Block's mixing of sensual prose with a sometimes harsh reality produces a lyrical fairy-tale-like story solidly grounded in real life. This is no accident, as Block notes that "I've always loved fairy tales.... Sometimes I'll take something directly, a myth or a fairy tale—and use it as a structure."

Cinema-like imagery pervades Baby Be-Bop and the other books in the Dangerous Angels series. In the Davis interview Block states that when she is composing "it's almost like I'm watching a film—I describe what I'm seeing in my mind—it's all very visual and in color as I'm writing it."

Magical realism with its mix of light and dark and myth and modern culture are evident throughout these works. Depictions of stark reality (the death of Dirk's grandfather, the violence in the punk scene, the rejection by his first love) are juxtaposed...