Review of Violence

This was such a dark, gritty, suspenseful and angst filled book. I absolutely loved it, and considering it was written by one of my all time fav author - Lily White, this was expected. This book was sprinkled with all the ingredients to make for a very entertaining and engaging read. Storyline: Very unique. A trope about twins and a single heroine (not explored all that often), yet it didn't end up as a menage. That's what stands apart the most. Despite it starting out with both Ezra and Damon messing with Emily, eventually it centers around Emily and Ezra, and yet Damon and Emily's choices have a huge bearing on how the story progresses. It's hard to get into details into the story without giving away spoilers, but all I can say is it is very much Ezra and Emily's story with the rest of Inferno guys getting limelight, pushing the story forward. There was a LOT happening with many twists and secrets being revealed every other chapter so it became hard to keep track of things at times. And I could understand the difficulty the author would have faced in how much to reveal without giving away too much as this story and certain 'happenings' is so interlinked with the other ongoing stories of the Inferno guys. This was the first book I read in the antihero inferno series, so I was a little lost at times (and I'm to be blamed for it as it's already told that it's best enjoyed when read in order. But it drew my attention towards Ivy and Gabe, and now I'm very eager to dive into their story. Coming back to Violence, I loved how despite multiple storylines running, the focus stayed on Ezra and Emily. I loved how their love spoke the language of violence and also liked how the truth behind their betrayal and broken promises, pushed forward the narrative, creating necessary and misunderstanding that nicely served the plot. Having said that, I still hoped for more scenes of the past, especially when 'hell broke lose' and tore them apart. There was a lot of suspense built around it, but finally it was revealed as a narrative and though it painted a clear picture, I wished to actually 'see it happen'. And though Emily in the past gives into Ezra and chooses to live her like by her terms, I wanted to see how and why she decides to have 'fun' with both the twins. That was a huge leap for her and would have added to her character growth. Also in the present, though the central focus remained on Emily and Ezra, there was not a narrative that was focused solely on them. Except the whole tension and misunderstandings with Damon, their banter was reduced to constant push, pull and super-hot sex. It was definitely not bad, and given Ezra's character, it did make sense, but I still wish something more catastrophic to have happened that would have given him the jolt of realization to fix things rather than fucking it up more. And even towards the end there were few lose threads that was a driving factor earlier, but was kind of ignored later on. Maybe, we will get to more about it in the other books, but this book definitely had me hooked. Characters: Loved all 3 of them. They add such nice flavors, each person carrying their own baggage of past trauma, abuse and helplessness. I could understand why twins chose the path of Violence and it suited their personality so well. I also loved how Emily could stand get through to them and actually make them obey her every word. The dynamics between her and the twins was explored thoroughly. The emphasis on the difference in personalities of Ezra and Damon added to their characters, making them all the more alluring in my eyes. Writing Phenomenal. Exceptional and absolutely brilliant. No surprises me there, but every time I read a Lily White's book, I'm blown over by her writings style and certain phrases are so beautiful and have so much depth to them. Best part of this book was the employed writing style and the characters. Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable and angst filled ride from start till the end. I would give it 4.5 stars.