Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey
Publisher: Walker Childrens (June 21st, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
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?
Review: This was my first experience reading a book by Alyxandra Harvey and I was very impressed with the story and her writing style. Haunting Violet is a captivating historical novel set in England during the 1800s.
Violet is a young girl who is forced to go along with her mother's dishonest ways of making money. Her mother pretends to be a medium and she gets money from people who have lost a family member. She uses tricks and cons to make the family members believe that they are truly seeing and hearing their loved ones. Colin is there with Violet from the beginning. He was a orphan and Violet's mother hired him to help her carry out her schemes.
Violet's mother sees a great opportunity for herself when she is invited to Lord Jasper's estate and she wants Violet to grab the interest of the wealthy Xavier at the same time. But soon Violet is thrown into a mystery she never expected. A real ghost is following her around and it's up to her to find out more about this ghost. This takes her on some very scary adventures but luckily she has Colin there to help her.
Violet's relationship with Colin was wonderful to follow. They had a great friendship that seemed to slowly grow into something more. Along with Colin, Violet becomes friends with Elizabeth and the three of them try to unravel the mystery of what happened to the ghostly young girl together.
I'm typically not a huge fan of historical novels but Alyxandra Harvey did a fantastic job at portraying this time period. It truly felt like I was right there with the characters and the descriptions were fantastic. Violet was a terrific character who showed great courage and compassion. This book was much more than simply a ghost story and I will definitely be reading more from Alyxandra.
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