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A review by faerieoftheforest
Evil in Me by Brom
3.5
Evil in Me is set during the Satanic Panic of the 80s. Ruby Tucker, our protagonist, is an aspiring punk musician. When helping her neighbor organize his religious artifacts, she ends up getting possessed by a "demon" enslaved to an ancient ring. The only way to free herself is by getting hundreds of people to chant a spell.
The book was gory and fun. I loved Beel, the being who possesses Ruby. He is actually a very sympathetic character. Ruby, on the other hand, was insufferable for most of the story. She does eventually gain character development but not until the very end which ultimately felt unsatisfying. The story does start off very strong, however. You really care about Ruby in the first quarter of the book because of the way she is treated. The people in her life are so annoyingly self-righteous. Her stepfather, stepbrother, her ex-boyfriend, etc. everyone treated her like she was crazy or dangerous because she is mentally ill. The people in her small town had my blood boiling. The ending just felt sort of anti-climatic. Everything is resolved too conveniently. I wish there had been more growth in the characters and their relationships. The pacing is fast and yet it takes forever for the events in the synopsis to happen. Evil in Me had the potential to be really great. The premise is so interesting and unique but it fell short of my expectations.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The book was gory and fun. I loved Beel, the being who possesses Ruby. He is actually a very sympathetic character. Ruby, on the other hand, was insufferable for most of the story. She does eventually gain character development but not until the very end which ultimately felt unsatisfying. The story does start off very strong, however. You really care about Ruby in the first quarter of the book because of the way she is treated. The people in her life are so annoyingly self-righteous. Her stepfather, stepbrother, her ex-boyfriend, etc. everyone treated her like she was crazy or dangerous because she is mentally ill. The people in her small town had my blood boiling. The ending just felt sort of anti-climatic. Everything is resolved too conveniently. I wish there had been more growth in the characters and their relationships. The pacing is fast and yet it takes forever for the events in the synopsis to happen. Evil in Me had the potential to be really great. The premise is so interesting and unique but it fell short of my expectations.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!