Blog Tour - Violet

One of the things I love about participating in blog tours is that it sometimes gives me a chance to try out a book I otherwise might not know about or take a chance on.  I'm thrilled today to be taking place in a massive tour for S.J.I. Holliday's Violet, published by Orenda Books.

TITLE: Violet

AUTHOR: S.J.I. Holliday

PUBLISHER: Orenda Books

PUBLISHING DATE: November 14, 2019

SYNOPSIS: When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending … a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday

Carrie's best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they'd planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone. 

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available. 

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend's place. 

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be… 

A tense and twisted psychological thriller about obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships, Violet also reminds us that there's a reason why mother told us not to talk to strangers... 

MY THOUGHTS: "You're crazy... No, you're crazy."  That could pretty much sum up Violet but thank heaven's this ride on the crazy train was suspenseful, exciting and a joy to read.

Normally I'm not a fan of unreliable narrators.  And let me tell you, Violet is full of unreliable people.  They're everywhere!  So Violet is trekking across the world.  She is fresh off a breakup with Sam, when she meets Carrie in a train station, awaiting a tour on the Trans-Siberian Express.  Violet doesn't have a ticket and is awaiting the ticket station opening when she runs into Carrie.  Carrie was supposed to be on the trip with her best friend, Laura.  However, Laura had an accident before leaving the US so Carrie gives Violet the extra ticket and then the fun begins.

The two gals hit several locations including Mongolia and Russia.  However, Violet becomes obsessed with Carrie and Carrie becomes obsessed with illegal substances. Along the way they meet some other interesting characters and lots of questionable things happen.  Let's just say for quite a bit of time I was questioning who exactly was hiding the most secrets.

Holliday does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the book.  At times, I really felt like I was visiting the locations along with Violet and Carrie - but thank heavens I wasn't.  Violet was extremely engaging and at times, hard to put down.  And the ending!  Let's just say that although I pegged one minute aspect of the book , I never figured out the conclusion which was so very satisfying.  And I must add that Violet is a very scary individual - and Carrie might be as well.

So if you love thrillers, this is definitely one you should pick up.  I can see a lot of my blogging pals loving it and I'm doing it a favor by not comparing it to any other unreliable narrator books and letting it stand on its own.  It's well deserving of its own independent accolades.

Also, after finishing, I quickly looked for more books by this author and learned that I've had The Lingering on my wishlist for quite some time.  I immediately snagged a copy for my Kindle after finishing this one.  Definitely an author to watch!

RATING: 5 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Susi (S.J.I.) Holliday grew up near Edinburgh and spent many years working in her family’s newsagent and pub before studying microbiology and statistics at university. She has worked as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years, but it was on a 6-month round-the-world-trip that she took with her husband several years ago that she rediscovered her passion for writing.

She has written 6 novels:
BLACK WOOD (2015)
WILLOW WALK (2016)
THE DAMSELFLY (2017)
THE DEATHS OF DECEMBER (2017)
                                            THE LINGERING (2018)
                                            VIOLET (2019)

You can find out more at www.sjiholliday.com, or on Twitter and Facebook @SJIHolliday.