vicious | joseph descamps

France, 1963

Vi Laurent is caught between two worlds, where her mixed Vietnamese and French ethnicity sets her apart in a town that clings to conformity. After being accepted into Voltaire High, a school reserved for boys that has become co-educational for the first time, she quickly discovers that the male students are less than welcome to outsiders.

Battling against a tide of bullying and racism, Vi struggles to carve out her place among her French classmates, especially with a relentless Joseph Descamps, whose disdain cuts deeper than she ever expected.

When Descamps loses his eye, he becomes a shadow of his former self, spiralling into a dark place, battling inner demons that no one else seems to recognise, except for her. It's that very fact that fuels his hatred for her even more. As Vi watches him unravel, she knows that understanding him could be the key to breaking through his hardened exterior, yet she also fears the darkness that threatens to consume him.

WARNINGS: Descamps is TOXIC. And I mean, TOXI TOXIC. Contains smut but this book is not erotica.