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url 2015-02-21 19:06
You know the drill by now
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff

New Lantern review, and because this is mental health awareness week, it's on a book that touches on mental health issues. 

 

Also, it contains a link to my donations page. I'm running 13 miles next week for charity, guys, and it would be amazing if you can help me meet my goal.

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text 2015-02-17 19:01
Reading progress update: I've read 74 out of 304 pages.
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff

Did they just flirt? It's either that or Finny is an alien.

 

I hope he's an alien.

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text 2015-02-17 15:52
Slut shaming on the very first page
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff

Oh FFS

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review 2014-01-27 00:00
Paper Valentine
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff tl;dr: This book started off a little slow for me, and I wasn't overly fond of the poetic style in which this story was narrated (but I'm sure others will enjoy it), but it picked up towards the middle and the ending was absolutely fantastic!

Description (from Goodreads) 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.


So this book started out kinda slow for me. Especially after having read Cinder and Scarlet - which were pretty fast paced. So this one definitely was a bit of a struggle at first to get through, especially with the overly poetic prose that would come out at times. 


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It takes a while for the main story to really sink in too. It starts out with the first half of the book focusing more with building Hannah and Lillian's past and their friendship. Not that it wasn't good, it was just kind of slow and it felt a little drawn out to me. But I really liked this story. I liked that it showed how anorexia can affect someone's friends. I liked the ghost aspect of it, and I especially like that Lillian's ghost was a reflection of how she died. That her ghost wasn't the healthy version of her, before her sickness overcame and eventually killed her. 


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Also, I liked the relationship with Finny. I thought it was interesting and well done. I liked that they both brought something to the relationship: Finny helps Hannah realize she's been living a half life since her best friend died, and Hannah helps Finny realize that he does matter, and forgiveness. 


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Half way through the book, the story really picks up. The ending was fantastic, such a twist. SO GOOD. My jaw actually dropped, it was so good. And it really redeemed the rest of the story. So yeah. If you like good human stories (the ghost story isn't too out there), and books that have a lot of reminiscing, and a story of transformation this is definitely the book for you!

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review 2014-01-20 10:01
NICOLE'S REVIEW: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff

Paper Valentine is magical. I've been a fan of Brenna Yovanoff's writing ever since The Replacement. When The Space Between came out it was no surprise that I bugged the staff of my local bookstore to please save me a copy. I was there every week and every week I asked if my copy had arrived. Yes. I'm annoying when I'm desperate.


The book is wonderfully atmospheric and I love it. It's got a delicious blend of mystery and thrills and romance and the complexities of friendship. Yovanoff manages to talk about anorexia in a way that isn't preachy at all and I love her for that. I do. To top it all up, Yovanoff has a great cast of characters who are so real it's hard not to fall in love with each and every one of them.


I loved Hannah as a narrator. She's got a whole lot of substance and depth and it's hard not to feel her grief and her devastation and guilt. She wonders if there's something more that she could have done. Hannah isn't all rainbows and butterflies, she's sad and broken because that's what losing someone close to you does. But she's not mopey or whiny or whatnot, she's just sad. It's a sadness that's just there; hidden behind the smiles and the laughter and her attempt at normalcy, and its so incredibly real I just wanted to hug her. 


I'll admit Finny Boone took a while to get used to. I thought he was going to be your usual jerk that Hannah inevitably falls in love with but he's not. He's got the bad boy look down pat but he's quiet and he's actually nice despite what everyone thinks. I loved how he and Hannah just fit together, he's not perfect, he's got his own issues but they fit. I like how their relationship wasn't just all fireworks and kissing and while they do have those, they also bonded over long stretches of silence.


As for the murders going around town, it was something else being kept in this state of suspense. I kept trying to guess who the killer was but I couldn't so I ended up just hoping and praying that it wasn't going to be Finny. Anyone but Finny, please. I loved how Yovanoff managed to blend the murder-mystery aspect with Hannah's ghost problem and touch on other subjects while she's at it. And while there a few questions left unanswered, and some loose ends that still remained loose I was all in all satisfied. Very. Satisfied.


For those who are looking for a book that's wonderfully atmospheric with undeniably lyrical prose, check Paper Valentine out. On second though, check out ALL of Brenna Yovanoff's books, they are wonderful.

Source: thetwinsread.blogspot.com/2014/01/nicoles-review-novel-nails-9-paper.html
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