The violence referred to in the title strikes rapidly, ruthlessly, overwhelmingly. In the wake of a virus spread by mosquitoes, those infected can periodically erupt into a mindless rage, with anyone standing in their immediate vicinity subject to death by pummeling with any convenient object. Think zombie apocalypse, only the zombies soon recover and don't have a clue what they have done. In this terrifying world, Dawson presents a family of three women--daughter, mother, grandmother--who strive to survive, each in their own way. The hook is that random violence isn't new to any of them. All three have had to contend with male violence in the form of domestic abuse, living lives walking on eggshells, constantly trying to avoid the trigger that will spark another round of beating and choking. Couching a tale of women's empowerment in a dystopian world that simply magnifies their existing reality is a clever maneuver, and Dawson pulls it off admirably with solid plotting and excellent pacing. The narrative voice alternates between the three generations of women, and all three have compelling stories to tell. Great read for those who enjoy suspense thrillers and don't mind some graphic violence in the mix. Thanks to @DelReyBooks for providing an advance reader copy.

The Violence is a good story with a unique plot. We're finally over Covid but now now there is a new virus that makes infected people become suddenly murderous. Every one is on edge and unsure what to do. There is a vaccine but it is very expensive and the majority of the population cannot afford it. The story revolves around Chelsea, her daughter Ella and mother Patricia. Each of these women have their own struggles they are working through, all in the middle of just trying to stay alive.
I enjoyed this book very much. Lots of suspense, lots of twist, lots of gore. Great characters.

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Ella is a 17 year old in high school in Florida. She has so-called friends and a boyfriend everyone but Ella wants. Chelsea is Ella’s mom. Chelsea is in a marriage that looks perfect from the outside. Nice house, nice clothes, providing husband. But at night, behind closed doors, that husband is providing chokeholds and carefully placed abuse that can be hidden in the daylight. And then there is Chelsea’s mother Patricia. A woman who has carefully crafted an ice-cold trophy wife exterior that hides her true self.

When a sudden outbreak of unexplained violence begins in Florida, no one knows what to think. First an older lady in a Costco. Patricia’s gardener and maintenance man who normally wouldn’t hurt a fly. The violence is spreading and the government’s response is to send those exhibiting the symptoms to quarantine camps.

The quarantine camps may be both Ella’s and Chelsea’s way out of their abusive relationships. But then what?

Loved this one. Bizarre concept that really plays out well throughout the novel. It takes place in 2025, just past the first pandemic of COVID. Dawson gives us characters that we can care about and want to see safe and sound. The evolution of the characters is admirable as well. Great story!

What a delight The Violence was!

The story is told in alternating points of view between Chelsea, her daughter Ella, and her mother Patricia. In a nutshell, this story is about surviving a virus known as the Violence. Those who are infected have bouts of rage where they lash out with incredible strength and in seconds can kill anyone in their path. I do have to admit, as horrible as it sounds of people getting The Violence and the things they do, I was very satisfied with who was on the receiving end of that fight. I loved where Chelsea ended up and how the story shifts. Equal parts unbelievable and so much fun! I will say that there are references to COVID and nods to current social events including government control, president, and vaccination media. Sometimes it was a little hard to read, we're currently living through the pandemic, I don't necessarily want to also read about it. But those references are small and few throughout the book and it doesn't seem to take away much from the narrative of the story. There are scenes of physical abuse and domestic violence that are tough to read but this book is also so hopeful. It's about surviving, fighting back, and that it's never to late to have you own adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine/Del Rey for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

COVID is finally past but now a brand new virus is here The Violence. Normally calm women suddenly beat someone to death in the grocery store, high schoolers berserk and pummel each other until little is left. Strange things about The Violence, you don’t remember what happened when it is over, nothing really provokes it and no one knows how it is transmitted. Chelsea and David Martin were high school sweethearts, these days he is anything but sweet. Ella and Brooklyn their daughters have learned to tread lightly in the home and always have an escape plan. The novel follows the path of these characters along with Chelsea’s mother, Patricia through the time of The Violence. A new WWE type entertainment named the Violence Fighting Ting ( VFR) is developed using everyday people who have contracted The Violence. Many parts are horrific, some are hilarious, but all come together to tell a tale of survival and family, both the one you are born with and the one you find.

