Title: Audacious
Author: Gabrielle Prendergast
Pub Date: October 1st, 2013
Publisher: Orca
Page Count: 288
Audacious, you are written by a Canadian author meaning that I see you in my library all the time. So the question is: why did it take me so long to read this? Audacious is written in a poetic style that I want to read more, featuring a girl who I can't seem to figure out. - Nova @ Out of Time
Audacious is about a girl who doesn't feel like she's the right... anything. The metaphor is that she moves to a new town and goes by "Ella" instead of her given name, Raphaelle. The point of this was to signify her attempt to change into a different person. Raphaelle is the kind of girl who creates controversial works and heck, everything about the girl is controversial. "Ella" is supposed to be a girl who blends in and stays on the sidelines so not to give anyone trouble. However, despite trying to channel her "Ella," all she does is make Raphaelle come out more.
Raphaelle is honestly one of the most confusing characters ever and I don't even know if that's a good/bad thing. She's the "artist" type which I can understand but I feel like she does thing just to invoke a reaction; like she wants people to remember that she's still here. Her home life is not the easiest thing and I understand what causes her to be this way but I can't say that I like her. There's a part of the book where she confesses that she's the way she is because as long as being "audacious" is her choice, it means that it's her choice when people dislike her. The idea that people not liking Raphaelle for reasons beyond her control scares her, at least, that's what I gathered. In many ways, Raphaelle is not the hero. The last thing that happens in the book is so questionable and I'm like, "Raphaelle, what the hell are you pulling?" because her "plans" are going to end in flames [well, that's for me to find out in the second book.]
Something I'm really impressed with about this book is how the author doesn't hold back. This book talks about topics like religion and sexuality - topics that I know some authors are afraid of approaching because of the sensitivity. I never got a hint of sensitivity from this novel, which I appreciate. Not being sensitive about the subject doesn't instantly mean the author is a jerk. Rather, she seemed so knowledgeable about the subjects and I gained new perspective while reading. This may be the first book I've read that talk about religion in such a blunt way and since I believe in all religions, I was just so fascinated by what I was reading.
The writing. Oh my gosh. The writing was phenomenal. Sometimes, I read books where the dialogue is perfect and the descriptions make me feel like I'm there. I didn't get that from Audacious. Audacious is written in verse, meaning there isn't that much dialogue or description. What there is, however, is so much more important. There were so many gems in this story - one or two lines that hit me so hard. It's so important to recognize that ten or fifteen of the right words in the right order can invoke such feelings from the reader and Prendergast knew exactly how to work with those words to make an already beautiful book even more so.
There were other stories woven into the main one featuring a love interest, mean girls and bulimia but they all felt part of one large story. This book felt like real life and I cannot express how hard it is for me to read a story that feels that way. Everything made sense; the characters received (fair/unfair) consequences for their actions and it's almost as if I were reading someone's memoir. If I was, I would want to shake Raphaelle's hand for not only being a talented artist - but for having the guts [stupidity?] to do what she did. I can't say she's an inspiration [because so many things she did were things I would never to] but she's definitely someone who lives life without fear of public and that's how I'd like to live my life.
Author: Gabrielle Prendergast
Pub Date: October 1st, 2013
Publisher: Orca
Page Count: 288
Sixteen year old Raphaelle is that girl who says the wrong thing, who crosses the wrong person, who has the wrong hair, the wrong body, the wrong attitude, the totally wrong clothes. She can’t do anything right, except draw, but she draws the wrong pictures. When her father moves the family to a small prairie city, Raphaelle wants to leave behind the misfit rebel, the outcast, the vengeful trouble-maker she was. Reborn as “Ella,” she plans fit in at her new school, while her perfect younger sister goes to the Catholic girls’ school and her emotionally fragile mother looks for a job.
But Ella might just be a different kind of misfit. She’s drawn to a brooding boy in her art class, Samir, and expresses her confused feelings in an explicit artwork. When a classmate texts a photo of Ella’s art to a younger friend, the horrendous fallout spreads though Ella’s life like an uncontrollable disease. Ella is expelled from school and faces pornography charges, her mother is hospitalized, her sister fails all her classes, and her distant father finally notices something is wrong.
