Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Devil Makes Three

I cannot remember where I got this recommendation, but it is hitting ALL the spots for Spooky Month! It's more gruesome than I was expecting, and more creative, and had a hard-earned happy-ish ending. All of which is exactly what I'm looking for in a scary book. And it doesn't do that thing I've seen so often in teen fiction where it's a love story pretending to be a horror story; I hate that. There is a love story, but it's of the slow-burn variety, and definitely not the main focus of the story.

Highly recommend this one!

Content Warnings

thesatellitecafe's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense

2.5

What happens in certain (many) scenes is very dark and gore-filled, but somehow none of it manages to be actually scary.

The story takes its time unspooling the horror aspects, but once the thread is cut you’re well and truly dropped in. It’s like stepping into a dark room from a sun-soaked day and your eyes need to adjust to the dimness. Except in this case, the story starts with the quiet of a dusty library and you step past a threshold, into the horrific consequences of… occult dealings. Academia, right?

And yet, the story lacks the knife’s-edge tension to be truly horrifying.

The strongest aspects of the novel were the mundane moments.

The ones where Tess is peppering books with sticky note insults or struggling to juggle multiple jobs to keep her and her sister afloat. Or where Eliot is desperate and hopeful and heartbrokenly trying to find a way to help his mother.

These scenes are all so deeply and painfully human, that when the horror arrived I mostly felt disappointed.

In comparison, the gore and trying to figure out what’s up with the devil scenes lack the same emotionality as the mundane ones. I wish we could have gotten to see more moments where Tess was

tempted to take the devil up on his offer. If we were shown more often than told of her passion for music and the cello, seeing the consequences of her putting aside her own dreams would have been more impactful. She gave up the life she wanted for her family. The devil shows her what her life could be like, if she accepted his deal. Let her waver and grapple with morals. Let her be tempted.

Lean more into that!

I will say, I enjoyed both Tess and Eliot as characters. They just got a little lost in the horror along the way.

Content Warnings

dariusmortee's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Just to make myself clear: this wasn’t a bad book. I quite enjoyed it even.

For a book advertised as horror dark academia, the focus was too much on the love plot for me tho. The “big” plot had a lot of potential, although I do think we could’ve gotten more explanation about the rules of magic in this world. This plot did however, get overshadowed by a love plot which has “insta love” written all over it. I think the insta love feels like this because we don’t even know the characters well enough yet and still the characters suddenly fall head over heals for each other. “I’d die for you” head of heals.

I would have preferred the love story taking a bit more of a back seat and instead more explanation about the world and it’s rules according to the magic.

Content Warnings

brucethegirl's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

stories_of_the_soul27's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I loved this book! Something about a fierce girl protagonist having elder daughter syndrome and protecting her younger sister from all troubles, a posh boy who loves his mother deeply and thinks he isn't strong enough to protect anyone but still going to lengths to save the people he loves and a devil who fights through ink. The vibe of this book was immaculate. It helps that most of the setting is in a library and now I'll always be on a lookout of dangerous books in any library. The story revolves around Tess and Eliot and the Devil and honestly just these three are enough to build and carry the plot. The writing was good enough to create the paranormal atmosphere this book promised. The scenes of possession and rotting flesh and devil attacking with inks were really spooky.
This book has slow burn romance too and honestly it killed me!!! I loved every Tess and Eliot moment!! Adolescent characters shouldering burdens that their 17 year olds shouldn't be worried about gets me everytime and this added depths to their personality. Nothing seems far fetched or out of plausibility.
There were some particular spooky scenes that I really liked, that gave me the creeps.

However, there were some areas where this book could improve. The pacing did get slow sometimes. Tess said she could see ghosts and Eliot can use magic. And both these aspects weren't delved deeper into. A backstory of why they had these abilities and where they came from could have enhanced the reading experience. Also I wanted to know about the devil when he was a boy. All this would have stretched the book to 500 pages maybe but the world that Tori Bovalino created was interesting enough that it required more details.
But as a debut book this was so well done. I honestly want Tess and Eliot to return in another book. I fell deeply in love with these two characters.
.
.
.
.
.
And the last line of the book : I know what it means but seriously what does it mean?!?!?!?!?!?!

Content Warnings