This is an unique plot. The Violence is a new pandemic. It causes people to "storm" and kill any living thing in proximity to the person infected with The Violence.
This book follows 3 or 4 main characters-a mom, her two kids and the grandmother as they deal with this new reality.
Right away I was 100% invested in this book. I thought about the characters while away from reading this book.

Things I REALLY didn't like contained parts towards the middle and end. These parts dragged on. The author used 3 pages to express the eldest kids thoughts on a swing.!!! This could be edited out to provide more of a punch to the characters. .
Also, I'm tired of reading books where every male character is considered bad. In fact, the only male character that is considered good in this book murders his wife and hits on someone?
I think this book would make a great movie. Skip the book, watch the movie.

Wow, what a pulse pounding read!!

This is the story of three women dealing with different situations during a pandemic of violence. While the thought of violence being a pandemic was initially hard to believe, it didn’t take me long to connect it with the attitude and actions of many people in today’s society. The way this author used it as a spin for this story totally worked in my opinion.

I really liked that this is about a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter. Watching each of these ladies handle things according to the way they were raised is what this book is really about. The effect of love, abuse, acceptance or the lack of any of those things had my emotions on a tightrope through most of this story.

I found the growth within each of these women to be astounding, heartwarming and believable. This was so much more than what I was expecting and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it!

"The first recorded incidence of the Violence occurred as Ruth Belmont of Land O' Lakes, Florida, was putting a tub of mayonnaise in her cart at a warehouse store on Tuesday, April, 15, 2025. The peaceful and highly religious grandmother dropped the mayonnaise, reached for a large glass bottle of Thousand Island dressing, and struck fellow customer, twenty-four year old Melissa Mendoza. Mendoza's 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 dressing on the shelf, selected a new bottle, and attempted to continue shopping."

Welcome to the Violence.

The world has just barely gotten through the Covid pandemic when the Violence begins. A mosquito born illness that is not spreadable from person to person but for those that become infected they will have bouts of uncontrollable rage that will lead to the death of any person or animal around them. The problem is that the infected never know when they are about to *storm* which makes being around other people undesirable at best and deadly at worst. After the storm has lifted they have no recollection or memory of what they have done and will continue to go about life as if nothing has happened.

For Chelsea Martin the Violence gives her a means to escape. Married to her high school sweetheart, David, it didn't take her long to realize that her husband is a narcissistic abuser. Belittling her, gaslighting her, slowly removing all resources of availability, and physical harm have all caused Chelsea to shrink in size. Always cowering in the face of her husband. Her teenage daughter Ella has witnessed it all and is terrified of her own father. Sweet five year old Brooklyn still lives in a world of magic, unicorns, and tiaras and Ella will do anything in her power to protect her. So when the Violence begins to unfold Chelsea hatches a plan for her and her daughters to escape to her mothers gated community for safety.

Chelsea knows that her and her mother have not always seen eye to eye. As a single mother to Chelsea she worked night and day, just scraping by, so they could survive and she has never let Chelsea forget it. Now she has remarried to a judge and lives a life of luxury but that has not softened her to her daughter or her granddaughters. When Chelsea comes a calling she is not met with open arms instead she is removed and separated from her daughters.

Be prepared to go on an epic journey from here!

Fantastically written, this will have you biting your nails until the final conclusion. The characters are what will really steal your heart though. I loved Chelsea, Ella, and my favorite Brooklyn. Even all the side characters we meet have stories that will move you. The empathy and compassion they show one another is a reminder that not everyone is awful. That there is still some good in this world. Triggers are everywhere which I guess is obvious in a book called The Violence but what shines through all the horror is the pure hope for a better tomorrow. The love for fellow humans that so many of us have all but forgotten.

I cannot finish this review without mentioning the authors heartfelt note at the very beginning. She and her mother were victims of domestic abuse that they finally managed to escape. I can only imagine that writing this story had to be therapeutic in so many ways for her and I, for one, am so happy they came out on the other side. My wish for Delilah Dawson is continued success in her writing career and a loving support system. This reader will always have your back! 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for my complimentary copy.

