Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Living Violet
Author: Jaime Reed
Publisher: Dafina KTeen Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-6924-9
Release Date: January 2012
Genre/Sub-genre: YA Fiction
Publisher’s Age/Grade Recommendation: 13 and up
OUAR’s Age/Grade Recommendation: 13 and up
Year/Setting: Present/Williamsburg, VA
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Mild
Violent Content Rating: Mild/Moderate (Fantasy)
Jaime's Website/Blog: www.JaimeReedBooks.com
Dear Readers:
Before you ask…no, not one vampire in sight! I would say, ‘YAY!’ but I’m afraid my house might get burned down. This is a fantastically fun YA paranormal that is a truly exciting debut for this author.
Samara Marshall is fun, entertaining, sarcastic, and spends a great deal of her time watching her best friend, Mia, beat the heck out of her boyfriend, Dougie. In fact, that’s exactly what she’s doing when our story opens, sitting on the hood of a car downing a Big Gulp and watching the action. Samara works inside Buncha Books at the Cuppa-Joe coffee shop that’s located in the back of the bookstore. Nadine, a polish exchange student, is the manager and seriously funny. Another co-worker of Samara’s is Caleb Baker, and he is more than a bit odd. It seems that every time Samara looks at the guy there’s some girl locked to his lips. And this is not exactly a drool-worthy dude. He’s cute, but nothing to write home about in Samara’s mind. The only thing he does have going for him are these deep purplish-blue eyes that seem to stun every girl on the planet and make them swoon.
One day, Samara notices yet another young woman attached to Caleb’s face, and then later notices that she is being pulled into an ambulance right outside in the parking lot. The girl had a heart attack, and she is far too young to even think of having one.
Samara also has a pretty fun home life. Mom and Dad are divorced and Dad is remarried with twin girls, but the parents still seem to get along quite well. The only thing that’s a bit negative is that Mom believes that she will never find another man, and is more than a bit lonely.
As this humorous tale moves forward, through various circumstances, Samara and Caleb end up on a date. Caleb, who is always shoving sugary foods into his mouth and offering one-liners to the women who drop at his feet, seems to really like Samara. Perhaps it’s because she wouldn’t swoon over him if he paid her to. Of course, when Samara finds out what, exactly, Caleb really is and the secret he‘s been hiding, swooning is definitely out. For many people, screaming and running to the police would be in, but as Samara learns more and more about Caleb’s particular situation, an odd type of feeling seems to come over her. Could it be love? After all…is it even possible to love a…?
Nope. Not gonna’ tell, guys and gals. This is such a fun read that I’m going to leave it all up to you to find out Caleb’s secret. Being the first book in this new series, there is far more to come, but my advice is that you must definitely give this one a shot!
Until next time,
Amy
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