Imaginary Girls

Normally, I don’t give much credence to the author blurbs they put on front covers. Just because one best-selling author writes something nice about the book doesn’t mean I’ll like it too. However, when I saw that Aimee Bender’s name was on the back cover of Imaginary Girls, I got kind of excited. I very much admire Bender’s prose, her plot construction, and her style of magical realism is flawless. Therefore, I came into this book with certain expectations, which Nova Ren Suma fulfilled very well.

Yet at the same time, I didn’t love this book in the way I wanted to, even though it has everything I wanted and more.
The primary focus of Imaginary Girls is the bond between sisters. From the get-go, the bond between Chloe and Ruby is obvious. At times, I would say their love for each other (or, at least, Ruby’s love for Chloe) borders on obsessive and unhealthy, yet I still found it beautiful in its own way.

Suma’s writing is good. I’d probably go so far to say that it’s great. There was a fluidity to her prose that was quite gorgeous. However, I found that Suma’s style lacked a sort of push—there was no driving factor compelling me to read futher. Technically speaking, I think Suma’s style is more suited to a slower-paced type of novel, rather than an edgy magical mystery story.

The magic element was definitely very cool. The backcover blurb doesn’t give much away, and I think that’s probably for the best. The full effect of Imaginary Girls is best felt when you don’t see it coming. Certainly, I think the surprise was the most interesting part.

Imaginary Girls is a book that, outwardly, does everything right. Overall, I’m impressed with Nova Ren Suma as an author and I think she has considerable talent. However, for one reason or another, I just couldn’t get into this. There’s an indefinable something that turns a good book into a great one, and Imaginary Girls, sadly, just didn’t have that something.

I really wanted to like this book. The cover is mysterious and draws you in and Nova’s writing is artistic and unique, but that’s where the praise stops. The story basically makes no sense. There’s direction or meaning and everything seemed so random and pointless to me. I seriously struggled to get through this book, my OCD about having to finish a book whether good or bad getting to me, otherwise I would’ve dropped it after the first couple of chapters. I was stuck on this book for quite awhile, often wondering if I should finish it or give up on it, but like I said, I had to know it ends. The end wasn’t even really an ending.

This book is filled with idealizations of Ruby by her sister Chloe, a weird and mysterious event involving a seemingly dead body, and a town that was apparently obsessed with Ruby like she was a goddess or something. Nova filled this book with the most random thoughts and events in such a confusing way, I honestly couldn’t see where she was going with this story. Even though I finished the book, I was mostly skimming through the pages after about half way because I just wanted to get it over with. I guess that might mean I didn’t really read it, but honestly, I don’t know how I could’ve gotten through it otherwise.

The characters were uninteresting, to say the least, truly adding nothing to the plot or my interest. The story was not only slow and confusing, but what was supposed to be eerie and awe-inspiring turned out to be dull and ordinary. I found no appeal to this book whatsoever, maybe because I’m not into that artistic, conceptual writing that’s supposed to be astract and mean a hundred different things. I really don’t know what else to say except that this wasn’t for me. I have to say, I’m so happy I won this in a giveaway because I would’ve kicked myself in the butt if I had actually paid money for this book. Sorry Nova Ren Suma, your writing is just not for me.

So, the entire time I'm reading this book, I felt like I was Chloe. I was finding things out at the same time she would. There would be no guessing ahead, because I could never be sure how Ruby would change it. I didn't necessarily like Ruby at first. She was way to controlling, and her weird obsession with her sister was uncomfortable. But what kept me going was the mystery. The sunken town of Olive. The words, for the love of God, these are some of the most beautiful cryptically crafted words I have ever read. This could have been a book with just random lines, and I would have fallen in the same trance I did when they were put into a story. Nova Ren Suma can write! Let me show ya:

“Ruby’s stories didn’t have morals. They meant one thing in the light and one thing in the dark and another thing entirely when she was wearing sunglasses.”

“There was something to be said for the bodiless feeling that came after the cold. Something I would always remember. When you forget how bad it hurts, you feel so free.”

And there's many more beautifully haunting passages in Imaginary Girls. I'll just let you find out on your own.

What made me keep turning the page?

Just trying to figure out what in the world was going on
Any complaints?

Not enough depth to certain elements of the story…
Recommendation:

Fans of contemporary paranormal
Final Thoughts…

This was a very strange book. I never really knew what was going on throughout the whole story. It just had a weird vibe to it.

The paranormal elements were just eluded to and never really developed. To me this book had a lot of potential, but just didn’t pull me in.

However, I do think you should give this book a try. I think it’s going to be one of those books that people either love or hate. If you like your books with a side of peculiar, than this is the book for you!