My Name is Venus Black tells the story of Venus who, as a straight-A student interested in astronomy, commits a terrible crime that tears her family apart. At the same time, her mentally handicapped younger brother, Leo, also goes missing. Venus spends more than five years in juvenile detention, and when she is released at nineteen, she is determined to start her life fresh with a new identity. But it is only a matter of time before the past catches up with her, and she will have to decide what to do with it when it does.

I didn’t realize that this was categorized as a YA book before starting it, even though we follow Venus at both thirteen and nineteen – the “perfect” age for a YA protagonist. However, I feel that knowing that it was slightly geared more toward a YA audience put this book in a different light because I felt more justified in my opinion that it wasn’t as dark or gritty as I was expecting it to be. Because it was YA, I felt that the writing was sometimes simplistic and repetitive. Venus’s character felt especially young, and while some of her motives were justified, I felt that her character was very immature and childish, both at thirteen and nineteen. I think my biggest problem with the story was the fact that it was all leading to Venus’s crime – first, what did she do? (though that was answered relatively quickly); second, why did she do it? (that wasn’t answered until the end of the book) – but I felt that the answer to the “why” was too drawn out; I also felt that it was building up for most of the book, but when we finally found out Venus’s motives, I was a little let down.

Side note: Besides the fact that I didn’t realize this was a YA book before starting, I also think my expectations of this book were off because the ARC cover I was sent depicts a girl with wild, black hair – which fits our protagonist, but also reminded me of Jessica Jones from the Marvel show of the same name. Because of this rather unfortunate occurrence, I unjustly compared Venus to Jessica, the latter of which was a much more complex and gritty character than Venus, so the former was never able to live up to that same level.

Honestly, I was more engrossed by Leo’s part of the story – he was abducted soon after Venus went into juvenile detention – than in his sister’s. I felt that the ethical implications of his abduction were more interesting and heartbreaking than those surrounding Venus. Leo had less control over his life than Venus, and because he was mentally handicapped, he was entirely reliant on the care of others, and my heart broke for his character.

In the end, I did enjoy this book. The characters were mildly complex, I enjoyed the overall progression of the plot, and it kept me so engrossed I finished in a single weekend!

Thank you to NetGalley, LibraryThing, and Random House Publishing Group (Random House) for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It was okay, probably even better than okay. It was good. It wasn't great. I think there was a lot of potential there, but it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. The characters were decent. I actually liked Venus and Leo and Tessa. The storylines flowed okay and stayed connected without getting too messy. I basically had two main issues. First, there was a lot of secrecy until the end about what Venus did to end up in prison. However, it was pretty easy to figure out from the beginning, and I just didn't get the need for all the secrecy. It made for a lot of hype and expectation for some shocking revelation that frankly never happened. Second, Venus finding Leo was just way too easy and convenient. That whole process (if you can call it that) was just so implausible and ridiculous, I spent a fair amount of time thinking "really?!" So the characters were good - I was rooting for Venus and Danny, and I loved Piper. And the storyline held my interest - I thought there was a ton of potential there for some pretty engaging writing. Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to my expectations or needs. It was a decent start for a debut author, and I think Heather Lloyd could get quite good at this. She's just didn't quite hit it for me with this book.

It’s very apparent that the majority of the book community loved this book. I personally did not enjoy it too much. I thought the writing style was a bit difficult to understand. The POV would change multiple times throughout the chapter without a real separation. It was hard to follow at times because it took a few sentences to understand whose perspective we were getting.

Also, I did not find any of the characters likable, and actually kind of annoying.

Plus, the storyline was a bit slow and boring at some times. I only enjoyed reading from Venus’ POV. The other POVs were just annoying.

I really wish I had enjoyed this more than I did, but I was struggling to get through this book.

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!!
DING DING DING we have a winner!! Best book I have read so far all year.

"I’m not unlike the planet I’m named for. At a great distance, Venus is beautiful, the brightest of stars in the sky. But what NASA discovered when they orbited her is that she’s actually an inhospitable planet, a boiling cauldron of poisonous gases. Come too close and you’d fry."

