Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Black Flowers, White Lies
Black Flowers, White Lies
Black Flowers, White Lies
Ebook235 pages6 hours

Black Flowers, White Lies

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Her father died before she was born, but Ella Benton knows they have a supernatural connection. Since her mother discourages these beliefs, Ella keeps her cemetery visits secret. But she may not be the only one with secrets. Ella’s mother might be lying about how Dad died sixteen years ago. Newfound evidence points to his death in a psychiatric hospital, not as a result of a tragic car accident as her mother always claimed. After a lifetime of just the two of them, Mom suddenly feels like a stranger.

When a handprint much like the one Ella left on her father’s tombstone mysteriously appears on the bathroom mirror, at first she wonders if Dad is warning her of danger as he did once before. If it’s not a warning, could her new too-good-to-be-true boyfriend be responsible for the strange occurrences? Or maybe it’s the grieving building superintendent whose dead daughter strongly resembles Ella? As the unexplained events become more frequent and more sinister, Ella becomes terrified about whoor whatmight harm her.

Soon the evidence points to someone else entirely: Ella herself. What if, like her father, she’s suffering from a breakdown? In this second novel from award-winning author Yvonne Ventresca, Ella desperately needs to find answers, no matter how disturbing the truth might be.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readerspicture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSky Pony
Release dateOct 4, 2016
ISBN9781510709973
Black Flowers, White Lies
Author

Yvonne Ventresca

Yvonne Ventresca is the award-winning author of Black Flowers, White Lies (IPPY Gold Medal for National YA fiction) and Pandemic (SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award). In addition to her novels, Yvonne’s other work includes two nonfiction books and several short stories selected for anthologies, including the previous IWSG anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can learn more at YvonneVentresca.com, where she features resources for writers.

Related to Black Flowers, White Lies

Related ebooks

YA Social Themes For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Black Flowers, White Lies

Rating: 3.5454546363636363 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

11 ratings3 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I didn't like this book. It was so obvious what was happening--and what was going to happen still-- from the start. The details and other plot points were so tacky and felt so forced to get the story moving in the direction the author wanted them to. The dialogues and conversations were stilted and unnatural. Every character was as flat as a character and felt very much like they were molded to serve a specific purpose.**SPOILER**Blake--Ariella or Ella's stepbrother--his character felt like it was created after ticking the box off of every "signs and symptoms he's a sociopath" in a "Sociopaths for Dummies" reference book.Every detail was trying to be clever but it failed miserably at it, tbfh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was the perfect October read. It had a creep factor, tons of mystery, and a thrilling plot that held my attention through the final page. It had plenty of twists and turns and a jaw dropping reveal at the end. I found it to be a fast paced and filled with lust, charm, gore, and thrills.

    Ella's mom is about to get remarried and along with a stepdad comes a gorgeous stepbrother. He is almost too perfect. Good looks, great ideas, overly friendly... It's easy to get wrapped up in the charm. Especially when he is helping her figure out the mystery behind all of the crazy in her life. Shortly before the marriage... dark, twisted things begin to happen. Black flowers show up at the cemetery, muddy prints find their way to mirrors, bloody hand prints drip from the walls, and sick twisted secrets begin to surface... It all builds up and eventually brings Ella crumbling down with it. It pushes her to believe lies and it forces her to think the worst of herself. While there are a few suspects only one stood out to me. Unfortunately, I was wrong and left dumbfounded. I sort of expected it, but I definitely didn't want to believe it...

    Looking back at the book as a whole... I am pleasantly surprised by the strong character development and rich content. The Author really packed a lot in 272 pages and for that I am thankful. I thought the story was unique and brought a lot to the table. It was diverse in that it had a little bit for each reader. Whether you like paranormal, romance, horror, thrillers, or ya contemporary you will find a piece to love in this story. I highly recommend it. Especially during the Halloween time!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book had the potential to be an exciting, psychological thriller but, in my opinion, it never delivered. I found most of the plot slow and very tame, and the end left me disappointed. Many of my questions were unanswered and, as a reader, I never understood why the 'villain' tormented Ella the way he did. It didn't make sense! The characters were bland and the only one I had any connection with was Oscar, Ella's cat. Basically, "Black Flowers, White Lies" was a ho hum read.

