Billed as one of NPR’s top 100 YA books of all time, Weetzie Bat is a super-quirky, off-beat love story with a twist, but it didn’t quite live up to all positive reviews it has received.  With generous, loving characters, and vivid descriptions of life in Los Angeles, the reader can almost imagine themselves transported into a fantastical time and place. 

Most of the story takes place after the main characters graduate from high school, so this is definitely a book for young adults. Weetzie and her friends navigate modern society in an effort to find themselves, making mistakes along the way but showing their better sides almost all the time.

Readers who love realistic fiction with just a touch of magic may enjoy this quick, unique read, but the overall tone is more suited to readers who came of age in the sixties and seventies. The characters and plot are just a bit too odd to appeal to mainstream readers.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations; 1 mild obscenity; 5 scatological terms.

Violence/Gore:  A character displays a bruise &it is implied that she was physically abused; a character overdoses on pills (intent unknown).

Sex/Nudity:  Adults go to bed tog ether, no detail (2 times); adults meet in a pornographic video store and go home together, no detail; an adult male is seen kissing other men; adult characters have sex with no detail (3 times); sounds are heard through a wall, sexual activity is implied; characters kiss briefly (2 times); characters patronize an erotic club (no detail); a character nurses a baby; a character is seen naked with no detail; a man gives another man who is depressed an ill a bath; a character engages in sexual activity with three people so the identity of her child’s father will not be known.

Mature Subject Matter:

Homosexuality, sex, death of a family member, suicide is discussed, abortion is mentioned.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Drug use, social alcohol use; a character overdoses on pills (intent unknown).