Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date – January 8, 2013
Publisher Website -
Penguin/Razorbill
Publisher Social Media -
Twitter
Pages - 368 pages
My Rating- 3.5/5
**Received from publisher for review**
Here is the
Goodreads synopsis
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 one of those novels that you dive into thinking it's one thing, and it ends up being something else all together Paper Valentine reads less like a murder mystery and more like a story of acceptance. Hannah is having to accept that her friendships are changing, and she's having to come to terms with Lillian's death. It's a story of growing up, changing, and embracing the things that hurt you so that you come out the other side stronger.
Paper Valentine is my first experience with Brenna Yovanoff's beautiful writing. Everything I have heard is true. It's poetic, lyrical, and simply wonderful. It's her writing that makes the character's feeling seem all the more resonate, and deep.
This is the story of a friendship. A best friendship that is complicated in the way that highschool friendships are. Lillian and Hannah's friendship is written in such a real and honest way. The flaws, and imperfections each character has are reflected in the nature of the friendship. Lillian's haunting feels more like both girls can't let go, and how much they miss each other is clearly evident. Lillian pushes Hannah, and as a result Hannah becomes stronger, and more self assured.
Finnegan Boone, the bad boy who is surprisingly gentle. He's everything Hannah's friends would want her to stay away from, including Lillian. He's also part of Hannah's journey to taking those first steps towards becoming who she is supposed to a. A self that makes decisions based on what she wants, not others. Their relationship felt authentic to the highschool experience. There are no big declarations of love, no grand gestures. Just a simple moment of kindness, and a connection that leads to wanting to spend time together
The murder mystery does provide a creepy backdrop and contrasts well with Lillian's haunting of Hannah. It provides many chills, and truly horrific. The killer does feel a little rushed and out of nowhere. This novel really is more about Hannah and her journey than the murders themselves, and I feel more time should have been spent on that plot. The killer's motivations are terrifying and well plotted, I just wish a certain character would have been more developed. I did enjoy the surprise element was I was expecting the killer to be someone else based on the clues and hints.
A murder mystery that is so much more. A thoughtful story about what it means to loose someone, and how a girl said goodbye to her best friend, got her first kiss and genuinely grew up during a summer of fear and sadness.