'My name is Venus Black' is the coming of age story of a convicted juvenile serving out her sentence and subsequently her release.

"Times like this, I almost miss Echo Glen . Not the place itself, but the way everything was already figured out for you. You might not like the plan for the day, but at least you didn’t have to make one up and then make everything happen all by yourself. Your meals, housing, and even a few pseudo friends came as part of the deal."

I absolutely loved this read. It was paced in such a suspenseful way. We knew Venus was a normal girl one day, and her life drastically changed the next. To top it all Venus learns that her brother is now missing. Venus struggles with not knowing if he is dead or alive, losing hope fast because there is nothing she can do while she serves out her sentence. The author knowingly dangles Venus' crime just ahead of us. Why and what she did to become a felon plays out as a well sort after mystery. Told in separate points of view, I was entranced with each and every well defined character that joined the plot along the way.

If you are looking for a typical Young Adult read. Beware! This book covers some tough issues with a heroine that tries to do the best she can with what she has been handed, and what she has been handed stinks! Regardless, the desperation faced through the whole novel only adds so many levels of feelings and disappointments these characters stirred up in me. I couldn't put it down until the very end.

This a great coming of age story. It was heartfelt and emotional. I really enjoyed Venus’s story. I would definitely recommend.
I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

My Name Is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd is a highly recommended debut coming-of-age novel that explores the repercussions of two crimes on two siblings. This is for mature YA readers.

It is 1980 and Venus Black is thirteen and living in Everett, Washington with her mother and stepfather. She is a good kid, straight A student, and loving sister. Venus is enamored with astronomy and wants to be an astronaut. While she refuses to talk about what happened the night she killed Raymond, her stepfather, she does blame her mother, Inez, for reason why it happened. We don't learn what happened until the end of the book, but we do begin to understand that Venus wanted to protect herself and Leo, her developmentally challenged (autistic) younger brother from Raymond. While Venus is locked up awaiting trial, her brother Leo is abducted and goes missing. Leo is seven, but looks much younger.

In 1986 at the age of nineteen Venus is released from the juvenile detention facility. Desperate to start over and try to live a normal life, she finds a job under a fake identity and tries to live a normal life in Seattle. She has no contact with her mother and Leo was never found. While Venus is trying to make a new life for herself, her past catches up with her and she realizes that she needs to face her past, talk to Inez, and try to find Leo.

The narrative follows Venus and what happens to Leo in alternating chapters in corresponding timelines. Both characters are treated with understanding, insight, and compassion. Leo's story line is particularly well-handled, considering the limitations the autism places on his ability to communicate with those around him. Lloyd has populated her novel with complicated well-developed characters, and handled them with empathy and compassion. There is a message about love, what constitutes a family, forgiveness, and the gray areas that can exist in determining what is right and wrong based on a legal foundation versus a humanitarian/emotional reaction.

While the plot moves along quickly and the narrative is very compelling, the actual writing is basically pretty simplistic. It is a YA novel, but that shouldn't mean you need to eliminate all complex sentences or language. I was caught up in the story, however, and concede it is YA so I just went with the straightforward plot and the predictability of the end. I did have to suspend disbelief in a couple cases, one major enough to cause an eye rolling moment. Still, this ends up being a feel-good, heartwarming novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House Publishing Group via Netgalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/02/my-name-is-venus-black.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2310799182
https://www.librarything.com/work/20641562/reviews/152474667
https://www.facebook.com/shetreadssoftly/
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/968609453372268544

This is more of a 3.5 stars than a flat 3. It kept me reading, was extremely well-written YA, and had a sympathetic main character in Venus. There are more positives about this book than complaints, but I did feel a little let down by the overly simplistic, la-di-da ending. Sure, end on a hopeful note, but I like when stories aren't tied up too neatly at the end, especially when in real life, that definitely wouldn't have happened.

While Venus' crime isn't talked about in full detail until pretty much the end of the book, this attempt to keep the mystery alive is a little unnecessary since there are hints earlier on. I did enjoy that Lloyd didn't overwrite Venus' guilt (or lack thereof) about her crime and seemed to have a great understanding of the psychology of someone in Venus' position. Same goes for her writing of Leo, which was done with compassion and an equal amount of understanding.

