Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Wow, how I wish I could scream and rant about how amazing and unbearably good this book was, but woah! I just can't.
This is probably your classic example of "don't judge a book by the cover". Oh why cruel fate???? It was so pretty! :(
I am such a sucker for pretty covers...

Ok. Summary:
Young, gorgeous and completely wacked Hanna Järvinen (that 'J' is pronounced as a 'Y')is simply looking for somebody to love her. Never mind that still sees her father, who died a while back and that she bashed her aunt’s head in with a rolling pin whilst escaping, she was simply collateral damage...
After tracking down the mother she's never known, Hanna is led to Portero, a small remote town.
There are certain rules down rules in Portero that are essential to ones' survival:
Keep you head down, don't attract attention and maybe, yes, maybe you won't be killed. Too bad Hanna doesn't have any plans to keep a low profile... Armed with a completely violet wardrobe, dozens of different medicines for her hallucinations, and an all consuming attitude, Hanna sticks out like a sore thumb.
Portero hides sinister secrets that would make any sane person run for dear life, but Hanna's desperate for her mother’s affections, besides... sanity is overrated.

Done.
**sniff** I'm still so sad... who'd have thought that such a pretty book would be so disappointing???
To be fair, Bleeding Violet had such potential... The plot idea was so very original!

So, obviously I've got some problems with the book.
Firstly if I had a dollar for every time the book mentioned how beautiful or pretty Hanna is, Yes, I heard the first 50 000 times how beautiful she is. (Slight exaggeration)
And Hanna, woah! What a **word far too inappropriate** geez, she's so obnoxious and arrogant. Ugh!

"Damn I was pretty",

Of course! what a heroine! When in the face of danger, complement yourself. **disapproving face**
Then we have how courageous Hanna is, oh she's so brave. The story often hints and I'm pretty sure outright states how brave she is, and Hanna even goes out of her way to do supposedly "brave" things. Right now I'm not too sure if it was because of her irresistible urge to impress Rosalie, her mother, or if she was just downright crazy, which she is.

Hanna, despite being jam packed with courage **extreme sarcasm**, seems to want to commit suicide every two minutes, I'm pretty sure there were about 3 or more attempts to kill herself. I'm sorry she's impulsive and always wants to take the easy way out!

Despite this, Hanna still has very admirable qualities, she's so nonchalant about everything, bashing her aunt’s head in, and then repeating that with her mum... hahaha
This was one of the factors that I actually liked. It was just so entertaining.
She's also a very different character, definitely not your typical heroine. I reckon with some tweaking she'd be awesome. Her determination and twisted interpretation of love is also quite cute. The book idea was so unusual and different; it was just so twisted, in a good way of course.

Rosalie and Hanna's relationship is just so fake. Hey mum, haven't seen you since you ditched me as a baby... so can I stay??
Gosh it weird! I just can't get over how weird their relationship is!


START OF SPOILER!!!----Wyatt and Hanna's relationship. Ugh. Is Wyatt completely desperate or infatuated? Hanna is such a **repeat of previous inappropriate word** yet it doesn't even faze him, but then again he doesn't seem so pure **cough cough** and she once again speaks so nonchalantly about the fact of her **inappropriate word**. Then he finds out what a user she is... she uses her male "acquaintances" to get what she wants and once again his undying love for her prevails. She completely takes advantage of him, and betrays him in so many ways, but still he'll be her knight in shining armour. ----END SPOILER!!!


Dang it. This is just how I found the book; I really hope it wasn’t that offensive and I sincerely apologize if I did, there are tonnes of people who love this book. But I just didn't like it... I wish I did...

I might try Slice of Cherry, which seems promising...

Bonus/ Final chapter of Red Riding Hood

Yeah, i finished reading Red Riding Hood, as my previous post suggests.
For those of you that have not yet read the final chapter of it. Click >>here<< and all shall be revealed... mwahahaha

Enjoy!

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright & David Leslie Johnson

I am quite disappointed with this book... It had such potential and could have been so much better!Unfortunately, it lagged.

I had several issues with this book,one of which is Valerie's declaration of undying love for the boy, Peter, it was far too sudden and undoubtedly unrealistic. Sure they knew each other when they were kids. Yay! But get a grip on yourself! It's been at least 10 years, this boy returns and all of a sudden they're both in love. Pfffsshhhh <<< **Snort of disbelief** Geez, it's not like he could have possibly changed in 10 years or anything...

