Reviews

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

wellyreads's review

1.0

It was ok, there isn't really anything special about this book or the characters. I am still bothered that she never explained that her aunt really isn't her aunt, actually that was the only reason I kept reading it, I expected an explaination. How could Bee be her mother's great aunt, and then later say that Bee was an only child? It kind of irked me. I haven't figured out a way this could be true, so I'm still perplexed.

mamap's review

3.0

Total Summer reading type book. --a little bit of mystery, tragedy, and romance.

Emily's life and marriage has fallen apart so she goes back to the island and the home of her Aunt Bee to heal. There she finds mystery and healing for not only her family, but for herself. ...and a man..

See? Summer reading. Safe. Good thing it's a library book.

julieb118's review

3.0

This was a good book, but not great. I guess I should give a disclaimer that, before I read this, I had JUST finished "Me Before You" and it's hard to think how any other book could ever favorably compare to that. So, with that bar in mind, I may be feeling a bit more critical than I normally would.
To me, this was an easy read. Would be a great one to read pool-side or beach-side. Despite the mystery in it, the characters are easy to "get along" with, and it doesn't require an undue amount of thinking or brain power to get through. The mystery definitely kept me intrigued and probably more engaged than I might have been otherwise. I actually thought Jio did a great job of switching between past & present voices. The character of Esther was a bit confusing to me - the story she told of herself (through her diary) didn't quite match the picture others portrayed of her as head-strong, daring, etc. But, perhaps that was intentional and part of the mystery. The ending felt abrupt to me - not switching to April 1 and ending it, but just the way it all concludes with Emily flying back to the island, etc.
But, like I said, overall a nice read. Not on my all-time favorites list, but also not sorry I read it.

barbaraskalberg's review

3.0

Light chick lit. Read audio reader was a tad campy at times, but since thought it was fun.

okiegirl4's review

5.0

One of my favorite books of the year! I loved how there is a story within the story.

bmg20's review

5.0

I saw this book being offered as a giveaway months before its official release date and as soon as I read the summary I wanted to read it so bad. I did not win the giveaway unfortunately; however, once I got my hands on it I started it immediately.

The story's main character Emily Wilson is trying to survive a broken heart as her husband has just left her for another woman. Trying to pick up the pieces of her life and feeling altogether lost, she decides to spend a month visiting her great-aunt Bee on Bainbridge Island in Washington State to try to get her life under control and to start researching her next book. While there, she discovers a red velvet diary dated 1943 written by an unknown individual. The story written in the diary has her intrigued and she doesn't even realize that the story actually involves her and a decades old family mystery.

I couldn't put this book down, it had me from the very beginning. The writing was flawless and the characters were described beautifully. After reading this I immediately went to try to find more of this author's work-had no idea this was her debut novel! Highly recommended and will definitely be keeping an eye out for more by Sarah Jio.

nattyg's review

2.0

There was a lot of plot holes in this for me. The beginning half was good, the other half - I was more invested in the big 'secret' than the "Love" between Jack and Emily was A LOT forced.

chelsea_withana's review

4.0

Enchanting. I was hooked from the first chapter, a rarity for me with this type of fiction. I really enjoyed this book.

ashleybhaley's review

5.0

Excellent story! I'm so happy that I read it. I really enjoyed her writing and look forward to reading more by her. Highly recommend!

kimcheel's review

3.0

Holy moly. The second I finished reading this, a shiny red bow came and tied itself.

That probably sounds snarkier than it needed to, but I feel for all the wrap-ups that happened, we needed more development. I mean, for goodness sakes, going from strangers to "I love yous" to an engagement in a months time just seems like a whole lot of clingy red flags. And that weird red herring with guy #1 seemed...pointless.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. But I do wish there was more to it. When you're dealing with dual time lines, you're essentially reading two stories, and both of these stories hurtled to the end at breakneck speed. It would have been nice to be able to enjoy the view a little more.