Violent Delights

by Hannah Boggs

When seventeen year old Odette Sinclair and her family move across the country to be closer to the specialized medical care she needs, she has to give up everything she knew including pursuing her passion for dance. The atrial septal defect she has keeps her isolated and, for the most part, sidelined from life as she attempts to avoid the triggers that cause her problems. As a stranger in a new town, isolated and alone, Odette dreads her monotonous daily routine and struggles to balance what she can't do with what she wants to do. But then she meets the wealthy neighbors, the famous magical Mages Twins, Greer and Grayson, who instantly befriend her, and she is caught up in a world she could not have imagined. Their talent is so real that some say the twins are pure magic; others say they are cursed. The handsome and somewhat socially awkward Grayson takes a personal interest in protecting Odette, and she is enamored by the attention of someone so famous. Greer is welcoming and seeks to include Odette, but she is very protective of her brother. Everything seems to be improving more than she expected but something isn’t quite right. Since their arrival in this new place, Odette’s dreams begin to reveal something extra, something gives her cause for concern. She discovers the dreams are revealing truths, and what she fears may be true. Nothing good lasts forever. As Odette begins to settle into her new life things start to spiral out of control, and she needs to come to terms her life has become a waking nightmare that she can't escape. She must reach deep to find a way to pull through this, and, just when it seems to get better it's not, and she has to make a deal for her life.

396 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2019

About the author

Hannah Boggs from South Point, Ohio, wrote the manuscript for "Violent Delights" at 16 years old. She completed the manuscript for the second book, "Fire and Powder" (due out in early 2020) before she graduated high school.
She's always held a passion for reading, loves the Classics, Gothic Fiction, and paranormal stories. Some of her other favorite things include Audrey Hepburn movies, Paris, France, cats, the color pink, and anything related to Autumn and Halloween.
You can keep up with her on Instagram at Han.Boggs; and Facebook @HannahBoggsAuthor, or visit her web site HannahBoggsBooks.com.

Reviews

[Mary Jackson _TheMaryReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying a 16 year old wrote this book, And it was a book that I could not put down. I love a good mystery. suspense.
I won't give anything away but I would love it if you all would support this young lady. She is going to be an author to watch out for.
I gave this book 4 stars. I recommend this one.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violent Delights is the first book by Hannah Boggs from South Point Ohio. It tells the story of a seventeen year old girl named Odette Sinclair who due to a heart condition, moves across the country with her parents.

After settling in to their new home, her mom treats her to a night out at a magic show. Little does Odette know that the result of her attendance at the show will be more trick than treat. For now she finds herself on the radar of the shows stars. The Mages twins. Greer and Grayson have achieved celebrity status traveling the country with their show performing unbelievable magic. No trick is too hard, no illusion too complicated.

The twins welcome Odette into their inner circle but little does she know that once you’re in, you don’t get out. At least not without paying a price.

Soon she finds herself an object of Grayson’s twisted affection and Greer’s twisted friendship. Both twins are determined to undermine each other to ensure Odettes’s loyalty. Odette’s parents worry when she finds herself in harms way during every event she attends with Grayson. Ultimately they keep her from seeing him, not knowing what tragedy awaits. The Mages do not take rejection well.

This story takes Odette through dealing with her medical condition, her over protective mother, her first love and ultimately devastating loss and having to grow up fast. The end was a surprise that I didn’t see coming.

I found myself unable to stop reading once I started. Hannah’s ability to plot a story is both captivating and entertaining. The twins will keep you guessing and you’ll find yourself asking which one is good? Which one is bad?
Who can you trust? The answers will surprise you.

The locations and supporting characters are well developed and described in such a way that I could easily visualize them.

Now that you’re thinking there couldn’t possibly be anything else that would make it more amazing. I’m going to tell you one more thing. Hannah wrote this book when she was sixteen. I never would have guessed if I hadn’t already known. She’s gifted beyond her years and I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of her talents. Like a part two of this story.

[hopelesslyinlovewith_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m giving this book 4.5 ⭐️!! First off I’d like to say that I didn’t find out how young Hannah Boggs was until after I read this book and let me just say I’m extremely impressed! It kept me interested from beginning to end! I LOVE mystery and this book was full of it! I loved the characters, I loved the storyline! It was all very intriguing. The only issue that I have is that I would’ve loved Grayson’s point of view. There’s some stuff I would’ve loved more details on like how Grayson’s family came to be what they were. I’d love to know their back story. I would’ve also liked to know exactly what happened to Odette’s parents, just some details that had me scratching my head but hopefully in the sequel we will find that out.

