Bleed

Bleed by Laurie Faria Stolarz moves in a completely new direction from Stolarz’s old series, Blue is for Nightmares. Bleed is actually a collection of ten short stories, each told by a different narrator. The stories take place over the course of one day, and all are connected.

The first story is Nicole’s. She’s in love with her best friend’s boyfriend, and she has been for a long time. After she betrays said best friend, she has no idea what to do. And so the day begins, with narrators such as Kelly (Nicole’s best friend), Sean (Kelly’s boyfriend), and Maria (Kelly and Nicole’s other best friend).

This is a hard book to summarize, but don’t get the impression that I didn’t like it. In fact, I finished it in one sitting. The connections between characters make this a great book. It’s interesting to see how one small action affects everyone. Parts of Bleed are graphic to the point where it’s just unnecessary, and I docked half a point for that. It makes the book realer, but at times, it’s just too much. One character – Derik LaPointe – is also a main character in Project 17.

4.5 out of 5

~ by Leslie on May 23, 2008.