Book one (Weetzie Bat) was a modern fairy tale, book two (Witch Baby) was more akin to the Grimm tales. This tale (book three) still has that surreal fantasy-feel, but it heads straight for the Aesop’s fables section.
Magic just seems to find Cherokee Bat. Maybe it’s because of how hard her mother Weetzie worked for it, or one more side effect of the three wishes that started the series. But even she doesn’t recognize the power around her.
With the adults all gone on a movie shoot Witch Baby, Cherokee, Raphael and Angel Juan are left alone under the (mostly non-present) care of family friend, Coyote. Coyote and Cherokee unwittingly give the teens power without any caution or oversight.
Sure they find inner strength and confidence. But they also find ego, lust, drugs and fame. Their power band takes off–directly into the the path of self-destruction.
It’s nice to see more of the kids, and that Cherokee isn’t all that perfect after all. (The previous books frustratingly show her a a perfect, blonde dream-baby princess and Witch Baby as the ones who can never do right.) But in the end I thought Cherokee came off as an oversensitive heroine who was right but no one would listened to. Until she, of course, almost self-destructs and then all of a sudden all the bad stuff stops because everyone loves her too much to keep hurting her by being druggies, or selfish, or what not (ahem, inattentive–like ALL the adults). I think something was lost by this story only being in Cherokee’s point of view.
Where the first two books were about finding yourself and your place in the world, this one is about losing yourself too much to dreams.