Review: Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Velveteen by Daniel Marks
Pages: 464
Release: October 9th, 2012
Publisher: Random House Childrens' Books
My Source: ARC

My Review:

This book was about a teen girl named Velveteen, who was murdered by a serial killer. She ends up in Purgatory, the place where souls go that's in between Heaven and Hell (it's a Catholic belief.) Velvet takes out her anger by haunting the serial killer, Bonesaw, and working at her job in Purgatory. But Purgatory is crumbling, and some rebels called the 'Departurisits' are making ripples in the normally peaceful place.

So, with this book, I had more issues than likes. I'll just dive right into them. Basically, most of it dealt with the character development (or lack of) and also the way that all of them acted out of character. Velvet is a cold soul, and pretty bitchy. I get that, because of all the anger stemming from her death. But within the first few chapters she's acting like a loving sister to one of the other characters. She's supposed to be a bitchy character, and get nicer throughout the course of the book, right? That's not how it went down. Also, her and her coworker, Nick, were not a good couple. They weren't developed enough in the first place to even get a romance going. They referred to each other as 'dude' constantly, which I don't even understand. I haven't heard someone say 'dude' in years. And then they made jokes at the WORST times. Spilling someone's ashes? LOL dude. No, just stop that.

I didn't like any of the characters to begin with, and I couldn't root for them as a couple either. The book dragged through the middle, and I almost abandoned it several times. The biggest thing besides the characters was the fact that there was not enough description. With almost everything! It improved by the end of the book, but I was getting lost constantly. I'd have to reread pages just to understand where Velvet was.
Other than that, which did count a lot, the premise and plot was amazingly creative. I've never read a book that takes place in Purgatory before. Every little aspect of the plot was extremely creative: I loved how souls 'dimmed' when it was their time to move on, and how Velvet's job was to be a body thief. If the book had better characters, I'm sure my rating would be up in four or five stars.

I may read the next book in the series, but I won't be buying it. If you are a big fan of the creativity of the plot, then go ahead and read this book. But if the things I listed, like annoying characters, bother you--don't waste your time!