Customer Reviews

Bleeding Violet

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Hanna Jarvinen is an unusual teenager. She is biracial, sees and hears hallucinations, wears only purple to remember her dead father (with whose ghost she still communicates)--and is hardly extraordinary when she arrives on her mother's doorstep in Portero, Texas, after her aunt kicked her out.

That's because Portero is far weirder than Hanna could've imagined. It contains dangerous monsters and many doors between worlds. Portero is hardly the place for Hanna to fall in love and get to know her mother better, but Hanna is nothing if not determined to get what she wants, in spite of both human and inhuman obstacles.

Not since I read Holly Black's TITHE five years ago have I encountered a story as unique and fascinatingly compelling as Dia Reeve's debut novel, BLEEDING VIOLET. Indeed, BLEEDING VIOLET defies adequate description and categorization, blending snark, relationship issues, and the supernatural into a sexy paranormal read that will be hard to forget.

From page one, Dia unapologetically yanks readers into a dark and twisted world where monsters and mental illness are simply Hanna and Portero's way of life, confused people be damned. While this total immersion in the world of Portero may be initially jarring, once I began figuring things out, I felt like I had been let in on a terrific secret, and I LOVED being in Hanna's world. It's brutal and shocking, and not for one second can you look away.

Hanna is a protagonist like no other, with her crazy thoughts and her way of looking at the world. She's slightly disturbing yet inexplicably alluring, the kind of girl you know you should stay away from but who part of you almost wants to be. Hanna is fearlessly original in her interactions with the Porterenes: the awkwardness of her developing relationship with her mother is well drawn, and I found Hanna's budding romance with Wyatt, a local boy with an important job in monster-policing, to be one of the most well-developed romances I've read in recent YA literature. From beginning to end it's no fairy-tale relationship: there's no immediate rush of physical and soul-mate attraction, but rather the blossoming of it through witty repartees.

BLEEDING VIOLET is not for those who like their reading fluffy. It's dark, unapologetic in its occasional gory and weird scenes. Some may disapprove of Hanna and Wyatt's physical relationship (though personally I found it sexy and well done). Others may be too hopelessly confused by the first couple of chapters or the occasional vagueness of the plot to connect with it. But if you're looking for a one-of-a-kind dark read, I will find it hard to resist thrusting this book into your hands. Read it, and maybe you will savor it like I did!

This book was so weird. I cant even say if I loved it or didn't because it was both. One thing is for sure, this is one of the craziest book I've read. I felt I was about to quit reading at least two times, but then there were parts where I was like OMG, this is so good! But after finishing I think I would ask everyone to read it, it is so different and unique (and crazy) that I think it's worth recommending.

The characters were well done, -loved Wyatt- the writing was really good and the plot was... um, original. I felt that the world she created was hard to believe at first, but then I found myself wrapped in it and mesmerized. Plus, the cover, is breath-taking. I mean, it looks so good in your shelf. Sigh. Overall, its a really interesting read that explores love and acceptance. It has some supernatural elements even though I don't think it relates to any other book. So if you are looking for something different, this is definitely it!

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves is a very strange book indeed. I would say if this book were made into a movie, it would be a cross between Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Trippy is the word that comes to mind while I read the adventures of Hanna Jarvinen. Hanna is a biracial teenager born from a Finnish father and a black mother, who may or may not be a professional escort, and never wanted her to begin with. Hanna not only is manic-depressive, hallucinates, and sees and talks to her dead father, but won't think twice about killing to get what she wants.

Hanna may sound a bit bloodthirsty, but she is pretty much the only "normal" one when she decided to live in Portero, Texas where her mother is. Hanna ends up on her mother, Rosalee's doorstep and has this fantasy that she will be welcomed with open arms. Rosalee does anything but, and is bit wary of her daughter, probably due to the fact that Hanna may have killed her aunt but hitting her head with a rolling pin. Hanna shrugs it off, and is more concerned that she didn't get all the bloodstains out of her dress. Hanna pleads with Rosalee to let her stay and is given two weeks where she must try and fit in. Hanna thinks this is a piece of cake, but Rosalee thinks Hanna is doomed to fail since Portero is not your normal, everyday American town.

The first day of high school for Hanna is very weird, to say the least. The whole school wears earplugs and the majority of the student body is in black while Hanna wears purple. She doesn't just stand out because of the way she looks, (she loves to wear long dresses and high heels) but because she's a transy. Transies are people who haven't grown up in Portero and usually wear bright colors because they have no idea that if you stand out too much, you may just end up dead. Hanna becomes fixated on Wyatt, who wears green because he's Mortmaine; one who hunts the evil creatures causing mayhem in town. Hannah practically jumps for joy because everyone is freakier than she is and decides she wants to be Mortmaine and fight evil alongside Wyatt.

