Necklace of Kisses: A Novel

By Francesca Lia Block

“Weetzie’s many fans will most appreciate this reunion. . . but those just meeting Block’s whimsical entourage and sparkling prose will also appreciate the book’s message: that magic can be found in stolen moments and, in Dirk’s words, though ‘love is a dangerous angel,’ it’s well worth the risk.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

In this installment of Francesca Lia Block’s phenomenal Weetzie Bat series, we follow Weetzie through a life-altering and magical journey, where anything is possible, even true love.

Turning 40 and stuck in a relationship gone stale, Weetzie packs up one day and leaves Max, the same secret agent lover man who was once the other half of a passionate relationship. She stays at an enchanted pink hotel, where she meets an otherworldly cast of characters, among them a blue-skinned receptionist, an invisible cleaning lady, a seductive room service clerk, and a sushi-eating mermaid who gives her a kiss that sets the wheel of self-discovery in motion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061750175

Francesca Lia Block

Francesca Lia Block, winner of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling books, including Weetzie Bat; the book collections Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and Roses and Bones: Myths, Tales, and Secrets; the illustrated novella House of Dolls; the vampire romance novel Pretty Dead; and the gothic werewolf novel The Frenzy. Her work is published around the world.

Reviews for Necklace of Kisses

[catfantastic_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a sweet little coda to the Weetzie Bat books. All grown up at forty, Weetzie Bat is experiencing a life of less magic and no kisses with her husband, who is no longer her secret agent lover man, just Max. Her daughters, Cherokee and her witch baby, now just Lily, are away at university, and her husband is consumed with depression. Weetzie packs her things and leaves for the Pink Hotel, where once more her life becomes suffused with the magical. Pink Hotel's guest list includes fairy tale and mythic creatures from mermaids and the twelve dancing princesses, to faun-boys and soap-opera angels. Necklace of Kisses displays the characters from the previous books in a more realistic light, giving them wounds and despair and depth. Almost every character from the previous Weetzie Bats books makes an appearance, and we are able to gain a little piece of insight into each of them. This is a beautiful and magical finale to the series, though definitely not the place to start if you haven't picked up a Francesca Lia Block book before.

[sarah · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Francesca Lia Block is a visionary. Pretty much everything she writes is gold, but the Dangerous Angels series and Necklace of Kisses (which takes place years later) are some of her best work. Aces all across.

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Necklace of Kisses is the sixth book in Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat series. I read the first five books in the Dangerous Angels collection and loved every minute of it. While Necklace of Kisses differs from those books, in my opinion, Block’s writing is just as captivating.

As I said, I found this book to have a different feel than the rest of the Weetzie Bat books, though this wasn’t a thing that turned me off. One thing that made this change (that I’m not really sure I can accurately put into words) feel natural is that Weetzie is now 40. She’s grown up. She’s a mother of college kids. And she is just now finding herself. As readers, we’ve aged with Weetzie, as well. And behind the beautiful language, magical characters, and otherworldly experiences Weetzie has in this book, there is a story that we can all relate to. I may not be Weetzie’s age, but we all have a time in our life when we need to go out and find ourselves. For her, it just happened a little later in a magical, crazy life.

I’m not going to come out and say this was my favorite book of the series. I think the first book will always hold that place for me for many reasons. However, the fact that Block has shared this cast of characters’ lives with us over many years, and still can keep the magic in her books, that’s what’ll keep me reading her work. It’s also what’ll keep me coming back to this series (I still have the prequel, Pink Smog, to read next) for as long as it may go on. I wouldn’t be opposed to reading about Weetzie, Max, Dirk, and Duck all in rockers watching grandchildren grow up before their eyes.

[scote23 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Probably my least favorite in the series, but perhaps I will like it more/understand it more when I'm a little older.

[heatherheartsbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Necklace of Kisses" reminds me why I love Weetzie and FLB. This beautiful, fanciful, shimmery tale isn't without darkness, but the good moments outweigh the heavy. Ultimately "Kisses" is a search for self identity in a world that has lost the innocence of Weetzie's teenage years.

[phoebereading · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Like most teenagers with Punky Coloured hair, I loved Weetzie Bat. My sister introduced me to her when I was about twelve, and I spent the remainder of my adolescence reading them over and over again until my copy of Dangerous Angels looked like a dog had gnawed on it. I'm sure I cried every single time I read Witch Baby (life is so unfair!).So I was excited to find that Francesca Lia Block had returned to the magical landscape of LA. Perhaps I should have hesitated more--perhaps I should have taken it as a sign that Necklace of Kisses was shelved with the adult fantasy rather than in the young adult section of my local library.Because Necklace of Kisses is the story of Weetzie in her middle age. After her sex life with My Secret Agent Lover Man (called here Max, mostly, as if Block could no longer tolerate the silly names she gave her characters) abruptly stops, Weetzie retreats to the pink hotel that hosted her high school prom for some reflection. She has a series of quasi-sexual romantic flings with some mystical creatures, but it seems clear from the outset that she won't consummate them, so there's no real tension, sexual or otherwise.This narrative is interspersed with tales of other Weetzie Bat characters, but they seem more like token guest appearances than anything else. Max's meeting with Coyote stuck out particularly--Coyote sits around talking about what a politically incorrect cliche he is, and then defends this cliche because (essentially) it's "who he really is!" I think the author needs to get out of the mouths of her characters.This contributes to a read that is, even without these distracting interludes, uneven. There's something almost comical about Weetzie's clothing obsession--this is supposed to be the story about her maturation, but in the end, as she spins around in a coco chanel dress, it just doesn't feel earned, magic or not. Don't get me wrong--I love magic. But maybe this sort of whimsy is just more easily forgiven, and even endearing, in teenagers, whereas in a character as old as Weetzie, it just seems sad.

