Book Review: My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd

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My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd. Published February 27, 2018 by Dial Press

(I received a free copy from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. I was not paid to review and all opinions expressed are my own. I am also an Amazon Affiliate member, which means if you click on the text/image it takes you to Amazon where if you make a purchase I receive a portion of the sale.)

My name is Venus Black tells the coming of age story of a young adult who is thrust on her own into the world after she is released from prison. The story goes back and forth between the past and present and builds a crescendo of the fateful night that turned Venus from a Straight A student to a murderer and the ramifications on her family not just emotionally but physically as well.

I loved the premise of the story. Venus is a complicated character who you root for at the same time she frustrates you. Some of her characters aren’t as well drawn out and I would have loved to have seen what motivated them to act and do what we see in the book.

All in all I highly recommend this book. It is a fast read and it helps a reader answer the question can we ever escape our past?

This is a great book for young adults looking to read outside of the teen genre. There is a little romance, some adult themes but for the right reader it will be a welcome relief from the romance driven teen market.

Other books to Read:

Huffington Post has a great list of books from December 2017 that includes multicultural coming of age stories. You can read the post here.

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I love Backman’s books and this is the first I read. I have to admit the title is what caught my eye. I hadn’t heard of him before this! It is at turns heartbreaking and uplifting.

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Not a traditional coming of age story, but at 29 we are still finding ourselves! I love Taylor Jenkins read and will read everything by her as soon as it comes out. This book includes a little magical realism and the playing out of the many decisions in life we have to make and the ramifications of those decisions.

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