Book Review: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Title: Bleeding Violet

Author: Dia Reeves

Pages: 464

Received from: ATWTs

Summary:

Love can be a dangerous thing….Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

In Portero, Texas, you better think twice about stopping by; that is, unless your prepared for a less then warm welcome and doors that lead to other worlds popping up in your closet. Not to mention the oddities that might come up to bite you in the ass, such as leeches with tenticles that suck the guts out of your body if you touch the glass they live in.

Finland export Hanna could care less; since the death of her father, her 'manic depression' has been out of whack (not completly unrelated to the fact that she goes weeks on end without taking her pills). After the threat of being sent back to a mental hospital by her aunt, Hanna clocks her on the head and runs off to Portero in search of her long-lost mother. The only problem is....her mother.

Rosalee, cold and uncaring, is less then thrilled about the arrival of her daughter. She means to send her back to her aunt, but decides to let her sit it out and see just how dangerous Portero is. Unfortunatly for her, Hanna is used to crazy, and is here to stay.

As I've said on the backflap of my tour copy--holy cheesebisquits this was good!

This is what always seems to be missing in YA these days; the surreal element, the lovely prose, the characters, the plot, the kind of structure that could pave way for future literary upstanding. The type of novel that has bookish snobs turning on their heads, that puts the merit back into teen fiction. This was fan-fucking-tastic.

Hanna narrates in the first person, taking the reader through her surreal hallucinations and conversations with her dead father, her morbid and extreme way of thinking, her heartbreaking love for her uncaring mother. She's a character with actual flaws--aside from the obvious, shes a bit on the promiscuous side, and has violent tendencies. Which is, you know, awesome. Hanna fills the gap for what has been missing with female protagonists, the sort of person a lot of authors just can't get themselves to write. She isn't some pale flooze who can't tie her shoe without breaking her neck. She is the story, forcing you to love her, forcing you to shake the book and scream at her. She's such a great character, she officially replaces Mercy Thompson as my favorite literary heroine/girl grush.

And Wyatt, an initiate of the towns monster-fighting agency of sorts, becomes Hanna's fixation and soon her boyfriend. The greatest part about him is his relationship with Hanna, how real they are together. No coy smiles from across the hallway or three month courtship for these two. In fact, only days after they start dating they're having sex in the shower. Me: giggles.

Srsly, if you have an issue with teen sex, I so would not suggest this.

Anyway, I feel like the plot played second banana to Wyatt and Hanna and Rosalee, who were so bold and vivid it was more of a character-centric novel then a plot driven UF romance.

Basically, I loved Bleeding Violet in a way that I'm unable to convey in written words. I'd gladly buy you all copies and shove it in your hands if I money, but alas all I can do is babble incoherently and point you towards the Amazon sale page.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Also: I personally hate challenges, because it gives me another reason to feel unfulfilled, but I know some people are doing the POC challenge and, since Hanna is biracial, I think it might be a nice addition, no?



Another thing: has anyone noticed my reviews are getting shorter and shorter? I should work on that.