This was an incredibly dark story that was hard to read. The torture that was discussed on these pages was truly gruesome and made it hard to continue. I found myself skimming through a lot of the bad parts to beware of that before you continue reading. While it was gruesome it was also powerful to see a woman stand up for themselves and get revenge and it was well written but it definitely is not a book for everyone.

I really appreciate what the author tried to do with the message about domestic violence. I, too, am a survivor and I enjoy finding books that illustrate what abuse really looks like and how it goes beyond physical assault. I think it was well-conveyed here, as all the main characters were either abusers or victims (or both).

The novel opens in a disturbing way, but it also suggests that a campy story will follow, which was not the case. That’s fine - I’m all for a story about abuse - but I found this one to be terribly boring. The length of the book, coupled with how uninterested I was in the content, made it impossible to power through. I read 32% before concluding I was not the right reader for this. I wish that had not been the case, as the premise and that opening held such promise.

I am immensely grateful to Del Rey Books for my digital review copy. I am sorry that I was not able to see this one through.

I cannot even begin with how much I loved this book. I finished it in November and could not sit down to write a proper review but it's taken up a lot of rent-free space in my mind, and that's a tell, right? I still don't even really know where to begin. A pandemic, three generations of women including a narcissistic mother, spousal abuse, wrestling...wait, what? Yes, it has a lot going on in it's pages but it's really well-written, and I adored the main and supporting characters. I would suggest to people that can handle gore, like if you're okay with The Purge movies, maybe. Oh and if you like reading Florida Man (Woman) stories. I would definitely read more by this author. The cover is awesome, too! 4.49.stars!

The Violence takes the reader on a crazy ride with some most unexpected stops along the way!

As describe in the synopsis, the story most certainly involves domestic abuse, both emotional and physical. It portrays the impact of abuse, suffered by three related women, over three generations. We get to see the nature of the relationships between these same women. It allows the reader to see a timeline of abuse, past, present and future. Most uniquely, that timeline is shown all at once through the three women's interactions with each other.

The story also involves a pandemic. A virus that leads people to randomly experience a fury unleashed in almost supernatural levels of violence. Unstoppable in that moment. Ultimately killing the first person within their sights. Only to snap out of it afterwards, with absolutely no memory of the episode.

While I enjoyed this overall. I do wish some plot lines were given more page time in their resolutions, with some that seemed too abrupt to be satisfying. Perhaps, as there are so many pieces included within, it simply wasn't possible to adequately address each one. However, I certainly am very pleased to have had the opportunity to read an incredible book!

*Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

In the midst of a real life pandemic I just couldn't stop reading The Violence. It was fun to read while being scary at the same time. The protagonist was likeable and I enjoyed the outcome of her character.

Definitely look up the trigger warnings for this book before diving in, but it was such an exciting, wild ride.

Set in the near future, a few years after Covid, a new disease is plaguing the world. It’s called The Violence and it’s exactly how it sounds. You lose all sense of yourself while you are storming and will kill whoever you have in your sight. While I thought this was just going to be a violent pandemic book, it surprised me by being so much more. It is about found family, finding the strength to fight back as well and realizing that money can’t always buy happiness.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The book opens with a violent scene: an elderly woman has gone rogue in a supermarket, beating a young mother to death with a bottle of Thousand Island Dressing. It wasn’t a regular fit of anger, it was a new virus coined, the Violence, which is just as contagious as any virus and causes its host body to become inexplicably and unpredictably violent towards anyone, even loved ones. The book follows three characters, Chelsea, who is in an abusive relationship with her husband, her daughter Ella, who has a creepy boyfriend and Chelsea’s mother Patricia, who has prided herself on coupling up with men in power. Then the Violence comes to shake up their lives. This is a propulsive and intense read focused on abusive relationships, misogyny and a critique of our society’s prevalence towards violence. There have been a lot of books published lately about pandemics, but this one really grabbed my attention and demanded to be heard. A dark read about power dynamics in troubling times. Thank you to NetGalley and. to Randomhouse for the advanced. review. copy.

I usually enjoy campy slasher horror films and books. This book was more sophisticated than that. The character development and pacing are initially slow but when it picks up, it really picks up. The arc our main characters take is truly impressive. I was hoping for a 28 Days Later/Purge vibe. This book was more frenetic and character based. I liked the originality of the premise and the writing style, which despite changing narrators, was easy to follow.

