Velveteen (Velveteen, #1)

**I received an ARC of this book from the publisher but that did not influence the review**

This was originally reviewed on The Book Hookup here

My review: As a cover snob this one caught my eye straight away. Then I read the description and was intrigued: Velvet was brutally murdered by a pyschopath and ended up in purgatory after she died. But this is purgatory like you have never imagined: it is a society for all the people stuck in between. She is able to sneak away from the bizarre society and haunt her murderer. While Velvet does achieve in making his life a little more annoying, as well as saving a few other victims, it’s still not enough.

Plot Development: It took about 1/3 of the way through to understand the plot. Once I did figure out what was going on I thought the idea of the revolution and shadowquakes in purgatory were very cool and unique. I also liked that Velvet is part of the cause for shadowquakes even though she won’t admit to haunting. However, the violent descriptions are effed up.

My Likes:

I liked Nick, I liked the attraction between Velvet and Nick ~ their relationship was definitely full of sizzle. I could totally picture him. When he was described as a model for Abercrombie and Fitch I was like, sign me up!
I liked the purgatory society, the fact that there even was a society and that they had rules = very cool. They are just trying to survive until they go to a better place. It gets pretty interesting, because like any society there always seems to be a power struggle to be in charge. Throw in a little corruption and it gets even more interesting. THAT storyline is I loved.

What I had SERIOUS issues with: Way too many descriptions regarding Velvet’s serial killer. The author went into way too much detail and I was extremely uncomfortable and sickened. Basically, to me the author put just a little too much thought into that part of the story and there was no added value. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to be left alone with the author.

Rec it? Based on that I would give the book 1 star. It only goes higher (up to 2 stars) because of the cool purgatory dystopian society. However, I don’t think this book is appropriate YA. If you gloss over the horrid body mutilation parts the story has potential. ( )

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

Velveteen is another novel with a whole lot of hype surrounding its release. The premise sounds so insane and creepy that this should come as no surprise. A dystopia about the dead? Serial killers? Purgatory? Strong heroine? That's all kinds of awesome, right? Well, I definitely think so.

My first recommendation is not to come into Velveteen looking for a dystopia. There really isn't anything particularly dystopian here, although I do see some definite possibility for there to be a big reveal of evil government at work later in the series. This could have been a huge disappointment, because obviously I love dystopias, but the whole of the story was so delightfully fresh and funny that I wasn't particularly bothered.

On Twitter, I've seen people tweeting Daniel Marks as they read through this book. They commented how grossed out they were and how horrified. Well, I really didn't have any moments where I was overwhelmed by the ick or horror factors. Maybe I just have a strong stomach, but I doubt it, since I can't watch a horror movie without hiding through pretty much all of it. There are gross things that happen, but they're no worse than what I've encountered in all the zombie novels I've read. So, basically, if you don't often read macabre things, Velveteen might freak you out, but, otherwise, I wouldn't worry unduly.

Actually, more than anything else, I thought Velveteen was hilarious. Humor of course is very subjective. I suspect most readers will either love or hate Velveteen, depending on whether you think Daniel Marks' humor is funny or obnoxious. For me, it totally worked. If you're concerned, you might want to watch some of Marks' vlogs and see if you like his style.

The description of the novel makes a big deal about Velvet's desire for revenge against her murderer, Bonesaw. While this certainly is a plot point, it's actually a fairly minor plot arc, important to the story, but definitely not the focus of Marks' grisly tale. Still, he definitely wove this arc perfectly into the larger tale.

The focus of the novel is, instead, on the tensions within Purgatory. There is a revolution happening in Purgatory. The Departurists believe that the powers that be within Purgatory are preventing them from moving on and unfairly keeping them from the daylight (aka the world of the living). The revolutionaries are somehow causing bigger and bigger cracks to form in Purgatory, by trapping souls in daylight and causing shadowquakes. The world building on this Purgatory was crazy cool for sure.

