Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Author: Daniel Marks
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 447
Date Published: October 9 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Introduction

       The purgatory is gray, ashen, and depressing. It's where you end up if you are not ready to go to heaven or hell when you die. At sixteen, Velveteen 'Velvet' Manroe was murdered. Velvet landed herself in the purgatory and boy, does she have a lot on her plate. She had sworn vengeance on her killer, Bonesaw, who's list of victims is growing. Another thing that seems to have everybody in the purgatory on edge is a group of people called the Departurists. They don't believe in the way the purgatory is run, want to destroy it, and go around possessing living people out in "The Daylight." Leaving the purgatory and haunting/possessing people is of course not allowed, unless given permission. If you get caught haunting, your soul could be bound to the purgatory and you are forbidden to move on to heaven or hell when you are ready. On top of all that, Nick a guy new to the purgatory, seems to have wriggled his way into Velvet's heart and she of course, doesn't have time for that.

Cover
       The cover of Velveteen is nice. Showing two obviously dead people lying down. So, I guess you can add me to the list of people who love this cover.

Characters
      I didn't really like any of the characters in this book. I really disliked Velvet. She isn't really ever nice, and she is actually kind of whiny. When you first start to read this book, you might be thinking things like,
Velvet is going to be so cool!
Yeah, she's such a rebel!
I wish I could be like her!

Nope. Like I said before, she is mean, whiny, and annoying.

Dislikes
       Sadly, reading this book wasn't always cookies and cream. The blurb on the dust cover is misleading. More than half of the blurb is about how she wants to haunt Bonesaw. It also mentions nothing about the Departurists. In the actual book though, haunting Bonesaw is about 10% of the book (more or less) and the other 90% is about the Departurists and Nick. Also when I first started reading this book I was a little confused. I took a few chapters for me to understand what was going on, and then right when I felt like I was on top of things, BAM! something confusing happens again. Another thing about the actual story, there are also super boring parts in the book. So boring in fact that you might need to stop reading and put the book down for a while.
      Then, we have the relationship between Velvet and Nick. Velvet saves Nick from being imprisoned in a crystal ball at about the 120th page mark. Soon after, they kiss. Then they have this whole complicated relationship thing going on. Velvet always swears after they kiss that, that kiss will be the last. It never is.

The Ending
        When this book ends, you will end up with a lot of questions. Nothing really feels finished. All I can say is that this book desperately needs a sequel. Although so far the're are no plans to write one.

Conclusion
       This book seemed really promising when I started to read it. It turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. One of the biggest disappointments for me is the getting revenge on Bonesaw isn't a bigger part of the book. I think boys could read the book. I mean, the purgatory idea is really interesting, and the characters are pretty cool. Even though the protagonist is a girl, she isn't very girly. All boys would really have to look past is the romance and it could be a really good book for them too.