"Velveteen" Review

Date to-be Published: October 9, 2012

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Number of Pages: 464

Publisher: Random House

First Thoughts:

My first impression of this book was just a silent moment, by the last page I was awed by the craft and beauty of this book. I really didn’t know what to say or even how to rate this book. I went into this book expecting it to be all about getting revenge but in the end it was something totally different. It was like the character was seeking something to take away the pain and in theory thought revenge would do it…this was a book that took me by surprise and pulled me into a creative and amazing world. This story not only offered me a temporary vacation but a place where I can learn and understand human nature. This was definitely a pretty cool book.

Plot:

So this wasn’t all about revenge though there was some intertwined in the plotline. But this book was mostly built upon the survival of Purgatory; the place where they reside. There was plenty of back and forth between purgatory and the real world and I liked how the author chose to balance the two out. This was definitely one action packed book, I loved all of the battle scenes and interactions between the characters, and you could definitely see all of the effort the author put into creating just the right atmosphere and world. I liked the creativeness of the boundaries and rules of the world, and the concept of the cracks and the shadowquakes really added a different level to this book. The beginning of this book was a little hard for me to get into for some reason; it might be because I felt a little distant from Velvet or maybe because I was just getting adjusted to new concepts and the books world. But either way I was able to quickly become immersed in the world and quickly read it. There were moments in the book that I found myself disoriented, I wasn’t sure what was really happening, I mean some of these ideas are really new and I wasn’t quite sure of the rules…and I found those scenes to be very fast paced and not explained enough. Thankfully there weren’t too many of those scenes and the story slowly started to make sense. I just think this book is a lot to take in and those faster paced scenes just needed to be slowed down a little bit. But overall I found the plot to be very different and creative.

Romance:

I really enjoyed the romance; Velvet really played her part well. I liked that the romance was more of a sub-plot than the actual focus of the book. And the romance was really unique and fun to read; I never really got annoyed with this aspect as I have in a lot of other YA books. This romance was more of a distant yet close relationship, there were plenty of comical and serious scenes to go along with it. So overall I enjoyed this aspect of the book.

Characters:

Velvet was definitely unique and fun to read. As soon as I adjusted to the world I was really able to connect with Velvet and form a bond. She was spunky and so full of kick-ass moves that I really would have loved to meet her. She seemed like the kind of girl who was rough on the outside but soft in the inside. But as far as the other characters, each one was so full of personality and interesting qualities. I felt the author paid attention to the creation of characters and colored the world with great characters. And each of the characters had their own role to play and therefore left the book filled with great conflicts and fun. Overall I really enjoyed the characters and look forward to learning more about them in the next book.

Transformation of the Character:

There was a start of a transformation in this book but I really think there’s a lot more room for growth and expect it to happen gradually in the books to come.  As for the other transformations they weren’t anything big but more subtle and more off to the sideline but they were good for the story nonetheless. So overall this wasn’t all that important to this particular book but it didn’t really effect the overall feel of the story either.

Description:

Where do I start? Maybe I should warn you that there are a lot of scenes that will be images you’ll never be able to forget…I’ll never forget the scene with Velvet and Nick and the eyeball *shudders* But nonetheless this author has a great talent when it comes to the detail; he spared us no grace. He really told it how it was and told us this story in vivid detail. I enjoyed the description of Purgatory and the characters within it, it really set the mood and allowed the reader to experience the lives of these souls…I just hope purgatory isn’t really like this because if it is…well let’s just hope it’s not. I think the description alone really made me enjoy this book and after I pushed past all the morbid and disturbing images I was really able to enjoy the craft of this author, not every book has description that captures a still image of life…this was definitely an inspiration. As far as the amount, there wasn’t too much or too little. And the dialogue seemed fine to me and added some comic relief to the higher tension moments. So overall I really felt this was one of the better aspects of the book.

Style:

This was written in first person and therefore allowed the reader to have a more intimate relationship with the Velvet. And this book was written in third person allowing the reader to get a broader outlook of the world; it allowed the reader to get an outside view at the times that it was needed. I really enjoyed the authors writing, it’s not sloppy or childish; I really felt he knew how to capture a great story and write it all down. So overall the style was really good for this book.

Quote of the book:

“She’d tried to escape, but the ropes and rubber tubing had dug into her flesh like fingers tightening. She’d screamed and screamed, but nothing had ever answered except the incessant rain pounding schizophrenic melodies on the tin roof.”

Goodreads Summary:

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Last Thoughts:

I would recommend this to readers of dark and YA fiction. This book is filled with tons of surprises and great writing. I really enjoyed reading this book and aside from a few confusing moments in the book it was fun and enjoyable to read. I can’t wait to continue reading more about this world and its characters. This author surely has a lot in store for his reader and I can’t wait to discover them.

My Rating: