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A review by harrowclare
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne
5.0
Although horror is my favorite genre of any media, I almost never find a 5-star read. There is always something that pulls me out of the story, or that simply doesn’t land in a way that gives me that gut-punch, life-altering feeling that a 5-star read leaves me with. It is also very hard to scare me, and while that is not a requirement to blow me away, it most certainly helps.
Diavola had everything I needed and not an ounce more. The story follows Anna, an artist for an ad agency who vacations with her family in Italy. We start the novel with her avoiding them at first, describing them as being somewhat exasperating, and boy, she was not wrong. The family rents out the secluded Villa Taccola in the remote Italian countryside, and from the moment they arrive, the vibes are off. As things progress to become scarier and more violent, Anna must navigate her life and her relationships.
There is a lot of family drama and tensions. As a black sheep, her relationship with her family, and the way their behaviors made her feel, really resonated with me. I feel like with these types of stories there is often tension, because the energy feeds whatever the adversary is, and it was palpable here. It also added a layer of isolation and claustrophobia to this situation that is honestly quite vast, both in terms of the size of the villa and the land they are on. They remain stuck together in this large, middle-of-nowhere foreign space, causing greater tension to rise.
At many twists, I anticipated what was to come, but it was largely because the storytelling was immersive and allowed me to feel like I was in the story, rather than being flat-out predictable. At times when I was surprised, I was truly surprised. Each character was well fleshed out, even the children, sometimes to infuriating detail, and I was impressed with their individual voices – in terms of writing style.
I loved the settings, the cultures, and the way Anna’s family seemed to depend on her for translation and explanation but otherwise completely discarded her. I really had no idea how this one would end (there was a moment when I thought it would go one way and then it completely shifted, and I honestly would have been pleased either way.) I liked the ending a lot and felt it concluded nicely, especially for this genre where things sometimes end abruptly or vaguely. From the first page, I was hooked on the story, and I never lost momentum or steam for it.
I actually started this one on a whim when I was getting sick of the book I was listening to at the time. It was out of desperation to like something after two duds in a row. I am so, so grateful to this book. I would have entered a reading slump for sure.
No new words learned.
Diavola had everything I needed and not an ounce more. The story follows Anna, an artist for an ad agency who vacations with her family in Italy. We start the novel with her avoiding them at first, describing them as being somewhat exasperating, and boy, she was not wrong. The family rents out the secluded Villa Taccola in the remote Italian countryside, and from the moment they arrive, the vibes are off. As things progress to become scarier and more violent, Anna must navigate her life and her relationships.
There is a lot of family drama and tensions. As a black sheep, her relationship with her family, and the way their behaviors made her feel, really resonated with me. I feel like with these types of stories there is often tension, because the energy feeds whatever the adversary is, and it was palpable here. It also added a layer of isolation and claustrophobia to this situation that is honestly quite vast, both in terms of the size of the villa and the land they are on. They remain stuck together in this large, middle-of-nowhere foreign space, causing greater tension to rise.
At many twists, I anticipated what was to come, but it was largely because the storytelling was immersive and allowed me to feel like I was in the story, rather than being flat-out predictable. At times when I was surprised, I was truly surprised. Each character was well fleshed out, even the children, sometimes to infuriating detail, and I was impressed with their individual voices – in terms of writing style.
I loved the settings, the cultures, and the way Anna’s family seemed to depend on her for translation and explanation but otherwise completely discarded her. I really had no idea how this one would end (there was a moment when I thought it would go one way and then it completely shifted, and I honestly would have been pleased either way.) I liked the ending a lot and felt it concluded nicely, especially for this genre where things sometimes end abruptly or vaguely. From the first page, I was hooked on the story, and I never lost momentum or steam for it.
I actually started this one on a whim when I was getting sick of the book I was listening to at the time. It was out of desperation to like something after two duds in a row. I am so, so grateful to this book. I would have entered a reading slump for sure.
No new words learned.