Review of, When Violet Got Bored, by Allison Keli

Yesterday I was driving the youngest to school when my truck was hit from behind as we were pulling away from a stoplight. It wasn’t much of an impact, as the light had just turned green and we’d just begun to roll. In fact, at first I’d thought my foot had just lurched off the clutch and we’d stalled out.

All was well in the end, after I’d pulled over and was met by an apologetic, middle aged woman, who’s foot had apparently slipped; no damage to either vehicle, or occupants. It was more the sudden jolt from the normal routine than anything else.

This brings me ’round to a central theme in this book. Mind you, poor Violet gets more than an innocuous run-in on the street as a “reward” for getting the yawns from a humdrum life.

What happens when a mid-thirties female in suburban Atlanta realizes she’s bored? An acquaintance gets murdered, ominous men enter her life, and she starts to hunt for ‘Scouts’… because if she doesn’t, they might kill her, or worse: use her as The Weapon. Add in a snorting pug named Phang, a judgmental cat named Barnaby, two ridiculously magnetic brothers she finds herself sandwiched between, energy that just won’t quit, and well, you’ll find out what happens When Violet Got Bored. This magical realism novel includes it all–murder, mystery, intrigue, love triangles, the good guy, the bad guy, the worse guy, pop culture references, magical wands, history, philosophy, and a plane ride to a tiny island off of Denmark! Join Violet as she tries to maintain stability and sensibility during this tumultuous year of her life!

Just My Thoughts:

I quite enjoyed the first person, this is a day in my life, narrative that is present at the beginning, and progresses to, this is the day of my life, as the story moves along.

Prepare to be guided through Violet’s mystical adventure with copious amounts of humor and poignancy, adroitly crafted into a captivating read.

The plot is interwoven with references to a number of well-known literatures. Another plus is that you can flip to the back pages for an explanation of subject matter covered in the book, including types of yoga, runes, and even a breathing exercise.

Now, for me, there was a small matter of the use of parenthesis, though quite infrequent. I’m not a fan of them in fiction works, but I’m probably just being a nitpicky geezer.

I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy tales of healing, good versus evil, mingled with romantic tension.

Say, “Hello!

allison keli is deliberately in lowercase. While many things in her life have changed — locations, careers, animal babies, human babies — her inability to stop word vomiting all over paper never ceased. She’s published articles, maintained websites, written blogs, and finally published her first children’s book, in August 2022, with the help of her son.

Current reading options include:

*Phenix & Fox, which stemmed from a random idea about her son and her friend’s son. While it took longer than she planned to get the book published, she believes in divine timing. Had the book gone out into the world as planned, her kid would have been younger. This means he would have never been able to help draw the pictures! -Color Book Edition (Released 12/2022)

*When Violet Got Bored, which is set in suburban Atlanta, and follows Violet during a tumultuous year in her life. This is Book One in The Light Thrower series, which has it all: magic, philosophy, history, love triangles, murder, mystery, intrigue, pop culture references, the good guy, the bad guy, the worse guy, snorting dogs and judgmental cats. You’ll be sure to laugh and roll your eyes along with Violet. (Released 11/2022)

*The Hauntings of DoG Street, which is a Vella story set in Colonial Williamsburg. It follows our protagonist, Melody, while she works at Chowning’s Tavern and meets some friends, and ghosts, along the way. Will she ever figure out who the man in the hat is, and is he the one who gave her that necklace? (10/2022 – Current)

*Blogs, which include one about holistic health related topics, and another blog about the trials and laughter of parenting.

You can find out all sorts of things about her, including many you didn’t want to know, at www.allisonkeli.com.