Now Hanna has to be on the look out for things called lures that turn you into glass, doors that appear out of nowhere that will show you worst nightmare, and monsters that want to take your soul and suck you dry. Things hit really close to home when Rosalee becomes possessed by a nasty spirit called Runyon, who used to be Mortmaine but went off the deep end. Runyon is causing major mischief and it's up to Hanna to stop him before he destroys Portero.

Bleeding Violet was one reading experience I will not soon forget. I have to hand it to Dia Reeves for writing a very imaginative story, but one that is not comfortable reading. And in all honesty, I would be very wary in allowing any teen under the age of sixteen to read this book. The violence and bloodshed will make your head spin and have a bit of a sadomasochistic feel to them, especially when Rosalee, who channels Runyon, decides to torture and kill a young boy she finds at the lake with the help of Hanna. This a very squeamish, snuff like stuff.

Along these lines, the topic of sex, especially between Wyatt and Hanna is somewhat a fade to black kind of variety, which I couldn't understand at all. I guess it is one thing to explain the scene above in graphic detail, but when Wyatt and Hanna have sex, which I really don't think added anything to the story, it was glazed over as in they kiss, fade to black and next where Hannah is pulling on her underwear and thinking how great it was.

This is where I have to ask, why in a young adult book like Bleeding Violet, are graphic scenes of voice and murder acceptable to be written in great detail, but when a our main character like Hanna has a tender moment with Wyatt, that leads to sex, why is that glossed over? Extreme violence is perfectly okay, but showing detail sex scenes are not? What gives?

These issues aside, I absolutely adored Hanna. Her tenacity, positivity and unique personality were a breath of fresh air. Hanna has this wonderful inner strength and big caring heart, even though her actions may be strange, but then again Bleeding Violet is one massively, wacky book.

I was on the fence on what grade to give Bleeding Violet because I wasn't sure what to think. It's not all that often and author like Dia can make me have such a strong visceral reaction, where I was flinching as I read. I certainly wouldn't recommend this for anyone younger than high school. Hanna was the saving grace for me and one character I can't help but applaud for her bravery and facing down those who feel she is not worthy or important.

Katiebabs

"Bleeding Violet" is one of 2 things: a stroke of genius or a complete mess. I don't think there will be many readers who feel ambivalent after reading this book. I am giving "Bleeding Violet" 3 stars because I'm not quite sure which category I fit into. At times, this novel wowed me; other times, I was completely confused by the plot.

The story starts with Hanna, a mentally ill teenager who runs away from her aunt's house to find her mother in Portero, TX. Hanna talks to her dead father & freely admits that she has hallucinations, so, from the start, we have an unreliable narrator. How can we trust anything Hanna sees? What if she is simply hallucinating? What if this entire novel is one big hallucination? These questions come into play because of the supernatural elements in "Bleeding Violet." Portero is an odd little town, & that's putting it mildly. All I can say is that at the end of the novel, we have seen demons, possessions, Keys to alternate dimensions, lures (an entity specific to "Bleeding Violet"), & Mortmaines, a group who protects the town. Hanna never acts surprised to learn of these odd creatures, which kept me asking if she wasn't simply hallucinating.

Hanna's relationship with her mother, Rosalee, is central to "Bleeding Violet." In the first chapter, Rosalee makes no attempt to hide the fact that she wants nothing to do with Hanna. The evolution of their relationship is the heart & soul of this book. I hate to say that I just don't get this book, & maybe I'm the problem. "Bleeding Violet" left me confused & scratching my head. Readers will either love or hate it.

This book is just a whole world of crazy, from what happens in the town to Hanna herself. Many times, I found myself wondering what was real and what wasn't- what was in her head and what really was happening. I really appreciated that particularly effect the book had on me and I could easily understand why Hannah went right along with everything that happened. Crazier things had happened in her head- it was easy to believe all the random events in the town.

Hanna is bipolar which was a trait that helped define who she was but what I really enjoyed was how she was not only depressed which is the part of this disorder that tends to be focused on. She very much was more manic prone, going so far as to have hallucinations, the delusions of grandeur where she could do anything, and many other negative, dysfunctional features of this disorder. Reeves did a fantastic job tying in this part of Hanna with the events of the story. She also did a great job using Hanna's medicine to keep things "normal" or let the hallucinations run wild, especially with Hanna's ability to see her dead father. Hanna's character was fantastically done and despite being bipolar and a whack job, she did have her own development but more defining than her mental instability was how desperately she wanted her mother's love. Most everything revolved around that fact without it ever being overbearing or the point shoved down a reader's throat.

