Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott

Synopsis

DOMINO: A runaway with blood on her hands.

CAIN: A silent boy about to explode.

MADAM KARINA: A woman who demands obedience.

WILSON: The one who will destroy them all.

When Madam Karina finds Domino in an alleyway, she offers her a position at her girls’ home in secluded West Texas. With no alternatives and an agenda of her own, Domino accepts. It isn’t long before she is fighting her way up the ranks to gain the madam’s approval…and falling for Cain, the mysterious boy living in the basement.

But the madam has horrible secrets. So do the girls in the house. So does Cain. Escaping is harder than Domino expects, though, because the madam doesn’t like to lose inventory. But then, Madam Karina doesn’t know about the danger living inside Domino’s mind.

Madam Karina doesn’t know about Wilson.

Goodreads

Thoughts

This book is hard for me to review. First its hard to decide what genre to put it in. Thriller? Contemporary? Mental Illness? It felt like it was less mystery thriller and more suspenseful. And while mental illness plays a huge part of this book, I think the point was on the bullying, manipulation, and revenge. It takes place in a contemporary setting but is definitely not a sweet little romance. It’s like it needs its own category.

I’ll start with a few things I do know. One, the plot was hecka interesting. Like I read 96% of this book in one day. Which is pretty hard for me to do. I couldn’t stop reading it. I read through my entire Monday night at work. Whoops. The only reason I didn’t read the entire book in one day was that I started it on a night I had some anxiety and needed to set it aside until the next day. But from chapter one I was pulled into this story. Partially because I liked the way Domino and Wilson treated each other and their conversations. But also because I wanted to see what happens. You pretty much know what is going to happen, in a general sense. But I could feel Domino’s emotions pouring off of her even as she tried to keep the wall she had built around herself sturdy and unbreakable.

Scott’s writing style was easy to follow. All of Wilson’s thoughts were italicized so I was never confused about who was speaking. I really liked that both Wilson and Domino were strong characters, just in different ways. They each had their voice and way about doing things. All of the characters were authentic and decently fleshed out. I would’ve liked to have seen more backstory for a few of the characters but that would have changed the tone of the book I’m sure.

Though it’s never explicitly stated, Domino and her love interest have Dissociative  Identity Disorder. (Professionals no longer call it multiple personalities.) DID happens when a person experiences real trauma and they start to dissociate from the trauma by disconnecting yourself from your feelings, thoughts, memories and actions. As a child Domino’s mind created Wilson to deal with the pain she was experiencing. For Cain, he learned how to turn his emotions off and not feel. It was interesting to read about for sure and gives the reader something to think about. While I do not have DID, it did seem like Scott did at least some if not a lot of research on the matter in order to perfect her characters. I was glad that Domino and Cain weren’t  stereotypical villains but are just a people who are doing what they have to do to take care of themselves.

I also enjoyed that Domino and Cain weren’t jumping into each other’s arms because they wanted to fix the other one or because they thought love could heal their issues. Domino and Cain became friends through friendly conversations and saw something each other that they recognized in themselves. Like meeting a kindred spirit. Their relationship also wasn’t that important to the story. Their friendship helped keep each other safe but this is not a love story. And I appreciated that.

Overall

I would recommend this for anyone who likes a suspenseful book that will keep you turning pages. Trigger Warning for Abuse, Bullying, and Blood.

Have you heard anything about this book? Are you interested in reading it? Let me know in the comments down below. Until next time friends.