Here there's 'Violence' with a capital V: It's 2025. Covid is finally over but now there's a new plague which is showing up in warm places like Florida. People who come down with the disease suddenly go into a murderous rage and kill whoever or whatever is near them for no apparent reason. When the 'the storm' passes, they have no recollection of what occurred, until they see the aftermath.

And then there's 'violence' with a small v: the mental and physical abuse the strong inflict on the weak. Unfortunately quite often these 'monsters' are husbands, fathers, boyfriends who abuse those they claim to love most. No, it's not always men who abuse, but more often than not it is. Quite often this is hidden from the world at large--no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

This story deals with both kinds of violence and for that reason I'm labeling the book 'feminist horror.' There is a scene of horrible animal cruelty and much graphic violence, so sensitive readers should be aware. The author herself has experienced abuse at the hands of her father so the novel is somewhat cathartic for her.

The main characters are Chelsea Martin, her husband David, their 17-year-old daughter Ella, their 5-year-old daughter Brooklyn and Chelsea's mother Patricia. David has had Chelsea firmly under his thumb even before they were married, mentally and physically abusing her and, on one recent evening, even his daughter Ella. Chelsea is desperate to get her family away from David, but where and to whom can she turn? All their friends think David is such a wonderful guy and even her wealthy but cold mother refuses to help. When the Violence plague begins, Chelsea comes up with a plan and sets so much more than escape in motion.

What I liked most about this story is how much these women grow as people. They learn and grow stronger, doing what they have to to survive, no longer counting on men to save the day. Brave story of survival at all costs. I also appreciated the occasional and unexpected bit of humor. Gallows humor, anyone ?

Favorite quote from Grandma Patty to Brookie after a nightmare: "Monsters feed on fear. Monsters need to know that you see them and are frightened of them, that they are bigger and more important than you. If you run or cry, they like that. But if you stand up to them--or even better--don't care about them, they falter."

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity. I would enjoy reading more by this author in future.

The Violence is a really interesting look into a new pandemic and generations of women who dealt with much more than they should have. I enjoyed the characterizations, as well as the atmosphere that was created.

Not what i expected. I requested based on the cover and was surprised at the content. I"m not a big fan of horror or scary stories--this is one that is like a train wreck you hate to read but can't stop. Kind of have mixed feeling. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC of this title.

I gave this a sporting try but tapped out at ~40%. I was very here for the premise - it felt like this could have shades of Naomi Alderman's The Power, but it kept cranking up the ridiculousness and was getting more cartoonishly violent in a way that didn't feel suited the story. As each main character's situation began to resemble the other's, I started losing interest. This just wasn't my book.

This book is highly disturbing in so many ways! The author has a note that there will be triggers in the book dealing with violence, and she was absolutely correct in giving the warning. The premise of the book is that a new deadly virus is sweeping across the world, one that causes the victim to become suddenly and irrationally violent, killing whoever is nearby in some really horrendous way. The beginning of the book grabbed me with an unbelievable scene in a grocery store, but then as the story progressed, the action slowed down and became more of a story about the characters. Chelsea is an abused wife who decides to use the new virus to escape the clutches of her husband. Patricia, Chelsea’s mom, is entitled and arrogant who thinks that she can escape the far-reaching virus by going on a vacation to someplace cold. At some points in the book, I was kind of wishing it would just end already because the action was repetitive and graphic violence was rampant. I appreciate the author’s honest look at domestic abuse, but the story itself is so far out in the netherworld to make it unbelievable and totally unrealistic. Fans of domestic thrillers may enjoy this book, but one has to have a strong stomach to get through all of the horrific descriptions of the result of the virus. Kudos to the author for a good attempt, but the book was only mildly entertaining and thought-provoking for me.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Thank you to Random House- Ballantine and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book is what pulled me in. The idea that a plague makes women violent is such a contrast to the thriller/horror I typically read. I just took issue in it's ability to pull me in. Once, I got into it, it wasn't bad, but it did take me a while.

I thought the characters were compelling and the story idea was so good, it just lacked a bit in execution for me. It was good, but nothing memorable.