Wyatt's character was also very interesting and I felt he was a great match for Hanna. He knows the truth about the town and faces it down regularly. I often could easily understand his motivations and rationalizations and enjoyed Hanna's interactions with him. Despite some of the things Wyatt does, I became very sympathetic of his character and really think he was as well done and planned out as Hannah herself.

The plot was sometimes hard to follow with some events come out of nowhere but I didn't find it choppy or distracting because this is a story told in the perspective of a girl who hallucinates, who knows she's crazy but has never really come to terms with it in her own way. There were plenty of unexpected twists and overall, I most definitely enjoyed watching things progress.

Yes, sex did come up in this book both with Hanna and her mother, Rosalee. It wasn't distasteful and using their bodies was something both Rosalee and Hanna used to define who they were. I actually enjoyed watching the town's reactions to Rosalee and wasn't entirely surprised to see how they responded to Hanna, either. She flaunted what she had and knew how people reacted but never once did I find myself disliking her for it. This is one more thing Reeves did a fantastic job incorporating without making me turned off by it, particularly in the context of this crazy town with monsters and other weird events happening. Normal rules simply didn't apply in most every way and Reeves made that clear and used it perfectly. Some scenes were very out there and gave me wtf moments but I very much enjoyed every one of them. This book, in so many ways, is quite genius and is just out there enough to be brilliant. If sex and graphic scenes bother you, then don't read this one but personally, I think you would be missing out.

Overall, I give this one 5 stars. It kept me entertained and I wanted to find out more. I also kept wondering if things were real or in Hanna's head and part of me wondered throughout the book if I would get to the end and find out everything was in her head and she was in an institution. Did that happen? You'll have to read for yourself and find out but I most definitely enjoyed and appreciated the ending of this book. Pushing this one even more to 5 stars is Reeves' fantastic writing style and use of imagery. Scenes were painted very vividly, from the sounds and the sights to even the smells.

Abandoned by her black mother and orphaned when her Finnish father succumbs to cancer, Hanna Jarvinens is a troubled young woman. She has psychiatric problems; her Aunt Ulla is threatening to have Hanna recommitted. After attacking her aunt, Hanna runs away to Portero, Texas, the town in which her mother Rosalee lives. Portero is not a typical Texas town; supernatural events and demonic possession are common occurrences. In fact, Rosalee is possessed by Runyon, the former town mayor. This becomes a major challenge as Hanna's relationship with her mother is being built. That possession will also provide the novel's final, major confrontation between good and evil.

Hanna is obsessed with her father's favorite color, purple, and wears only variations of that color. She talks with him, as well as with Swan a wood figure. Wyatt Ortiga, a Mortmaine in training, becomes Hanna's romantic interest. He helps her discover hidden strengths which allow her to believe in herself and her abilities.

Dia Reeves is an excellent writer, bringing vivid imagery and realism to this fantasy novel. The characters have distinct personalities and believable foibles. They develop throughout "Bleeding Violet," becoming more sympathetic and likeable as the novel progresses. Their problems and emotional turmoil grab the reader and are not easily forgotten. Further, Reeves possesses a superior imagination; her creation of the supernatural characters and situations contribute to the readability of "Bleeding Violet."

I do, however, there were several issues that should be pointed out as they might affect your decision to read this book.

The characters use frequent profanity throughout "Bleeding Violet." While many young people may express themselves in that manner, the work would have been just as strong without that language. Further, the book contains numerous instances of language that might well be considered offensive as it as reflects the stereotyped speech of southern Blacks - for example, "So you just gone blackmail me?"

"Bleeding Violet" is replete with explicit, bloody violence and less than subtle sexual encounters between the two youthful protagonists. The scene in which Wyatt and Hanna confront and then kill Melissa is well written, but gory. After another extremely violent scene, Wyatt and Hanna return to his parents' home and engage in a sexual relationship during the shower scene. At one point, Hanna and her mother discuss their own promiscuity as if it were something to be celebrated. Wyatt, at the direction of his mentors the Mortmaines, murders Petra, his former girlfriend who is pregnant by Frankie, a "breeder." The ensuing scenes between Rosalee and Frankie's father are equally as bloody and violent.

