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ohtrisarahtops's review against another edition
3.0
This review can also be found here
This was an interesting book for me. Being my first Brenna Yovanoff book I can definitely say that I am impressed. The description is what really drew me in because to be honest I love murder mysteries. And add the fact that the girl is being haunted by her dead best friend really made the story even creepier.
The twists this book really had me on the edge of my seat. I really wanted to know who the killer was and why the ghosts were contacting Hannah. The mystery was definitely enough to keep me interested until the end and the author's writing style definitely made this a quick and easy read.
I loved Hannah. She was so naïve about what was going on. While others would be suspicious she was so trusting. Then there was Finny. Oh jeez, I admit I didn't like him in the beginning. He was a bad boy, I usually like the bad boys but for some reason he really bothered me to begin with. As the story progressed however, I actually began to like him.
I honestly had no idea who the murderer really was. I had my suspicions throughout the book but they were all completely wrong. In a way I'm glad that was the case because it would have been pretty boring if I knew everything that was going to happen.
If you're looking for a quick read that has mystery and supernatural elements then check this one out. The sweet romance that is also involved doesn't weigh the book down but adds another side to the story and makes it really interesting.
This was an interesting book for me. Being my first Brenna Yovanoff book I can definitely say that I am impressed. The description is what really drew me in because to be honest I love murder mysteries. And add the fact that the girl is being haunted by her dead best friend really made the story even creepier.
The twists this book really had me on the edge of my seat. I really wanted to know who the killer was and why the ghosts were contacting Hannah. The mystery was definitely enough to keep me interested until the end and the author's writing style definitely made this a quick and easy read.
I loved Hannah. She was so naïve about what was going on. While others would be suspicious she was so trusting. Then there was Finny. Oh jeez, I admit I didn't like him in the beginning. He was a bad boy, I usually like the bad boys but for some reason he really bothered me to begin with. As the story progressed however, I actually began to like him.
I honestly had no idea who the murderer really was. I had my suspicions throughout the book but they were all completely wrong. In a way I'm glad that was the case because it would have been pretty boring if I knew everything that was going to happen.
If you're looking for a quick read that has mystery and supernatural elements then check this one out. The sweet romance that is also involved doesn't weigh the book down but adds another side to the story and makes it really interesting.
ghostlyreader's review against another edition
3.0
It was a decent book. Definitely not my favorite but I'm glad that I read it.
mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
I was slightly worried I might not like it. I tried the Replacement by her, and dropped it. Luckily Paper Valentine is a whole lot better, even if it took me some time to get into the book.
I like the story, the romance was just fitting in right too. Still wondering why Lillian was haunting Hannah, and sometimes Lillian was quite annoying.
The mystery was quite nicely done, with enough suspension and even some hints. :)
I like the story, the romance was just fitting in right too. Still wondering why Lillian was haunting Hannah, and sometimes Lillian was quite annoying.
The mystery was quite nicely done, with enough suspension and even some hints. :)
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
2.5**
Hannah Wagner’s best friend Lillian died six months ago. Now Hannah is being haunted by Lillian’s ghost. It’s not as bad as it sounds, really. Lillian gives Hannah courage and helps her come to grips with what is happening in her community. There’s a serial killer on the loose who is targeting young pre-teens.
I admit I picked this book up strictly because of the cover. I needed a book with a heart on it for a challenge and this was prominently displayed on the library’s shelf. Based on the first sentence of the dust jacket, I expected a sort of gothic paranormal tale – totally NOT my genre of choice – so I kept returning it to the library unopened. Finally I decided to just read it. I was actually surprised by the serial killer plot and found it pretty interesting. However, this is clearly written for a YA audience. The sentence structure is relatively simple, and there is a lot of teen angst. Also, I think the plot got away from Yovanoff, and she couldn’t decide on a genre; is it a paranormal book? A romance? A mystery? I would find myself interested in one aspect of it, only to be yanked into a completely different aspect of the story. I did like Hannah, and really loved her little sister Ariel. I also appreciated how she wrote “bad boy” Finny. If I were my 13-year-old niece, I’d probably rate this higher, but for me it’s just a little below average.
Hannah Wagner’s best friend Lillian died six months ago. Now Hannah is being haunted by Lillian’s ghost. It’s not as bad as it sounds, really. Lillian gives Hannah courage and helps her come to grips with what is happening in her community. There’s a serial killer on the loose who is targeting young pre-teens.
