Beautiful Venom

Beautiful Venom uses Dahlia Thorne’s and Kane Davenport’s parallel healing journeys to deepen their relationship, and their individual encounters with loss, abuse, and suffering draw them together over the course of the novel. The romantic counterparts discover an unexpected point of connection when they begin opening up to each other about their pasts. Over time, their individual attempts to transcend their pain are supported by their developing relationship, illustrating the novel’s emphasis on the importance of human connection to growth and healing after trauma.

For Dahlia, healing from her trauma means forgiving herself for her parents’ deaths in a car accident when she was six years old. Since this tragic incident, Dahlia has blamed herself, convinced that when she showed her parents her doll while driving, she distracted them and directly caused their deaths. She experienced subsequent abuse at the hands of her foster parents, adding to her childhood trauma, but Dahlia’s biggest emotional weight is her guilt over her mother and father’s passing. She eventually opens up to Kane about this aspect of her life, admitting, “It wasn’t until Violet came along and told me the accident wasn’t my fault and that blaming myself and spiraling wouldn’t make my parents happy in the least that I realized I was wrong” (285). Violet’s love and counsel start Dahlia on her path to healing, but her relationship with Kane gives her the space to cultivate a different perspective on her childhood trauma. At the same time, Dahlia must ultimately confront, acknowledge, and reconcile with this tragedy on her own terms. In the latter chapters of the novel, Dahlia finally embraces healing when she drives to Maine—the place where she was born and where her parents died—for the first time since the accident. This physical voyage is a metaphor for Dahlia’s emotional healing journey. While here, she climbs a mountain and speaks to her late parents. This scene conveys Dahlia’s desire to make peace with the past and transcend her emotional turmoil.

For Kane, healing from trauma means triumphing over his abusive father Grant and reconciling with his mother Helena. Since Kane was a little boy, Grant has abused, subjugated, and violated him, and Helena has always known about Grant’s violence but has done nothing to intercede on Kane’s behalf. Kane has felt angry, alone, and abandoned as a result, but through his relationship with Dahlia, he gradually learns how to own his experiences and grow beyond them. Dahlia starts opening up to Kane “in the hopes that he’[ll] also talk about his own childhood in depth” (345). It takes time for Kane to be vulnerable with Dahlia, but once he witnesses Dahlia reconciling with her past, particularly on their trip to Maine, he is encouraged to confront his own. His experiences with Dahlia help Kane to appreciate the transformative nature of letting go of the past, and by the end of the novel, he is working to move past his trauma and reestablish a relationship with his mother.

Once Dahlia and Kane reconcile with their past trauma, they find hope for the future in their relationship. They encourage, listen to, and support one another. In sharing their traumatic experiences, they validate one another and facilitate each other’s healing. With their example, Kent highlights the importance of connection, love, and support in overcoming trauma.