she is like a complete goddess in my eyes - that being said, this is my least favorite of her books. I'm not sure why, but something was different about it - the writing style is still beautifully poetic and her ability to make even the most ugly things in life seem dazzling is still there, but I didn't connect so much with the characters, I couldn't feel the magic. Still, for me at least, a so-so FLB book still beats many other writers at thei...

I probably should have read more Fransesca Lia Block when I was younger, because she doesn't seem to be doing it for me now that I'm an adult. This book was much like a dream, but I don't consider that to be a good thing. There were lots of descriptive words, but you noticed more that she was purposely trying to come up with imagery and metaphor rather than imagining the things she was describing. The plot especially was dreamlike, in that it seemed like everything was important and made sense a...

This fantasy tale is poetic, but hard to follow at times. Meant for older teens it contains non-graphic references to sex, homosexuality, and recreational drug use. Calliope and her brother Rafe live in a city where youth is celebrated. Once you begin to age you are banished to the dreaded underworld of sewers and tunnels. Their band Ecstasia is all the rage, but Calliope will begin to age soon, and her brother's girlfriend is taking a drug that makes her age even more quickly than normal. It is...

I think that Francesca Lia Block is an amazing writer. And although I enjoyed reading her books before, this is the one that made me fall in love. There is something about this story that is beyond magic and whimsy. I feel like every time I read something by Block I feel the electricity in the air shift and everything come alive. The magic that is in these books really pours out while you're reading and becomes part of your life. It's a wonderful feeling, like a drug almost.

Normally I don't like reviewing books I haven't finished, but I will in this case. This isn't a long book, and it's a brilliant, original idea, but I just found this heavy going. The author's style is a bit overbearing here, though I tend to think Ms Block is someone you read more for her style than her plots. I found this story very memorable, and I'm even tempted to find a copy and give it another try, but I just couldn't get through it...