I admit I picked this book up strictly because of the cover. I needed a book with a heart on it for a challenge and this was prominently displayed on the library’s shelf. Based on the first sentence of the dust jacket, I expected a sort of gothic paranormal tale – totally NOT my genre of choice – so I kept returning it to the library unopened. Finally I decided to just read it. I was actually surprised by the serial killer plot and found it pretty interesting. However, this is clearly written for a YA audience. The sentence structure is relatively simple, and there is a lot of teen angst. Also, I think the plot got away from Yovanoff, and she couldn’t decide on a genre; is it a paranormal book? A romance? A mystery? I would find myself interested in one aspect of it, only to be yanked into a completely different aspect of the story. I did like Hannah, and really loved her little sister Ariel. I also appreciated how she wrote “bad boy” Finny. If I were my 13-year-old niece, I’d probably rate this higher, but for me it’s just a little below average.
rjdenney's review against another edition
1.0
I tried reading "The Replacement" a couple of years ago... couldn't do it.
I thought I'd give Brenna a second chance... I'm done with her books now.
The premise wasn't very original at all and it reminded me too much of
a BAD 90s YA horror novel.
-R.D.
I thought I'd give Brenna a second chance... I'm done with her books now.
The premise wasn't very original at all and it reminded me too much of
a BAD 90s YA horror novel.
-R.D.
iceangel32's review against another edition
3.0
At the beginning of this book, I was not sure if i was going to like it. However, it drew me in and I could not put it down.
Paper Valentine is a story of a girl (Hannah)who is a good girl with three good friends. She makes her own clothes, is quiet and keeps to herself. Oh did I mention is haunted by a friend who died 6 months before the story starts. It is now summer and there is a serial killer on the loose in Ludlow killing young girls. Hannah has a sister who is at the same age as the girls that are showing up dead so she is originality told she has to walk her sister to her band program every day. This is where Hannah bumps into a classmate Finny, who is the total opposite of Hannah. He is a boy with a record and is known for trouble, but that never stops the heart does it?
This book touches on a lot o issue affecting teens, such as abuse, eating disorders, and depression. It doesn't really go into depth in anyone of them, however I think it goes enough to fit the main point of story. I interpreted the main idea to be that you can put on a facade and you can go around making everyone else happy and hiding who you really are, but in the end you are who you are one the inside, no matter what anyone else says or does.
Paper Valentine is a story of a girl (Hannah)who is a good girl with three good friends. She makes her own clothes, is quiet and keeps to herself. Oh did I mention is haunted by a friend who died 6 months before the story starts. It is now summer and there is a serial killer on the loose in Ludlow killing young girls. Hannah has a sister who is at the same age as the girls that are showing up dead so she is originality told she has to walk her sister to her band program every day. This is where Hannah bumps into a classmate Finny, who is the total opposite of Hannah. He is a boy with a record and is known for trouble, but that never stops the heart does it?
This book touches on a lot o issue affecting teens, such as abuse, eating disorders, and depression. It doesn't really go into depth in anyone of them, however I think it goes enough to fit the main point of story. I interpreted the main idea to be that you can put on a facade and you can go around making everyone else happy and hiding who you really are, but in the end you are who you are one the inside, no matter what anyone else says or does.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
1.0
Most of this book was about the romance and the obsessiveness the main character had with her best friend. It took two seconds to guess who the killer was going to be once I actually started thinking about it. No secondary character was there without some obvious purpose seriously.
Edit: upon recalling this book, i wondered why it wasn't a 2 star when i saw it on my shelf. so i readjusted accordingly
Edit: upon recalling this book, i wondered why it wasn't a 2 star when i saw it on my shelf. so i readjusted accordingly
mollywetta's review against another edition
3.0
This review is also on my blog: wrapped up in books
Part ghost story, part murder mystery and part girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks romance, Paper Valentine was a book I enjoyed, though it never became more than the sum of its parts. Th blurb calls it a “hauntingly poetic tale of love and death” and while I agree with the first half, I’d say the story is as much friendship as love and death. Had more emphasis been placed on the ghost aspect of the story, which I found more compelling than the murder mystery, I would have enjoyed it more.
THE GHOST STORY
Hannah is haunted by her best Lillian, who died by starving herself to death. I felt like their relationship was much more fleshed out than Hannah’s crush on Finny Boone. When a serial killer slays a series of young girls, Hannah starts catching glimpses of even more ghosts — the ghosts of the dead girls. Lillian, who was obsessed with the murders even before her own death, prods Hannah to investigate the murders. Hannah doesn’t question why or how she’s been haunted for the past six months. She’s careful to avoid letting on her best friend is constantly hanging around, but with as omnipresent as the ghost is, I found that difficult to believe. The hows or whys of the ghosts communication are never explored, which left me slightly disappointed.
