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Introduction:
The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart is a fantasy and absurd novel by Lauren DeStefano, published in 2019. The story follows two main characters, Marybeth and Lionel. Lionel is a naughty, disobedient boy who is close friends with Marybeth, who is quiet and kind. One day, something blue goes into Marybeth’s body, drastically changing her personality from time to time. This is a well-known fantasy novel by Lauren DeStefano.

Plot:
Lionel, a disobedient troublemaker, lives in an orphanage along with Marybeth, a shy but kind girl. Despite their differences in personalities, they are close friends and help each other especially when Marybeth gets bullied by the other orphans. One day, Marybeth goes outside alone, then accidentally falls into the river. She tried to swim out of the river when she saw something blue in the river. It went into her body. A few days later, Mrs. Mannerd, the head of the orphanage, finds Marybeth. Marybeth harms one of the bullies when they try to mess around with her. She had the force of the blue creature coming out of her. However, when everyone is scared of her, Lionel helps her find calmness and stays beside her the whole time. They also went to the grave to see if the blue creature was a ghost, but it wasn’t. Mrs. Mannerd sent Marybeth to a mental hospital because of her strange and unusual behavior such as going out frequently at night, harming others, and more. Meanwhile, Lionel tries to dig up something in the graves. He found a body that was the same size as Marybeth. He realized the reason behind the blue creature running away when they came into the graveyard and why Marybeth kept coming back to the graveyard in the middle of the night. It was trying to find its body. Lionel tries to find Marybeth who escaped from the hospital. He tried to console the blue creature, Liza to come out of Marybeth’s body. When they drove to the farm, they told Mrs. Mannerd about the blue creature. They tried to figure out the reason behind the death of Liza. They realized that a group of boys drowned her and when her brother, Reginald, tried to save her, he couldn’t. Her father and brother thought it was better to hide it from her mother so they buried her in their backyard. She got closure by finding the body and they had a proper funeral for Liza.

Analysis:
The author portrays fantasy, adventure, and mystery features in the book by adding details of the blue creature, the graveyard, and the adventure that Lionel and Marybeth went on. The emphasis on orphans is shown throughout the book, as Lionel and Marybeth support and help each other in the book. Even though they have contrasting personalities, they are very compatible in the book by showing how they interact with each other, and when the blue creature goes inside Marybeth, Lionel always has been by her side and tries to get the old Marybeth back. This represents the theme of friendship that is presented throughout the whole plot of the story. The book also has lessons of closure. Liza, the blue creature, couldn’t find closure for herself. She goes inside Marybeth’s body and tries to find her body and her family. These actions taken by her show the unforgettable experience she faced in the river. When Lionel and Marybeth found her grave, family, and the truth, they tried to give her the closure she deserved.

Conclusion:
The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart is a fantasy novel by Lauren DeStefano, published in 2019. The book is about two orphans, Lionel and Marybeth. When Marybeth gets a blue creature inside her body, her personality changes. Lionel helps her to find her true self. They find the truth about the blue creature who is a dead girl, Liza. They help her find closure by going to the place where she was buried. They also held an actual funeral for her. The book shows the themes of friendship and closure. These themes are shown through Lionel and Marybeth’s adventure and their support to help find Liza her closure.