Friday, 25 August 2017

Book Review: Flowers, White Lies by Yvonne Ventresca

BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES
Yvonne Ventresca
Sky Pony Press

Her father died before she was born, but Ella Benton knows they have a supernatural connection. Since her mother discourages these beliefs, Ella keeps her cemetery visits secret. But she may not be the only one with secrets. Ella’s mother might be lying about how Dad died sixteen years ago. New found evidence points to his death in a psychiatric hospital, not as a result of a tragic car accident as her mother always claimed. After a lifetime of just the two of them, Mom suddenly feels like a stranger.

When a handprint much like the one Ella left on her father’s tombstone mysteriously appears on the bathroom mirror, at first she wonders if Dad is warning her of danger as he did once before. If it’s not a warning, could her new too-good-to-be-true boyfriend be responsible for the strange occurrences? Or maybe it’s the grieving building superintendent whose dead daughter strongly resembles Ella? As the unexplained events become more frequent and more sinister, Ella becomes terrified about who—or what—might harm her.

Soon the evidence points to someone else entirely: Ella herself. What if, like her father, she’s suffering from a breakdown? In this second novel from award-winning author Yvonne Ventresca, Ella desperately needs to find answers, no matter how disturbing the truth might be.


This book was every bit of amazing as I hoped it would be. From the first pages where I met Ella and her cemetery visits to her father's grave to the last page where a tangled web of secrets finally unraveled, I was pulled into Ella's world body, mind, and soul. With hints of just enough mystery, this book soon turns thriller as we start to piece together the dangers that Ella experiences -- are they paranormal or not -- I can't say without a spoiler. But I will definitely say that this book does not disappoint. With an ending that hits you with just enough punch, this white knuckled ride does not leave you hanging.

5 stars definitely go to BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES. I am now on the path to a lifelong fandom of Yvonne Ventresca and will be seeking out more of her books.