Thursday, October 4, 2012

Review: Velveteen

VELVETEEN (Velveteen #1)
Daniel Marks
Paranormal Young Adult
464 pages
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Available October 9th
Received from publisher via NetGalley for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
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.


MY THOUGHTS
Darkly creative, Velveteen raises the fine hairs on our arms instantly as we find ourselves witnesses to the first day of what will undoubtedly be the long and brutal torture of a young woman at the hands of a monster who also made a victim of our heroine. We read the opening chapter with breath held, a few flashes of the violence done to Velvet ratcheting up our fear for Bonesaw’s newest victim to an almost overwhelming degree, but just as we’re prepared to pull a blanket up our faces and peek nervously over the top to learn the girl’s fate, we’re whisked away to Purgatory and do not return to the scene that had us terrifyingly captivated until almost halfway through the story. While the world building and the careful crafting of Purgatory is gorgeous, it’s also extraordinarily extensive and at times slightly confusing, the simple clarity found in our fear of Bonesaw replaced with an intriguing but murky take on the afterlife to leave us floundering a bit at the change.

Velvet is a young woman who elicits from us conflicting responses, her quick wit and dry sense of humor making us snort a laugh before her demeanor shifts and a mask of cool indifference slides in place. Though Bonesaw’s many instruments of torture clearly illustrated how easily Velvet’s skin when she was alive could be bruised, sliced, and peeled away, in death her skin is much thicker and seemingly unpierceable, emotional vulnerability something she left behind with her body as Bonesaw’s final blade hit its mark. Because her armor is so impeccably cared for, it’s difficult for us as readers to find a chink to exploit to our benefit, any attempts at connecting with her sloughed off as easily as the attempts made by her friends, and we can’t help but wish to return to a flashback of her time in Bonesaw’s shed of horrors where her vulnerability was at its highest.

Nick, Velvet’s romantic interest, is her exact opposite; a young man who’s open and playful and willing to take a chance at forming attachments even though he’s struggling with his sudden transition from life to death. He laughs quickly and easily and never takes Velvet’s repeated teasing and mockery to heart, continually making her aware of his interest even as she runs hot and cold from one moment to the next. Their relationship progresses to a declaration of love shockingly quickly given Velvet’s obvious reticence to admit she is in fact in possession of feelings, detracting slightly from a romance that was amusing in its lighthearted antagonism and successful in its tension without the addition of those three little words.

Overall, Velveteen presents us with a unique and truly fantastic world, Mr. Marks earning high points for his ingenuity and imagination in his depiction of Purgatory and the souls who inhabit it, as well as his ability to write entertaining main and secondary characters. Readers should be aware however that the synopsis is a touch misleading, as Bonesaw's murder of Velvet unexpectedly and disappointingly takes a back burner to the increasing unrest brewing in Purgatory, and the story itself is often slowed down by the weight of layer after layer of detail helping to describe how this new and unfamiliar world functions. While we’re given a nice conclusion to this first installment, there is certainly plenty of room for the continuation of Velvet’s story, and I hope the next book allows us to delve a little deeper into Velvet’s psyche and come out the other side with a solid and unbreakable thread linking us to her.

Rating: 3.5/5

36 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, instruments of torture? Creepy. But I'm intrigued. I've been hearing great things.

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    1. Oh yes. Bonesaw lives up to his name and then some - he's horrifying. I just wish that part of the story was more prominent since he was so well done.

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  2. Hmm.. not sure about this one... I tried to read it but couldn't get into it!

    Krazyyme @ Young Readers

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    1. I had a difficult time as well, there were a lot of details to sort through, but overall I enjoyed it.

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  3. Im going to try this one it looks fun....and the girl on the cover looks like a crazy drugged out Kristin Stewart....LOL.

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    1. Be prepared - there's a lot going on in this book, but I though his whole concept of Purgatory was really interesting! And she does look a little like a goth Kristen Stewart:)

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  4. The girl in the cover creepy me out with her sharp cheekbones. But I guess that was the intended effect.

    This reminds me of the Lovely Bones though I've never read it. And Velvet seems like an interesting character. For me, I don't necessarily have to relate to the character to love him/her so yes, definitely intrigued! And Nick. Can I just say I love him already?