Book preview

Black Flowers, White Lies - Yvonne Ventresca

Ƴ/abook_preview_excerpt.html}[ےFv>\I˱ErcIcՍR(L`?L_*?LQZωK^DpПx4׵ۅ?Oq!/N;XU>O؟q',UC%m]s3MQGψc" &K>RRz;{@f׶q 9N\HwZ[1^Үz)聏Mp8B= < @]\^:ǹRyZ?N`֧҅p8wU/=wXV֒)Ue?a- _z=Mׁ}@6%XKKs"ťquSu8%wUOչ,@=~=ڀPi@k{{wDZ=wq䱰^--~ycW{ |<ǚt_)tx0m)){#|j.a \n(Vyh\m~>fh}:8s&$Hht^v/ԑj6TX0b:qd{,w\nqa/"iep9>-2v>c<7b mJ"N w#N9_Jxy9|Q0Αztӊ'ϻ9/׻jrlg>:Ôz!6 ^x΍+W]v>rvoli&gKz6,٬DNA>DzF3tK֍\rA5t nxH2z+l8ɝp/c;]MɷOq3,ipb:.v5 ֌cܕ5u䧬_l"4"u" ˓7B :ĞFlqfԚgʥi[PdQmCsږC'`FpC#QI6tlCI%gZEy o V,ڷ뿙ӞQd$i3-B]9uPP~ * 3 S>՘!&Z,xm|NSB)G@Cx\ޟqMM;g,m@+fAC2ةbK=as2)q͌anN>#Np1h⡖_ 2OrJWȿ'"<8MI[uHIA_В cģL*\5|Ȱ6[lV),%Nk)JMLX rIP,Ezc@{,7h$ "AtOv x#ߕa7"U(C"JL1=V|-$xخaY-=4k`qs$BxLceVw:)/(QJ$_p@1tݢVsDgT N$vϠGpb\g"E7 f# Z) < 4E `!Ny@W\@Qkc}~ĹndWgCtzD!6t":B{whȤ%|_+K㉟ G=8)R \Ԉ&G<d0M!|~^ꦤL ~Y  xT\POH`෇VbU|iK(<>8Y>JRn_LKr0q\0en >Z5˜gC*$U.I* )`ӈOOWk#h\ !.(V\@zA+R8gsbFlw I%pk#9ͬH$ I1͖:0/*2!œ22(|''t$J;' y. ])[f# pf{WG^Ȼ;LQIh^>a Ɉw疽S*9)Nm'jh| eM?+`aGtT}6y rn.LA0 /WDi-3.almGcZ>jVOb0o{!>_sASZZbV!22JBC 薬0.2M =Pĉjq :3R!^V]sP"s 8rX?])Zns*š̾xJbeX90n5\5"PB(5N0?ΗJ/X @2xX׸Zyp7pqN']< t@W;WeY,]z@9 K01-EdSvҧ|ȕ,_SM(􏡨[X4AhnE^G,RγJu?nY߹ Aפ9|*J*BN1+>Yܒ%LZX> IMfy?#KLRe5e_gd}\|pmBzNwk/#=\%1Yo[Em(< f-}SɳB*k9GIa]f\kVzת0,P)vK@MtY>-T`lDXiI,!P @)~]L;\`>S*lHex-cS2m8Z>Yr L =x#spJ39-LE637, vw' xPH>ϲĪ˘<(l|;2@ʾ%r"NMvir5>"[r-pSx@V/@d  f>kn]K*&??h!:!:iz)XJ9|o0ֺmL+B.~{g#s0!9,, [}K(p&n uOY.B*O*jcL17M4Z\A]>2CVM\ _^h÷|s\6T< ]!h ñ n\_EKbRYsUcOzz6`ּ{Rn2c԰~g1e_bП7?T~T{~YJw=aa}?/޺,en&نT`w"P swn8g|ho1  G4 JBZdQ;ԨHrE7~<9T:mu8}~a [oBnyL viPrqVs*@@ֳ~K6Wfc6*]׋yRj ҫd;2IkoDӍgj@󺐌wôpj6ɉ:עH[W-ߖ|gj9q+w3:s.N6vR3ε|mY۳|21 /? [+'7i8) Sꅧmܥp7Mh>(Ү5j,\u >J,۱&q"u RK.`wz-*.>y+9oHWj׻V`@,_g8&6mǰ6q2~akEOF֎ veBFl+Dnqy#͖aAħh + xTo//A*89fƒ]|ퟬXF&0Y q.2ۚڌ_)DKh!_žǶ^s_Ri\P} iM[8kCІsJ5sx"{+$k*]n=L;󘳥ieX:XQX,3!PfDL7?3 +3K@-0!1w7r)H@O\g[y8QWo/IiZ%Rk^G3kI"buEF:&3;eꛙ"M)V؆׶V$b« kt++`f6QxrXdw*ëU8!2ccXЧm;vZӱ{K ?XqR8*(Q/2^Z\.l)qdk8_eּx摆FI9o kfdDv״<qh Z!IR dµfkpC_XOS~t3)髻jC# ,,ȲJ #1:Nl8B6Gj 1Ucm6ž7cXO,\zg`; )ndݭy"{Q˩l#Q~ ~P"6nTXhx_Yif_&jHCR<kRT] E08JmXq+D7qrfDZb>_}a!`wK|j4W{STeeJ'ct8.{N;@<(^cG9щ j^%?kHR0VH\OI\vyu9)M|\flߩcw /:mjMMr!g3{{6UU[eDگa6 X&$HL͍zYƵm)@93GEC&V֯f7_4syj:}gcrqr5ܭ$[)'_~kVtYcm ]/N+1 Ly9wX]$eF_/M\&YC@:@ Vr4?N>
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1