What worked between Hannah and Lillian was the dynamic of their friendship. Hannah feels guilty about letting Lillian waste away, though she did what she could to help her when she was alive—it just doesn’t feel like enough to her. Hannah feels a bit lost without the ringleader of her clique, and she is drifting off on her own, feeling disconnected from the rest of her group of friends. Lillian was the trendsetter, and because Hannah was her best friend, that made Hannah feel special. Through the novel she starts to come into her own personality and step out of Lillian’s shadow, even if Lillian is constantly hovering around. Lillian is not a likeable character, but she was my favorite. She had startling moments of insight, and wasn’t all that whiny about her lot in death or regretful of her past choices. She’s not very nice, but she’s not apologetic about it, either. Her brief moments of insight and her attitude about being undead made her an intriguing character for me, despite the fact that she was also an unsympathetic character.
THE MURDER MYSTERY
A serial killer is on the loose. Since Hannah works at the photo shop where the police forensics photographs are processed, she has access to evidence (very conveniently). Because she has opportunity and Lillian is so obsessed, Hannah gets curious and starts looking into it. But the circumstances never felt that desire and the danger didn’t seem personal, so I wasn’t very invested in question of who the murder might be. Though the killings themselves were eerie and creepy, I never felt the danger like I felt the heat that Brenna Yovanoff painstakingly weaves into the setting. Though I think readers are meant to suspect Finny Boone, Hannah’s crush, I never quite believed he could be the killer. Since so few secondary characters were introduced and I didn’t think having a random killer would have made sense, it was fairly obvious to me from the beginning who was behind the murders—thought the motive was weak and the resolution lacking.
THE ROMANCE
Finny Boone—well, Finnegan, as I wished Hannah would call him, because I detested the nickname—was not your typical bad boy crush. With bleach blond hair and a missing pinky, he’s a character that is easily distinguished from other love interests in YA novels. The attraction felt realistic, and I loved how the larger plot reflected the reality of romance—we can never know exactly how well we know someone. Brenna Yovanoff certainly can write lovely kissing scenes, but I wasn’t truly invested in Hannah and Finny’s relationship. It was all very run-of-the-mill teenage romance. I liked that Hannah was true to her feelings and allowed herself to pursue a relationship with a social outsider, but it lacked the epic quality that can make a reader’s heart soar when two lovers first kiss.
The story’s strengths are in it’s strange and unique details. I can totally picture some boy licking potato chips and throwing them at someone. The prose is atmospheric. The dead birds that keep popping up? Deliciously creepy. The murder scenes staged with discarded toys and paper hearts? Fantastically morbid. Yet they never are an important component of the plot so they fail to achieve any symbolic importance to the story. I wish all these elements had meant more, in the end, but the details themselves were much appreciated. Readers who enjoy the style of Brenna Yovanoff, who like girls with Alice in Wonderland charm bracelets, and who always want to sing Radiohead when they see fake trees in the middle of malls will enjoy this book. These kind of details and references worked for me, but I don’t imagine every reader will connect with the story this way. Brenna Yovanoff writes like an impressionistic painter. Certain elements are bright colors of description, but when you step back and look at the entire picture, you’re only left with an idea of what it is. Her stories are dreamy, and I enjoy that sort of style, but I think it works best in short story form (I highly recommend [b:The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories|13574710|The Curiosities A Collection of Stories|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333398927s/13574710.jpg|19127701]).
Luckily, I liked Hannah, so the novel feels worth reading for it’s main character and style if not for it’s plot. I can see how teen girls could relate to her insecurities and her hopes. She’s also got a quirky fashion sense (reminiscent of Blue in Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys, with her handmade and upcycled vintage outfits with tulle and charms, which is probably no coincidence since the two authors are friends and share a similar aesthetic). It’s good that I liked her, because we’re very much in her head for this close and intimate first person present narration. The novel feels very teen—the hours spent in the room, the interactions with parents, the liking a boy without knowing him, the dynamics between the friends. Brenna Yovanoff understands teen girls and writes for a young adult audience first and foremost. Fans of her work will enjoy this story, but I fear readers looking for a gripping thriller will be disappointed. I recommend Paper Valentine to fans of ghost stories and will suggest those interested in serial killers I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga instead.
Part ghost story, part murder mystery and part girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks romance, Paper Valentine was a book I enjoyed, though it never became more than the sum of its parts. Th blurb calls it a “hauntingly poetic tale of love and death” and while I agree with the first half, I’d say the story is as much friendship as love and death. Had more emphasis been placed on the ghost aspect of the story, which I found more compelling than the murder mystery, I would have enjoyed it more.
THE GHOST STORY
Hannah is haunted by her best Lillian, who died by starving herself to death. I felt like their relationship was much more fleshed out than Hannah’s crush on Finny Boone. When a serial killer slays a series of young girls, Hannah starts catching glimpses of even more ghosts — the ghosts of the dead girls. Lillian, who was obsessed with the murders even before her own death, prods Hannah to investigate the murders. Hannah doesn’t question why or how she’s been haunted for the past six months. She’s careful to avoid letting on her best friend is constantly hanging around, but with as omnipresent as the ghost is, I found that difficult to believe. The hows or whys of the ghosts communication are never explored, which left me slightly disappointed.
What worked between Hannah and Lillian was the dynamic of their friendship. Hannah feels guilty about letting Lillian waste away, though she did what she could to help her when she was alive—it just doesn’t feel like enough to her. Hannah feels a bit lost without the ringleader of her clique, and she is drifting off on her own, feeling disconnected from the rest of her group of friends. Lillian was the trendsetter, and because Hannah was her best friend, that made Hannah feel special. Through the novel she starts to come into her own personality and step out of Lillian’s shadow, even if Lillian is constantly hovering around. Lillian is not a likeable character, but she was my favorite. She had startling moments of insight, and wasn’t all that whiny about her lot in death or regretful of her past choices. She’s not very nice, but she’s not apologetic about it, either. Her brief moments of insight and her attitude about being undead made her an intriguing character for me, despite the fact that she was also an unsympathetic character.
THE MURDER MYSTERY
A serial killer is on the loose. Since Hannah works at the photo shop where the police forensics photographs are processed, she has access to evidence (very conveniently). Because she has opportunity and Lillian is so obsessed, Hannah gets curious and starts looking into it. But the circumstances never felt that desire and the danger didn’t seem personal, so I wasn’t very invested in question of who the murder might be. Though the killings themselves were eerie and creepy, I never felt the danger like I felt the heat that Brenna Yovanoff painstakingly weaves into the setting. Though I think readers are meant to suspect Finny Boone, Hannah’s crush, I never quite believed he could be the killer. Since so few secondary characters were introduced and I didn’t think having a random killer would have made sense, it was fairly obvious to me from the beginning who was behind the murders—thought the motive was weak and the resolution lacking.
THE ROMANCE
Finny Boone—well, Finnegan, as I wished Hannah would call him, because I detested the nickname—was not your typical bad boy crush. With bleach blond hair and a missing pinky, he’s a character that is easily distinguished from other love interests in YA novels. The attraction felt realistic, and I loved how the larger plot reflected the reality of romance—we can never know exactly how well we know someone. Brenna Yovanoff certainly can write lovely kissing scenes, but I wasn’t truly invested in Hannah and Finny’s relationship. It was all very run-of-the-mill teenage romance. I liked that Hannah was true to her feelings and allowed herself to pursue a relationship with a social outsider, but it lacked the epic quality that can make a reader’s heart soar when two lovers first kiss.
The story’s strengths are in it’s strange and unique details. I can totally picture some boy licking potato chips and throwing them at someone. The prose is atmospheric. The dead birds that keep popping up? Deliciously creepy. The murder scenes staged with discarded toys and paper hearts? Fantastically morbid. Yet they never are an important component of the plot so they fail to achieve any symbolic importance to the story. I wish all these elements had meant more, in the end, but the details themselves were much appreciated. Readers who enjoy the style of Brenna Yovanoff, who like girls with Alice in Wonderland charm bracelets, and who always want to sing Radiohead when they see fake trees in the middle of malls will enjoy this book. These kind of details and references worked for me, but I don’t imagine every reader will connect with the story this way. Brenna Yovanoff writes like an impressionistic painter. Certain elements are bright colors of description, but when you step back and look at the entire picture, you’re only left with an idea of what it is. Her stories are dreamy, and I enjoy that sort of style, but I think it works best in short story form (I highly recommend [b:The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories|13574710|The Curiosities A Collection of Stories|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333398927s/13574710.jpg|19127701]).
Luckily, I liked Hannah, so the novel feels worth reading for it’s main character and style if not for it’s plot. I can see how teen girls could relate to her insecurities and her hopes. She’s also got a quirky fashion sense (reminiscent of Blue in Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys, with her handmade and upcycled vintage outfits with tulle and charms, which is probably no coincidence since the two authors are friends and share a similar aesthetic). It’s good that I liked her, because we’re very much in her head for this close and intimate first person present narration. The novel feels very teen—the hours spent in the room, the interactions with parents, the liking a boy without knowing him, the dynamics between the friends. Brenna Yovanoff understands teen girls and writes for a young adult audience first and foremost. Fans of her work will enjoy this story, but I fear readers looking for a gripping thriller will be disappointed. I recommend Paper Valentine to fans of ghost stories and will suggest those interested in serial killers I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga instead.