Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): The Violet Hour by Whitney A. Miller

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Title: The Violet Hour
Author: Whitney A. Miller
Publisher: Flux
Acquired Via: Book Nerd Tours
Release Date: March 8, 2014
The voice inside me is breaking free. I can’t stop it.

Some call VisionCrest the pinnacle of religious enlightenment. Others call it a powerful cult. For seventeen years, Harlow Wintergreen has called it her life.

As the daughter of VisionCrest’s patriarch, Harlow is expected to be perfect at all times. She must be considered a paragon of integrity by the other Ministry teens and a future leader in the eyes of the world.

Despite the constant scrutiny Harlow is keeping a dark and dangerous secret, even from her best friend and the boy she loves. She hears a voice in her head that seems to have a mind of its own, plaguing her with violent and bloody visions. It commands her to kill. And the urge to obey is getting harder and harder to control…

Book Trailer


My Review

Do you like horror? I like horror. And let me tell you, The Violet Hour does horror well, so much so that it reminded me of why I enjoyed the genre so much in the first place. It made me cringe, squirm, and creeped me out - which is kind of the whole point, amiright?

First off, I'm going to tell you that The Violet Hour is gory. Miller pulls no punches as we follow Harlow on her Asian trip. When something is described as a trainwreck that you can't look away from, it's because you're mesmerized by the spectacle, though it makes you very uncomfortable. The Violet Hour is just that. I don't watch a lot of horror onscreen, but I guess the gore could compare to Kill Bill. But worse. Let's just say that the voice in Harlow's head likes giving her visions of how delicate the human eye is. I'll leave it at that. I'm sure you get the idea.

Did I know what was going on in The Violet Hour? Most of the time, no, but that's typical of the genre. That adds to the creeptasticness of the unfolding events because you don't know what's coming. It wasn't until towards the end that I even knew what The Violet Hour was even supposed to truly be about!

The VisionCrest religion plays a pretty huge part in novel. No, it's not some tiny cult. The Violet Hour takes place in an alternate reality than ours, where China is a democracy, for instance. VisionCrest is the religion of like a fourth of the world population and made me think of Scientology by the way it was set up. I hope to Bob that Scientology is nowhere NEAR as scary as the shit in VisionCrest. *shudders*

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was surprised by The Violet Hour. It's gritty, gory, and not at all what I would have expected from a YA novel. In fact, I would hesitate in giving it to younger teens because it is pretty intense. Well, no, I take that back because who doesn't remember Fear Street? Though The Violet Hour is more Christopher Pike than R.L. Stine. But I digress. If you're a fan of horror or even want to try something different, I wholeheartedly recommend that you read The Violet Hour. It's a icky gorefest, and Miller is most assuredly an author to watch.

- 3.5/5 Stars -

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository


About the Author







Whitney A. Miller lives in San Francisco with her husband and a struggling houseplant. She’s summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, ridden the Trans-Siberian rails, bicycled through Vietnam, done the splits on the Great Wall of China, and evaded the boat police in Venice, but her best international adventures take place on the page!







Links
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Giveaway



1 Winner will receive The Violet Hour tote bag with a signed ARC and swag
(tattoos! stickers! bookmarks!)
1 Winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift certificate from Whitney A. Miller
US ONLY
Must be 13+ to Enter
Ends at 12:01am EST on March 20th
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an eARC of the book for reviewing purposes through Book Nerd Tours in exchange for an honest review. The book was likely provided to the tour by the publisher, which has in no way affected the outcome of my review. All opinions expressed are rambling, honest, and completely my own.