I loved this book! So fresh and interesting. The characters and setting were well developed and the plot was interesting. A mix between thriller, women's fiction and sci-fi. A near future pandemic survival story and an exploration of relationships and family systems. The writing must have been good technically speaking because I didn't notice anything wrong, but honestly I wasn't paying attention because I was so absorbed into the story. I have no complaints honestly I just throughly enjoyed this book.

Just what the world needs after ending a pandemic, another pandemic! That’s what the author gives us in The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson. The Violence is a thrilling horror story that changes the point of view along the way to give different character views. It also is one that needs a trigger warning for violence and abuse of both humans and animals.

On the outside Chelsea Martin is one that seems to have the perfect life, a stay at home mother of two beautiful girls and a “loving” husband. Of course appearances can be deceiving. Chelsea learned quickly that money can’t buy happiness when her husband began to quietly control her.

Chelsea also doesn’t have that great a relationship with her mother so when Patricia stops by Chelsea only counts the seconds until she leaves barely hearing the news of the violent event that took place nearby. However, when more and more violence happens seeming to come from a new pandemic Chelsea wonders if this is her way out to find safety for her and her daughters.

So again I found myself intrigued by another shiny cover and wondering if the story would be anything I would actually like. Well it’s safe to say I did enjoy this one with my rating of four and a half stars. The story is definitely not for everyone as you see with the trigger warning and it did get gruesome and cringeworthy in some parts but I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what would happen next. It’s a bit over the top and I could have done without the political jabs but it was also extremely entertaining so if this sounds up your alley give it a try!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

THE VIOLENCE a novel about the resilience of women in the face of adversity follows the Story of Chelsea Martin, a stay-at-home mother with some very real issues to contend with. After years of physical and verbal abuse by her husband, imploding finances, and a mysterious new pandemic that causes its victims to lose all control, becoming violent at the snap of a finger and destroying anyone in their path. Chelsea must find a way to get out of her abusive relationship while navigating a crumbling world where only the wealthy have access to the cure. Meanwhile, her mother, a woman that has lived a plush lifestyle thanks to her husband finds herself alone and penniless after a sudden divorce. Chelsea's daughter must also break with what she knows to become the woman she needs to be lest she falls into the trap of relationships she's used to witnessing at her home with her parents.

Set in a world that's being ravaged by the Violence, this novel hits a chord with the state of the world that is today but also manages to shed light on the layered relationships of abused women, the quest to free oneself of those shackles, and the bravery that must be faced thereafter.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the many twists it took some very unexpected plots, and the way all the characters came into their own at the end.

What if our next pandemic was much more dangerous? The Violence tells the story of a mysterious illness that causes random deadly, violent outbursts. Three generations of women must explore this new reality amidst their own struggles and trauma. Chelsea is a stay at home mom stuck in an abusive marriage with her two daughters. Patricia is her narcissistic mother who is more concerned with outward appearances than what is actually going on within her family. Ella is Chelsea's high school daughter who feels trapped with her seemingly perfect boyfriend. Then suddenly a mysterious illness ravages their lives.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for the electronic advanced copy.

Content Warnings: Domestic abuse, emotional abuse, death of a child, death of a pet, graphic violent descriptions of fighting

This is not an easy book. You are warned right in the beginning about it being disturbing and violent. That didn’t scare me away and I am so glad!
The story is written in three POV and it follows three women who experienced domestic and sexual abuse and try to find their way in a world hit with another pandemic called the Violence. It was an exciting, fast paced read with great character development. I especially enjoyed Patricia who has transformed herself from cold, self centered woman to a loving grandmother. Chelsea’s story about joining wrestling company just didn’t feel quite right. I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish here.
Overall this was a great book, maybe a little too long, but I got through it and enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley, Del Rey & the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the author for the trigger warning’s at the beginning of the book. There is definitely violence, abuse and animal cruelty.

We alternate through three generations of the women of one family. Their lives and how they grew up with abuse in some way or form. Patricia, the grandmother, who’s mother was abusive to her and now in turn she is to her daughter. Her daughter Chelsea, who’s husband is a wife beater. And lastly Ella, who’s see her fathers abuse and who’s boyfriend is also really abusive.
The book takes place a couple years after Covid and there’s a new disease spreading called The Violence. It momentarily makes a person go blank while they commit a brutal crime of hurting others. So again people are advised to quarantine. But this is the perfect solution for Chelsea. She finally has a chance to turn her wife beater husband in and escape.

This book is a dark ride. It shows how different sides of abuse. How hard it can be for someone to escape it and what one mother will do to protect her children. I really enjoyed the plot and some of the characters. Some were just plain nasty and I felt karma was gonna teach them a lesson. I saw the author wrote the book off real things she went through at the hands of her father and I really hope no one has to suffer like that, but sadly there’s just really sadistic people out in the world.

The Violence by Delilah Dawson
#ninthbookof2022 #arc

CW: physical, emotional and sexual abuse, animal death, graphic violence (taken from the author’s note); I would also add murder, parental abandonment, domestic violence, untrustworthy and corrupt police officers, teen pregnancy, fake violence via televised wrestling

Holy crap. I couldn’t have imagined that I would enjoy reading a book about a pandemic but I can honestly say that I loved this one. I think the illness plaguing the book’s society was different enough from Covid that it still seemed fictional to me and I was able to divorce it from real life. And boy, was this an amazing read.

I appreciated the author’s note at the beginning. It set me up to know this would not be an easy book to read and it was surely not an easy one to write either.

The story takes place shortly after Covid and follows three generations of women who each deal with the new pandemic in their own way. I was enamored with each of their stories for different reasons and plowed through this book to find out how each of their situations would resolve. Each women handled the cards dealt to them in ways that surprised me and it was fascinating to read about their pasts, especially Patricia’s. Her sections really explained the way she behaved, and she became fully formed and somewhat understandable, and I needed that from her parts. I felt compassion for her once I got a better sense of what she’d been through and I think she had the most growth of the three women.

Near the end, there was a small chapter from a man’s POV that I didn’t want. It surprised me when I realized whose perspective the chapter was in. He was such a shitty, abusive person that I didn’t care what his thoughts or opinions were and I was annoyed at having to read them. But I ultimately understand why his chapter was included.

I’m dying to know what happens to these characters after the story ends. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in ways I didn’t expect. It’s extremely graphic, but completely worth it if you can get past it for the bigger picture.

Thank you to @netgalley and @delreybooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 2/1/22)

#theviolence #pandemicbooks

Know in advance that, as Dawson warns in the foreword, that there are graphic scenes of abuse and violence in this gripping, thought provoking novel. Chelsea's husband David has been abusing her for years and her daughter Ella fears she's fallen into the same trap with her high school boyfriend. Now, though, the Violence, a mosquito borne illness that turns ordinary people into killers who will keep banging a head into the ground or stomp a dog (yes) into the floor, offers a strange opportunity- Chelsea reports David and he's taken away. Now, though, she's got to find a way to live and to care for Ella and her 5 year old Brooklyn. Is her mother Patricia an option? Well, Patricia has her own problems but it turns out she can step up to a challenge. It's not a spoiler that Chelsea gets the violence- she separates from her family and comes a wrestler. Ella gets locked out of Patricia's gated community and must find a way to survive. Can these four women find their way back to one another? This is set in the very near future-perhaps too near- and if I have a quibble, it's the periodic dips into politics (the references to Number 45 are gratuitous and I suspect will offend some readers). That said, it's quite suspenseful and I found myself really caring about all of them. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A well written page turner - let's hope this never happens.

Rounding up from 3.5 stars!

Chelsea Martin is a wife and mother of seventeen-year-old Ella and five-year-old Brooklyn, with a nasty secret: her husband, David, abuses her regularly. However, a new pandemic has broken. Infected persons blackout and rampage, often leaving someone dead by the time they come to. The government has created a hotline for civilians to report infected persons, which swiftly results in the infected person being taken to government-facilitated quarantine cells. Chelsea sees the perfect opportunity to finally get rid of her husband. Once gone, though, Chelsea finds life is harder than she expected. When she becomes infected, her and her girls are forced apart and they each find themselves on their own off-the-rails adventure.

First, I appreciated the content warning at the beginning of this novel. Be forewarned, there are heavy depictions of domestic violence in this as well as one scene of animal abuse. I thought Dawson's depictions were rather tasteful and, while disturbing, were still sensitive to any readers who might have personally survived abuse.

I thought the choice to provide POVs from Chelsea, Ella and Chelsea's mother, Patricia, was fantastic. It was an interesting examination of how abuse and trauma are inherited generation to generation and the reasons young women such as Chelsea fall for abusers. I also thought that the character development for each character was wonderfully done. I particularly loved seeing the transformation in Chelsea as she learned to stand up for herself.

The plot took some interesting, weird turns which I personally enjoyed, though I did feel that the middle dragged a bit. I thought there were several chapters that could have been cut altogether. It's a rather long read and it didn't feel entirely necessary for what was achieved by the end. Still, I'm glad I did read to the end. The other issue, for me, is that the messaging around The Violence became a bit muddled. At the beginning, it felt like Dawson set up this pandemic as a sort of allegory for domestic violence and the way violence is embedded in our society, but as the virus spread, that allegory became tenuous and the message borderline problematic (for reasons I can't get into without spoiling something).

At the end of the book, it's really the characters and their character arcs that carry the story.

The violence
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

" The first recorded incident of the Violence occured as Ruth Belmont of Florida was putting a tub of mayonnaise in her cart at a warehouse store on April 15 2025 . The peaceful and highly religious grandmother dropped the mayonaise, reached for a large bottle of Thousand Island dressing, and struck a fellow customer, twenty- four year old Melissa Mendoza .
Mendozas toddler sat in the seat of her buggy and watched silently as the elderly woman beat her mother to death with a bottle of dressing . Once Mendoza was dead Belmont replaced the dressed on the shelf , selected a new bottle , and attempted to continue shopping. "

Welcome to the Violence.
Covid is a thing of the past . Barely coming out the other side, The Violence is born . The transmission is by mosquito's. Not from person to person . And those who become infected have bouts of uncontrollable and highly violent rage that will lead to the death of any human or animal in their view.
The problem, the infected don't know when they are about to "storm" nor do they recall the incident afterwards. Making it impossible for anyone to want to be around others . At any time .

The story follows a woman who takes this opportunity to escape her already extremely abusive husband. . The battle is unbelievable. The fear is real. This book absolutely terrifies me . .
Can you imagine driving and all of a sudden you wake up and theres mangled vehicles and blood everywhere.. not recalling what happened . Or watching helplessly your loved one turn into an animalistic beast.
Can you imagine having to quarantine yourself away from your own children. Because you are afraid of yourself.

This book is absolutely terrifying. Its thought provoking. Its sick, and twisted. And absolutely heart breaking . Its everything that will keep you up at night.

5 stars!!!!!! What a wild and thrilling ride.... From the first page to the very last page! It was thrilling like Dark Matter and twisted like No Exit, but a story that is entirely it's own. The idea of this pandemic was tantalizing. It was wild to read all of the nods to Covid too. I was very invested in the story and the characters. This book had a hooking beginning, an addictive middle, and a fantastic ending. The story had loveable and hateable characters, action, compassion, revenge, redemption, sass, love, gore, horror, intrigue, mystery, science... It really had it all. It was jam packed full of thrills. I loved it so much and really hope that the author writes another thriller.

This book saved me during a sleep study. Not my own, mind. I was stuck in the most uncomfy chair in the history of modern furniture, and I couldn't make any noise, use any lights, etc. What better than a 500+ page exploration of what would happen if murder became more an illness than a crime to pass the time? Literally nothing, IMO!

It's a long one, and that is probably my only minor qualm- perhaps a few parts in the early chapters felt a bit long. But once I got into it, I was into it. So it's like, barely an issue. Anyway, we're basically following three generations of women who must figure out how to survive after a plague of violence destroys life as they know it- and maybe, that is a good thing. Chelsea is trapped in an abusive marriage. She uses the plague as a means of escape, but in the process, must take her daughters to her mother. Her mother, Patricia, is... okay look, Patricia is the actual worst, at least at this point. She's married to some dude for his money, but she thinks she can get the vaccine that a private company owns and is only available for the filthy rich. She basically tells Chelsea that the girls can stay, but Chelsea can hit the bricks.