    Beautiful review, Jenny! As always ;)

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    1. I really liked Nick as well! I was glad when he finally got through to Velvet, it took him a good long time:)

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  5. Sounds like the main character was tough to connect to. Although, you can't really blame her for being that way with what she's gone through. I'm still on the fence about this one. I love that cover though. The girl reminds me of Kristen Stewart. Lovely review as usual Jenny. :)

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    1. She was at first, I warmed to her eventually, but it took a lot of time since she pushes everyone away for majority of the book:)

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  6. I'm a little disappointed to hear that the story of Velvet and Bonesaw takes a back seat. That aspect sounds like it could be creepy good. Murder victim haunts the murderer? Yes, please.

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    1. I was really bummed about that too, especially since the book started so strong with Velvet watching as he locked another victim up in his shed and she began the countdown to the girl's torture in her head. I wish we had gotten more about the vengeance she sought and about Bonesaw - he was horrifying.

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  7. The torture part has be worried to be completely honest. I don't like reading those scenes and I tend to skip them so I'm not sure about this one. I think I'll wait to see what book 2 looks like.

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    1. Don't worry - you just get brief flashes and the torture is implied, it's not laid out for you in explicit detail. I think it's scarier that way:)

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  8. I read another review that had the same issue of being dragged into the first scene and then drifted away and not returning for awhile. I have this coming up in November so I will be reading it soon. I am happy to hear that it has great, creative world building at least!

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  9. I really like the sound of the characters but am a bit leery about the layers in the world. I mean I do think I'd want those layers in Purgatory, but it also sounds like it makes it drag a bit. As long as it isn't too bad, I think I can take it. :) I was on the fence about this one and I think I will put this one on my wishlist.

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  10. I liked his adult books..ok I only read one but he is good with dark humour

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  11. I started this one awhile ago and keep putting it down because it's hard to connect with Velvet and I'm finding Purgatory kind of confusing. I still haven't even met Nick yet, Jenny! :( At least I know you had the same issues.

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  12. Hmmm...I've seen this one around a bit but am still not convinced that it would be the right read for me. Thanks for your thoughts on it!

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  13. Sometimes I feel like romances are ruined when the 'I love you's arrive way too soon. What's the rush? :)

    Great review, Jenny! I like the sound of this, but not so much that I'll be rushing to buy a copy. Perhaps if it turns up at my library I will give it a go. :)

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  14. great review , but I enjoyed the intro of Bonesaw but only got to page 100. The world sounded dark, and interesting but couldn't handle insta love or what I thought would be it. Bonesaw kept my interest :)

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  15. Bonesaw? *shudder* Just the name alone is creepy but throw in some instruments of torture and that definitely ratchets up the creep-factor. I'm kind of wishing the love story was either greatly diminished or nonexistent. Sounds like the story of Bonesaw and Violet is much more intriguing than the love story.

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  16. I know you were looking forward to this one, so glad you enjoyed it overall. I'm not sure if it's the book for me. Usually I like dark and edgy, but I have a feeling this one might just be a little too dark and edgy...

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  17. Thanks for your review Jenny! I really liked this book and the Velvet had me snorting a lot.

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  18. Wow, this sounds incredibly dark! But I probably could have guessed that based on the cover. It's a major pet peeve of mine when the synopsis is misleading, but at least you thought the world building of Purgatory was well done. I am truly intrigued!!

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  19. Yay, I'm so happy you enjoyed this one, Jenny! Unfortunately, I've read SO many bad reviews of this one that I was more than ready to give up on it, but I might give it a try after all. Wonderful review, dear! :)

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  20. This was a DNF for me. I liked the start with Bonesaw but when it dragged on without going back I gave up. Nick was a great character but I didn't have a connection with Velvet and so I just set it aside. It was just too boring. But I'm glad that for the most part it ended up being good for you!

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  21. When I first read the synopsis I was like mphgardsns I want this book! Bonesaw is such a chilling name & the story seemed so promising. (Does it have shades of The Lovely Bones / Dead Girls Detective Agency?)
    But now at least after reading what you had to say, I won't rush into any impulsive buying.
    Enjoying your in-depth reviewing style! :)

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  22. This is my next read so I'm glad to see some insights into what's going to happen. I am worried I'll get frustrated with the length and the unrest in Purgatory because Velvet getting her revenge on Bonesaw already sounds like the most gripping part to me. Excited to meet these characters!

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  23. You truly are my BookSoulmate and BookTwin! *giggles* How can we have such similar thoughts on the same book?

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  24. Drats to hear the Bonesaw murder concept was on the back burner. Sounds like a dark read though!

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