I like Violet, but she seems to have the same revelation in every book. ( )

Melissa Walker's Violet trilogy offers a fun, pop-culture-filled look at the modeling industry from the point of view of a regular teen girl plucked from obscurity to make it big on the runways of New York, Brazil, and Paris. ( )

Reviewed by Marie Robinson for TeensReadToo.com

I have been putting off writing this review for several weeks. Not because I didn't enjoy the book. I did. I really enjoyed reading it. I would eagerly start each chapter wondering what was going to happen next. The characters felt real. The situations the title character, Violet, found herself in, the self-doubt she experienced, her relationships with friends - it all felt remarkably authentic and, better yet, entertaining.

Yet, I hesitated. Violet is a real girl, with real insecurities. She struggles to fit in and to find herself, to find the voice she needs to confidently move through life. In previous volumes, Violet became a model only to find that the glamorous life of a model was not nearly as glamorous as she thought it would be. She left modeling and enrolled in college. That's where this book begins, with Violet's freshman year at Vassar. The insecurity that she felt trying to fit in to the modeling world has been replaced with insecurity trying to fit in at college.

All of this insecurity sounds tiring, but in reality, it's very true to what teenage girls face when they transition from girl to young adult. Where I hesitated was with the blas� way that alcohol is used by Violet and her friends. All of these college freshmen are underage. Yet at party after party Violet will walk over to the keg to pour herself a beer, or the boy she is dating will have one too many. The use of alcohol as a party-time staple is woven into the plot so well that the book makes it seem as though underage drinking is a natural part of the college experience.

When Violet finally bares her soul to a good friend, she finds the courage to do so only when under the influence. She and the friend go out and share memories over a few beers. They are served in a Manhatten bar where the bartender doesn't even blink.

It's tough for me to reconcile this while at the same time reading news stories in today's papers about how underage drinking on college campuses has gotten out of hand. Walker wrote a really good story. Even though it's the third book in a series, without having read the first two I could jump in and enjoy this one. There is just enough background on established characters to fill in a new reader without making the first third of the book feel like a recap. There are some great secondary characters. Violet's experiences finding herself, making friends, learning how to stand up for herself - this is all very good stuff. I just hope that the girls who read it and relate to Violet don't also absorb the not-so-subtle message that alcohol is an undeniable part of the college experience. ( )

Susan says: This is the third book in a series of books about Violet and her modeling career. Again, one of the things I like best about these books is the connection to Chapel Hill, and this time she mentions several restaurants even I had eaten at, so that was kind of fun. In this book, Violet has to really choose between modeling and college, and I don't think anyone is surprised that she chooses college. She was always ambivalent about modeling. In this book her friends become more important to her - she is really independent (and independently wealthy). Violet also tries to forge a romance with her best friend Roger, which is still up in the air at the end of the book. I'm not sure if this is the last book in this series or not - it wrapped up her modeling, but it seemed like there was still room for one more book in this series. Fun books that talk about a lot of important issues including body image, friendship and love. ( )

Violet is back! She’s headed of to her freshman year at Vassar, and she is hoping to leave the modeling world behind once and for all. If only it was that easy. College life is great and she has unbelievably awesome new friends. But her phone is going off the hook constantly with calls from Angela her agent. Even though Violet may be done with modeling the modeling world isn’t done with her, she’s still under contract.She still supports her healthy model lingo and she continues to get a bad wrap from her “extra pounds.” Violet writes an article for the school paper declaring her views and lands herself an internship at Teen Fashionista, working under Roger’s new girlfriend Chloe. Did I mention that Violet finally realized that she is in love with Roger. Makes things a tad bit uncomfortable to say the least.Now that Violet is done modeling, she has to figure out who she is without it, all while staying true to her self image-- despite the constant ridicule. Can she sort through her boy angst and leave the model drama behind for good!?Could it be possible for this series to get better as it goes along? I feel like I have a new best friend after I’ve spent all this time with dear Violet. I have to say that this was my favorite book of the series. I really hope that the series doesn’t end here. Although, I did talk to Melissa and she says it is....... unless the publisher asks for another. I'm devastated to say the least.I think Violet became the person I always thought she was in this novel. Everyone has their insecurities, but I think that Violet finally came to terms with hers. I continue to love Walker’s writing, it just floats of the page it’s such a beautiful story. Could it be possible that she impressed me more?! Violet’s character is so realistically portrayed, I couldn’t help but feel her emotions as she felt them through the story. And that isn’t something that happens to me every time I read a book. I absolutely recommend this series. And don’t let the fact that it is about modeling and fashion turn you away. The story is about so much more than that. ( )