Chelsea wants to protect the girls, so she is off to try to earn some money to get the vaccine. Meanwhile, Patricia's rich husband abandons her and the girls, and when Ella leaves to go grab some stuff from home, she finds herself locked out of Grandma's compound. So basically, all three generations of women end up on their own, fending for themselves, trying to figure out how the heck to navigate a world in which anyone can turn murderous at any given time, and the only way to get a cure is to pay an exorbitant amount that no normal person will ever be able to come up with.

It's both a fabulous commentary on society (loved the bits about Covid, about how *certain* "leaders" shat the bed and then some), and on the strength that we can find when we have no other choice. All three of these women find themselves in situations beyond their wildest nightmares. And all three find themselves alone, without any safety nets. And it is a nightmare. Not only is the world falling apart, not only do they have to worry about the violence of others, but they have to worry about catching the illness themselves and turning violent.

The character development was equally incredible to the world development, and I loved watching the women change and grow stronger as the story went on. I also loved watching them make and develop new relationships, and rethink their relationships with each other, as they were forced to look at the world through the others' eyes at times.

Bottom Line: Incredibly thought provoking concept with wonderful character development made this one a huge win!

The Violence tried to do something and it kind of failed. Check trigger warnings before going in. This book is about a pandemic that spreads through climates that are similar to Florida. If you contract the sickness you pretty much black out and become super human violent. As the book goes on it gives more discoveries as to the disease and how to combat it. This is also a book about abuse and women learning to find themselves and what is right for them and their families.

I thought going in that as this is labeled as a horror it would be gross and scary. It was not for me, there were a few descriptions of some killings and it just did not come across as scary to me. I'm sure that is just me and if I watched an adaptation of this I would be grossed out.

We follow the Martin family, mainly the women of the Martin family. Perspectives go between Ella, Chelsea, and Patricia. A daughter, mother, and grandmother. Through reading I really only cared about Ella and sometimes Patricia. I wanted to love Chelsea because of the things she endured and the abuse she faces from her husband, but after the 50% mark everything Chelsea did was just not fun to read about. Pro Wrestling? Not my thing.

Something that really was awkward for me, but I can understand was basically part of the journey of learning and growing, every man in the first 75% or so was basically awful and gross and deserved everything that was given to them. The thing about this book that absolutely made me angry was the constant mention of COVID. I understand this is supposed to take place after COVID is "Over" but when COVID is mentioned every other page it gets repetitive and so annoying. Like I think we as readers got it the first time you tell me that the president was bad at covid relief or the first time you say that two pandemics in five years is a lot.

I wanted to absolutely love this and it turned out to be very meh and mediocre. This does not deter me from reading Delilah S Dawson again.

3 Stars.

The Violence is a twisty, wild ride of a story that takes place in a post-Covid world with a whole new, totally insane pandemic. The new pandemic is deadly. It's called the Violence and causes the infected to black out and attack violently, potentially killing their victims. The story already contains triggers such as domestic abuse, animal abuse and of course, violent outburst uncontrolled by the infected person.
What a world!
Chelsea is the main character who suffers from abuse by her longtime husband. Her mother is a dark, awful character as well but her daughters are delightful. Chelsea uses the new pandemic to escape her abusive husband but it blows up in her face when she finds herself sick with the new virus.
The story has so many twists and turns when Chelsea can't see her outbursts coming. The book is LONG and perhaps didn't need to be. I enjoyed the book a lot and was turning the pages rapid fire to see what crazy trouble these people could get into next.
I found the novel satisfying, if a bit too long. Thanks to Netgalley, Random House and the author for allowing me to take this wild ride! 4 stars

I really enjoyed this story of a woman fighting back against her abuser in such a unique way. Three generations of women found their courage and made their lives much better in an era of a terrible illness. It was also good to see people helping each other when everyone else had abandoned them.

Wow did I love this story line! I love anything and everything thrillers and I felt this one delivered! I was not able to predict any of the twists that were thrown my way! I would recommend all my thriller friends read this book!

