Reviews - The Devil and Mrs. Davenport

682 reviews for:

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport

Paulette Kennedy

4.14 AVERAGE

mcdavila's review against another edition

4.0

tense

willard555's review

3.25

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

libraryofalibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring 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

sammarcario's review

5.0

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kydneybean's review

4.0

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: Complicated

Gothic fiction with a psychic medium housewife in the 1950s. I barely knew what I was getting into when I opened up this book, but when I did, I was faced with chilling situations and a main character you want nothing more than to root for. The moment I met her, I wanted nothing but good things for her. I don't know if it's because I liked Loretta a lot or because I hated her husband way more. I wanted nothing more than to reach into the book and throttle that man myself.

I have to give Paulette Kennedy props for her almost addictive writing style. With every chapter, I had to know what was going to happen until I reached the end. I was so enraptured with Loretta and her journey of motherhood and womanhood in the 1950s that I found myself forgetting about the mystery that was happening until I got hit in the face with new information. The combination of historical fiction and horror, along with the addition of a mystery element, has worked very well for the book.

The main reason I had to dock points from this book is that some things, especially in the last hundred pages or so, felt too easy.

I really began to notice this around the time Loretta was institutionalized at the mental hospital. She escaped without an issue. She wasn't caught or spotted by anyone, even when she made some dumb decisions to go back to her home and her children's school. She was able to get away without anyone getting hurt when her husband found her at Barb's home. She found the one good police officer who believed her absolutely, even when faced with her psychic abilities and a high-powered husband. She has a perfect happily ever after where she gets her kids back to her custody, and (supposedly) her husband never gets out of prison, and the man she loves loves her in return.

And while I'm so happy that Loretta got her happily ever after, but because it came too easy, it doesn't feel as gratifying as it should.

Despite this one gripe, I did find myself entertained by Paulette Kennedy's novel, and I loved the reason she wrote it. Beyond the reasons why I love a book, I love it when authors love their books, and you can tell Kennedy loved this book.

"It was time to find out who she really was. To take the cold, bracing plunge into reality, and come out the other side a changed woman. The woman she was meant to be."

Content Warnings