Excellent!

After having read some fabulous reviews for “Violet” by Scottish author SJI Holliday I was over the moon to be able to read this book for myself. Having read Susi’s previous novels “The Banktoun Trilogy” and thoroughly enjoyed, I knew that this book was going to be an entertaining read that would have me addicted from the very first page.
The premise of “Violet” has a “Single, White Female” feel to it and since Violet and Carrie meet on a journey whilst travelling alone abroad, there will be a lot of readers who can relate to chatting with strangers and forming a brief relationship with them. What can go wrong? Two young women, similar likes and dislikes, looking to enjoy their backpacking trip in each other’s company in remote countries? Well, lots apparently. And the tension throughout really does have you turning the pages quicker than you can read them. The author certainly knows how to captivate the reader and I for one could feel the tension emanating from the pages, as things start to spiral out of control.
I liked how the author opened the book with the prologue and then the narrative throughout using emails, to and from Carrie and her friend Laura back home. Very clever and an ingenious way of conveying the inner thoughts and feelings of Carrie as her intense relationship with Violet developed. The atmosphere of the countries the girls visited was picture perfect and the long train journeys were obviously well researched and you can tell the author drew on her own experiences of the Trans-Siberian Express to help write the scenes.
The ending and denouement was highly enjoyable and not one I saw coming.
I have to admit that ‘Violet’ really did get under my skin to a point by the end of the book, I felt I needed a long hot shower and a thorough detox! I didn’t want this story to end and devoured the whole book in a couple of days. Highly recommended and wish the author every success with this entertaining, modern, intense and classic psychological thriller focusing on toxic relationships and the perils of striking up friendships with strangers!