I really enjoyed the underlying development of these women characters, each controlled by terrible men, who find their identities in the most trying of times. The story pulled me in, as I read three generations of women, so different, yet so disappointingly similar in their reliance on their male partners. I wanted to scream in frustration when they each are confronted with independence and second guess their strength. I cheered for them (maybe not always for Patricia!) when they started taking back their freedom.

I loved the underlying themes swirling around character building, socioeconomics, politics, and unnerving parallels between Covid and a new and possibly more grotesque pandemic.

I was invested in some of the narrations more than others, one in particular, was a little too bizarre for me, even if I appreciated her journey. I appreciated the author’s trigger warnings. The story wasn’t too graphic for me. I felt some of the deaths redundant, but that’s to be expected when the pandemic is so violent and the same, but sometimes different.

When Chelsea Martin kisses her husband hello at the door of their perfect home, a chilled bottle of beer in hand and dinner on the table, she may look like the ideal wife, mother, and homemaker—but in fact she’s following an unwritten rulebook, carefully navigating David’s stormy moods in a desperate nightly bid to avoid catastrophe. If family time doesn’t go exactly the way David wants, bad things happen—to Chelsea, and to the couple’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Ella. Cut off from all support, controlled and manipulated for years, Chelsea has no resources and no one to turn to. Her wealthy, narcissistic mother, Patricia, would rather focus on the dust on her chandelier than acknowledge Chelsea’s bruises. After all, Patricia’s life looks perfect on the surface, too. But the façade crumbles when a mysterious condition overtakes the nation. Known as the Violence, it causes the infected to experience sudden, explosive bursts of animalistic rage and attack anyone in their path. The ensuing chaos brings opportunity for Chelsea—and inspires a plan to liberate herself and her family once and for all.

Let me start off my review by saying that this book is prefaced with a warning label for anyone who might be triggered by reading about domestic violence, emotional abuse, or child abuse. There are also several scenes which, while depicting what sort of horrors would await a beloved pet during this sort of apocolyptic event, were very gruesome and extremely graphic. The author said that she herself was a victim of abuse and writing this was very cathartic for her. All that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes place shortly post-Covid, and the disease that causes The Violence is caused by mosquitos. Some parts were very gory, but it also partly reminded me of all of the zombie shows and movies out there, with no one knowing exactly what was going on, or how to deal with the people who were infected, people running out of supplies and living on the run, etc. I could definitely see this being made into a movie or tv show. I think if you are a fan of horror (and none of the trigger warnings scare you off) then you should definitely check this out. I am looking forward to reading more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Delilah Dawson for the opportunity to advance read this novel.

Set in 2025 in the aftermath of Covid, a new terrifying pandemic appears - the Violence is propagated by mosquitoes, causing the infected to attack and murder anyone in their line of sight. Set in Florida, where our three main characters reside, Chelsea married young to escape her cold overbearing mother, only to find that her husband David relishes verbally and physically abusing her at every turn. Worn down by years of this behavior, Chelsea walks on eggshells around David and teaches her two daughters, teenage Ella and 5-year-old Brooklyn to do the same.

Once the Violence evolves into a pandemic, the opportunity presents itself for Chelsea to escape her situation. Can she make it work?

Overall, I enjoyed the novel but I did start to feel that the story line lagged, particularly with Chelsea's experiences on the road. It seems that the author is well versed with domestic violence. The scenes and dialogue are riveting and exceptionally well-done and I found the references to Covid very poignant.

I will leave a review on Amazon as soon as the novel is published on Feb 1, 2022.

I received this novel ARC and my review is voluntary.

Well, I am so glad I was approved to read an early copy of The Violence through Netgalley because it was pretty great!

I was hooked on the story from the first page. The author’s note is important - don’t skip that.

There are many triggers in this one (animal violence, domestic abuse, gore) but I think it was written in an empathetic way for the most part.

This new disease “The Violence” comes after the previous Covid pandemic, so it somewhat follows the same kinds of fears and beliefs we had at the onset of Covid.

The story is frightening - not because the Violence causes people to react violently, but because it is really about the violence many of us see in our daily lives. The thoughts and feelings of the characters rang true for me.

I love how the author weaved fiction in with fact to make the story seem real - even if some of it seemed a bit outlandish to me. The ending was not what I expected, and I was a little disappointed in that, but the overall story was a page-turning whirlwind!