Review: Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Title: Velveteen
Author: Daniel Marks
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Paranormal/Fantasy
Release date: October 9th, 2012
Pages: 464 (eGalley)
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Source: Netgalley
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Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem. 

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind. Bonesaw. 

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days. It’ll be brutal... and awesome. 

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker. 

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Velvet has landed in purgatory after being murdered by a man who has gotten away with taking the lives of many teenage girls. She's taken it upon herself to get revenge for herself and everyone else he's ever hurt, but that's not all.  The more you read, you find out that Velveteen isn't just about seeking revenge.  In fact, it's more about the lives of those stuck in Purgatory and what goes on from day to day.

It's pretty easy to see that the concept of this book is unique and it definitely caught my interest from day one, but the more I tried to invest myself, the faster my interest began to fizzle out.  The summary is misleading, but I tried to put it past me and enjoy the story being told.  After all, the author has an interesting way of writing, and I enjoyed seeing much  of his personality in the dialogue, but something was lacking.  Though I enjoyed Velvet as a main character, I couldn't quite connect with anyone.

I loved reading about Velvet's determination, getting glimpses of her memories and even watching her interact with the other characters.  She is undoubtedly very good at her job and falling for the newest rescued soul is interesting on its own, but I loved that the book was set in Purgatory the most.  Unfortunately, I found myself skimming a good portion of the book because certain scenes were impossibly slow for my taste.

Like most readers, it seems, I expected so much more than what I got from this book.  I enjoy Danny Marks as a person, and while I frequently watch his vlogs on Youtube, I'm sad to say that Velveteen was a letdown and I don't think that I will be continuing the series.  If anyone is planning to read this one soon, I will warn you to go in with an open mind, knowing that this book is more about the romance than the revenge.