Review: Blue Violet

Reviewed by Shelly
 

Ellinore ‘Ellie’ Audrey is not just another high school student; she’s a girl with a secret that only her twin Griffin knows. In this first book of the series, both of these siblings have moved to Colorado from Texas in pursuit of what they believe to be more of their own kind. Once in Colorado, Ellie’s disguises herself as a high school student, allowing her to get close to the Jenners and the Pierces, who are undiscovered members of the Svatura. The Svatura are a ravaged and decimated group of gypsies who have some pretty cool, spectacular supernatural powers. While she’s doing some surveillance work at the high school, Ellie meets fellow Svatura, hunkalicious Alex Jenner.

Ellie’s power is that she’s able to morph into some inherent creatures (wolf, falcon, etc.) and use her twin brother’s, Griffin, mind reading ability. If you’re a fan of the X-Men series, Ellie’s powers remind me of Rogue’s ‘touch’ powers. When I started reading, I was a little nervous that this would be too similar in plot and I would have to give Owens the big what-for but I was pleasantly surprised to say that the premise was the only similarity that I found, thank goodness. And another prop – thanks for staying away from the formulaic werewolf plot (who doesn’t love a wolf pack?), so refreshing - but I digress. Once Ellie sets eyes on Alex she’s really intrigued and drawn to him but doesn’t see a future there because of what/who she is and who she believes Alex is. Alex’s ability to freeze objects from the miniscule to the ginormous is pretty awesome too. Again, he reminds me of the powers of X-Men’s Iceman, but like Ellie and Rogue, that’s where the similarities end. Alex and Ellie were a great couple, when they really get together and are able to get out of that teenager mentality. They’re going to rock the sheets, trust me on this.

The development of this story was precise and carefully done. There were a few places where I felt a lull but they were few and far between. I really liked Griffin. He seems to be a practical foil for Ellie’s sometimes hot-headedness. Even better, he’s got a few secrets that he’s been keeping from his twin. I’m hoping those will get flushed out in the upcoming novel (hopefully with Selene huh? insert plea). Oh, please! please! please! Tell me that Ramsey and Lila get together – I could feel the heat on my iPad. Owens has written this story so that many of our new friends can have their own story – very exciting there. Gabriel was in interesting character, I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of him.

Overall, I thought this story was well done and captivating. I found myself emotionally invested in each character, especially Ellie and Alex, but that’s because Owen has not written about Griffin, Selene, Adelaide, Nate, Ramsey and Lila and I can’t wait until she does.

Although there’s no sex --it’s pretty much a young adult theme-- there was enough tension that I felt that Ellie and Alex were sexually compatible.

Happy reading folks!

Rating: B

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Blue Violet

by Abigail Owen

Release Date: August 19, 2012