Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Devil Makes Three

I cannot remember where I got this recommendation, but it is hitting ALL the spots for Spooky Month! It's more gruesome than I was expecting, and more creative, and had a hard-earned happy-ish ending. All of which is exactly what I'm looking for in a scary book. And it doesn't do that thing I've seen so often in teen fiction where it's a love story pretending to be a horror story; I hate that. There is a love story, but it's of the slow-burn variety, and definitely not the main focus of the story.

Highly recommend this one!

Content Warnings

thoughttojot's review against another edition

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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.

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sandra_bwf's review against another edition

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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

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andromeda_1998's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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librariangeorgia's review against another edition

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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.

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collinsd's review against another edition

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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

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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

l_lilly_05's review against another edition

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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

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