Within Purgatory, there are jobs, ranging just as widely, although differently, from those in our world. Our heroine, Velvet, has one of the best jobs, as a salvager team leader. Scavengers enter daylight to save trapped souls, putting an end to shadowquakes and protecting Purgatory. This gives them a rare chance to travel to daylight and is also just really cool, since you need special abilities to do it. Teams consist of four: one body thief, who takes over the body of a living human temporarily, one undertaker, who takes over a dead body and becomes a zombie, and two poltergeists, who stay ghosty but have a natural power to move things in that form. Velvet and her team are the best and they love what they do. On one of their missions, they rescue Nick, aka love interest.

Now, we must talk about Velveteen. She is an amazing heroine, assuming you like them sarcastic, closed-off, and a bit violent. Thankfully, I do. If you're sick of all of the wimpy, clutsy, obedient heroines that can't do anything but moan about boys, you will love Velvet, as she is the antithesis of all things Bella. Similar heroines are Lex from Croak or Ashline from Wildefire. Velvet has a smart mouth and is quick to resort to physical violence. Just to give you an idea of the kind of girl we'll dealing with: she dressed up as Alex from A Clockwork Orange at one point. She felt real to me, and she read like a female.

Her romance with Nick also totally worked. There was definitely instalust, but Velvet is not the kind of girl to mistake that for love. She initially thinks he looks like and probably is an asshole. There's lots of kissing, because she's not the kind of girl who is against having a little fun. Though Nick and Velvet's relationship does progress fairly quickly emotionally, there's a natural flow to it. The two really do have a rapport. They have real conversations, develop little inside jokes, and have awesome witty banter. Their chemistry is fantastic.

So yeah, I thought this was a fantastic ride, entertaining and funny from beginning to end. I definitely anticipate Marks' next macabre tale and hope for more dystopian-ness! ( )

Cover Impressions: The cover is what first attracted me to this book. It is deliciously dark, simple and stunning.

The Gist: Velveteen was murdered by a serial killer named Bonesaw. She spends her days emerging from purgatory in order to chase down errant spirits and attempt to foil the plans of her killer. When purgatory is thrown into upheaval, it is up to Velveteen and her team to hunt down the culprits and restore the balance between the living and the dead.

Review: The blurb for this novel led me to believe that it was the story of a ghost seeking revenge on the serial killer that murdered her. That story excited me and I imagined a dark and disturbing show-down between killer and victim. This was not what I got. Instead, Velveteen centers around a group of souls that are attempting to escape purgatory and return to the "daylight". This story is not nearly as exciting.

A major problem exists with the world building in Velveteen. It presents a unique representation of purgatory, however, there is little to no explanation of anything that is going on. We are left to stumble after Velvet in the hopes that she will drop some tidbit of information that will help bring this world into being in our minds. Alas, these tidbits are few and far between. For example, purgatory seems plagued by Shadowquakes. I never got a clear picture of what this looks like, nor what it means for the souls that are left in it's wake (one girl appeared to be captured by the first quake but was later mentioned as being shaken up - but fine). We are led to believe that all of purgatory is mashed together from items that can stolen from the living and smuggled in through the cracks, yet there is a train and it is never explained how this came to be. Every time I encountered one of these issues (and there were many) I was left flicking back pages, convinced that I had missed something. It ruined the flow of the story and left me annoyed.

The characters themselves are bland and boring. Velvet is a terrible leader and the souls that make up her team seem interchangeable. They evoked no sympathy or emotion whatsoever and were not the least bit clever or witty. It is never explained what makes these particular teenagers special enough to be members of the ________ team. ________ was such a boring character that I just had to go back and look up his name. There was zero chemistry between him and Velvet and her half-assed attempt to stay away was annoying and wasted time that could have been spent on developing the plot or explaining what the heck was going on.

When Velvet interacted with her killer there was a real sense of urgency and excitement. These scenes gave a titillating glimpse into the book that could have been. Unfortunately, there were only a few of these moments and, in order to reach them, I had to wade through page after page of grey dullness in purgatory.

In the end, Velveteen left me unsatisfied. I realize that this is the first in a series, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't provide SOME answers to the motivation of the villain, or the secrets hidden by those in charge. Velveteen gave me no closure on this story and no desire to continue with the next.

A final note on appropriateness: As a teacher, I would NOT recommend this book to my students for fear of being fired. There is A LOT of casual swearing (see below), some pretty nasty violence and description of torture.