The Violence is the latest book by New York Times bestselling author Delilah S. Dawson, and it is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s captivating and brutal, and the subject matter can be - as stated in her Author’s Note - “distressing for some readers.” I was one of those readers. “The Violence deals with themes of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse,” she explains, and I was definitely forced to relive past traumas. My heart raced and my emotions raged while reading, but the characters were sympathetic and engaging, and I needed to know what happened to them.

Dawson crafted a three generations of damaged women, all suffering in silence, each struggling with their own private demons. She placed them in the wealthy suburbs in a post-Covid version of Florida, showed us their worst character flaws, and then set a new pandemic free to rage among them. This new pandemic causes sudden, violent rages, and in the beginning of the outbreak, the government collects these infected individuals so they can’t harm others. Abusive men caught attacking women they love could be theoretically be considered infected with the Violence…

The Violence is expertly written, skipping street names and details such as house colors, subdivision titles, and store names, but focusing on a tiny corner shop at one intersection that all three main characters stop at throughout the book. It starts out as a little yellow shack with a scrolling digital sign implying men should buy new floors to make their wives happy. By the end of the book, a character sees the shack under new management and thinks about thunderstorms bringing rainbows. It’s one of my favorite lines of the book.

Dawson manages to convey that very real fear of strange men who may or may not hit on you while you’re out in public alone, and how powerful a simple hug can be after being isolated and alone for too long. The Violence is a powerful book and it is a memorable one. Dawson carefully balanced the tension of the book so that there are beautiful moments amid the darkness.

I'm disappointed in myself for even requesting this book.

******* Trigger warning*****
If you like books that rave about a cute pet and then have a character violently kill that pet, this book is for you.

What a letdown.
Also, did EVERY male character have to be violent and abusive? I was in an abusive marriage and even I'm not this jaded.

Absolutely incredible!!! This is now one of my favorite books of all time!! Following three generations of abused women during a pandemic affecting people with incontrolable fits of violence, The Violence has SO many amazing themes. It’s fast, fun, heartbreaking, thought provoking, and will leave you cheering by the end!

The Violence is an interesting type of pandemic thriller. Some parts were extremely gory, which was not my favorite. But other than that, the writing is sharp and I enjoyed this novel overall.

The story follows along with 3 generations of women. I love how the author includes backstory to each character, it really helps you understand their line of thinking when a new virus, the Violence takes over the world. The Violence can and will affect anyone and it causes them to do horrific acts of violence to random strangers and even their loved ones. As the world frantically searches for a cure, the novel dives deep into a family dynamic and how far they are willing to go to protect each other.

This book broke me over and over again. The start of the book we have three generations of woman. At first mother and grandmother are broken down to shells of woman. It very hard to like them, I can feel for them but they are just what society has assigned them.
The daughter is my favorite through out. She is the hope and the fire the world needs. But slowly as the book goes on you see the woman stand up and break out.
This book goes on a journey and takes turns I didn't see. It boils down the violence woman experience just existing. How it shapes and breaks woman. How it generational and is passed down.

Smart and gripping thriller. Well written and driven plot. Eerily similar to things during our pandemic. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

After COVID people are supposed to be safe from a worldwide pandemic. But soon people find themselves back in COVID behaviors such as wearing masks and social distancing as a new pandemic appears. This pandemic causes people to blackout and do terrible violence to someone near them. After they remember nothing. There is no warning when it is going to happen and no one is safe.

I was extremely intrigued by this book. I’ll admit I didn’t read the blurb carefully so I didn’t know what I was getting into. Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down. The story focuses on the three generations of woman. It is not a gory book with a lot of details on what happens when people black out. It’s a perfect balance of letting the reader know what happened without a ton of details.

It is also a story of what people can be capable of. After COVID people are still out for themselves. I laughed at many of the references to the government.

I highly recommend this book. I absolutely loved it!

Wow wow wow wow. Those are my main thoughts while reading the Violence. From even reading the plot summary I knew I would be engrossed in this story. I weirdly felt like this was a fun take on the Purge, but if it was a disease that finally allowed those who had been abused, hurt, and mistreated to finally feel the freedom to live out their urges, even if they don't have control over them.

