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ksuazo94's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury
collinsd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Gore, Self harm, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
l_lilly_05's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
anniereads221's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infidelity
marinable_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent
hanarama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Cw: abuse (physical, emotional), gore, death, fire, possession
The Good:
• Atmospheric
• Lyrical writing
• Strong premise
The Bad:
• Half-realized villain
• Undefined secondary characters
• Magic system poorly defined
You Might Like This if You Like:
• Riverdale
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• Supernatural
While a good attempt, I feel like this book needed another draft or two. As it is, the book feels like an especially long episode of a CW show.
My biggest issue is in how the side characters are handled. They're cardboard cutouts at best, and the relationships between the main characters and them is ill defined. For example, much is mad about Tess hating the dean, Dr. Birch, but little reason is given for her to hate him, and he only rarely figures into the narration in Tess's chapters. She never interacts with him in the story. I really have no idea why Eliot (who gets physically/emotionally abused by Dr. Birch) thinks that Tess hates the man as much, if not more than he does. Other characters like Tess's aunt and little sister exist only as plot devices. The world feels really empty because of how little characters seem to exist outside of Tess and Eliot's limited interactions with them.
This extends to the Devil that begins haunting Tess and Eliot. For whatever reason Bovalino decides to give the devil occasional POV chapters. These chapters are very occasional and don't seem to offer much insight into the entity, or even to enhance the dread of the plot. I think it would have helped the pacing if she had either omitted these chapters, or had committed to building up the character more. As is, the devil is a fairly clichéd demon, and is about as paper thin as the other side characters.
Like the side characters, Eliot's magic is very poorly defined. Despite being a central aspect to his character, magic seems tacked on to the story like an afterthought. I feel like it needed further exploration. It feels like magic doesn't typically exist in this world outside of Eliot and this one demon book.
Another gripe I have is that Tess's backstory comes too late in the book. Without knowing her circumstances, she comes off as abrasive and a little ungrateful. She openly hates her job at the library and complains all the time, acting petty towards patrons and her coworker. I think that sharing her backstory earlier, and giving her more opportunity to spend time with her sister would have allowed me to sympathize with her from the start.
Overall mediocre with some good, spooky scenes. Bolavino has a real talent for prose, with an easy, lyrical style. I'd love to see what she writes in the future as she hones her skill further.
The Good:
• Atmospheric
• Lyrical writing
• Strong premise
The Bad:
• Half-realized villain
• Undefined secondary characters
• Magic system poorly defined
You Might Like This if You Like:
• Riverdale
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• Supernatural
While a good attempt, I feel like this book needed another draft or two. As it is, the book feels like an especially long episode of a CW show.
My biggest issue is in how the side characters are handled. They're cardboard cutouts at best, and the relationships between the main characters and them is ill defined. For example, much is mad about Tess hating the dean, Dr. Birch, but little reason is given for her to hate him, and he only rarely figures into the narration in Tess's chapters. She never interacts with him in the story. I really have no idea why Eliot (who gets physically/emotionally abused by Dr. Birch) thinks that Tess hates the man as much, if not more than he does. Other characters like Tess's aunt and little sister exist only as plot devices. The world feels really empty because of how little characters seem to exist outside of Tess and Eliot's limited interactions with them.
This extends to the Devil that begins haunting Tess and Eliot. For whatever reason Bovalino decides to give the devil occasional POV chapters. These chapters are very occasional and don't seem to offer much insight into the entity, or even to enhance the dread of the plot. I think it would have helped the pacing if she had either omitted these chapters, or had committed to building up the character more. As is, the devil is a fairly clichéd demon, and is about as paper thin as the other side characters.
Like the side characters, Eliot's magic is very poorly defined. Despite being a central aspect to his character, magic seems tacked on to the story like an afterthought. I feel like it needed further exploration. It feels like magic doesn't typically exist in this world outside of Eliot and this one demon book.
Another gripe I have is that Tess's backstory comes too late in the book. Without knowing her circumstances, she comes off as abrasive and a little ungrateful. She openly hates her job at the library and complains all the time, acting petty towards patrons and her coworker. I think that sharing her backstory earlier, and giving her more opportunity to spend time with her sister would have allowed me to sympathize with her from the start.
Overall mediocre with some good, spooky scenes. Bolavino has a real talent for prose, with an easy, lyrical style. I'd love to see what she writes in the future as she hones her skill further.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
tallangryplanet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was a bit wary of reading this book because of its classification in horror, but it ended up being a pretty good read. There were some scary parts and a feeling of tension throughout the book, but it was lighter than I expected.
The story follows Tess, a high school student who works in the school library during the summer, and Eliot, the son of the headmaster, as they accidentally release a demon and scramble to prevent it from completely ruining their lives. They come from very different backgrounds and in the beginning it seems like they'll never get along, but as they're forced to work together they find they're more similar than they thought.
As someone who isn't very familiar with the horror genre, I didn't expect most of the twists in the story, but they still felt coherent and most of them made sense in retrospective. Waiting for the next one was never boring and it kept me almost constantly on edge. I was also completely rooting for the main characters and hoping for them to finally catch a break, although I did feel slightly disappointed when I found out one of the main motivations for the protagonist. Parents arguing about finances didn't seem as much of a big deal for Tess to completely prevent her sister from seeing them . However, I did like how she evolved throughout the story so it wasn't that big of a deal.
I did notice that some parts of the setting and characterization didn't really fit with the ya category, but it made more sense after finding it was originally meant to be an adult book. This is really the only aspect I didn't like, as the characters felt too old to be in high school, because in everything else they were easy enough to relate to (as a musician, Tess's obsession with having to practice was like having a mirror held up to my face).
All in all, it was a very enjoyable read, and I might even pick it up again in the future. Even if you're not a big horror fan, it's light enough that it won't be too scary but still tense enough to avoid being boring.
The story follows Tess, a high school student who works in the school library during the summer, and Eliot, the son of the headmaster, as they accidentally release a demon and scramble to prevent it from completely ruining their lives. They come from very different backgrounds and in the beginning it seems like they'll never get along, but as they're forced to work together they find they're more similar than they thought.
As someone who isn't very familiar with the horror genre, I didn't expect most of the twists in the story, but they still felt coherent and most of them made sense in retrospective. Waiting for the next one was never boring and it kept me almost constantly on edge. I was also completely rooting for the main characters and hoping for them to finally catch a break, although I did feel slightly disappointed when I found out one of the main motivations for the protagonist.
I did notice that some parts of the setting and characterization didn't really fit with the ya category, but it made more sense after finding it was originally meant to be an adult book. This is really the only aspect I didn't like, as the characters felt too old to be in high school, because in everything else they were easy enough to relate to (as a musician, Tess's obsession with having to practice was like having a mirror held up to my face).
All in all, it was a very enjoyable read, and I might even pick it up again in the future. Even if you're not a big horror fan, it's light enough that it won't be too scary but still tense enough to avoid being boring.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
blood, human sacrifice, possession leading to degradation of mental statecameronreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Y'all! This reminded me why I love dark academia. It was atmospheric, spooky, and actually scared me at times. I loved the writing and the characters and the plot and twists had me on the edge of my seat. My reactions to this book were completely obscene; cringing in fear, gasping in shock, even holding back tears a couple of times. I loved how it incorporated second person POV, and how scary the devil was made to be. I don't think this book will be for everyone, but it was definitely for me. The perfect Autumn/spooky season read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Grief
Minor: Body horror, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury