Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Title:  Haunting Violet

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Pages:  352

Genre:  YA/ Paranormal

Source: Book It Forward ARC Tour  

Violet Willoughby does not believe in ghosts.  She has been forced, from a young age, to help her fraudulent, spiritualist/medium mother con her grieving customers to believe that she can contact the dearly departed.  With the help of Colin, her mother's assistant, her mother has been able to give Violet a semi-decent life, passing her off as more of a lady than the pauper that she really is.  When Violet's mother is invited to the estate of Lord Jasper to once again play the part of medium, Violet is not too thrilled.  For she knows she must play the part, not only to help her mother, but also so that  young, wealthy Xavier takes notice of her.  Although her feelings for Xavier may not be as strong as what she feels for Colin, she knows that Xavier won't be too critical about her past.

But Violet soon realizes her love problems are the least of her worries, since shortly, after their arrival at the estate Violet begins to see the ghost of a dead girl.  Although at first, she refuses to believe it, the dead girl is rather adamant that Violet help her not only protect her sibling but also solve the mystery of her murder.

I was rather surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this story.  Foremost, the historical aspect of it was what grasped my attention.  I love stories (especially YA) that have a historical setting and Ms. Harvey accurately depicted London in the late nineteenth century.  Secondly I love a good ghost story... and Haunting Violet was definitely that.  The parts where Violet encounters a ghost were spine-tingling.  I loved the atmospheric changes like a dramatic change in the wind, or water slowly creeping around her feet, or when she would walk into a room how all the ghosts would suddenly stop and stare at her... it was downright creepy.  

All in all, I thought Finding Violet had a lot of my favorite things all wrapped up to make it the perfect package.  The mystery, romance, historical setting and paranormal aspects really held my attention.  Not to mention there were a few twists and turns in there that I did not see coming.  It was fun and fast-paced, had great characters, a mystery to be solved and ghosts.... I honestly couldn't ask for more.  

My Rating: