Paper Valentine

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanof
Published by Razorbill (Penguin)
On Shelves Now
Reviewed by Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say: Creepy and Thrilling with a touch of sweet romance

This is one of those books where you read it and then wonder, “Why did I wait so long to read this?” I’ve had an eARC of this book since at least November, but I kept putting it off because I just didn’t know how much I would enjoy it. Now that I have read it, I can say without a doubt that Brenna Yovanof knows how to give you that fearful tingle that travels slowly up your spine until you want to run through your house and turn on every light!

The whole serial killer aspect of the story was slow starting—I think it was only mentioned once in the first 30% of the book, but after the murders start escalating, then the book really takes off. Now that doesn’t mean that the first part of the book is boring—I actually really enjoyed it. You get to see inside Hannah’s mind and into her life, and its heartbreaking watching her deal with the ghost of her dead best friend, Lillian. She’s angry at Lillian because she doesn’t understand how Lillian let herself waste away, never fighting the ugly thoughts in her head; and that anger defines Hannah’s current personality. I related to Hannah even though I had never been in that situation because Brenna’s writing just made the strained relationship come to life (in the face of death).

I really enjoyed the thriller aspect of this story, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not figure out the identity of the killer. I think I went through 5 different suspects before the truth was revealed! I never saw that ending coming, and that was what made this so great! I love books where I can’t predict what is going to happen, and unfortunately, predictability seems to be a common problem in the YA genre. I also loved the psychological side of this book. You get Lillian’s inferiority complex and low self-esteem and Hannah’s brokenness and add that to Finny’s (the love interest) danger-seeking, destroy me attitude and there are certain to be fireworks. Plus, you have a serial killer who stages his scenes like something out of a deranged toy store and the creep factor just zooms to new levels.

Perhaps my favorite part of the story was watching Hannah and Finny fall for each other. They are both so broken in their own way, so it’s heart-wrenching to see them cling to each other for support and trust. However, the waves of doubt that seem to ripple through their relationship make them all the more relatable and tender to read about. I loved that Brenna gave us a sweet romance to offset the brutality of the murders and the creepiness of the hauntings.

The only issue I had with it (and this is what makes me go with 4 stars instead of 5) is that there are some plot holes that are left unexplained. For example, Hannah is being haunted by Lillian, the ghost of her best friend. Is this the only paranormal element that exists in her world? Or could there be something else? How the ghosts appear is never explained, and Hannah never even questions the how or why of it. I just find that a bit strange. Furthermore, it never explains why Hannah is the only one who can see the ghosts. I would really have liked to know if it is a power she has or if ghosts can reveal themselves to chosen people or what not. That was never explained and it still leaves me wondering about it now.

Overall, this was a great read and it was definitely something different in the YA genre (at least for me). I have not read many ya thrillers, so the psychological warfare and the murders were new to me. I really did enjoy it, though, and I look forward to more from Brenna and this particular sub-genre in ya.

As other reviewers have said, readers in search of a murder mystery should not pick up Paper Valentine in hopes of an enthralling chase to unmask a serial killer. Personally, I came into this with that expectation, and it took a bit of adjustment for me to realize that Yovanoff’s story had more to do with people living their lives and going through day-to-day stuff (whilst a serial killer is abroad), than about finding and punishing a murderer. Instead, Paper Valentine is about a girl and a ghost and relationships and imperfect people.

Most of the time I don’t have much trouble picking out what an author’s themes are. I can say, “this book is about moving on after grief” or “this book is about learning where loyalties lie” or something along those lines. But to be honest, I can’t do that here. For me, Brenna Yovanoff just sat down to write about real people in real situations, and if there were any messages she wanted readers to take away from Paper Valentine, they weren’t obvious or easy to pick out. Everything was subtle, kept beneath the surface, and, in my opinion, masterfully done. This entire novel is approached with a fairly light hand, and the story was allowed to grow and shape organically. Authorial presence in this book is kept to a minimum.

Paper Valentine’s main character, Hannah, is teenager who’s being haunted—literally—by her best friend, Lillian. Lillian died six months ago after several years of being anorexic. And Lillian’s ghost is a projection of all the very worst things about Lillian. Her selfishness, her need for control, her obsession with perfection, her snobbishness. But in some way, Hannah still clings to Lillian, and neither of the girls is able to let the other go.

