Have you ever picked up a book, not really expecting anything out of the ordinary and being completely and totally floored because inside, you find a little piece of yourself? That’s one of the best things I’ve been able to experience in my few years on this planet and I know that all of you avid readers can relate. You feel like you’ve just learned something new about yourself; discovered a place inside of your heart that you didn’t even know existed. Perhaps this sounds melodramatic, but it’s the only way I can think of to describe my very strong feelings for Jenny Valentine’s debut, Finding Violet Park.tThe back of the book reads:t“There were reasons why Violet Park should have meant nothing to me. tShe was old. She was dead.tShe was in a box on a shelf.tBut I met her, in the middle of the nighttAnd she changed everything.”tNo lie. When you read this book, you’ll understand just how much.tWhen this book begins, it has been five years since daydream-y, desperate sixteen-year-old Lucas Swain’s father has left him, his mother, and his two siblings Mercy and Jed. Lucas, over all the years, has failed to cope with his father’s leaving; still holding fast onto the hope that he is missing and trying desperately to get back home, or, perhaps, even dead. To him, the situation is wide-open: he wants to believe that anything could have happened to his father but him actually wanting to leave his then young children and pregnant wife.tIn the first chapter, Lucas has obviously been using drugs and is a little out-of-it. He acutely describes the tiny mini-cab office and the very peculiar thing he finds there: an urn of ashes, sitting on a shelf. The tagline on the front of the book says it all: “I met Violet after she died. But it didn’t stop me from getting to know her.” Most certainly it did not. When at first Lucas spies Violet inside the office, he doesn’t even give her a second glance. He gets a cab and he goes home. tA little while afterward, he finds that he can’t get the urn off his mind. He returns to the cab office and promises the man in charge that if he can get the name of the person inside the urn, he’ll go away. The man tells him that the name is Violet Park, and shows the little plaque on the side of the urn that says “Violet Park 1927-2002”. He hates to think of her just sitting there, waiting for someone to notice, since he was eleven, the same year something unfortunate happened to him: his father leaving. Perhaps that’s where his connection to Violet came from originally. He felt like they were both in the same boat, struggling with something bad happening that neither of them completely understood. tThus begins an undeniably supernatural connection with this mysterious dead old lady in the urn, none other than our title character, Violet Park. tThe point to which Lucas still clings onto the hope that his father will return and the desire to be like him and remind people of him is revealed in later chapters. Lucas idolizes his absent father, Pete: he wears the clothes he left behind and imitates him in just about any other way you can think of. I think that was his way of trying to be closer to this man he’s so terribly afraid that he never really knew. tIf I were to talk any more about the plot, I would most likely be giving too much away. tJenny Valentine’s style of writing is one I haven’t experienced until Violet. It is original, witty and blackly funny, with more than a few punches of very real, raw emotion. One of the things I like best about her writing is that it’s so real. The descriptions are vivid, and every word chosen evoked imagery in my mind like few other authors have. Lucas’s narrative displays a humanity that is both endearing and painstakingly true. Lucas is an insightful, honest, funny and likable narrator – juxtaposed alongside a cast of memorable and realistic characters. I must admit that by the time I finished the book I had something of a crush on Lucas. I have far too many fictional boyfriends – I think its borderline unhealthy. tI could definitely relate to Lucas’s relationship with his Alzheimer’s-inflicted grandfather. My own grandfather suffers from the same disease, and some passages describing Norman’s decent deeper into his own clouded mind nearly brought me to tears they were so dead-on.tMaybe the only thing I didn’t like about this book was that it ended far too soon and was far too short. However – the ending, I’ll tell you, was satisfying and tied the strings together nicely (in my opinion, anyway). Jenny Valentine’s books are generally a great read – I get greedy and I eat them up too quickly without savoring them (giving me no choice but to re-read and re-read and re-read my favorite parts or ones I haven’t in a little while), and I’m still hungry for more.tTo summarize, I suppose I should say this: Finding Violet Park is most definitely one of my favorite books, and I recommend it to most everyone. This is a book that really resonates with me, and I eagerly await the U.S. release of her two new books, The Ant Colony and her follow-up to Violet, entitled Ten Stations. I’m very excited to see Lucas and all the others again, and see how they are.tAnyways, enough of me talking – go out and get your hands on a copy. I honestly do not think you’ll come to regret it. Oh, and also check out Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine if you liked/loved Finding Violet Park. It’s her second novel and it’s just as honest a window into someone’s heart as this one, and I enjoyed it just the same. Happy reading!
I first read "finding violet park" at the age of 11, quite frank I must have read it 50 times by the time I was 12. This book really intrigued me, yet I always wanted to know more, from many books I've read I felt this one wasn't finished. Cliff hangers keep me going yet they grind my teeth to the gum at exactly the same moment. The reason I enjoyed this particular book so much is that it let my imagination go wild... "Who left her at the cab office?" or "Didn't anyone miss Violet Park?".What is it about Violet Park that gets everyone interested? Yet not interested enough to lay her at a slightly more dignified place than a cab office for everyone to see, then say, there was no one and is none to care for Violet Park.I imagined me as a frail old woman, slowly getting older, then watching myself in an urn after one slow nights sleep. I was also in the cab office, and no one was there to care or polish my little name label keeping my dignity alive. It saddened me, right to the tip of my toes. At the time of reading the book I was totally under the impression that this was a real book and that frail old lady, with wrinkles upon her face at her last breathe, showing her entire life map, was faded into ashes and left for no one to give a shit. At the age of 11 I was set a task by my self and myself only to not be that lady in a cab office.That is one more reason I enjoyed the book, yes I was saddened for the fact that little old women was left, but it lifted my spirits and showed me there are good people out there too, like the little girl that saved, the one and only Violet Park.
Do You like book Finding Violet Park (2007)?
I had read Broken Soup previously, and Jenny Valentine sure has a style of writing. A quick read which I must say I enjoyed and found easier to read than the first book, maybe because I already knew how the writing was going to be like. But, just as I had said about the first book, I doubt such stories would ever happen to me or anyone else I know in real life, just saying (I can be a heck of a realist). Having said that, it still makes a great story, so good job.Oh ye, almost forgot about how much I loved the ending. Would prooobably go down to a 3 star if not for the ending, love how it is, and is totally ingenious.
—Amanda
Perfectly ok read, might try it with a class. Issues: The metaphysical level is not used consistently and thus has a touch of deus ex machina to it. The characters' depth is hinted at (well!) more than elaborated – this is one book which would have deserved more length, it would have been nice to get to know Martha, Bob, to name two, better.
—Roland
I really wanted to like this book. Well it's not like I ever want to read books I don't enjoy, but you get the point. I thought it sounded interesting when I read about it, but it didn't live up to my expectations. My main problem with the book was the main character. He was almost sixteen, but everything he said or did in the book made it seem like he was around ten years old. I went through the whole book seeing him as a little kid, which made me feel really uncomfortable when he was drinking and smoking. I couldn't relate to him nor really understand him.The language in the book didn't flow and at some points in the book it felt like I was reading a shopping list.If you want to read this I suggest you borrow it at the library and buy it afterwards if you thought it was good enough.
—Johanna
