BOOK REVIEW: The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson

THE VIOLENCE is, at its core, a story of survival and a testament to maternal love.

Dawson tackles generational trauma and cycles of abuse in this harrowing tale of three women thrust into the fight of their lives. The book has echoes of a zombie dystopia, but the dead don't rise here. Instead, the living are infected by a dangerous disease that causes them to brutally attack those around them. Dawson expertly uses this strange fictional pandemic to unravel the threads of what it means to live, and how it feels to simply survive, and what we are capable of when we have the support that we not only need, but crave.

The exposition was a little long, but once the first domino tipped, the punches kept coming. This is one of those "staying up late reading ten chapters in a clip because each one ends on a cliffhanger and you desperately need to know what happens next" sort of book. I devoured it. The world beyond the front cover is rich and terrifying, fascinating and bloody, bizarre and thoughtful and just the right level of tense.

This is true horror with a heart. It has thriller-esque pacing, and the organization of the story makes me feel like this would make an incredible movie or mini-series. It has a cinema-like quality, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my fingers crossed for a film option. But beyond all of that, this is the kind of powerful story with characters that burrow into your heart and hard hits that get you thinking.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the digital ARC!

TW for domestic violence, child abuse, emotional abuse, animal death, and descriptive gore.

★★★★☆