A review by bleadenreads
Violets by Alex Hyde
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I've been wanting to read this book for so long after @savidgereads praised it so highly last year! It was not what I was expecting but in the best way. It was a moving, lyrical debut of a novel with a really inventive format, with Hyde weaving verse throughout the two perspectives, like a Greek chorus.
This made it quick to read, so quick that I was left in shock at the ending, it was a beautiful whirlwind.
I also didn't realise until the ending that it was a re-imagining/attempt to depict Alex Hyde's own family history and that made the depictions of the two Violets even more powerful. The way Hyde imagined their motivations, emotions and actions of the two Violets was just an incredible attempt to fill in the blanks of family history - so insightful.
I cannot wait to read what Hyde writes next - the way she writes about women's bodies and their battles was so honest, raw and brutally beautiful. It felt like giving women of WW2 a voice and a chance to tell their story in a time before the NHS, the pill and legalised abortions - and the choices they had to make.
Haven't got much more to say except to say - read it
This made it quick to read, so quick that I was left in shock at the ending, it was a beautiful whirlwind.
I also didn't realise until the ending that it was a re-imagining/attempt to depict Alex Hyde's own family history and that made the depictions of the two Violets even more powerful. The way Hyde imagined their motivations, emotions and actions of the two Violets was just an incredible attempt to fill in the blanks of family history - so insightful.
I cannot wait to read what Hyde writes next - the way she writes about women's bodies and their battles was so honest, raw and brutally beautiful. It felt like giving women of WW2 a voice and a chance to tell their story in a time before the NHS, the pill and legalised abortions - and the choices they had to make.
Haven't got much more to say except to say - read it