8.5 out of 10 Venom by Fiona Paul was honestly so astonishingly beautiful to read. Basically, here’s the crux of the story; “Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape. When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. |
So I’m in no way a huge fan of historical YA, it can be really badly written and to be honest because it’s YA, usually lacks the intricacy required to initiate and maintain such a diverse and difficult environment. This is because you have to get the environment correct, culturally accurate, and socially accurate for the time period and so on. However, Miss Paul does this absolutely flawlessly. If the female protagonist was another 5 years older, this could have easily been a Fiction or crime book. I absolutely loved the way she described the venetian atmosphere, the local culture, the social intricacies, all the way down to the Italian interwebbed within the story and the original names of things. I loved the accuracy with which this was written, and It’s obvious that a lot of research has pertained this book; everything from describing her dressing methods is amazingly accurate. This environment set up a very realistic atmosphere, and all the author had to do was slip in a few storylines and scandals and *BOOM* she has an amazingly original YA novel. To put this novel in basic terms; Cassandra is a young noble, who is curbed by her aunt to remain within strict rules and regulations after losing her parents. She is betrothed to a mysterious Luca who we actually don’t meet until about page 300, and basically feels trapped by her lifestyle. When servants, courtesans and people around her start disappearing, she begins to question if they’re truly accidents. SO she sets out all over Venice to explore this intricate plotting amongst a variety of Italian nobles and well-known names throughout the story. The one part that was my favourite (because I love romance :P) was Falco. She meets him after discovering the first body; a local artist and is instantly drawn to the absolute unacceptability of their companionship, and he takes her on journeys to unveil this mystery. However, he has secrets too and she starts to feel as if the entire situation is a bit too much to handle, the sh*t hits the fan, when Luca comes home and he too has secrets, and the deaths start hitting closer to home and she starts questioning her upcoming nuptials over her undeniable attraction to Falco.
I loved the realness of the tryst between Falco and Cassandra, it truly and realistically explored the whole ‘Romeo and Juliet’ connection, between two people who can’t possibly be together, and Cassandra’s constant internal battles truly highlight the intensity of the time where women really were expected to lie within certain guidelines of their stature. The intimacy between them is truly halted and at times I was seriously screaming “JUST KISS HIM ALREADY” which might I add is super awkward on a crowded public train. The one and only difficulty I had with this book was the complicated names; there are literally heaps and heaps of side characters that end up playing integral roles in the progression of the book and at times I couldn’t remember who was who. This had nothing to do with the writing style, as it was flawless, but because the names were so Italian at times they sounded the same; Donna Domacetti was different from Don domacetti who was different from Don dubois, as you can see I got confused at times. However, containing crime, it was a novel you do have to concentrate on or you get completely confused, and to be honest after the first maybe 5 chapters, you do get used to it.
Now, I have had my half yearlies this past week and have been really slack in my reading, like super slack because I am taking in such copious amounts of information my brain can’t handle it. However, this was one book that at times trumped my biology and chemistry study and I finished it this evening, and I had an exam this morning (LOL). It is definitely a book I would recommend you to read, it wasn’t predictable AT ALL, I think I guessed about 10 different people throughout the duration of the book, and I am usually never wrong, like never. It was a very well written book with lots of literal beauty and intricacy making it a highend YA read and very worth another read to be honest.
I would say it it higher age YA because there are some gruesome parts of the story and at times can get graphic in other ways as well, so I would say ages 15 and up really. It isn’t an easy read, like you couldn’t read it half asleep I don’t think, it needs focus and to be honest by chapter 2 you will be giving it all your attention. I recently stopped working at the bookstore I was working at for multiple reasons, but mainly school stress; and now have no definite way of getting the SECOND BOOK :O (Belladonna). Especially because my mum’s riding my back about buying no more books, I seriously have more unread books in my room than read.
I recently had a conversation with a fellow blogger on here; Aditi. We were discussing her opinions on a book I recommended, I actually reviewed it on here ‘After’ by Anna Todd. And she wasn’t sure when she was reading it if it was worth if because it is a bit cliché, however she made me point out that I have never steered her wrong, and I never steer you guys wrong either, take my advice and go out and get it à you WON’T REGRET IT !!!
Well done Fiona Paul,
Truly amazing
Hayley xx