VelveteenPublisher: Random House, 2012Genre: YA Paranormal
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.
Velveteen Monroe was murdered and all she wants is revenge, but now that she’s landed in Purgatory, her job as a Salvager and other troubles don’t leave her much time to haunt her murderer. Crossing between worlds is dangerous and her soul suffers with every crossing, but her revenge is too important. And she’s never had a reason to stick around Purgatory…until she meets Nick. But what is more important to her? Revenge? Or the chance at something new? A revolution draws close and Velvet will find herself in the middle of a whole lot of trouble.
Daniel Marks’s Velveteen is raw, filled with bone-chilling descriptions with horrifying specifics, a tough as nails heroine, and adventure through the streets of Purgatory.
The descriptions of The City of the Dead in Purgatory were superb—the greyness, the ash covered everything, the ramshackle buildings, and the souls everywhere. I liked the logistics of why the souls shone, the rules they live by, and the reasons for the ash. My favorite place of all was the Paper Aviary. And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. But maybe in some parts the explanations could’ve been cut back a little to avoid slowing the pace. Still, the plot kept me intrigued, and the investigation of the uprising kept me guessing, but while the story kept me interested I had trouble connecting with the characters.
Velveteen is one tough chick. She’s over the fact that she has to spend her afterlife in Purgatory and plows on ahead, striving to be the best in her job (Yes, souls in Purgatory have jobs). Velveteen and her pals are the best Salvager (soul rescuer) team out there, and each one has his/her own ghostly talent. But she’s not over the fact that she was murdered, and Velvet is not afraid to break the rules if it means getting revenge on her killer. Though I do love a hardcore heroine sometimes I found Velvet’s attitude too harsh. It got to the point where every comment she made just grated on my nerves and I just wanted to smack her. When her friends call her a bitch, they are SO not wrong.
Then Velvet’s Team saves Nick’s soul. The poor, sweet guy falls for Velvet and her charming personality, though I never understood why. He says he feels close to her because she was the one who saved him, which is understandable. But she is totally mean to him. And to her teammates. And to everyone really. It was a shame that because of Velvet’s attitude we don’t get to know much about the rest of the characters, simply because she always keeps everyone at arm’s length. The exception is sometimes Nick, whom Velvet feels protective of on occasion. Aside from his hotness and cute comments, Nick didn’t do much, but I did like his ‘give it another shot’ and ‘always give it a try’ attitude.
The ending was every bit exhilarating with the world literally crumbling around Velvet. The rebels have managed to start The Departure, and it’s up to Velvet and her team to save both Purgatory and the real world. She and Nick grew closer in those last chapters, but I still wasn’t feeling the love. Overall, I was a little disappointed because the blurb promises romance yet doesn’t deliver (I’m all about the romance), but it did bring a ton of creativeness, originality, and just a lot of awesome.
*Arc copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley*
Favorite Quotes:
~Salvage Team~
Nick, staggered to a stunned silence, wandered back over to Velvet, scuffing the gravelly concrete like a child as his gaze followed the insects’ dramatic exit.
“That was…,” he began, mouth hanging open. Still staring.
“Awesome?” Logan offered.
“Skillful. And/or brilliant?” Quentin shined his fist against his chest.
Luisa clucked her tongue and began to wander off toward the stamp shop.
Nick shook his head like a dog shaking off water. “Wait. What was that?” he shouted. “What the hell was that?”
“Oh, Christ,” Velvet said. “You act like you’ve never seen flies dispatch a ghost before.”
~About Luisa~
“She’s an old soul,” Velvet cut in. The girl was stomping off ahead of them, just turning the corner toward the blue car, the cat, and the mound of sodden newspaper. “Older than either of us, just not…grown up. Souls get kind of stuck, so she still looks like a kid. Watch how you talk to her; she’ll cut you.”
He nodded stoically. “Got it. Watch out for the little one. She’s stabby.”
Velvet couldn’t conceal her smile. “Riiight.”
~The Geek Whisperer~
“People are fickle; they may laugh at you and stuff, but they always move on to the next tragedy as soon as it happens. In the end, it’s more about Quentin that it is the girl. It’s about courage. The act of talking to her. Exposing himself.”
Logan busted up laughing.
Nick rolled his eyes and crammed his hands into his back pockets. “Not that way. I mean, being vulnerable with her. That’s what’s gonna make you a man. It’s going to kill that fear and bury it as deep as the bodies he thieves are kept.”
“What are you, some sort of guidance councelor?” Velvet asked.
Nick nodded. “I’m the fucking Geek Whisperer, dude.”