[the-librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violent Delights is the story of a young woman, 17-year-old Odette Sinclair, whose parents move the family across the country so that she can receive the best medical care possible for a heart condition she was born with. She quickly becomes acquainted with the Mages twins—famous magicians with a lot more secrets than how they perform their magic.

Odette seems to quickly settle into her new life and even seems to be getting a little better for her both socially and health-wise. However, things begin to take a turn for the worse and, as the plot picks up steam, it moves faster and faster towards an entirely surprising conclusion.

I loved the writing, the characters, and the sense of place the author was able to create with this novel. There were a few sections where the plot was a little repetitious and lagged somewhat while detailing the ups and downs of Odette’s relationships with the twins. However, in the end, these minor quibbles are just that—minor. Ultimately, those sections are the ones that have stuck with me and added to the richness of the overall story.

As I said, the ending was a complete surprise. I love books that are able to surprise me but I’m still not sure how I feel about how this one ended. I don’t mean that in a negative sense. It’s just an ending that kind of subtly gnaws at you and makes you want to learn more about Odette’s adventures. The ending is a perfect set up for a follow-up novel. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Boggs (hopefully sooner rather than later).

I received a free, no-strings-attached, advanced reader’s copy of this book.

[Kyrstin Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as books written by 16 year olds go, this one was pretty good. The characters are well-developed, the plot moves along in a (mostly) sensical way. There were some issues that I found with the novel. 1) the writing sounds stilted much of the time. It’s often either too formal or too informal for the situation. 2) there are some events in the story that just don’t make sense. A 17 year old girl’s parents die and she hardly sheds a tear or even thinks about them? Unrealistic. 3) the element of Magic seems secondary to the fact that the majority of the characters are terrible people. 4) how does Odette end up pregnant when she doesn’t even like her husband? If she has all/most of the power, you would think she could prevent this from happening. I did enjoy the character names and some of the creepy elements of the story. I would definitely encourage Hannah to keep writing and improving her craft. She seems to be a creative and passionate storyteller.

[Adrianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young-Adult is not a genre that I usually enjoy, but I read this book after meeting Hannah. The story was darker and more macabre than I expected and I found it interesting and alluring. The aspects of the plot that seemed unrealistic to me, as a jaded adult, kept the story engaging. Kudos to Hannah on her first book.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Odette Sinclair is sick, her atrial septal defect prevents her from having a normal life, from dancing. Isolated and kept away from anything that could trigger her heart, Odette thinks moving into a city close to the medical care she needs won't change anything. But her neighbours are the famous Mages Twins, Greer and Grayson that, right away, befriend her, involving the girl into their glamorous and wealthy life.
But something isn't right and a found journal and creepy dreams bring her to try to understand what's going on. What are Greer and Grayson? Just magicians? Is their magic real? Are they cursed, as people say? While trying to protect herself and to understand, Grayson starts to be attracted to her and the girl to be fascinated by the attention and their life.

Violet Delights is a book full of action, adventure and romance. Odette inquisitive, the twins are glamorous and creepy, Thorn and Claude peculiar and complex. The relationship between Odette and Grayson is strange since the beginning and in more than one occasion Grayson acts deranged and possessive, scaring and making Odette suspicious of him. He is jealous and violent and makes Odette feel trapped and without escape, cutting her from others.
Greer from being friendly with her, becomes jealous and disturbing and gradually bad things starts to happen when Odette is with the twins. People died, disappeared.
The story is packed with twists and revelations,while gradually Odette fights against her disease's constrictions and tries to understand the situation, to save herself, resolving into a shocking ending and deal.
I liked the story, but I didn't like much the writing style, because I found it too juvenile and in some parts there were too many descriptions or continued dialogue.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this read, its character and the captiving plot.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read....hard to put down because you’re constantly wanting to know what happens next. Can’t wait for the sequel!!

[Stephanie Gouchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For being written by a 16 year old, this book is really good and I would’ve never guessed it was written by a teenager. There were a few things in the story where I wanted more detail/explanation, and I didn’t really care for the ending, however this is just the first book of the series. Despite my own opinion, this is a well developed story and Hannah will go a long way if she continues with her writing. I could not put this book down!

-Dark and suspenseful
-Sheltered girl gone wild
-Abusive relationship with no way out

[Lola Kaye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really wish we could get away from this Beauty and the Beast troupe in YA books. A girl staying in an abusive relationship because "he's warm and protects me and make me feel safe" sets a horrible example for young girls. At first I thought this book might serve as a warning to girls about unhealthy behavior to look for in a relationship but no. Not only does she stay with him but she marries the guy who murdered her parents and tried to kill her because "he is the the lesser of two evils". Too many women are killed by domestic violence every day for this behavior to be normalized.