Bleeding Violet (Portero #1) by Dia Reeves

Hanna runs away to Portero to live with the mother she never knew.  But Portero is a different kind of small town, overrun with monsters, hidden doors and ghosts who will not only haunt you but inhabit you.  Hanna finds more than she bargained for in Portero, not only from the town and her mother but from the boy she falls for.

I kept silent a long while, thinking about everything Wyatt had told me: doorways to other worlds, a mayor with power over the dead, a Key made of bone.  I let it all sink in and found myself smiling.  I was right to have come to Portero, a town more insane than I could ever hope to be. p.112

After reading Slice of Cherry I knew I had to go back and read Dia Reeves' first book set in the town of Portero.  This isn't a traditional series  There is no real order but I think it usually helps to read the first book to get to know the setting better.  While Slice of Cherry was more of a character study featuring less of the town, Bleeding Violet is all about the character of Hanna and the character of Portero.  There is more exploration of the town and how the monsters work and, intriguingly, the character of the Mayor.

While I think Slice of Cherry is scarier for me because of its subject (serial killer sisters), Bleeding Violet doesn't pull any punches when it comes to monsters and gore and head trips.  Portero is not a sleepy small Southern town like Hanna and the reader expects.  Instead it is full of many mysteries.  Hanna does a great job of adapting unlike, say, me who would probably be dead in about 5 seconds.  It helps that she has her dead father around to help and the carved Swan who sometimes comes to life to save her.  And it also helps that she befriends Wyatt, a Mortmaine-initiate.  The Mortmaine protect the town and deal with the monsters.  They are controlled by the Mayor, a shady figure if I ever saw one and who I'd like to know more about.  Is she what she claims to be?  Something more?  It's all very fascinating.  I really recommend any of Reeves' books a chance.  She has some serious talent.

Hogwarts: Defence Against the Dark Arts