Victoria Scott

An exciting new title coming soon from Entangled Teen!

Violet Grenade

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

As most of you probably already know, I ADORE Victoria Scott! I've read (almost) everything she's written, and I've loved them all!! So when I first heard about Violet Grenade, I immediately added it to my give-me-this-immediately-i-need-it-nowwwww list. Just recently I saw a video of Victoria discussing Violet Grenade, and how it was unlike anything else she's ever read. She said it was dark and twisted... and that's EXACTLY what it was!! This book was nothing at all like her other books... but I loved it just as much! In fact, this just may be my favorite one of her books to date!

Domino is living in an abandoned house with her friend. Homeless and without a job. When her friend is arrested and held on bail, Domino is desperate to get the money to free him. She runs into Madam Karina in an alleyway. Madam Karina offers her a place to live where she also has the ability to earn some income. Madam Karina acts quite interested in Domino, claims to see real promise in her, and eventually Domino decides to go with her. What other choice does she have, really.

Upon Domino's arrival to her new "home", she quickly realizes that this isn't as promising as it seems. This is a house of girls who are told to entertain men who pay to spend time with them every evening. They are instructed to entertain these men however they want to: singing, dancing, talking... you name it, these girls do it. Whatever talents they have, that's what they use. And whoever entertains the most men (and receives the most coins at the end of the night) receives the most income. They also move up in the ranks, where they receive a greater percentage of the proceeds and gain status among the other girls. Basically it all comes down to being a house filled with young girls all trying to one-up each other. 

I have to say, this book is dark. Like, really, really dark. Probably the darkest YA book I've ever read. I read a lot of adult books that are dark like this, but I've never come across a YA one before that pushes the limits so much. I have to say, I really LOVED it! Though at times it did get a bit graphic for my taste, it was never over-the-top and bordered that YA line just perfectly. There's also a mental illness element that creates a certain feel for the story. You see, Domino suffered a tragic past, and because of this she has a "protector", you could call him, in her head that shields her from her horrible thoughts and memories. Wilson is his name, and Wilson doesn't let her remember what she went through, and he also protects her and takes over her mind and body when Domino is extremely upset or in a scary situation.

Another thing worth mentioning... the ending! It was amazing!! I was dying to see how this story was going to turn out, and knowing Victoria's writing, I knew it would be good... but not THAT good! It was intense, dark and dirty and even jaw-dropping. There were a few things left open, which normally bothers me... but this time, it was perfect. We are left to imagine certain things, and I really like that. (It also leaves this open for a second book, or perhaps a novella? Victoria? Please?) For those of you wondering, there was a bit of a romance as well, though it really took a backseat to the rest of the story. It was there, it was slow-burning, and it was hopeful... but it didn't take over the story.

Though these girls were, needless to say, mean, malicious, and out to torture each other, Domino was able to find one friend among the group of evil dragons, namely Poppet. I adored the friendship that these two formed. Both in a horrible situation, being humiliated, harassed and tortured on a regular basis, these two stuck together through it all.

I feel like I could go on for days talking about this book. As you can tell, I really, truly enjoyed it. Despite my dislike for darker books normally, this one immediately took my attention and never let go. I was enthralled, to say the least, and I couldn't stop reading. I think it's safe to say that this is my favorite Victoria Scott book at this point, and it just goes to prove that this talented woman can write almost ANYTHING and have it be an incredible story.

 

  


(Thanks to Entangled Teen for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Laura

In a world of darkness, there was a poor thief by the name of Domino whose beauty and intelligence was only surpassed by her dark and twisted past. When the Queen of Flowers, Karina, discovers her and offers to take her in, Domino is delighted, and falls into the Queen's world, battling bosses in order to make it to the next level. But soon, and with the help of a handsome and tortured guard, Cain, she wakes up from the evil spell Queen Karina has put on her. Now, she must defeat the Queen before any other girls fall under her dark spell in the mythical land of... West Texas?

Wait, you mean this isn't a fantasy novel? It's a contemporary thriller? Huh. 

I think this is honestly the most fun I ever had reading a book this year. I mean, is this a good book? No. Is this a bad book? By my standards, yes. It certainly isn't what I would consider to be well-written. I admit, if this was a fantasy, I probably would have given this a much higher rating than it actually got, and would have really enjoyed it and given it a great review, but alas, my thriller standards are much higher than my fantasy standards, likely due to me reading and enjoying more thrillers than I do fantasy. 

As far as ideas go, Ms Scott gets an A+. Extremely implausible, but hey, so was The Butterfly Garden and I loved every second of that book. But I don't give idea points. Okay, yes, I gave Sekret idea points, but that's because the execution of that book was better than this one. Where am I going with this? Right, the idea behind the story. It's honestly really cool, the whole flower motif and the dark and edgy parts and the home itself, but something about the whole thing just felt so over the top to the point where it was impossible to take seriously. In that respect it was a lot like The Cellar, great idea, authors just don't know how to write thrillers in a way that makes them not over the top theatrical. Hell, they even have the same flower thing going on! Domino even has basically the same backstory (though with a few modifications) as Clover.

Both also have the same overly intense dialogue. For instance, at one point Domino actually says "Give me your crown! Let it fall from evil and sit on the head of righteousness!" Seriously. I had to read that line twice. Domino, dear, I think you have a bit of a flair for the dramatic. Everyone also spoke like they were given a list of cliches and they had to say as many of them whenever they spoke. Like a soap opera basically. But I think the reason why this amused rather than grated on me today is because I watched five episodes of Twin Peaks (including an (un)healthy dose of the James-Evelyn storyline) this morning, and if you're a Twin Peaks fan you know what I'm talking about. Of course, the reason for that dialogue in Twin Peaks is because the show is (among other things) a parody of a soap opera, whereas in this book it's a leetle less excusable because Scott clearly intended on this book being a serious dark thriller, but hey, by the time I picked this book up my threshold for ridiculousness was already extremely high. 

Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

Violet Grenade

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