Portland, 1994. Rain slicks the pavement, neon signs buzz in the fog, and the punk scene-once a refuge for the angry, the lost, and the misfit-has rotted from the inside out. Mara Hayes has always known how to disappear behind the counter of Wax Trax Records, hiding in vinyl crates and static-filled headphones. But after one night fractures her world, silence feels like complicity, and complicity feels like death.
When her story is dismissed, distorted, and buried by the same music scene that claims to champion rebellion, Mara's rage begins to take shape. And she's not the only one. Saffron, June, and Kira-three young women hardened by their own histories of being ignored, underestimated, or erased-are done watching men with guitars be worshipped while the girls they hurt vanish. In a late-night diner, fueled by bad coffee and worse exhaustion, they decide to do something unthinkable.
They start a band.
Neon Vandal isn't polished. They're not trained. They can barely tune their instruments. But what they lack in experience, they make up for with raw fury, underground community, and a growing network of girls who are ready for a sound that tells the truth. From a cluttered garage to the basements of Olympia-the birthplace of Riot Grrrl-they build their own scene piece by piece: photocopied zines, patched jackets, shouted lyrics, and the unwavering belief that survival can become protest.
As their voice spreads, so does the backlash. Counter-protesters follow their shows. Local publications twist their message. The men who once controlled the narrative suddenly feel threatened by four young women refusing to shut up. Each performance becomes both an act of defiance and a reminder of what's at stake. Every show is louder. Every zine is sharper. Every night brings them closer to the spark of something revolutionary-or something dangerous.
Mara finds herself standing center stage, throat burning, hands shaking, screaming truths she once thought she'd never say out loud. But stepping into the light means becoming visible in ways she's not prepared for. Fame-underground or not-has its price. And when the old scene fights back, Neon Vandal must decide how far they're willing to go to burn down what tried to erase them.
Gritty, atmospheric, and charged with the electricity of a cultural uprising, Neon Vandal is a visceral portrait of young women reclaiming power in a world determined to silence them. Set against the humid glow of 90s Portland and the radical heartbeat of Olympia's Riot Grrrl movement, this novel blends the fury of punk, the intimacy of zine culture, and the resilience of survivors who refuse to disappear.
For anyone who has ever found salvation in a basement show, scribbled their truth in a photocopied zine, or stood in the back of a venue wishing they had the courage to scream, Neon Vandal is a rallying cry. A testament. And a warning:
If the scene won't protect its girls, the girls will build a new scene-louder, brighter, and impossible to ignore.
