reality of living in a second Trump presidency while reading a book that predicted it is a little eerie. 

Anyway, a new pandemic - The Violence - is sweeping hot, muggy areas. This one doesn't make you cough, but instead makes you go into a blind, silent rage that doesn't end until you've killed the victim your set on. Our main character Chelsea realizes that this new disease could be the key to escaping her abusive marriage and I thought that was going to be our story. 

Instead, that plot line happens very early on and we are then plunged into the lives of Chelsea and her daughters as they try to survive in this new world while looking over their shoulder to see if their abuser is coming back for them. 

Daughters Ella & Brooklyn get shipped off to the worst (but richest) grandma in the world for their own safety while Chelsea tries to find a way to get them vaccinated. This is when the "I didn't think this is what this book was" part of the story kicks in as Chelsea joins an underground professional wrestling ring to make ends meet. 

This book sees battered women facing their abusers and fears, finding themselves and claiming their power. The horror element is certainly in the descriptions of The Violence and I had to skip a couple of parts that dealt with animal abuse.

It's a good read, a solid story, and mostly likeable characters. I do think it was a little long and the grandma's story is pretty meh to me (I really don't think she needed/deserved redemption but whatever). Overall a good, unsettling read.