Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott Published by Entangled Teen on May 16th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thrillers
Pages: 366
Source: Blog Tour, NetGalley
My content rating: Mature YA (Lots of violence, including attempts at sexual violence, Hints at prostitution)
My rating:
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 discovers 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.
Okay, here’s the deal: This book is seriously messed up! It kind of reminds me of a train wreck you can’t look away from—not because it’s bad, by any means, but because the characters and the situation are so incredibly, intensely broken and dark.
What Fed My Addiction:
- Surreal contemporary? The book is interesting because I was never quite sure what I was reading. I assumed from the beginning that it was sort of a dark fantasy/paranormal story, but after a while I determined there weren’t really any fantastical or paranormal elements, with the possible exception of Wilson—who I couldn’t quite figure out. Yet, the book didn’t read like a contemporary exactly either. The story involves human trafficking, but the “houses” with their systems of pay and the way you would reach the next house—it all felt incredibly surreal, like a contemporary on crack or something. And I couldn’t tell if the characters were all just crazy or if there was something mildly supernatural going on. View Spoiler » I have to say that I was intrigued enough that it all worked in a crazy sort of way.
- Dark, dark, dark. If you like your characters dark and a bit unhinged, this is the sort of book for you. I figured out pretty early on what was haunting Domino, but the details didn’t unfold until very late in the book and I was definitely kept guessing. And things just got more and more intense as the book went on. They maybe even went a little too dark for me at the end—but I’ll confess that I was riveted, and I wasn’t about to put this book down!
- Poppet. Poppet is Domino’s best friend at Madame Karina’s house, and she’s a spot of sunshine in an otherwise bleak book. Her friendship with Domino is first built on mutual need, but it soon transforms into something deeper. I pretty much loved everything about Poppet.
- The romance. Cain is a dangerously mysterious guy with an obvious past—someone who Domino can relate to. He’s the strong but silent type (at first I thought maybe he didn’t speak at all), and you definitely want him in your corner. Cain and Domino balanced each other in their craziness and they understood each other in ways no one else could, making for an irresistible romance..
What Left Me Hungry for More:
- Small feeling of “What the heck did I just read?” Honestly, this book is so messed up that you can’t help but be a bit repulsed while also being drawn to it. It also takes kind of a long time to get warmed up—with lots of hints about the darkness but nothing really full-blown messed up until toward the end. Which I guess is good because I don’t think I could have handled it if the whole book had been as intense as the end, but it also made me spend some time wallowing in the weirdness. Still, the sense of mystery was high and I was not in any way bored—I was too busy trying to figure out what I was reading!
I actually think I summed this book up best when I called it a contemporary on crack. It’s incredibly dark and more than a little strange. If you were a fan of Nevernight and you want to give something a bit less fantasy a try, I think you’d really like this one. I waffled a bit on my rating for this book, but I finally settled on 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
I love today’s top five addictions list! Victoria Scott gave me this fun list of her Top Writing Snack Attack Addictions. Check it out below!
Victoria Scott’s Top Writing Snack Attack Addictions
I’m going to take the “Feed Your Fiction Addiction” name pretty literally and share my top writing snacks!
1. Popcorn
This one always tops the list. It’s tasty. It’s low mess, which means I can easily munch on it as I’m writing without wreaking havoc on my keyboard. And it’s basically the perfect entertainment food, so it goes well with when I get really into a story.
2. Gummy bears
These have a lot of the same good qualities as popcorn — tasty and low mess. But they also have the added bonus of being sweet!
3. Pretzels
Can you tell my theme is foods that don’t make a mess? It’s basically the most important thing in a writing snack! Pretzels have the same good qualities as the gummy bears, except these ones are deliciously salty.
4. Granola bars
These work great as quick power up snacks in between scenes. Plus I write a lot of adventure books, and my characters could use a granola bar or three.
5. Cotton candy
My all time favorite! This snack is messy, messy, so it’s more of an end-of-day treat after I write all the words. But man, it is oh-so-worth-it! Also, pink is the color to choose here. Blue cotton candy is an abomination. And by “abomination,” I mean it’s my second choice.
Oh, man, I am right there with you when it comes to cotton candy, Victoria. I don’t even care that I’m just eating pure sugar with a bit of flavoring (and a whole lot of coloring). It’s heaven. Sticky heaven!
About the Author
Victoria Scott is the acclaimed author of eight books for young adults. Her novels are sold in fourteen different countries, and she loves receiving fan mail from across the world. Victoria loves high fashion, big cities, and pink cotton candy. You can find her online at VictoriaScott.com.
Signed paperback of The Collector, a signed paperback of Titans, and a signed galley of Hear the Wolves.
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26 responses to “Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott: Review, Giveaway & Scott’s Top 5 Writing Snack Attack Addictions”
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A “contemporary on crack” sounds like a book I need in my life. Thanks for telling me about this one!
Ha! That description seemed fitting and it looks like it caught a lot of people’s eye.
That synopsis sounds kickass, to be honest. How could this not make my book shopping list?! I hope I’ll be able to appreciate the “messiness” of the plot, regardless.
This one is quite an interesting read, so if you’re intrigued, I say go for it and add it to that shopping list!
Oh wow, this one sounds even darker that I had imagined. And I am 100% intrigued! This one is already on my TBR and my interest level just notched up 100%!
Glad I could make you even more interested in it!
I’d have to take off granola and add Jelly Bellys.
Granola’s way too healthy, right? 🙂
And LOUD! We need to add some peach tea or mint tea to the list too.
Hmmm … I’m not a tea drinker. I’ll have to add coffee. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I definitely don’t mind weird or dark, so I’m certainly curious. And mm…popcorn, pretzels, and gummy bears are all things I love too!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Yes, Victoria Scott is a woman after my own heart with her junk food. 🙂
Your review has me all kinds of curious. I love dark and want to know about Wilson. I am going to listen to an audio sample if it’s available. Thanks again for the heads up today. I truly appreciated it.
No problem about the heads-up! It always feels a little weird to point out an error, but there are some things I just know I’d want to know about, and in those cases I do it. 🙂
Oh wow, you’ve definitely piqued my curiosity. I do enjoy reading about characters who are a bit unhinged so I think I’m going to give this one a try. Great review!
These characters are definitely unhinged, so you’ve got a plus there! 🙂
You really kinda had me at contemporary on crack but then I got to characters dark and unhinged and…yep. I’m sold! LOL You really do have my curiosity piqued, Nicole, so this one will definitely be added to my hoard…um, I mean my TBR stack. 🙂
Ha! Yes, if dark and unhinged is your thing, you will definitely be pleased!
love that summary! contemporary on crack! I’m not a lot into contemporary but when you put it like that! 🙂 isn’t it something when you find yourself repulsed but also pulled into that repulsion. we bookworms can be very questionable people LOL
Very questionable indeed!
interesting because I thought it was a fantasy as well, but it does look so interesting
It really looks (and sounds) like a fantasy, so I was surprised.
Digging the sound of this one, and it would be my first read from this author. Nice review!
I loved Titans, which is the only other book I’ve read by Scott.
This sounds like something that I would like. I like books that are a bit different and the dark characters also are appealing. Great review!
If you like dark characters, I’m guessing you’ll enjoy this one!