This has been rated as a five star read, with some hesitation. The actual theme and the writing are excellent; its extreme violence, profanity, and promiscuity are less than appealing. This book is aimed at "young adults" which often includes advanced, but younger readers. Were I a parent of such a child, I would not be pleased about their reading this book. "Bleeding Violet" could have addressed the issues touched on throughout the book without the extreme language and violence. Had the author focused on Hanna's challenges and on the building of a relationship with her mother, without the profanity, violence and sexual situations, the book would have much to recommend it. I found the book very readable, but I cannot in good conscience recommend "Bleeding Violet" as appropriate for younger members of its target audience.

Well-written, creative, and fresh. At times dark and depressing. Refreshing paranormal story plot.

'Bleeding Violet' is the story of a 16 year old named Hanna who suffers from mental illness. Hanna arrives at her mother's home to find she is unwanted, and spends much of the story finding ways to gain her mother's affection. She often hallucinates, talking to the ghost of her deceased father and a carved wooden swan who saves her from herself. Hanna suffers from depression as well, often thinking of killing herself. When she begins school in this new town, she discovers that this isn't an ordinary place. There are monsters, ghosts, and creepy things in general that inhabit this city (made me think of Ghostbusters). She meets a boy, Wyatt, who is "Mortamaine" - his job is to protect the city from these creatures - and the adventures begin!

This book isn't for everyone. It verbalizes Hanna's dark and depressing desires- which can be difficult to read at times. Blood and death are common throughout the storyline, and it isn't just the monsters who are making the kills. It is definitely not a fuzzy, feel good novel. It's a difficult, daring novel that takes you to places you may not want to go.

However, there is more to the story than just blood, death, and gore. There is a story of redemption, of love and the need to be loved, and of hope. The author exhibits great creativity as she unveils this new world of the paranormal (with not only monsters, but keys and doors and living houses). I found Hanna's actions and character much more believable given her background and her non-chalance was almost comical at times (she is so used to seeing unusual things, that these are nothing new to her).

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. If you think you can get past the darker parts of the novel, then I would definitely recommend this book.

Okay, was it just me, or did this book seem beyond psychotic? I mean the whole entire book she's talking about slicing her arms open and wiping her blood all over the house. That's weird if you ask me. And also, the remark about how she didn't feel awkward about being naked in front of her dad because they used to always sauna together. NOT NORMAL!!! This book was so weird that there were a few when I wanted nothing more than to put this mental-case of a book down, but I couldn't.

This is why I give this book a four. Because the writing and the story line were so odd and original, no matter how much it reminded me of a psych ward, I just couldn't put it down. It's not often that I come across a book that brings new ideas to the paranormal table. After the Twilight Era, everything was vampires this, werewolves that, oh-he's-so-cute-come-rescue-me-from-the-bad-vampire/werewolf-and-be-my-lover-forever-and-then-you-can-change-me-into-a-vampire/werewolf type of book, but this finally brought a different idea to the table. Craziness that comes to life. I love it, and fortunately, I was psychotic enough myself to actually finish this book.

I found the characters to be shallow, a mother and daughter whose sexual promescuity was well beyond abnormal and an insensitivity to violence and gore beyond reason. I did not like the main character or most of her friends. When a naked mom and daughter laugh at a scared naked teen while they brutalize him was beyond me. I continued reading hoping to find some redeeming qualities, but I only found more dissapointement. This book hardly classifies as YA except that the characters are teenagers. If you're an adult, read it for yourself and decide. For me though, it was not good.

What can I say? This book is unlike any book I've ever read! It was so wacky and crazy and fun. It really can't be compared to any other book.

Hanna is mentally ill and has just run away from her Aunt's in order to escape the death of her father and to find her mother Rosalee. Hanna's hallucinations become real once she enters her mother's town of Portero where nothing is as it seems.

She falls in love with Wyatt who's part of the local "we kill all things that go bump in the night" gang. And there is plenty of that...giant blood-sucking leeches, haunted houses, possessed mothers, mysterious doors, Hanna's dead father coming back as a ghost....it's all there!

Her romance with Wyatt feels pretty real. They have their ups and downs and yet still manage to come out on top. She's also a really strong female character and those are always nice. And I really enjoyed that Hanna wasn't white; she's biracial and has a different perspective. Also Wyatt is part Latino. It's nice to find some diversity, especially in teen fiction when it's usually all about white boys and girls. And the cover is just lovely!

The only thing I have against this is that it's targeted toward a teen audience. The book says 14 and up...I'd say more like 18 and up. There's a lot of sex, language and violence in this one. Not something I would want my teenager reading if I had one. It's definitely an adult book and not one for the squeamish sort!