[secondhandrose_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was disappointed by this update on Weetzie and her crew. The magic realism elements didn't seem to work for me and the descriptive material acted as filler. I wanted to love it but it didn't hold my attention the way other books in the series have. The characters progressions worked well though.Having read other recent FLB I don't think this was her best but still love her style.

[xicanti_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Weetzie Bat, forty but still fabulous, leaves her Secret Agent Lover Man Max for an adventure in a magical pink hotel where she once missed out on a potentially life-changing kiss.Another reviewer has said that this is exactly the sort of book you want to see happen to your favourite characters. I agree with all my heart.All the characters we came to know and love in the previous five Weetzie Bat books are still very much themselves... but they've grown and changed as they aged, and this book puts them in a perfect position to develop further. While Weetzie returns to centre stage, (a position she hasn't occupied since the very first book), her decision to embark upon this solo adventure affects her family just as much as it does her. They remain entirely themselves, but Block takes their experiences into account as she reinvents them in this older mode. And she does a beautiful job of it.The book itself is a good deal more linear than Block's best stuff, but I'd still rank it right up there. Weetzie's emotional progression may be clearer, but it never lacks the sorts of telling scenes that really illuminate the story and make everything click into place. I was often moved to tears. I enjoyed it far more now, this second time through, than I did the first time around.I highly recommend this. I don't think you need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy it, but it's probably a good idea. I personally felt that most of the book's impact came from the way Block dealt with these beloved characters. Give yourself a chance to get to know them before you start in on this sixth and (at this point in time) final book.

[jehara_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i finished this book today and it was oh-so-good! it's been ages since i read the weetzie bat books but now i want to re-read them all again.in Necklace of Kisses we are re-united with weetzie bat at age 40. her children witch baby and cherokee are grown and in college. she is still best friends with dirk and he is still as madly in love with duck. she now owns a clothing store with another close friend, ping jah-love. the only thing wrong with this picture is that somehow things are amiss with her secret agent lover man, max. ever since the twin towers blew up he has been withdrawn and obsessed with the news.the story takes place in 2003, two years after 9/11. weetzie bat decides that she needs time away. she needs to go on adventure. and quite an adventure it is. she runs away to the enchanted pink hotel where she embarks on a journey of self-discovery. of course it wouldn't be a francesca lia block book much less a weetzie bat book without her signature stamp of magical realism.she meets an enchanting cast of characters who help her in her journey including a woman who has turned blue from sorrow, another who can spin webs and clothes from her abdomen after being attacked by a man, a faery and her son who are trying to escape the changelings, a mermaid who has been surgically mutilated and a handsome waiter/actor who looks suspiciously like a faun.i loved getting re-acquainted with beloved characters and finding out where they are now. i love block's lyrical style that combines magic and fantasy with an urban modern edge. i love the way the book sucks me in and pulls me to the end too quickly. i love her imagery and the way she handles heavy material. i love the way she brings L.A. to life with it's flowers and trees and natural wonders juxtaposed against its seedy underbelly.one last thing i leave you with. i really like the quote from Time Out (New York) that is at the bottom of the cover."a fizzy cocktail of Joseph Campbell, Sex and the City and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, filtered through the blunt-edged poetry of rock lyrics. Necklace of Kissesis a welcome reminder that midlife is still ripe for magic."

[chandra_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the type of sequel you always want to happen to your favorite characters.

[dancingwaves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not her best book, but it's an interesting revisit of the Weetzie Bat books.

[wishgranted_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story reminds us that we are fabulous and can be for all our lives. Even if we forget for awhile, magic happens and set us on the right path

[paisley1974 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading "Ruby" got me to pick up this, Block's last book I read before Ruby. I can read this over and over again--Weetzie Bat dealing with grown up issues, in her unique Weetzie way.

[hoosgracie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Weetzie Bat is all grown up and having a mid-life crisis at age 40. My Secret Agent Lover Man, who is now just Max, and Weetzie haven’t been having good times for 2 years, so Weetzie goes off to a pink hotel where she experiences magic kisses and re-discovers life and love. Wonderful.

[glitterina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Weetzie Bat at 40. Still my hero.