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jenhurst's review
3.0
This is a really interesting premise but unfortunately it involves a pandemic. I have Covid fatigue and have no desire to read pandemic books for a few years.
radmartigan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
caakle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
grakreads's review
4.75
This was a SPECTACULAR work of pandemic fiction. Oh my goodness. So many important messages, characters, and viewpoints. I loved every moment of The Violence! Well... Except for some of the animal violence. That was very hard to read. Definitely recommend folks check triggers or reach out to me about that if they're interested in reading.
holaquedee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bookish_withsky's review
4.0
This took a turn I wasn’t expecting, though I also can’t say I’m entirely upset about it. This book definitely makes you hate people. There were a few I’d have happily seen ‘get got.’ The ending felt good. Pretty solid read and maybe one of my favorites this month. Some could say it went off on a tangent or that the ending was too easily wrapped up. I liked it though and got what I wanted. I feel like it gives a decently realistic and uncomfortable look into what abuse and violence within a family does to everyone involved.
pinot_and_pageturners_318's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
onegalonelife27's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The Violence starts out with a single paragraph detailing the first instance of well the Violence in which one woman beats another to death with salad dressing then the first goes back to shopping like nothing happened. Who is then of course, tackled to the ground and arrested for the crime. It notes that once it’s realized the Violence is a disease, the first woman is able to sue the state for compensation. It also notes that later sufferers were not as lucky.
This book is focused on three generations of women, Chelsea, Patricia, and Ella, each either facing or faced abuse in the past. Chelesea-the mother-the seemingly perfect housewife struggling to keep the perfection going for her husband, Patricia-the grandmother- former struggling waitress turned lioness of the local country club using her charm and wit, and Ella-the daughter-high schoolgirl finding herself lonely between fake friends and a pushy boyfriend with behavior that’s all too familiar to her. As the three navigate through their lives, the Violence an illness that sends its victims to a killing frenzy without warning, and leaving them with no memory of the attack. As this disease spreads, one of these women comes up with a plan in order to escape herlife. Of course, the Violence can strike at any place, any time, to any one…
It’s interesting to see how each has woman has adapted to abuse they’ve endured-Chlesea struggles to keep things peaceful for her husband, but still keeps holding onto hope to find a way to escape the life, Patricia has hardened herself to the point of being ruthless, even to her own family, and Ella is withdrawn, quiet, keeping mainly to herself, not really trusting anyone. As the novel progresses, switching between their points of view, we see how each woman comes to adapt to the new circumstances in their lives.
I really enjoyed how Chelsea and Patricia changed over time, going in opposite directions to learn more about themselves, though I felt like Ella’s path was a bit too plot convenient, compared to her mother and grandmother, but still entertaining. I was so gripped into learning what would happen to these women I ended up devouring the book. I liked how this took place in a post-covid world, drawing parallels to the previous pandemic from the government’s handling of the misinformation and more.
Overall, a great book. HIghly recommend it if you like complex female characters doing what it takes to survive and some great catharsis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
kaelaceleste's review
3.0
Interesting........................
Not quite sure what to make of this one. I was drawn into this by the cover (sue me) and the premise seemed interesting enough - a strange new pandemic takes hold of the country, forcing people to commit random acts of murder with no control or warning. And the blurb made it seem like a cool revenge story where women free themselves from their abusers by means of this pandemic. And...I guess that's sort of what it was, but not exactly in the way I was expecting.
The story is told from the POV of three women - Chelsea, her mom Patricia, and her daughter Ella. Their stories intertwine and we see how the violence affects them in different ways - both the titular capital-V Violence, and for Chelsea and Ella, the domestic abuse that takes place in their own home.
It's odd...This book struggles from not really knowing what it wants to be, I think. It hooks you with an awesome opening scene of a nice old lady randomly killing someone in a grocery store with salad dressing, seemingly just because. It's definitely violent and there are for sure some gruesome descriptions and deaths in here. But I would say it strays from a horror/dystopian novel into more of a family drama that happens to take place in a world where people randomly kill each other. It's got a weird sort of almost-vibe of dystopian society but also they still have things like electricity and cell phones and it's just oddly in-between...it didn't really work for me. Felt like a way to get around the trope of plot holes that could have been solved with a cell phone but not fully committing to being end-of-the-world scary. The tone was really weird, especially the closer you get to the ending.
