There is a certain type of nonsense story for children that I really disliked, even when I was a child. I suspect that Valente loved those stories.

Here we take an absurdist journey through the colors of the rainbow, following a girl called Violet Wild through a series of alternate universes on an allegorical Pilgrims' Progress/quest of self-discovery with musings on love and depression.

It's also extremely meta- just as much about language & the function of storytelling as about the plot, told in intentionally over-the-top, florid, poetic prose.

Valente is very hit-or-miss for me. She's written some things that I just love to death - and others, well, I feel more like I do about this one. She is undeniably a brilliant writer, and I can see that some people will love this, for wholly valid reasons. However, I really, really didn't like it. ( )

There is a certain type of nonsense story for children that I really disliked, even when I was a child. I suspect that Valente loved those stories.

Here we take an absurdist journey through the colors of the rainbow, following a girl called Violet Wild through a series of alternate universes on an allegorical Pilgrims' Progress/quest of self-discovery with musings on love and depression.

It's also extremely meta- just as much about language & the function of storytelling as about the plot, told in intentionally over-the-top, florid, poetic prose.

Valente is very hit-or-miss for me. She's written some things that I just love to death - and others, well, I feel more like I do about this one. She is undeniably a brilliant writer, and I can see that some people will love this, for wholly valid reasons. However, I really, really didn't like it. ( )