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thoughttojot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
2.5
What happens in certain (many) scenes is very dark and gore-filled, but somehow none of it manages to be actually scary.
The story takes its time unspooling the horror aspects, but once the thread is cut you’re well and truly dropped in. It’s like stepping into a dark room from a sun-soaked day and your eyes need to adjust to the dimness. Except in this case, the story starts with the quiet of a dusty library and you step past a threshold, into the horrific consequences of… occult dealings. Academia, right?
And yet, the story lacks the knife’s-edge tension to be truly horrifying.
The strongest aspects of the novel were the mundane moments. The ones where Tess is peppering books with sticky note insults or struggling to juggle multiple jobs to keep her and her sister afloat. Or where Eliot is desperate and hopeful and heartbrokenly trying to find a way to help his mother. These scenes are all so deeply and painfully human, that when the horror arrived I mostly felt disappointed.
In comparison, the gore and trying to figure out what’s up with the devil scenes lack the same emotionality as the mundane ones. I wish we could have gotten to see more moments where Tess was tempted to take the devil up on his offer. If we were shown more often than told of her passion for music and the cello, seeing the consequences of her putting aside her own dreams would have been more impactful. She gave up the life she wanted for her family. The devil shows her what her life could be like, if she accepted his deal. Let her waver and grapple with morals. Let her be tempted. Lean more into that!
I will say, I enjoyed both Tess and Eliot as characters. They just got a little lost in the horror along the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Self harm
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
sandra_bwf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, and Gore
uncreativeoops's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Terminal illness, Cancer, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
dariusmortee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Just to make myself clear: this wasn’t a bad book. I quite enjoyed it even.
For a book advertised as horror dark academia, the focus was too much on the love plot for me tho. The “big” plot had a lot of potential, although I do think we could’ve gotten more explanation about the rules of magic in this world. This plot did however, get overshadowed by a love plot which has “insta love” written all over it. I think the insta love feels like this because we don’t even know the characters well enough yet and still the characters suddenly fall head over heals for each other. “I’d die for you” head of heals.
I would have preferred the love story taking a bit more of a back seat and instead more explanation about the world and it’s rules according to the magic.
For a book advertised as horror dark academia, the focus was too much on the love plot for me tho. The “big” plot had a lot of potential, although I do think we could’ve gotten more explanation about the rules of magic in this world. This plot did however, get overshadowed by a love plot which has “insta love” written all over it. I think the insta love feels like this because we don’t even know the characters well enough yet and still the characters suddenly fall head over heals for each other. “I’d die for you” head of heals.
I would have preferred the love story taking a bit more of a back seat and instead more explanation about the world and it’s rules according to the magic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Self harm
emhromp's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book.
On the one hand, this story is very creepy and gory with a bit of dry humour sprinkled over it. And that ending! Oof.
On the other hand, it felt like half of the book was deleted, because a lot of what happens and a lot of what the characters feel is not logical.
Anyway, I think this is a debut, and I'm sure Bovalino's next book will be a lot better.
On the one hand, this story is very creepy and gory with a bit of dry humour sprinkled over it. And that ending! Oof.
On the other hand, it felt like half of the book was deleted, because a lot of what happens and a lot of what the characters feel is not logical.
Anyway, I think this is a debut, and I'm sure Bovalino's next book will be a lot better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
librariangeorgia's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I loved the concept of this book, however it just wasn’t very well executed. It was actually quite disappointing.
The biggest problem that I had with this book was that there’s no world building! Literally. It’s mainly set in a library which sounds great. But when the devil appears, I’m assuming that’s meant to be a different location, it’s just described as if it’s a dream or imaginary. I couldn’t picture any other place other than the library.
I really wanted more from Eliot and Tess, their characters could’ve been so good but there’s a lack of character development for them both.
Honestly, I just forced my way through this because I’d been asked by friends for my opinion on this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Gore, and Self harm
collinsd's review
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: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Death, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
4.0
It's really interesting having just read this book without knowing much about it other than it has something to do with the devil, because I think it left me room to enjoy it more than if someone had told me to expect enemies to lovers (it really isn't), or if I'd been more familiar with dark academia, because I don't think that's quite it either. I'm glad though, because I actually really enjoyed it.
This is pretty dark for YA, and I definitely recommend looking into the content warnings before deciding to pick it up. It gave me very solid horror movie vibes; the author's writing is fantastic, and that means I could vividly imagine the horrors she was describing. I definitely flinched a few times.
I also think the way she writes characters is really good. Tess and Eliot are both dealing with a lot in their lives, making them come off as more mature than a normal teenager probably would, but that felt right in context. Tess has taken responsibility for her younger sister as a caretaker, juggling school and several part-time jobs, and that necessitates a certain level of maturity. Eliot is dealing with separated parents and a father that seems to be maliciously keeping him away from his terminally-ill mother. But they aren't just two unfortunate, tortured teenagers; they have flaws, they're very human, and I believed the connection between them. Yes, the romance is probably still a bit fast (it's hard to say how much time passes in the book), but I didn't mind it too much. I really enjoyed the side characters too; the friendship between Tess and Anna was heartwarming, and I liked Nat, Tess's little sister, quite a bit as well.
There are a few things that stop me from giving this book a full five stars.
We're told on the first page that Tess can see ghosts, and this sets up an expectation that this is somehow important to the plot. It never is, and I'm not sure why it was included at all.
The first interactions between Eliot and Tess are weird and potentially trying to set up a very short-lived enemies to lovers situation. Instead of sincerely apologizing when she was clearly in the wrong, Tess tries to blame Eliot when he confronts her, and it just didn't make sense for her to react that way.
Last but not least, the ending, which was confusing. I still don't really understand what happened and what the consequences could be.
This is pretty dark for YA, and I definitely recommend looking into the content warnings before deciding to pick it up. It gave me very solid horror movie vibes; the author's writing is fantastic, and that means I could vividly imagine the horrors she was describing. I definitely flinched a few times.
I also think the way she writes characters is really good. Tess and Eliot are both dealing with a lot in their lives, making them come off as more mature than a normal teenager probably would, but that felt right in context. Tess has taken responsibility for her younger sister as a caretaker, juggling school and several part-time jobs, and that necessitates a certain level of maturity. Eliot is dealing with separated parents and a father that seems to be maliciously keeping him away from his terminally-ill mother. But they aren't just two unfortunate, tortured teenagers; they have flaws, they're very human, and I believed the connection between them. Yes, the romance is probably still a bit fast (it's hard to say how much time passes in the book), but I didn't mind it too much. I really enjoyed the side characters too; the friendship between Tess and Anna was heartwarming, and I liked Nat, Tess's little sister, quite a bit as well.
There are a few things that stop me from giving this book a full five stars.
We're told on the first page that Tess can see ghosts, and this sets up an expectation that this is somehow important to the plot. It never is, and I'm not sure why it was included at all.
The first interactions between Eliot and Tess are weird and potentially trying to set up a very short-lived enemies to lovers situation. Instead of sincerely apologizing when she was clearly in the wrong, Tess tries to blame Eliot when he confronts her, and it just didn't make sense for her to react that way.
Last but not least, the ending, which was confusing. I still don't really understand what happened and what the consequences could be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, and Gore
l_lilly_05's review
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: Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Child death