Overall, this was a solid story for YA readers (I'd say early high school?) that was clearly composed with a lot of love. I didn't adore this but I did enjoy it, and that's really all you can ask for.

This is pretty similar to All the Ugly and Wonderful Things in terms of disturbing factors and dysfunctional families. Though it’s not quite as dark as AtUaWT. Venus Black is actually a warm family story set against some dark background. Also, the romance in this one is minimal. I think this might appeal to a larger audience than AtUaWT do, since it’s not as dark or controversial. I liked both novels, though. It all comes down to personal tastes imo.

It also reminds me a bit of Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson, but of course, it's not quite as dark as that. I guess these stories are important to tell because they give us new perspectives when it comes to "the troubled youth". They might have something to say about their past, and we as a society robs them of that chance over and over again by dismissing their points. So there's nothing wrong with more than a few stories like this. I hope these books could do better than they're doing right now, though. It seems that it's harder for novels with dark topics, especially YA ones, to get out there and get the audience they deserve.

It's taken a bit to formulate my thoughts about My Name is Venus Black. This is a wonderful book with a truly memorable central character in Venus Black and I know that someone is going to snap up the film rights to it in no time. While formulating my review, I looked up the literal meaning of bildungsroman because I wasn't sure I could rightly apply it to a novel in which not just the protagonist but literally everyone in her sphere undergoes significant psychological and spiritual growth. It's a coming of age story in which adults grow up, too. The children of the story, from Piper to Tessa to Leo to Venus herself, are all so well developed, with the real quirkiness of childhood that any parent can appreciate, and they mature into wonderful people.

We first meet Venus Black when she is a scared, angry thirteen-year-old girl in police custody for having committed a (truly) shocking crime. She has just urinated on herself and as the kind policewoman gives her a change of clothes and a series of detectives, attorneys and therapists try to help her, She remains angrily silent and uncooperative. All she knows is that her mother Inez has failed her in every respect and her unrelenting anger and justifiable outrage burns intensely. However, Venus also worries constantly about what will become of her autistic younger half-sibling, Leo, the one person that she loves without reservation. Her fears become heightened when, while in police detention and awaiting trial for the awful thing she did, Leo disappears. Inez, her flawed-to-her-marrow mother, blames Venus for that, too. This early section of the book is utterly heartbreaking, especially to anyone who has worked with children in the juvenile justice system and knows that things really can play out like they do for Venus. (In my own state, she'd have been tried as an adult.) But hang in there. This is a story not just of redemption but of quiet human triumph.

When we next meet Venus she is nineteen years old, newly released from probably the nicest juvenile prison center ever, and now going by the name Annette in order to try to forge a new life for herself without all the baggage that comes with being Venus Black. As "Annette" builds a new life in Washington, we also keep pace with Leo, whose own story has developed along a parallel timeframe with Venus's in California.

Venus's spiritual evolution, from overcoming her anger and guilt to coming to a place of forgiveness of her mother's immense failures forms the core of this story. But there is similar growth in the secondary characters, as well. From the watershed moment when Inez faces her failures, to balancing Tessa and Tony's warm and loving enrichment of Leo's life with the human costs of their decisions, to Danny's written revelation, we root for these characters and for a happy resolution.

This is a triumphant debut novel by an author I look forward to reading more from in the future.

What a stunning debut! My god.
I finished reading it two days ago, and I'm still telling everyone who'll bother to listen, all about it. The story follows the life of Venus Black primarily from 13 years to 20 years and all that happens in between.

Goodreads Blurb- Venus Black is a straitlaced, straight-A student obsessed with the phenomena of astronomy—until the night she commits a shocking crime that tears her family apart and ignites a media firestorm. Venus refuses to talk about what happened or why, except to blame her mother. Adding to the mystery, Venus’s developmentally challenged younger brother, Leo, suddenly goes missing.