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Audacious, you are written by a Canadian author meaning that I see you in my library all the time. So the question is: why did it take me so long to read this? Audacious is written in a poetic style that I want to read more, featuring a girl who I can't seem to figure out. - Nova @ Out of Time
Audacious is about a girl who doesn't feel like she's the right... anything. The metaphor is that she moves to a new town and goes by "Ella" instead of her given name, Raphaelle. The point of this was to signify her attempt to change into a different person. Raphaelle is the kind of girl who creates controversial works and heck, everything about the girl is controversial. "Ella" is supposed to be a girl who blends in and stays on the sidelines so not to give anyone trouble. However, despite trying to channel her "Ella," all she does is make Raphaelle come out more.
Raphaelle is honestly one of the most confusing characters ever and I don't even know if that's a good/bad thing. She's the "artist" type which I can understand but I feel like she does thing just to invoke a reaction; like she wants people to remember that she's still here. Her home life is not the easiest thing and I understand what causes her to be this way but I can't say that I like her. There's a part of the book where she confesses that she's the way she is because as long as being "audacious" is her choice, it means that it's her choice when people dislike her. The idea that people not liking Raphaelle for reasons beyond her control scares her, at least, that's what I gathered. In many ways, Raphaelle is not the hero. The last thing that happens in the book is so questionable and I'm like, "Raphaelle, what the hell are you pulling?" because her "plans" are going to end in flames [well, that's for me to find out in the second book.]
Something I'm really impressed with about this book is how the author doesn't hold back. This book talks about topics like religion and sexuality - topics that I know some authors are afraid of approaching because of the sensitivity. I never got a hint of sensitivity from this novel, which I appreciate. Not being sensitive about the subject doesn't instantly mean the author is a jerk. Rather, she seemed so knowledgeable about the subjects and I gained new perspective while reading. This may be the first book I've read that talk about religion in such a blunt way and since I believe in all religions, I was just so fascinated by what I was reading.
The writing. Oh my gosh. The writing was phenomenal. Sometimes, I read books where the dialogue is perfect and the descriptions make me feel like I'm there. I didn't get that from Audacious. Audacious is written in verse, meaning there isn't that much dialogue or description. What there is, however, is so much more important. There were so many gems in this story - one or two lines that hit me so hard. It's so important to recognize that ten or fifteen of the right words in the right order can invoke such feelings from the reader and Prendergast knew exactly how to work with those words to make an already beautiful book even more so.
There were other stories woven into the main one featuring a love interest, mean girls and bulimia but they all felt part of one large story. This book felt like real life and I cannot express how hard it is for me to read a story that feels that way. Everything made sense; the characters received (fair/unfair) consequences for their actions and it's almost as if I were reading someone's memoir. If I was, I would want to shake Raphaelle's hand for not only being a talented artist - but for having the guts [stupidity?] to do what she did. I can't say she's an inspiration [because so many things she did were things I would never to] but she's definitely someone who lives life without fear of public and that's how I'd like to live my life.
I’m a writer, teacher and designer living in Vancouver, Canada. I wrote the feature film HILDEGARDE, starring Richard E Grant. HILDEGARDE was also published as a novel by Harper Collins Australia. My middle grade novel, WICKET SEASON was published in the Spring of 2012 with Lorimer Publishers. AUDACIOUS and its sequel CAPRICIOUS were published by Orca Books in 2013 and 2014 respectively. THE FRAIL DAYS was published in 2015.
(your block quote background is the prettiest thing i've ever seen on a blog *heart eyes*) This story sounds really interesting. I like books that are blunt about heavy topics. And blunt in a knowledgeable way :) great review!
ReplyDeleteOooh so this is a novel in verse? That sounds fantastic, and the themes all seem like stuff I'd love to read. I adore lyrical writing, too, and this cover is just pretty. And yay for Canadian authors!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of this but the idea of poetic verse has me a little turned off. But I'm always down for a book that isn't afraid to be blunt with "sensitive" topics! Plus a Canadian author to-boot! Fantastic review!
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