Darling Venom Summary, Characters and Themes
Darling Venom by Parker S. Huntington is a deeply emotional and unflinchingly raw novel that dives headfirst into the realities of grief, mental illness, and the tangled knots of love and loss.
Told primarily through the eyes of Charlotte Richards, the story follows her journey from the brink of suicide to the quiet, painful work of healing. At its heart, it’s about two broken teenagers who meet on a rooftop—each intending to end their lives—and make a pact that sparks something unexpected: a reason to keep going. The novel doesn’t shy away from heartbreak, but it also offers grace, redemption, and a flicker of hope in the darkness.
Summary
Darling Venom begins with Charlotte Richards, a bright but emotionally scarred teen, reeling from the death of her parents and a distant, resentful relationship with her older sister Leah.
On Valentine’s Day—her birthday—Charlotte goes to the school rooftop to end her life. Instead, she finds Kellan Marchetti already there with the same plan. They talk, argue, and ultimately make a pact: they’ll meet there every Valentine’s Day until they graduate to check in on each other. This unlikely tradition becomes a lifeline.
Kellan is enigmatic and guarded, the neglected son of a famous author, living under the strict eye of his older half-brother Tate and Tate’s fiancée, Hannah.
Charlotte, meanwhile, navigates bullying at school and Leah’s suffocating bitterness. Despite their separate traumas, the rooftop meetings become their sanctuary. Over time, they exchange USB drives filled with stories, share confessions, and form a bond deeper than either expected.
As years pass, their relationship teeters on the edge of romantic but remains undefined—full of tension, hope, and fear. Charlotte briefly dates another boy, Mark, which ignites jealousy in Kellan and causes a temporary rift. But they always return to the rooftop.
Through each meeting, they peel back layers of pain, slowly becoming more vulnerable with each other.
By their senior year, Kellan and Charlotte share a kiss, shifting their connection into something undeniable.
Their romance quietly blooms, delicate and charged with longing. However, Kellan continues to spiral, his mental health worsening under the pressure of his family, unhealed trauma, and growing self-hatred. Charlotte, on the brink of college and adulthood, struggles with the idea of leaving him behind.
Their last Valentine’s Day before graduation arrives. Charlotte shows up on the roof, full of hope. But Kellan never comes.
Days later, news breaks: Kellan has taken his own life, jumping from the very rooftop where they once saved each other. Charlotte is shattered.
Her grief is immense and consuming—grief for what was, what could’ve been, and the boy she couldn’t save. She blames herself, replaying their memories, questioning every sign she may have missed.
In the aftermath, Charlotte begins the slow, grueling process of healing. She isolates herself at first but eventually starts therapy and begins opening up—to Leah, to friends, to herself. She learns that grief doesn’t follow a schedule, and healing isn’t linear. She visits Kellan’s grave, leaving behind a penny—a token from their bond—and promises to live for both of them.
In Part Three: The Antidote, Charlotte’s journey becomes about survival. Not just from loss, but from the self-blame and hopelessness that threaten to take root. Through writing, reflection, and hard-won forgiveness, she begins piecing herself back together.
Leah softens, their relationship healing in quiet ways. The epilogue, set sometime in the future, reveals a stronger Charlotte—still marked by loss, but not consumed by it. She chooses life, every day, carrying Kellan with her but no longer weighed down by his absence.
Darling Venom is ultimately a story about second chances—not always for everyone, but for those left behind. It’s a tribute to the messy, aching reality of love and mental illness, and a reminder that even in the depths of pain, there can be a way forward. Not perfect, not painless—but real.
Characters
Charlotte Richards
Charlotte Richards is a central character whose emotional journey is marked by profound grief, guilt, and eventual healing. At the beginning of the story, Charlotte is deeply impacted by the tragic death of her parents in a house fire, which leaves her emotionally scarred and isolated.
Her relationship with her older sister, Leah, is strained, with Leah taking on the role of a caregiver but harboring feelings of resentment and disappointment towards Charlotte for surviving the fire. This guilt haunts Charlotte, and her feelings of abandonment push her to the brink of suicide.
However, her encounter with Kellan on the school rooftop changes the trajectory of her life. Despite their individual struggles, their bond becomes a lifeline, allowing Charlotte to navigate the complexities of her emotions, relationships, and the painful journey towards healing.
Charlotte’s narrative is one of growth, where she transitions from a young woman drowning in guilt and isolation to someone who learns to live with her pain and eventually finds a sense of peace and purpose.
Kellan Marchetti
Kellan Marchetti is the other protagonist whose dark and complicated history mirrors Charlotte’s own struggles. He is an enigmatic, troubled teen burdened by a dysfunctional family.
His father, a famous author with a drug addiction, creates an environment that only deepens Kellan’s emotional isolation. His half-brother Tate, who has legal custody over him, exacerbates his misery, controlling Kellan’s life and pushing him further into rebellion.
Kellan’s character is both deeply intellectual and profoundly damaged. His relationship with Charlotte begins as a pact between two troubled souls, and over time, their connection becomes a complex mixture of friendship, support, and unspoken romantic tension.
Kellan’s internal battle between feeling unworthy of love and his growing feelings for Charlotte ultimately leads to his tragic downfall. Despite Charlotte’s best efforts to reach him, Kellan cannot escape the depths of his depression, and his suicide is a devastating turning point in the story, deeply affecting Charlotte and shaping the narrative of grief and healing that follows.
Leah Richards
Leah Richards, Charlotte’s older sister, plays a significant but somewhat secondary role in the narrative. She assumes the role of Charlotte’s caregiver after the death of their parents, and while she is emotionally distant and overwhelmed, her character adds a layer of complexity to Charlotte’s life.
