Alyxandra Harvey

Stand-alone novels:

Waking: A Fairy Tale — (2006) Young adult. Publisher: With the help of a quirky friend, Beauty learns to leave her tragic past behind.

Broken — (2008) Young adult. Publisher: Ash Perrault can explain why she’s so upset: her dad’s fiancée is moving into their house, her best friend Mouse is hiding a secret from her, she has detention on the school dance committee, and her relationship with her boy friend Seth is confusing and often hurtful. But Ash can’t explain why the glass around her keeps breaking without her touching it. Her power to break glass is not only eerie, it’s dangerous. Can she find a way to control it?

Haunting Violet — (2011) Young adult. Publisher: Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose. Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who canhelp her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?

Haunting Violet

It’s Victorian England, and Spiritualism is all the rage. Violet Willoughby’s mother Celeste is a phony medium, using parlor tricks to scam her way up the social ladder. Now, the Willoughbys have been invited to the palatial estate of Rosefield for a grand house party. On this trip, Violet learns something shocking: she is a medium. A real one. And the ghost of a girl from the next estate over, who drowned mysteriously the previous year, is haunting Violet and demanding she solve her murder.

Haunting Violet is both a spooky mystery and a coming-of-age tale for Violet. She is constrained both by her cruel mother and by the strict rules of Victorian society, where even if you save the day, you’d better not be inappropriately dressed while doing it. Violet’s development is compelling as she tries to determine who she wants to be and what kind of life she will live, in a time when young women were not supposed to decide these things for themselves.

There’s a romantic element, too. Violet’s mother is pushing her to marry the wealthy but boring Xavier, but Violet is falling for her childhood friend, Colin, an Irish-born orphan. The choice between Mr. Wrong-but-rich and Mr. Right-but-poor is not new, really, but it works — and Colin makes a great match for Violet. They’ve got loads of chemistry, and he always has her back and wants her to be happy.

Alyxandra Harvey creates a cast of characters who come alive on the page. In addition to Violet and Colin, some good examples are Celeste, who’s fascinating to read about even though she’s a horrible person; Violet’s friend Elizabeth, who’s simply fun; and the ghost characters, who provide many moments of warmth and comic relief in addition to chills. Seriously, I love the ghosts. The lady with the blackberries. The pirate, with his comment about his own death. Lord Marshall’s wife! The schnauzer!

I do wish Violet had solved the murder before I did. The mystery in Haunting Violet bears a resemblance to a very famous story, and once I saw that story’s ghost beneath the surface of this one — pardon the pun — I knew who had done it, and I was right. But even setting that aside, there are a couple of major clues that readers will probably catch but that Violet misses. It’s actually another character who correctly interprets the most significant clue. It would have been much more satisfying if Violet had been the one to figure this out.

These issues with the mystery brought Haunting Violet down a bit in my eyes, as did a distracting error that was repeated several times: “passed” used in place of “past.” On the whole, though, I found it charming, and I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes you just need some goosebumps and a sweet love story on a dark and stormy night. —Kelly Lasiter

Stolen Away — (2011) Young adult. Publisher: For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds. The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife... Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.