Five years later, Venus emerges from prison with a suitcase of used clothes, a fake identity, and a determination to escape her painful past. Estranged from her mother, and with her brother still missing, she sets out to make a fresh start, skittish and alone. But as new people enter her orbit—including a romantic interest and a young girl who seems like a mirror image of her former lost self—old wounds resurface, and Venus realizes that she can’t find a future while she’s running from her past.

The book beautifully captures families ties, complexities, love, and hate. It makes you hate the protagonists, love them, feel bad fro them but never pity them. Each one is a well developed character with strong motives and connection to the past that they cannot undo or overcome until they are forced to face their pasts.

The plot is beautifully revealed, the characters are painfully unfolded and the strength of hope is constant explored. A must read for anyone looking to dive into the complexities of human relationships and the strength needed to maintain them.

Author - Heather Lloyd
Publisher - The Dial press
Year - 2018
Rating - 4/5
Source - NetGallery

Beautiful and heartfelt, I simply was sucked in and could not put this book down! Venus makes you feel like you know her, or her, I have some piece of her with you . Masterful writing, and characters that I will miss as if I know them. Amazing work!

This is such a heart wrenching novel about forgiveness and growing up. The multiple view points really made this book. I thought it to be really interesting and that ending...so good!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Heather Lloyd for the opportunity to read and review this book - loved it!

This book grabbed me from the beginning - a bright, "good" teenage girl confesses to shooting her stepfather although she won't talk about the reasons. She also blames her mom and won't speak to her. She's put into a juvenile detention center and then hears that her autistic younger brother, Leo, has gone missing. In a blink of an eye, Venus has no one. When she's released as a young adult, she finds her way to Seattle with a fake name and ID, a few Goodwill clothes to her name, and desperately trying to stay away from the media. She soon finds herself surrounded by a small circle of people she cares about, even while pushing them away.

This was a beautifully written book - most of it from the viewpoint of Venus and Leo, with the other characters' voices intermixed. I cared so deeply about all of these people and couldn't put this book down to see how it would end for them. When I read the last page, this is one of those books that made me sigh, and then made me want to start it again!

My Name is Venus Black is being published on Tuesday - you must read this book! This would be an amazing book club selection. There are so many things to discuss - just what makes up a family? How can we forgive each other and ourselves?

This is Heather Lloyd's first novel - amazing. I can't wait to read her next one!

An engaging story about choices and family. Fantastic character development. I loved the authors use of time, flashbacks and a slight air of mystery surrounding Venus.

This book grabbed me from the very beginning and didn't let go. The teenaged Venus Black murders her stepfather and her brother with autism is kidnapped and what happens after that is a sweet loving story of everyone involved finding themselves, learning how to love, and how to cope with a life not giving you what you expected. All of the characters are compellingly written and the dramatics of the plot don't take away from the everyday ordinariness of their lives. Occasionally it reads like a debut novel, but if this is the author's first effort, I certainly hope that this book is successful and she continues to write.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I heard great things about this book and was excited to read it. I loved the characters and thought they were all very well developed. The storyline was great. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I think I would have given this a 5, but there were just a couple of things that didn’t quite line up. Also a couple of parts seemed under developed, like the author rushed through them. Otherwise her writing style was very good and it really flowed. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

I loved everything about this book! It drew me in immediately. I never wanted to put it down. If it weren’t for having to work and parent, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have moved until I finished it.

The story begins with Venus on the night of her arrest. You don’t know exactly what she has done or why. You find out soon what her charge is, but the why comes much later in the story.

I had a soft spot for pretty much every character. Another reviewer wrote “the end is just the right color.” I couldn’t agree more. Read this book! It’s a top for me and would even read it again!

Thank you, Random House/The Dial Press and Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy. This is a new fave!

This is a very gripping story, by debut novelist Heather Lloyd. She has an amazing way to show ordinary lives pushed into extraordinary circumstances. It's touching with heartwarming characters and an awesome plot. You will love the main character, her search for peace, of where she belongs in the world. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I think we'll see a lot more from this author.
I just reviewed My Name Is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd. #NetGalley

My Name Is Venus Black is a thrilling journey of family dysfunction, but also of redemption and healing. It is beautifully written and hard to put down. In fact, I didn’t put it down until i finished!