The story follows Chelsea Martin, Chelsea is the perfect, wife, mother, daughter but she is not treated that way. When a disease spread by mosquito (aka my personal nightmare) causes those inflected to have suddenly attack those around them Chelsea can finally find a way to possibly break free from her abusive husband. She sees the Violence as a positive and makes a plan.

I loved this book, I loved how dark, graphic, and gory it was but understand that it may not be for everyone. There are a lot of trigger warnings in the book but as it is called the Violence that is to be expected, I loved Dawsons writing style from the ver cinematic opening to not shying away from what a disease like the violence would actually cause people to do. I can't wait to read what she writes next and honestly hope this book somehow gets adapted into a movie or mini series cause its just perfect for that.

Copy provided by NetGalley for my honest review.

The Violence was so good. It reminded me of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris with the pandemic twist. I DNFed this one to start out with but decided to give it another go with a print copy. And luckily I ended up with one so score. I have to say that this was one thrilling story that I couldn't put down and I will totally need to read again soon.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a struggle to put it down especially when you get about halfway through. I was so invested in Chelsea, Patricia and Ella that I was sure by the end I was going to end up crying! So fantastic.

This is a very character driven book in my opinion. We are following three different POVs all living through a new pandemic where people are experiencing something ‘the violence’. People are essentially blacking out and killing someone or something around them and when they come to they have no memory of what happened. Now, is this a concept we haven’t read before? Not necessarily. But I felt the commentary about vaccines and domestic abuse was great when it came to this plot.

Now it was a bit unsettling at first to read this takes place in a world that experienced Covid.. I personally didn’t want to read any books talking about Covid since I’m still living in a pandemic, but after awhile I found the whole thing pretty amusing and not as bad as I thought it would be. This book is about much more than a virus that makes people kill people and you see that when we are following Chelsea’s story. I was happy to see the direction it took and I loved the ending. I loved how she as well as Patricia grew. I knew the character who I disliked so much in the beginning was going to end up being someone I liked.

This does has some gory bits to it, but at least for me it felt less ‘horror’ than the description on good reads. We are definitely following three generations of women healing from generational trauma and I loved that. That part of the character growth was awesome to me.

I would absolutely recommend this book! I would say don’t go into this thinking it’s going to be a horror novel. It’s pretty dark, but I don’t think it’s horror. I would read it again and definitely plan on buying the physical copy. Dawson had some lines in here that had me wanting to annotate so bad!! “What do you do when you’re chained to a monster that isn’t particular about what it destroys?” That one got me.

Enjoyable. Will have you flipping pages as fast as you can because you absolutely must know what's going on. Take a look. You won't be disappointed. Fast paced and well written. Happy reading!

This book includes every trigger - not recommended for highly sensitive people!! Some parts were overwritten/boring, so it could have been 100 pages shorter and probably would have been 5 stars. Very entertaining and suspenseful!

Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#FirstLine ~ Chelsea Martin sits in a perfect sunbeam at her perfect kitchen table, staring at the piece of paper that's going to destroy her life.

Ok, so there is a warning about this books contents right at the start of the book, so you will be warned right away before you start that this book is heavy and has some things in it that require a trigger warning. Do not skip it, make sure to read that part before you start, so you are fully informed.

This book is not for everyone. It is graphic and violent. Some will be overwhelmed by it and others will lean into it and get so entrenched in the story. It was a tough read and admittedly I had to start and stop several times. But, I went into the book knowing what it was and I have to say that there is a good story in this book. You will be pulled into this thriller, will feel that the story comes from the authors heart and the themes are important and timely. This is a book I may never forget!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. This is a novel about abuse within several generations. It begins with what appears to be a happy family of Chelsea, her husband David, and their 17 yr old daughter, Ella. From the outside this family looks about perfect, but the reality is far from that. If things are not perfectly done according to David's "unwritten" rule book, or if his mood isn't good, life is miserable. Chelsea has no one to turn to for help. This is when the rest of the story happens...a mystery condition dubbed, 'The Violence' comes about, which makes anyone with it susceptible to bursts of rage upon anyone in their path. With no idea how to fix her own situation, Chelsea wonders if this 'Violence' may be her way out. I liked this book and it was a page turner, I do recommend this book.