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 17 and up
Gender: Female
Sex: Allusion to sexual acts
Violence: Knifeplay, Gunplay, Kidnapping, Torture
Inappropriate Language: A LOT AND OFTEN! Piss, Shit, Blue Balls, Bitch, Slut, Ass, Tripping Balls, Dumpster Baby (just wrong), Whores, Fucking, Douche-Baggy, Dick, Pussy
Substance Abuse: Use of Gas? ( )

I expect that some readers were disappointed that the whole Velveteen-gets-revenge-on-Bonesaw thing doesn't make up the majority of this book's plot. Instead, the plot meanders around Purgatory.
This was great with me -- Purgatory is a creepily beautiful place.

Velveteen's anger is like a current that sizzles quietly under the surface of the story. I've said it before: I have this soft spot for angry girl characters. Velveteen is also sarcastic. Irreverent. She doesn't take crap from anyone. I think she blames herself for her own murder. The book is coy on that front, taking a while to reveal exactly how Velveteen ended up dead.

Velveteen doesn't think she wants emotional attachment -- she rarely seems to think of her parents, of her family. She's focused. Obsessed. Nick is her complete opposite. He's new to the whole Purgatory thing. His neediness unnerves Velveteen. She thinks of herself as a one-woman show.

While I expected this book to be the gory tale of Velveteen exacting some kind of bloody revenge on Bonesaw, I was pleased that Velveteen was a much more complicated book than that. I loved Velveteen. It might not be exactly what you expect, and it's definitely not your typical YA. But if you like darkly beautiful stories, angry girl characters, imaginative settings, and don't mind a little meandering and a change of plan, you'll definitely want to give this one a try.

Check out full review on my blog and find other great YA to read and win!

I love this cover and I love this idea: a ghost trapped in purgatory getting revenge on the serial killer who brought about her early death. It should have been really exciting and dark and gripping, but the result was one messy disappointment made worse by frequently clumsy prose. If I get over half way through a book but don't finish it, I allow myself to leave a rating as long as I state that I didn't get to the end. And really, I feel I read enough to know that myself and [b:Velveteen|13414964|Velveteen (Velveteen, #1)|Daniel Marks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331730846s/13414964.jpg|15768614] (the novel, not the character) were never going to get along.

This is the story of Velveteen Monroe who was kidnapped and murdered at the age of sixteen by a serial killer and madman referred to as Bonesaw. Now she is trapped in the grey and dreary purgatory and dreams of delivering a slow and painful punishment to her killer, instead she settles for haunting him, destroying his furniture and helping his would-be victims to escape and avoid the same fate she endured. However, her haunting begins to have consequences and her very soul is threatened by her actions; perhaps once she would have sacrificed her soul for vengeance, but a blooming romance gives her a new reason to want to stick around.

The first thing I didn't like was the mish-mash world-building of purgatory. I don't even know how to explain it, it was ridiculous. How I wish I'd read the Kirkus review before starting this because their choice of the word "erratic" to describe the world, characters and plot going on in purgatory is about as spot on as you can get. There are too many characters, too many subplots (most of which are uninteresting) and too many unanswered questions. Purgatory made me think of some kind of wacky eighties-themed party - and not the fun kind; I was constantly in a state of bewilderment at what I assume were supposed to be colourful characters and behaviour, but were actually just the cause of numerous "huh?"s.

But even more than that was the unbelievability of Velveteen's state of mind. This girl had been kidnapped at sixteen, tied up in a man's house for a week, starved, beaten, cut open with knives, and eventually killed. Why was she not more... damaged? Or even if we are supposed to believe that she's unnaturally tough, why is the situation handled so casually? In the very first chapter, Velveteen is in Bonesaw's house and discovers his latest victim tied up and the way the whole situation is told is so offhand and cold. There's a teenage girl - a child - tied up in this man's house, he intends to hurt her and then kill her... why isn't everyone just a little more concerned? Velveteen acts like the situation almost bores her, it's so unrealistic.

I don't think the chapters I missed could possibly hold anything that would make up for the bad I'd already read. Not recommended.


Emily is disappointed =( ( )