The main character, Valerie, was just missing something. I don't know what that something was, but it was missing. She also can’t seem to make up her mind which is quite infuriating. One moment Valerie is way too trusting and then at times not enough!

I feel as though the side baddy of the book, Father Solomon was one of the most developed characters in the story, he actually played his part well, he caused the reader to hate him, and in the end he repented from his sins (this may be because of the knife sticking out of him :D ) At times Solomon was so annoying, I felt so much anger at his character, but this was probably an achievement because he actually fulfilled the criteria of bad guy.

And then there was the matter of the ending, it was missing something, hmmm? I wonder what it was missing? ITSELF MAYBE?!!?? It wasn’t there... what is this?!?! Yes that was infuriating but through following the instructions, I accessed the bonus chapter on the website. I don’t know what kind of stunt that was meant to be, but I can tell you now it was ridiculous.

Nonetheless the ending was quite a surprise, it had quite a twist relating to the identity of the wolf, although I might object to the fact that such a twist shouldn’t have been kept in the bonus/ final chapter, or they could have at least had a bit of an epilogue to explain what happened afterwards. It also would have helped if this twist was in the actual book, rather than have it as a bonus chapter on a website. Though the twist was great, the ending was still quite disappointing, it was sloppy. The ending was meant to be a happy one in some ways but I can’t say it achieved what it set out to be. It’s a bit ridiculous when Valerie slashes out at Peter, because she has a hunch that he may be the wolf, even after he’s risked everything to help her. Then what? Well, she finds out he’s NOT the wolf, and he has once again saved her life but in doing so has just caused himself to be bitten and infected and will become a wolf and she says: I'll wait for you and declares her undying love for him???!!! That's just unrealistic and pathetic. Especially when she just stabbed him a few moements ago on a hunch! Honestly, it would have been happy if the ending was that everyone was killed, dismal but practical. Ok fine, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m just annoyed at how Valerie changes her mind every 2 seconds!

The writing style was also very difficult to comprehend at times, especially when it switched viewing points halfway through a chapter or paragraph. The ending was also a disappointment and though I was confused and a little annoyed at times I found the book bearable. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't damn-right amazing either...

This is just how I found the book; I honestly hope I do not offend anybody.
The review I wrote was only focusing on the negative factors in this book, but there were several good things too.

Fateful by Claudia Gray

For years Tess Davies has slaved away under the power of the Lisles. Finally, she has the opportunity to start anew, to run her own life, to have freedom... She's worked hard and knows that she can manage or at least try. She's been planning for years, and it'll all be in reach within a matter of days. A few days and she'll step onto the shores of the United states. All is as planned, until she meets the mysterious Alec. Her first encounter with Alec involved a near death experience and Tess knows that he's dangerous but for some reason she can't stay away. Alec's being followed, no worse than that he's being hunted... and the threat has just followed him aboard the Titanic. The magnificent ship has everything, squash courts, restaurants, Turkish baths but there's nowhere to run...

Fateful is just so beautiful! The scenes, the characters, the perfect romance... Titanic is a tragic love story and when I read the back of this book, I was worried that it’d just be a Titanic rewrite, and it is a rewrite in some ways but it also brings its own little surprise. Werewolves. Hah! This single word could changes the entire story, it adds a little danger, and little supernatural.

Tess Davies the servant of the Lisle house is one who is obedient; she’d have to be if she wants to keep her job. You don’t expect her to be rebellious or courageous but in some way she is. You can’t deny the fact that she’s willing to take the risks. As the story progresses, you pick up on the changes, a little humour here, some backbone there. I loved it! Tess Davies is a dreamer; it’s evident all throughout the book. She spends her days dreaming, dreaming of a better future, dreaming of love. She knows that many of her hopes are impossible, but in Fateful, maybe dreams do come true...

Alec is a werewolf. Ooooooh... As much as he wants to deny it, he can’t. He’s a monster, destined to change into his beast form everyday from dusk til dawn. Unless of course he joins the Brotherhood; a group of male werewolves that have joined forces to fight for complete dominance. They can help Alec control his shifting, but in exchange for this privilege they require complete obedience and they have ways to force it...

I love how this story takes place on the Titanic; I love the mood that it creates. It’s a bit doomed, if I do say so myself. The story is so intricately woven; everything is taken into consideration so that it can lead up to the perfect crescendo. The writing style is so easy to follow; you’ll be able to devour the book in a matter of hours.

Overall: Breathtaking!