The Violence, as the name implies, is written from an extremists viewpoint. All the characters are either abusers or victims, weak or strong, none of whom I could identify with. I also felt the author incorporated too many current events into the plotline (from Covid to fake news) and it eventually lost me. Although the book doesn't reach 'splatterpunk' status, readers should heed the trigger warnings for this book if they're sensitive to graphic abuse.

For me this book literally had no likeable characters and, other than the ending, wasn't entertaining at all. I'll probably be in the minority who feel that way but it just felt one note to me. The entertaining ending redeemed it somewhat but I still wouldn't buy a copy. Check your local library for this one.

This book is INTENSE! It's a survival story of how far one would go to protect their family and end abusive relationships. It's not at all what I was expecting in the BEST way possible.
A few years post Covid-19, a new pandemic is sweeping through the nation. "The Violence" causes people to "storm" by momentarily blacking out and attacking a random target to death with no recollection of it ever happening.
This story follows three generations of women, one being Chelsea Martin, whose married to an abusive husband and uses the "violence" to come up with a plan to escape with her two daughters. The other perspectives are Chelsea's mother Patricia and her teenage daughter Ella who also go through their own struggles in this new chaotic world.
I loved every perspective, but Chelsea had the coolest storyline involving pro wrestling that had my heart soaring with glee! I've always wondered why I couldn't find any horror novels involving a wrestler as a main character and BOOM! I found it! I'm a huge wrestling fan, and this unexpected turn was a kick-ass surprise. From costuming to movesets and cutting promos, this section of the novel is sure to please wrestling fans.

The character development is phenomenal! As the story progressed, I got to peel off layer by layer until I knew these characters on such a deep level. Patricia was the most interesting to unveil and showed the most growth of all.

This book is filled with trigger warnings of:
Domestic Abuse,
Animal death,
Child death.

Not a book to be taken lightly, the author has a note in the beginning of the book describing her own abuse. This book sends a powerful message of persevering, overcoming and reclaiming your power.

Thank you to netgalley, Random House Publishing and the author for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Violence is out February 1st, 2022!

Wow... you can just tell by the title it is going to be a crazy one. Definitely suspenseful and will take you on a thrill. At times it kind of went off track a little. The characters were excellent.

Delilah S. Dawson was one of the first writers I followed on Twitter, and I was thrilled to have my wish granted for an early copy of The Violence. That cover called to me from the first time I saw it announced, and I couldn't wait to dive into this one.

Chelsea's marriage is a beautiful lie. High school sweethearts, two kids, house in the suburbs--and an abusive husband who cuts Chelsea off and forces her into a position of reliance. But when a mysterious virus sweeps the nation, causing uncontrollable bouts of graphic violence, everything changes. Following three generations of women, The Violence explores power dynamics, societal expectations, and the journey for strength and absolution.

I. LOVED. this book.

LOVED.

Dawson's writing is so, so engrossing in the best possible way. This is a book you'll pick up for a chapter and won't be able to put down. The voices are clear, sharp, and whip-smart in their execution, and that alone makes for an enjoyable reading experience.

No spoilers, of course, but the rhetoric surrounding the fictional virus raises some poignant and very relevant real-world questions about violence against women (among other things) and the impact such events have on mental, emotional, and physical health. You have a backdrop of this horrifying social outbreak, but you also have the juxtaposition of this micro-horror happening, a snippet of daily life for too many. It's bloody and brutal and absolutely raw in some spots, and as a reader, I found it hard not to bring this up in every conversation I had. This is a book that will make you want to engage in a larger discussion, and I think it will find a happy place with many audiences.

Out in February, add this to your TBR NOW.

Huge thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

If you have experienced a narcissistic/abusive relationship, this book could be triggering because of the intense situations these characters experience. It could also make the reader feel seen and not alone in their own experiences. It is very appropriate for our real-world after COVID-19 began and touches on real events that have happened in the last few years. The Violence follows the main characters as they all navigate a new and dangerous pandemic that disrupts their lives. It explores different types of relationships and the impact they have on their lives and decisions. It is thoroughly written, nothing leaves you questioning, except for the cliffhanger chapters. I was unsure of the plot/character decisions about halfway through the book, but it all ended up working out in the end. It was enjoyable and not easy to put down.