Review and Giveaway: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Review: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Goodreads
Rating: Gorgeous writing, ghosts, and serial killers collide for a story that'll creep the heck out of you with its eerie mood and somehow lift your heart at the same time.



The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between.

The cover: I'm obsessed with silhouette covers and this cover in particular. I love the intricacies of the cutout and how equally sweet and sinister the girl is, even with her delicate ponytail and profile. It suits the feel of the book and the main character perfectly.

The book: Do you ever read a book where you're just so in love with the prose that you kind of feel sick with envy and happiness, and the plot could kind of go anywhere and you'd be happy with it, because you'd be able to continue reading this author's words? I feel that way about Tahereh Mafi, and now I feel that way about Yovanoff. There's a whimsical almost-poetry to her descriptions and the details she chooses to include. Like, it's all sparkly and lilting on the surface, but there's this dark grittiness underneath. That perfectly sums up Paper Valentine, a beautiful, engaging, horrifically disturbing novel about the many layers a person can be hiding, for good or for bad.

Strange things are afoot in the city of Ludlow, where Hannah Wagner lives. And by strange, I mean, horrible. Hannah's best friend Lillian, who died after a long battle with anorexia, now haunts her day and night, and there's a serial killer murdering middle school girls. Plus Hannah's friends are all really awful people and she may or may not be inordinately interesting with the dangerous and very much off-limits Finny Boone, a huge, delectable pile of YA swoon. I loved being in Hannah's head and hearing the unique way her thoughts form. When I talk about liking characters with layers, I mean Hannah. She wears vintage dresses that she sews herself, and ribbons in her hair, and Alice in Wonderland charm bracelets. She does crafts and smiles a lot and always has something whimsical to say. But there's so much more to her, things she doesn't want others to see and things she even keeps from herself.

I'm a lot like Hannah, but even those who aren't can find themselves in that, I think. And in Lillian, the self-destructive dead girl, and Finny, the absurdly attractive, silent, gentle, shy, awkward, and completely misunderstood guy. All these characters are continually, deliberately seen a certain way that doesn't at all line up with what's inside.

As for the mystery of who's murdering all these teenage girls, it's so freaking creepy.  The killer was both a total surprise to me and an "Of COURSE!", which is exactly what you want. I love murder mysteries, and this one definitely isn't for the faint of heart. Yovanoff doesn't spare any of the gruesome details.She's determined to thrust you right into the ugliness of the situation, not in a graphic way, but emotionally. It's not as unpleasant as it sounds, really. I felt wiser and sadder and happier by the end of this book. Hannah deals with so much in this book. Death. Friendship. Loss. Peer pressure. Finding herself without the dominant, bossy Lillian, and becoming the strong person who is kind of a mix of both of them. And somehow, Yovanoff managed to tie that journey in with Hannah catching a serial killer with her dead best friend.

There's also the relationship Hannah has with her little sister, Ariel. I always love reading about family relationships in YA, and this one was no different. Ariel's a plucky, vibrant kid, and it's obvious she and Hannah care about each other. It added another great dimension to this book. And lasty, Finny. I can't say much without getting spoilery, but...Finny. Yes. Please. At first blush he seems like a stereotype, and I had my insta-love sensors going at full-blast, but everything between them was perfectly understandable. Everything that happened before and during and after made perfect sense. Let me say that the big finale was without a doubt the best part. Don't get stopped by a possibly slow beginning.

Enter to win a signed copy of Paper Valentine! US/CA ONLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway