Goth Girl Rising [Hardcover]

 

 

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"It's my life and I'll do what I want. It's my mind and I'll think what I want." -- Eric Burdon with the Animals, 1966

I saw this on Amazon Vine and knew I had to read this, although I had not yet read "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl". Once I read this, I ordered it as well as "Boy Toy" as the main characters get a brief nod in this book. Barry Lyga is an author to watch for!

Kyra, 14 is discovering her identity. Her mother died of lung cancer and her father, unable to handle her anger and aggression and acting out had her committed to a hospital. It is while she was serving time in the hospital that she is branded DCHH by the nurses - Daddy Couldn't Handle Her. Kyra's doctor is a likable character. He is honest with Kyra and makes it plain he does not condone the nurses talking that way about any patient. He acknowledges her anger and that she has good grounds for it.

"Show me I'm wrong, hurt me sometime/But some day, I'll treat you real fine" seems to be Fanboy's response to Kyra's "Are you gonna cry/When I'm squeezing them dry?
Taking all I can get, no regrets/When I openly lie (ha)!" Indeed, Eric Burdon & the Animals' 1966 classic "It's My Life" could easily be the soundtrack of this book.

Kyra, once released continues her Long & Winding Road to self discovery and self destruction. She is branded a goth by her dress, musical taste and behavior and the friends she has. Simone and Jecca are interesting characters as well. Simone is sexually active and urges Kyra to be as well; Jecca and Kyra kiss passionately, leaving Kyra wondering what her orientation is.

Confused, angry and cutting edge, Kyra gives back as good as she gets. She shaves her head and steals cars. Roger, Kyra's desperate father keeps no sharp objects in the house including razors after Kyra slashed her wrists prior to her hospital admission. Ever resourceful, Kyra buys a razor and shaves her head. Gone are the black clothes, replaced with white to create the "post-goth" look, as she describes herself. Kyra, always in search of individuality resents her two friends joining in on her "post-gothic" look.

Kyra is a fascinating character. She is not afraid to speak her mind, even if the timing is most inopportune and where she stands to lose the most. She tells her English teacher in quite crude terms that she does not want to accept her offer of friendship; she gives the principal a funny, albeit rude nickname and her online chats with her friends are borderline funny. The good thing is that this is a very plausible story with very hard, cutting edge characters.

Fanboy, Kyra's old friend/nemesis has incurred her wrath. Seizing on his penchant for drawing graphic comics, she plots her revenge against him with a razor sharp acuity that is .... painful.

Kyra's biggest problem seems to be failing to tell people why they have angered her. She resents her crowd for not writing to her during her sentence in the hospital and she is furious with her father, whom she calls Roger.

Many adult issues are intertwined throughout this story and Lyga's serious, gritty, cutting edge style is somewhat reminiscent of Chris Crutcher's novels. Both are gifted authors who keep their readers riveted, avidly reading their works to the end. Both give fresh voices to their characters and deal head on with some very serious topics without diminishing the intensity of the feelings by using euphemisms.

While this book is aimed at a slightly older than the middle school crowd, I still think all young adults will enjoy this. Issues such as drug and alcohol use; adult sexuality; death; suicide attempts; hospitalization; theft and raw language are explored in this book. Despite Kyra's gothic bravado, she takes pride in not using the "eff" word, although she is no verbal Puritan. Barring that word, she is not shy about using other expletives and even making explicit demands. This is an excellent book that will speak to anybody who feels Doubt rearing its head, casting doubts about fitting in.

Kyra Sellers is back, and if people know what's good for them, they will keep their distance. Her mother has died of cancer, and even her special relationship with Fanboy couldn't keep her life from spiraling out of control. If he hadn't told her father about the bullet, her innermost thoughts would still be hers.

After spending six months under psychological observation in a facility of her father's choosing, Kyra is back at home and expected to resume regular life. Her father has suicide-proofed the house so she can't even shave her legs, and all he wants is for her to behave herself at school.

It all just reminds her of how much Fanboy let her down. He said he'd email and stay in touch, but she never received a single contact. Now she's learning that while she was gone, his life went on. He seems to be everyone's hero, and he's rewritten his comic and is actually choosing to publish it in installments in the school literary rag.

Kyra uses her rebel skills to annoy everyone as much as possible. She refuses to be drawn into heartfelt conversations with her father. Instead, she blames him for her mother's death, and in an effort to shock him, shaves her head. As far as her behavior at school, it's nearly impossible to honor her promise to "be good." The teachers irritate her, the principal has unrealistic expectations, and Fanboy has been sucked into a situation with his comic that she just can't respect.

Almost immediately, Kyra reverts to yelling matches with her father, sneaking out at night, and stealing cars. Plagued by memories of her mother's lingering death, Kyra fights the urge to seek help from her therapist and her friends. How far will she go before she hurts herself or others?

Barry Lyga adds this sequel to THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF FANBOY AND GOTH GIRL to his growing list of impressive YA fiction. What impressed me most about his creation was his ability to get inside Kyra's head to give readers a vivid view of her emotional upheaval.

The suggested audience is 14 and up, which is sensible given its straight-forward, gritty characters and rough dialogue. However, this isn't in any way a fault of the book, since Lyga keeps true to the unique voice of Kyra that he created in the first Fanboy/Goth Girl book.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Prior to reading this book I had only read short stories by Barry Lyga, yet this book exceeded all expectations. It is incredibly witty, full of surprises and unique tools. I picked up this book because the cover and title attracted my attention. I had read one of Barry's stories in Geektastic and since then I wanted to pursue some more of his writings. I was expecting a story of revenge, anger and destruction. What I got was a story about life, love, loss and change.

Kyra Sellers has just spent six months in the Maryland Mental Health Unit. While she was gone, life seems to have gone on for her friends. But now she is back, back in black, back at school and plotting how to get revenge. Fanboy is going down and so is anybody who gets in her way. If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, then Goth Girl takes that that fury and amps it up.

The writing in this story is incredible. One of my favorite features is Kyra's letters to Neil Gaiman. Interspersed throughout the book are letters from Kyra, written, but without the intention of being sent. This is the story of Kyra's goal of revenge and her self-discovery along the way, so that revenge was amazing to watch. This book was so well written that I have picked up all of Barry's other books and plan on reading them soon.

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