“You know, you ought to keep an eye on a little girl like that in this town.”

‘Kill Creek’ was one of my favourite reads of 2017 and I have been eagerly anticipating another Scott Thomas book ever since. I didn’t fall in love with ‘Violet’ like I was supposed to and as a result I’ve spent the past fortnight dreading writing this review.

I still really want you to read ‘Kill Creek’ and I hope that you love this book too. I want to be wrong about ‘Violet’. I want the problem to be me, not the book. However, I have some problems with this book that would have prevented me from reading beyond the first 10% if I hadn’t committed to reviewing it.

While Scott’s debut was deliciously creepy and plot driven, with a group of horror writers attempting to survive Finch House (this house was my favourite character!), ‘Violet’ is more atmospheric, an exploration of grief across time and its impacts upon multiple characters. I don’t usually mind novels where a slow burn gradually builds into a cataclysm of sorts but I found the set up too drawn out here. There were some nibbles along the ways but most of the payoff came after my interest had faded.

I’m rarely a fan of unreliable narrators in my life, either inside or outside of books, and as a result I never warmed to Kris. I was wary of trusting anything she relayed to me and so I kept her at an emotional distance. I probably would have connected with her daughter, Sadie, but because I saw her mostly through Kris’ eyes I didn’t know what to believe where she was concerned either.

“It is all connected, don’t you see that?”

Some words were used so frequently that I found myself being taken out of the story each time I came across them. By the time I reached 10% I’d considered counting how many times I encountered “like”, “as if” or “as though”. This trio weaved their way throughout the book, sometimes appearing two or three times on a (Kindle) page.

Then there were the descriptions of the house overlooking Lost Lake in general and of the cleaning process. Kris and Sadie need to make the neglected house habitable and the cleaning process was described in such detail that I was tempted to go clean my own home just so I could stop reading about it.

“The lake house had helped Kris get through one of the most awful summers of her life. It could do the same for Sadie.”

I hate that I felt like I was slogging my way through this book. The tidbits that teased of what was to come would usually have me hooked, poring over every word to make sure I didn’t miss any clues, but it didn’t work that way for me here. I didn’t feel like the story truly started until almost 70% and by then I was drained.

There were some glimpses of the magic that I enjoyed in ‘Kill Creek’ and I could see myself enjoying a movie adaptation of this story, where the details that felt drawn out in the book could be captured quickly by the camera panning over each room, but overall it didn’t live up to its potential for me.

“Don’t be afraid to remember, Mrs Barlow.”

Despite all of this, I am still looking forward to the next book by this author. Their first book made such an impression on me that I am keen to see what other horrors they’re going to unleash upon my imagination. Maybe if I reread this book when I’m in a different head space I’ll find a new appreciation for it. If that’s the case I’ll definitely be letting you know. Until then I think I’m going to go with the hope that it’s not you, highly anticipated book; it’s me.

Content warnings are included in my Goodreads review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Inkshares for the opportunity to read this book.