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Review: Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey
Published by Bloomsbury
Source: Review copy


Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.
Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?
***
I have to say I was not a fan of Alyxandra Harvey and was one of the few people I knew who didn't carry on with her vampire series. This meant I approached this book very warily. However I shouldn't have been worried because I really enjoyed Haunting Violet and would definitely recommend it to others.

The thing that did it for me with this book was the setting. It is set in Victorian England and I felt that you got a real sense of the time period whilst reading it from the surroundings and the customs followed and it really felt like the author had done her homework to ensure every little detail was just so.

I loved Violet as a character and felt that the author did a brilliant job of making her modern and easy to relate to as well as fitting her in with the time period she belongs in. I particularly enjoyed seeing how she got to grips with her new found powers and how she balanced in her use of them compared to her mother who claimed to use similiar ones fraudulently.

I loved Colin (never thought I'd swoon over a man named Colin ... I suppose there is a first for everything) and his continually changing relationship with Violet. I'm not going to say much about how it all turns out but needless to say I loved it.

The story itself is based around a murder mystery involving a victim whose spirit appears to violet. Again I loved this take on things and really enjoyed following the story as violet started to find out what happened.

All in all a brilliant book which I really enjoyed

Comments

Cait said…
Good review! How come you weren't a fan of the drake chronicles?

The Cait Files
serendipity_viv said…
Yay! Glad you loved it too.
tthepageturner said…
Lovely review, I'll definitely ordering this from Amazon! (:
Essjay said…
I loved this too - glad you enjoyed it :-)
Glad you enjoyed this book too, definitely worth a read =)
Anonymous said…
I love the pretty purple cover on Haunting Violet, but I have heard such mixed things about Alyxandra's books that I wasn't sure whether to read it or not. I think I probably will now. It sounds great.
I started this one awhile back but couldn't really get into it. Perhaps all I needed was some time and to read a few really good reviews of it! I shall try again, thanks.