Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - There Is No Devil

Hrm, maybe 3.75 stars here. There are things I like about this series and things I don't. It's not life changing by any stretch, but was it enjoyable? Yes, I was interested enough to keep going all the way through both books. As I said there's a personal humor to the setting of them being fine artists, this continues that line for me in the second book with the of the art shows, interviews, a flashback to art school. I will give Ms. Lark props for either having some art experience, or having done some research into it; because there's definitely a few times where I had the thought that the author must make art. Another thing I enjoy in this series, not just this book, is overall the dynamic between Cole and Mara. I really enjoyed how they changed one another over the course of the book.

Honestly, Cole changed more than Mara, or Mara's felt a little less believable, but

I enjoyed that aspect. I'm honestly not one to highlight or mark passages in books, but I will say that there are some really nice lines and thoughts sprinkled throughout this series. There were several moments, that gave me pause to where I would read a line and think, "I would highlight this" if I were that type of reader. Overall, I like Sophie Lark's idea of a dark but healthy relationship.

Things I didn't like, and this isn't dislikes so much as maybe didn't quite hit the mark for me. The backstories.

I mean it's honestly a hard sell to write someone so broken and abused that they resort to murder. It's not the author's fault I've read it in other works, usually fan works, but still it rarely convinces me. This was kind of no exception. Also, I don't know if it's just a truth universally known that stepfather's are a$$holes? or it just so happens that mine also fit this mold so well, that it just seemed too cliche for me. God, somewhere out there there has to be decent men who don't emotionally abuse and treat their step kids like sh*t. Okay, I know it's totally not a fault of the author's that this stuff hit too close to home for me, that my coping mechanism is to scoff.

Again overall I enjoyed the book. Some of the stuff seemed sped through, the coping of some deaths way too fast, but at the same time I don't think I would care/want to read through the actual emotional reaction to that. So while I'm like this seems too unrealistic, I'm also like okay with it being omitted. WOW, I'm such a demanding reader.

I will say, and my favorite thing about this series, is that there are actual book illustrations sprinkled throughout the works. I applaud Sophie Lark for supporting artists and illustrators. That really put a smile on my face. Do the characters look like I imagined in my head, not exactly, no. But did she commission someone to illustrate her work; Yes, and for that I'll be looking at her other works, because now more than ever it's hard for illustrators to get work. I love that she's supporting artists in that way.

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kejendjsa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

nickbreezyreads_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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julianacosta_01's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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mnap's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this book more than the first one, however I still don’t think this duet is worth all the hype it gets. Like, sure, the mmc is extremely morally gray and quite literally kills someone for the fmc. But it still doesn’t hit like Haunting Adeline does. There’s some aspects that remind me of it, like Mara tuning into Cole’s “dark side”, but other than that there’s not much else. I do like their scenes, and seeing the relationship and character development from book one to book two was nice because it was very clear with the developments. Cole started feeling some stronger emotions towards Mara, whether that be because he had an obsession with her or because he genuinely felt that way with her we don’t know, but I still like how it was pretty clearly stated. Mara’s growth was VERY clear, as she was less timid and scared by things and started to take on the more morally gray concept as well.

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allymurphy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Very enjoyable, almost seems like both books could’ve been one with each being a different part. Finished both in one sitting each

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isabelleroyall's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

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