Sunday, November 3, 2019

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.



14 comments:

  1. I love seeing 5 stars for this book! I've been seeing this on some other blogs as well, so I'll definitely have to add it to my list😁

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  2. I love thrillers but I just read something similar where someone inserts themself into another's life and I didn't love it. I'm glad this was excellent for you!

    Anne - Books of My Heart

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  3. it's great when an author leads you to another of their books. check one off your wish list. hope you enjoy it
    sherry @ fundinmental

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    1. Yep, she has a Christmas thriller I hope to get to!

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  4. Woah!! I'm not a fan of unreliable narrators either, but I will have to check this out based on your review!!

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  5. Oh, you have me so curious about this one -- I like the obsession angle, especially if you're on a train together -- I mean in suhc close quarters anything is possible. I'm also impressed this managed to do a good job of an unreliable narrator -- which is hard to do these days bc everyone seems to be doing those.

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    1. The foreign countries and the train definitely made things much more intense.

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  6. Huge thanks for the blog tour support xx

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    1. I loved this one so it was such a joy to participate.

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  7. I saw the title and immediately thought it was the book I'd just read by Scott Thomas! I love the sound of this and a 5* review definitely gives me all the wants.
    Lynn :D

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    1. I knew. I figured people would get them mixed up. I need to read the Thomas one eventually as well.

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