Review Detail

“Violet Grenade” is the unique story of Domino, a young runaway who lives in abandoned houses in Detroit with her friend (and crush) Dizzy. Domino spends a lot of time hiding herself from the world, covering in wigs and thick makeup- and also trying to stay away from Wilson. Domino has dissociative identity disorder, due to traumatic experiences when she was younger, and Wilson is the personality that allows her to separate herself from those memories. Domino and Dizzy are out decorating a wall with spraypaint art when the police catch up to them and arrest Dizzy- Domino escapes. Not sure what to do without him and worrying that Dizzy’s claustrophobia will trouble him, Domino goes to the jail to try to pay his bail with all the money she has.

She quickly learns that it is not enough. Soon, she receives an offer from an enchanting woman, Madam Karina, to work at her home for artistic types and make money. Not seeing another option, Domino takes the job to make money to pay for Dizzy’s bail and get him out of jail. The job takes her to West Texas, where Madam Karina rules not only the house but also the small town surrounding. Madam Karina runs her house with levels, starting at carnations and rising to violets, the highest level below the “Top Girl.” At each level, you get to keep more of your profits. At each level, the interaction with customers changes. Domino soon has a new goal- to reach the top and be able to afford a home for herself- and the people for whom she is beginning to care.

The description of the home and the girls was really fascinating. Karina was also an interesting character, as she is desperate, manipulative, and commanding- she runs the house with some sense of love but mostly of possession of the girls but also demands their “love” (mainly loyalty/admiration) in return. She is also running a business and making profits off both clients and the girls. During this time, Domino is forced to confront her past, as the situations she is put in resemble some of her buried past and call for Wilson’s aid. She is threatened not only by Karina, but also the other girls and sometimes clients. She finds allies in Poppet, another carnation who is possibly one of the sweetest girls ever, and in Cain, the brooding young man with a secret past who works at the house.

This book is intense and never lets you breathe- I found myself unable to stop and am still thinking about it. The main characters are extremely well developed and complex- and the last 20% of the book was an incredible finale that would not let you go! It is, at the same time, somewhat surreal (the whole house situation in particular) and very real (particularly some of the characters). As a heads up, there are situations of sexual violence in the book- as well as physical violence and torture. This is not a light read, by any means; it’s emotional and incredibly intense.

Overall, I think it’s extremely well written and will be enjoyed by fans of Scott’s Fire and Flood series- it has a similar thriller feel though this one is more of a (really intense) psychological thriller. Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.