Book Review: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Photo taken from Goodreads

Book Info

Title:  Bleeding Violet

Author:  Dia Reeves
Publisher:  Simon Pulse

Language: English

Format: Paperback

Pages:  480 pages

ISBN - 13:  978-1416986195

Source:  Purchased, National Book Store

Buy this book on Amazon 

Summary

From Goodreads: 

"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.'

Review

Chief Complaint:

1.  Mental illness
2.  Cold and distant mother
3.  Mysterious and monstrous events and creatures

History of Present Illness:

The patient, Hannah Jarvinen, is a transy - a newcomer - in Portero, her mother's hometown.  For years, her mother had seemed like a myth to her, and now, she's with her, but does not seem to care.  Her mental instability does not help either, as her hallucinations worsen.  But stranger things are happening in Portero, and Hannah is eager to prove she can fit in, mental illness or not, mysterious and deadly creatures notwithstanding.

Assessment:

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves is quite a story!  The line between sanity and insanity is blurred and masked together - quite brutally, I might add - to create such a disturbing, yet brightly riveting book.  Although I'm not a fan of the fantasy/paranormal genre, this novel completely blew me away.

The plot was very exciting, how many times have you read a book about a person who hallucinates, but whose real world is teeming with even stranger occurrences than what she sees in her head?  It was very engaging, as Hannah bordered between sarcasm and utter sweetness.  Her voice, however, was somewhat flat if a bit brutal, but that is to be expected from a person suffering from a mental illness, which actually lent a more authentic feel to the story.  The melodramatic way with which all the characters act also serve to emphasize the peculiarity of the setting and the situations that they encounter.

Therefore, I am diagnosing this book as:

1.  Crazy awesome, stage V
2.  Emotionally unemotional.
3.  Lingering in your thoughts, status post reading the book, for at least a week.

Recommendation:  Read this book at your own risk, and prepared to be amazed.

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.

Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.