Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

2.5 stars

Hanna loves talking to her father, they have long conversations and he is her best friend. That would be fine if her father was alive. He died over a year ago and he's been with Hanna ever since. Her Aunt has had her sent to psychiatrists and locked away in mental hospitals with multiple diagnoses finally coming to Manic Depression which puts her on medication to control her moods. She is on the road now headed to Texas toward a mother she has never met, by the guidance of her father she gets there much to the surprise of Rosalee, her mother, she just walks right into her home and makes herself comfortable.

Rosalee finds out that Hanna hit her Aunt on the head with a rolling pin in order to run away, and now she has no chance of returning which means she must stay with Rosalee, her only living relative. The very next day she is sent to school to register and finds out that in this town she is considered to be 'normal'. The strange things that happen around this place make her look like someone without a problem in the world. She meets Wyatt, the strong, handsome, brave boy that everyone in the school looks up to and he actually notices Hanna, she is beautiful but being a "transient" he shouldn't have given her a second glance. While living here she will face her inner demons as well as real live ones that try to kill the people of the town. Wyatt and Hanna must prove their strength and bravery to everyone around them but will it pay off in the end?

I'm going to start my review by saying this book, IMHO, is in no way suitable for teens to read. I can't believe it's classified as YA fiction. It is riddled with cussing, use of unknown drugs, lying, stealing and lots of sex. The sex is enough that any parent should worry about their child reading this. Rosalee and Hanna both flaunt and admire the fact that they each use sex as a tool to use and abuse men and that feelings are something that shouldn't be had. Sex is something to get what you want and nothing more. Rosalee is quite proud of her numerous affairs with married men and the fact that she 'fascinates' men enough that they fall in love with her and she throws them to the side like trash. She talks with her daughter about all of this and gives her a box of condoms so her daughter can do the same thing with Wyatt to snag him and get him to take care of Hanna.

The story itself is different, new. Something that held my interest beyond the gasps of disbelief as I read things imagining a 14 yr old reading them after checking this out from the library. It had a pretty cheesy ending and not much depth to the story that revolved around Hanna being completely crazy to begin with, then moving into "crazy-ville" itself and letting her crazy loose since it was no longer taboo. As an adult I can say read it if you like that sort of YA book because you'll probably love it, but I do caution parents to think twice about letting your teens read it.