Sunday, April 13, 2008

Violet by Design by Melissa Walker Book Review

Violet by Design by Melissa Walker
(Penguin, Paperback)

Rating:

After taking a break at home in North Carolina, Violet is heading back to the runway. In Brazil. Violet postpones her admission to Vassar College til spring semester and excitedly heads off to become a globe-trotter. She's not in it for the fame, she just wants to see the world. But as level-headed as Violet is, the modeling world sucks her in. She starts obsessing about her weight, she falls in love with a Brazilian playboy, and she becomes a media sensation again. What's a wallflower to do when she's halfway around the world and one best friend is busy with college and the other won't talk to her?

I'm usually really bad about remembering details from books. Give me a few months and I become a little fuzzy on the details. But reading Violet by Design was like sitting down with an old friend. Despite the fact that I read Violet on the Runway over 5 months ago, I dove back into Violet's story. She's such a great character, equally brave and shy. This mix gets Violet into a lot of trouble (like when she holds her own mini press conference so she can speak out against eating disorders) yet it also endears her to a lot of people (such as the likably rude Veronica and the dreamy, best-friend-to-the-rescue-kinda-guy, Roger). Violet makes mistakes but she also has principles. She obsesses about her weight but, after a few shaky days, she realizes that it's self-destructive to crash diet. I also loved that all of Violet's friends were there to support her in this novel, Julie, Roger, Sam, and Veronica. And for all of you Roger fans out there, things spice up just a little between Roger and Violet. Enough to make me desperate to read the next book in the series, Violet in Private, which will be out in August.

Check out Melissa's blog for news about Violet, plus lots of great writing tips and contests.

3 comments:

  1. -steals your copy- I can't find a copy of this anywhere, and I've been dying to read it now that I've read the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i loved this book...deffinitly one of my top top top books. and i agree with everything you said in your review.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey! Tag ur it! To check out the meme i've tagged you for go to my blogspot.

    ReplyDelete

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