Venality

by

Vontae Jones

A riveting vision of a dystopian future and one young woman’s struggle to survive and safeguard her young brother.

Venality by Vontae Jones is a dark and brooding yet riveting vision of a dying, dystopian future Earth, where the powerful few are protected, and the rest are only pawns in their efforts to get more of whatever they want. The story follows the exploits of a small group of these others, hiding in the shadowed fringes of society, who have decided to grab a piece of the pie by whatever means necessary. The results are explosive beyond their wildest dreams and kept me enthralled every step of their journey. 

The main characters, Takara Matsumoto and her younger brother, Riku, are living on borrowed time after narrowly escaping the assassins who killed their parents. Takara loves Riku and has devoted her existence to keeping him safe. When the money she was able to grab as they fled the Rashiki soldiers ran out, she reluctantly joined a band of talented thieves led by a mysterious masked leader known as Ace. The author sets up a moral dilemma for Takara as the group’s actions go against everything she stands for. However, a week of watching Riku go hungry breaks her commitment and forces her to compromise. The author doesn’t allow her doubts to just magically disappear either, as this character continues to struggle with what is expected of her as part of the team until she reaches a moral point of no return. 

Young Riku is in awe of his sister and completely enamored of their new circumstances. I thought he and Jester made an adorable couple; their scenes together were fun and heartwarming. Vex was charming but weak and damaged by his past. Icarus is much the same but seethes with constant anger. Ace is an enigma, and I had difficulty warming up to this character. I also had trouble finding any redemptive support for the group’s various plots and plans. But an incredibly surprising twist later explains everything. 

Despite my unease over their motives, methods, and resulting mayhem, the plans in motion are riveting reading. The author has a flair for crafting exciting action scenes with well-choreographed, vivid, and easily visualized fight sequences. The story is well-paced and absorbing, and it kept me reading as long as my time allowed. The ending is nothing like anything I’ve encountered before; I never saw that coming. 

Although this is the author’s debut novel, it felt much more polished than that. There is room for additional editing to address awkward or incorrect word choices and usage, repetition (e.g., simper), and mistakes involving homophones. 

I recommend VENALITY to readers of young adult dystopian fiction. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.