The destiny of Violet and Luke by Jessica Sorensen

Sphere, 2014. ISBN 9780751552621
(Age: 18+) Be warned, the language in this story of star-crossed lovers is 'strong', there is a very explicit description of sexual intercourse, the story includes drug taking and ends in a very dark way. If this is still for you and your school fiction collection, read on. Violet, a beautiful and contemptuous young woman, has been traumatised by witnessing the killers of her parents leaving their bodies, and by the years of unfeeling foster-parenting that follow. Luke, an attractive but sexually ruthless freshman, has been traumatised by his mother's neglect and insistence that he inject her with heroin. Violet eventually becomes a drug dealer, though not user, and meets Luke at university. Both are keen to succeed and work to support themselves. Both are unpredictable and unstable, but are attracted to each other and gradually form a loving relationship, the first in their lives. They share a small apartment with several others and seem to be building trust. However, this fragile connection is destroyed when the investigation into Violet's parents' murders is reopened. Together they realize that Luke's mother is implicated. Violet abandons hope of happiness and in despair returns to an abusive drug-dealing foster parent. The novel has the ring of a soap opera, as the characters are unbelievably attractive and their smouldering passion continues to grow despite attempts at rejection and outbursts of rage. Young readers may find interest in the off-on relationship and in the drama of the murder, but the story ends in a very dark way, and there is not a lot of literary merit in it.
Jenny Hamilton