Kitty Horror

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story centres around two main characters, Violet and Amber. Violet is 18 and leaving her friends and family to study at Juilliard with big dreams of becoming a lead ballet dancer. Amber is locked up in Aurora Hills juvenile detention centre and has been since she was 13 for the murder of her step-father. Both stories are tied to Ori, Violet's best friend and also a later acquaintance of Ambers, as the story progresses we find out about the incident that put Ori behind bars as well as the strange occurrence that happens in Aurora Hills that sees Violets and Ambers worlds connect.

I have to admit that I wasn't keen on picking this book up once my approval had come through, in hindsight I thought perhaps it wasn't going to be quite my thing. It's always nice to be proved wrong as the rather 'meh' cover hides an amazing story that could well be in my top ten for the year.

First things first, the writing is beautiful, gorgeous prose and a flow that is silky smooth. It's the mark of a great book for me when the story develops without feeling forced, the author skilfully dropping in enough information to keep the momentum of the story going but never giving too much away. As a genre I'm not really sure where this sits, it's YA with a mix of mystery and some paranormal elements. The straight main story is really what drew me in and to be honest I was a little disappointed when it veered off to ghostly shenanigans, I realise why the author took it there for the story but it didn't really need this element  to it.

The story is told through Violet and Amber, each section of the novel is either Amber or Violet retelling their story until the end where the story merges. Violet was not someone I liked, she came across as selfish, ungrateful and entitled. She talks about how Ori is her best friend but also how everything seems to come easily for Ori, her dancing, her boyfriend, her talent that seems to guarantee a promising future. There's a snideness to Violets voice when she talks of Ori, someone she may well have loved but also perhaps hated for being everything that Violet was not. Whilst Violet is not a sympathetic character, the author does a great job keeping her storyline very engaging even if it is so that the reader can find out what happened the night that Ori was taken away.

I loved Amber, she was a tough little cookie but someone who was, underneath it all, a good person at heart, you certainly see this more when she starts to interact with Ori. I looked forward to Ambers storyline more than Violets, I'm a sucker for prison type stories and I agree with some other reviewers that this gave off some heavy Orange-is-the-new-black vibes although there's no humour in this just a chilling look at human behaviour.

Ori was also a fantastic character, her story was told through both Violet and Ambers eyes so you never get her perspective on the event that changed her life. She was almost too good to be true; her kindness, her thoughtfulness, etc. It might have been more realistic to have had a few human failings showcased but no biggie, she was still compelling to read about.

Emotional, disturbing and heartbreaking, I'm still a little unsure of what to make of the ending but I could rave on and on about this book. This is my first read by Nova Ren Suma and on the basis of this I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for some more of her work.

Highly recommended.