Yzabel / November 5, 2012

A Vision of Green by L.H. Cosway

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Since moving to Chesterport Flo has discovered new friends and a hidden world. 

After spending seventeen years as an Empath, thinking she was either delusional or very, very different, she has found others who are different too. She helped battle a coven of dark witches and watched as their leader got sent to her judgement. All now seems peaceful in her new town, but it’s not going to last.

For one, Flo’s dad is back on the scene and has taken over her dead grandmother’s house with his new girlfriend. Dealing with him makes Flo think that maybe everyday people can be monsters too, as he blackmails her into giving up the one person she needs the most. Secondly, Flo hears a story about strange goings on in the nearby forest, and becomes obsessed with the magical things that might lie in its green depths.

A Vision of Green is the second instalment in the Florence Vaine trilogy, where Flo finds herself yet again immersed in mystery, romance and things that are just a little bit scary. She will come across new adversaries, supernatural and otherwise, discover more about her own identity and grow in ways she had never anticipated.

Review:

(Ebook version kindly sent to me by the author herself, in exchange for an honest review.)

A few months ago, I had read the first volume of L.H. Cosway’s Florence Vaine series, “A Strange Fire”, and had liked it a lot. This second installment doesn’t disappoint either.

We find here characters from the previous novel: Florence, the girl with the power to see and modify people’s auras; Frank, her boyfriend, and his family, most of which share the same particularity of being inhabited by a demon’s soul; Josh, the unpleasant school mate; but also Terry, Florence’s father, who is much more present in this book. All of their personae were enjoyable in their own rights, and I was glad to see more of them, and in a way that didn’t make them lose their appeal compared to the first novel (something that, I’ve noticed, sometimes happens in second volumes, as if everything had been said about those characters, and there’s nothing new left to expect). Flo is both strong and awkward, fighting with the predicaments she’s in, yet never giving up. Frank is adorable, always ready to help her, yet also respecting her wishes, even though this may go against his nature. Josh is also interesting, in that he’s clearly a negative mirror of Florence: what she could (have) become if she had let herself being completely crushed by her father… yet I could still sense a hope for redemption in him (his behaviour could have been much worse). Even Florence’s father is not made of so many shades of black, because for all his dark sides and awful behaviour, there are a few things that explain how he became this way.

In this novel, Florence also seems to take matters in her own hands more readily than in the first story, a sign that her character has been evolving; her decisions may seem unwise at times (why stay with her abusive father, of all things?), but understandable, for they show her will to fight by herself, and not simply run away and let other people protect her. This I find always enjoyable in a character, even though I know it often also brings more problems that it solves.

We also get to learn more about what dwells in the forest near Chesterport, and are offered an insight into another part of the supernatural world, as well as more information about how Florence acquired her powers… and a hint that, much like she learnt how to manipulate and not only see auras, those powers may not be done ‘growing’ (but is this for in her best interests?). The plot centering about the forest is wrapped up nicely at the end—no frustrating cliffhanger—yet it’s also clear that the bigger picture isn’t completed yet, and that there is more to come. I’m definitely eager to see how everything will resolve in the next book.