My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd

My Name Is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. The best part of this book was the characterisation. The characters seem to come alive, and strangely I felt myself wondering what was going to happen to them even when I wasn't reading the book!

Venus Black is a 13 yr old girl who is incarcerated for about 5 years for killing her stepfather. Meanwhile, her little autistic brother is kidnapped. Most of the story takes place after she gets out of prison. She changes her identity so that she can start her life over. We see Venus trying to live her life as an adult woman for the first time in her life after prison. There are many twists and turns throughout the whole book. The reader finds out what happened to the brother and is taken into the life of the brother's kidnappers. Venus finds a place to live in a house with a man and his young niece. Venus develops a mother-daughter type relationship with the young girl only to have her ripped from her life by the girl's aunt. There is even a possible romantic relationship between Venus and an attractive man she meets at the diner where she works. When Venus finds out he is a cop, she thinks there is no way she can continue with him.

Throughout the book, the author never truly reveals what led Venus to take the life of her step father, although the reader is given a few hints. When we finally find out Venus' motives, we are faced with the moral dilemma of siding with Venus or the law.

All in all, this book is entertaining and full of emotion. There is suspense, laughter, and tears wrapped up in this book. Highly recommend!!

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