As you'd expect from the title, there's a decent amount of violence in this book, but, the much more disturbing scenes come from the extremely detailed descriptions of physical abuse, especially early on. I'm not someone who has any kind of history with abuse and I still thought it was a bit hard to get through, so maybe avoid if that's at all triggering for you. There's also a very graphic description of animal death and later mention of finding two cats whose owner had died...both were pretty disturbing.
Anyway. Brief summary with spoilers...
Like how odd right?? The tone was just all over the place, it truly had no idea what it wanted to be. It was also long as hell - there is no reason this needed to be over 500 pages! It also bothered me that we were seemingly supposed to care about Patricia as much as Ella and Chelsea (as she's the third narrator) when she literally sucked beyond belief for 80% of the book and just magically had a turnaround at the end. I don't wike it!
I don't think there's much else to say - it definitely wasn't bad, in fact the writing was pretty good and compelling - but it just wasn't super satisfying. I finished it pretty quickly so clearly it did something right? Cool idea, just misguided imo.
2.5-3 ish.
Not quite sure what to make of this one. I was drawn into this by the cover (sue me) and the premise seemed interesting enough - a strange new pandemic takes hold of the country, forcing people to commit random acts of murder with no control or warning. And the blurb made it seem like a cool revenge story where women free themselves from their abusers by means of this pandemic. And...I guess that's sort of what it was, but not exactly in the way I was expecting.
The story is told from the POV of three women - Chelsea, her mom Patricia, and her daughter Ella. Their stories intertwine and we see how the violence affects them in different ways - both the titular capital-V Violence, and for Chelsea and Ella, the domestic abuse that takes place in their own home.
It's odd...This book struggles from not really knowing what it wants to be, I think. It hooks you with an awesome opening scene of a nice old lady randomly killing someone in a grocery store with salad dressing, seemingly just because. It's definitely violent and there are for sure some gruesome descriptions and deaths in here. But I would say it strays from a horror/dystopian novel into more of a family drama that happens to take place in a world where people randomly kill each other. It's got a weird sort of almost-vibe of dystopian society but also they still have things like electricity and cell phones and it's just oddly in-between...it didn't really work for me. Felt like a way to get around the trope of plot holes that could have been solved with a cell phone but not fully committing to being end-of-the-world scary. The tone was really weird, especially the closer you get to the ending.
As you'd expect from the title, there's a decent amount of violence in this book, but, the much more disturbing scenes come from the extremely detailed descriptions of physical abuse, especially early on. I'm not someone who has any kind of history with abuse and I still thought it was a bit hard to get through, so maybe avoid if that's at all triggering for you. There's also a very graphic description of animal death and later mention of finding two cats whose owner had died...both were pretty disturbing.
Anyway. Brief summary with spoilers...
Spoiler
the first half of the book sets up that Chelsea's husband sucks, her mom sucks, and she's essentially a trophy wife and stay at home mom who is miserable and abused by her husband behind closed doors. Her husband gets taken away for having The Violence (a false claim made by Chelsea to get him away from their family) but due to developing the disease herself, she's forced to leave the kids with her truly awful mom who only cares about showing off her husband's wealth to anyone who will listen. Chaos ensues. Ella ends up separated from evil Patricia and her little sister and happens to meet some grad students who have created a vaccine for the disease. Chelsea kills someone and ends up joining a traveling gang of misfits who stage fake Violence-induced wrestling matches for profit...??? And Patricia ends up bonding with Brooklyn, the younger daughter, and realizing she has been a terrible person for a long time. It all ends with everybody meeting up with Chelsea miraculously at the same time, including evil husband, who she kills with her new buff fighting skills and they live happily ever after and literally the last scene is them going to Disney World.Like how odd right?? The tone was just all over the place, it truly had no idea what it wanted to be. It was also long as hell - there is no reason this needed to be over 500 pages! It also bothered me that we were seemingly supposed to care about Patricia as much as Ella and Chelsea (as she's the third narrator) when she literally sucked beyond belief for 80% of the book and just magically had a turnaround at the end. I don't wike it!
I don't think there's much else to say - it definitely wasn't bad, in fact the writing was pretty good and compelling - but it just wasn't super satisfying. I finished it pretty quickly so clearly it did something right? Cool idea, just misguided imo.
2.5-3 ish.