Aside from the obvious problem with Lillian’s ghost, Hannah’s also dealing with the reality of a serial killer loose in her town, one who targets young girls. Her parents and younger sister are understandably freaked out, and so is Hannah in a less significant way. Primarily, Hannah and Lillian take on something of an obsession with the murders, and that leads them into trouble. Trouble, in this case, takes the form of Finny Boone, a trouble youth with the scars and foster care experience to prove it.

Initially, Hannah is taken aback by her attraction for Finny, but not for long. With him, she finds the voice she’s always kept hidden, and when he tries to break things off, she isn’t afraid to speak out.

“Stop,” I tell him.
He glances over, squinting at me. “What?”
“Stop acting like you need to protect me from yourself.” And I sound angrier than I ever usually sound. “I’m not a victim or a fragile little thing. And maybe there’s dangerous stuff out there, but not you. Okay? I don’t need to be kept safe from you” (pg. 272).

And now that she’s found the courage to do it, Hannah begins talking back. First to her friends, who are jealous and petty and snooty. To them Hannah proves that she won’t be controlled any longer, not the way Lillian controlled her. And Hannah also speaks to her mother, who’s clung so long to an image of what “perfect Hannah” should be that she doesn’t quite know how to deal with Hannah’s grief and confusion.

“For maybe the first time in my life, she is listening to the words I’m saying and not telling me the words she thinks I should use” (pg.241).

As the different relationships in her life come into sharp relief, Hannah is forced to think about things and people differently. She has to learn (to some degree) who she is now that she’s out of Lillian’s shadow, and how to step out of the mold everyone expects her to fit into. Without a doubt, Hannah was a dynamic, well-rounded character, though her growth isn’t immediately obvious.

Eventually, of course, the serial killer catches up with Hannah and Lillian and Finny. The villain gave the obligatory monologue for the reader’s benefit—to recap important plot points without too much difficulty on the author’s part. But it all comes out right in the end, of course. Everyone safe and sound, happy and well. But Hannah still has to learn to come to terms with Lillian. Who she was, who she is as a ghost, and what their relationship meant.

“The idea that a person can be defined by anything so superficial [as sickness] is terrible. […] The simple version isn’t even recognizable when you hold it up against a living, breathing human being. Her ghost will always be so much less of her than the girl I used to see every day” (pg. 256).

Paper Valentine is a book that really defies categorization. It is its own entity, separate from anything else either the paranormal or mystery genres have to offer. Brenna Yovanoff’s storytelling is unique, her prose is engaging, and the way she treats characterization is uncomplicated and straightforward.

After reading that book blurb and looking over that GORGEOUS cover, doesn't it get you super excited to read this gripping thriller of a mystery that's about a killer stalking the streets of Ludlow and there is one girl who is able to fix it all with the help of her ghostly friends and her boyfriend who everyone deems the killer prematurely? Well that's what I wanted too, but not what I got. I was really disappointed.
This book reads more like a contemporary rather than a mystery. I had myself all ready to be kept up late at night due to being scared, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. There were so many things I disliked about the book, its hard to find anything that I DID like.
Starting with the writing, I won't say I disliked it, but I won't say I liked it either. It seemed to read more like a MG novel than a YA novel. But ironically, it was a MG novel that I would actually have enjoyed. While reading it I was able to picture everything that was happening. From the suffocating heat in Ludlow and the quirky, fun pre-teen that Ariel was. Her descriptions are fun and easy to read.
As for the plot, I was a little lost. As I said, I was expecting a full throttle gripping mystery and instead I got a contemporary romance. Then as I was reading, it seemed to just get more and more confusing. I was able to pick out what happened to Lillian, but after that, I found myself only wanting to read it because I wanted to know for sure who the killer was. It just seemed that nothing was happening and the mystery took the back burner to the love interest. Which is the complete opposite of what I was looking for.
What I DID like, was the characters. Finny is a broken boy and we all know I love my broken boys. He's different than the others and has a bad boy image, so naturally he is the one suspected for the murders. But he turns out to be a real softy. He doesn't say too much, but the parts featuring him and Hannah together is definitely swoon worthy. I ended up putting an entire paragraph on Goodreads as a favorite quote because I was like in total awe. And then there was Ariel, my favorite character. She was so sweet and funny and I loved reading about her. The only problem I had was the fact that she is mentioned to be 12 but acted more like she was 6 or 7. She was not portrayed the way 12 year olds in this day and age act. It just felt easier for me to picture her as younger.
All in all, I wasn't too happy about the way the mystery aspect of the book was written, but I was happy with some parts of the book. I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy it because I did, but it just lured me to read it under false pretenses. It really served as an eye opener for me, "Don't judge a book by its cover."