Leah’s resentment stems from feeling burdened by the responsibilities of raising Charlotte and coping with the traumatic loss of their parents. As the story progresses, Charlotte’s relationship with Leah softens, particularly in the wake of Kellan’s death, as they both grapple with their grief and find a way to heal.
Leah represents the struggles of sibling relationships under the weight of shared trauma, and her evolution throughout the story mirrors Charlotte’s journey toward emotional understanding and reconciliation.
Tate Marchetti
Tate Marchetti, Kellan’s half-brother, is a secondary but pivotal character in the novel. His role as Kellan’s legal guardian is fraught with tension. Tate’s strict and often harsh demeanor toward Kellan only serves to further isolate him.
Their relationship is characterized by control and a lack of emotional connection. Tate’s character is a representation of the toxic family dynamics that Kellan is trying to escape. His presence in the story underscores the theme of family dysfunction and the emotional toll that such relationships can have on an individual.
Tate’s actions and attitude towards Kellan contribute to the latter’s feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, which ultimately culminate in Kellan’s tragic decision to end his life.
Themes
The Unseen Toll of Mental Illness and Suicide on Youth
One important theme throughout Darling Venom is the exploration of mental illness and the impact of suicide, particularly among teenagers. The book opens with Charlotte, a young girl weighed down by grief, guilt, and depression after the traumatic loss of her parents.
This emotional trauma sets the tone for the narrative, depicting how Charlotte, like Kellan, is engulfed by the darkness of her mental health struggles. These issues are not simply touched upon but are explored with a depth that acknowledges how mental illness can distort perceptions of self-worth, create feelings of isolation, and lead individuals to contemplate drastic decisions like suicide.
As Charlotte and Kellan bond over their shared suffering, the novel highlights how mental health issues can sometimes be invisible to the outside world. It shows how the attempts to escape or silence the pain can manifest in destructive ways.
The Burden of Survivor’s Guilt and Family Dysfunction
A powerful and recurring theme is the exploration of guilt, especially Charlotte’s survivor’s guilt. Having lost her parents in a fire, Charlotte constantly battles with the feeling that she is the one who survived while her loved ones did not.
This guilt is further compounded by her strained relationship with her sister Leah, who resents Charlotte for being the one left behind. The burden of this guilt creates a complex emotional landscape for Charlotte, one that she struggles to reconcile with her sense of self-worth.
At the same time, Kellan’s family life is equally dysfunctional, marked by his troubled relationship with his father and brother, as well as the emotional neglect he experiences. The portrayal of their fractured family dynamics speaks to how trauma and emotional scars are passed down through generations, reinforcing the idea that the support system one should expect in the family can often be fraught with its own dysfunctions.
The Power and Fragility of Human Connection in Times of Crisis
Another central theme in Darling Venom is the notion of human connection as both a saving grace and a source of deep vulnerability. Charlotte and Kellan’s relationship begins with a pact to meet on the rooftop each Valentine’s Day to ensure that neither of them succumbs to their suicidal thoughts.
This agreement, born of despair, gradually evolves into something more profound as they become emotional lifelines for one another. Their connection offers a semblance of stability amidst their inner turmoil, yet it also comes with its own set of complications.
The more they share their personal stories and traumas, the more their bond intensifies, yet it is also this growing intimacy that makes them both fearful of being too dependent on one another. As their relationship teeters on the edge of romance, the fragile nature of their bond becomes clear.
The Dangers of Emotional Isolation and Self-Sabotage
The theme of emotional isolation runs deep throughout Darling Venom. Both Charlotte and Kellan experience emotional isolation from their peers, their families, and even from each other, as they struggle to express their inner turmoil.
Kellan, in particular, exhibits a pattern of self-sabotage, pushing away those who care about him, especially Charlotte. Despite their growing emotional connection, Kellan’s fear of being a burden leads him to isolate himself even further, culminating in his tragic decision to take his own life.
His struggle with self-worth and belief in his own darkness causes him to reject the very thing that could save him—his relationship with Charlotte. The novel delves deeply into how emotional isolation can perpetuate a cycle of self-destructive behavior, especially in those who have experienced trauma and loss.
The Healing Journey Through Grief and Self-Forgiveness
In the final sections of the novel, particularly in Part Three, The Antidote, the theme of healing emerges as Charlotte embarks on her journey of grief and recovery after Kellan’s death. The raw pain she experiences from the loss of someone she loved deeply is palpable, yet the novel shows that healing is a process, one that does not follow a linear path.
Charlotte’s journey involves grappling with intense feelings of guilt and self-blame, as she questions whether she could have done more to save Kellan. However, as she begins to open up to therapy, reconnect with others, and engage in small acts of self-care, Charlotte starts to realize that healing isn’t about erasing the pain, but about accepting it and choosing to move forward.
Her growth is marked by moments of self-forgiveness, where she learns to accept that she was not responsible for Kellan’s death. This theme underscores the complexity of grief and the importance of self-compassion in the face of devastating loss.
Through Charlotte’s evolution, the novel suggests that healing is possible, even if the scars remain, and that life continues even after profound tragedy.
The Complex Nature of Love and Loss
Finally, Darling Venom explores the complexities of love, especially love in the face of immense personal pain. The love between Charlotte and Kellan is not simple or idealized; it is messy, imperfect, and, at times, destructive.
Their relationship is born from mutual suffering, and it grows in fits and starts, as both of them struggle with their emotional walls. The novel portrays love not as a panacea to their pain but as something that adds another layer of complexity to their lives.
Kellan’s fear of dragging Charlotte into his own despair ultimately leads to his tragic end, but Charlotte’s love for him remains steadfast, even after his death. In the epilogue, the memory of Kellan continues to guide Charlotte, even as she moves forward with her life.
The novel shows that love, while not always able to prevent pain, can still serve as a reminder of resilience, hope, and the strength to continue living after loss.