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Bliss (Crestview Academy, Bk 1)
Bliss - Crestview Academy, Bk 1
Author: Lauren Myracle
When Bliss's hippie parents leave the commune and dump her at the home of her aloof grandmother in a tony Atlanta neighborhood, it's like being set down on an alien planet. The only guide naive Bliss has to her new environment is what she’s seen on The Andy Griffith Show. But Mayberry is poor preparation for Crestview Academy, an e...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780810970717
ISBN-10: 0810970716
Publication Date: 9/1/2008
Pages: 176
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 17

3.7 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

halie2157 avatar reviewed Bliss (Crestview Academy, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Bliss was a book that's setting is in 1969. Her parents were hippies, and she is now growing up in a rather racist time period. She befriends a girl named Sandy, who is unpopular to say the least, but was kind when others weren't. But after Bliss starts to hear voices of a former student who killed herself on school grounds, bad things begin to occur. Sandy isn't the same person anymore. And when Bliss begins to hang out with Sarah Lynn, the utterly gorgeous and most popular girl in the school, Sandy doesn't take it very well. Sandy, or should I say Sandy's body, is out for revenge. But who will she be seeking revenge on? And why is the dead girl reaching out to her?


The book was OK. I typically don't like books set in the past. Racism is a very strong topic in the book. The KKK is even mentioned a few times. I rated the book a 3. It didn't stand up to my expectations. Nothing at all like her other books, and at the end I had a strange feeling like I wasted my time on the book. Maybe it deserves a 2. Also, it isn't as scary as the book looks. The ending is unfulfilling as well.
GeniusJen avatar reviewed Bliss (Crestview Academy, Bk 1) on + 5322 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com

Bliss is different from the rest of the students at her new school. For one, they didn't grow up on a commune with hippie parents. They didn't have a last name of 'in the Morning Dew'. They didn't hear the voice of a girl who killed herself years ago in one of the old halls on the school grounds.

While Bliss may be different, she quickly learns that she likes the kind of life her fellow students lead, the kind of life she never had the opportunity to have. She wears make-up for the first time. She attends classes with other kids her age. She makes friends. She gets a boyfriend. She attends a school dance.

Everything would be perfect if it weren't for Sandy, the misfit of the school who Bliss befriends because she knows what it's like to not fit in. Unfortunately, Bliss quickly finds out that Sandy isn't completely sane. Sandy wants people to worship her, to understand her. She'd go all the way to the point of bringing alive someone from the past -- Lillian, the girl who jumped out of a third-story window all those years ago -- to achieve her goal.

And Bliss finds herself in the middle of this bloodlust.

Myracle writes an interesting story that links to the American events of 1969-70. Her writing is amazing; the reader feels happy and terrified right along with the protagonist. This story is sure to capture readers, although the ending does not have quite the touch of finality that most stories do.
reviewed Bliss (Crestview Academy, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book it is a good read for anyone who wants a fast story that still has a good plot. I read about twohundred pages in just a few hours. it was a real page turner
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pandareads avatar reviewed Bliss (Crestview Academy, Bk 1) on + 33 more book reviews
OMGOMGOMG. This book was so good. It sucked me in from the beginning because of the very creepy things that happen. The book starts with Bliss learning about the Manson killings, followed by those ominous feelings she got when she started school. I loved how all the dark magic elements came together in such a tumultuous time period, they went together perfectly. The dark magic at school, the Manson killings, as well as racism in the south... everything melded together so well.

I enjoyed the set up of the book as well. Bliss's first person point of view is interspersed with someone's diary entries (it took me to the halfway point of the book to realize who it really was) and quotes from the Manson trials, popular culture in 1969, and The Andy Griffith Show. All these elements came together to really give the reader the full story.

And I, of course, have to mention how great the characters were, particularly Sandy. If ever there was a tragic figure in YA lit to feel sorry for, it's her. And I don't feel sorry for her in the "bad things happen to her, how sad" way, I mean I feel sorry that she is what she is and that she's oblivious to real life.

Five stars to this simply amazing piece of work. I highly recommend this novel, which I fear has been overlooked by the masses.


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