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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

59 reviews

dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

And I thought my family reunions were bad! Dread oozes from every page, the pacing is impeccable and I couldn't predict a single plot turn but it all made perfect sense for where the story needed to go. The best horror novel I've ever read.

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

2⭐️ The plot had such promise—family drama and haunted houses? Hell yeah, I’m in. It was the execution that fell flat for me

The pacing was the most glaring problem. It felt way off. By the second page, we’re told the house is creepy. There’s no build up, unsettled feelings, or feeling of dread that I think makes a great horror book. It reads fast in some places and incredibly slow in others. The ending (which I actually loved) felt rushed
and I wish we had been told what all happened to her family. There’s just one throw away sentence that their lives were all messy. I know Anna doesn’t know,  but bc it’s written in third-person, Thorne could have told us


I also felt like Thorne wrote like, “and this thing was super creepy” rather than just letting the reader feel creeped out. Like, don’t TELL me it’s creepy, SHOW me it’s creepy through ~*fEeLiNgS*~. It reads like she isn’t confident in her ability to set the tone…or maybe she is just bad at that, I haven’t read anything else by her to compare

I don’t have this much family drama (even though I am for sure the black sheep) so maybe I’m just lucky that I don’t get it, but the animosity Anna’s family felt towards her felt very unrealistic. Like, they unnecessarily blamed things on her that anyone with a clear head could see were in no way her fault…?
And the brother’s boyfriend was VERY unnecessarily aggressive towards her. For what?
Is this really a thing that happens in families? I think it was an attempt to add to the drama, but it all just felt ridiculous 

This is just a stylistic preference, not a fault of Thorne’s writing, but I don’t think I like books written in third person

I also found it very unnecessary for her to fuck La Dama Bianca. Or, at the very least, write the ghost sex better…?


Overall, it wasn’t BAD—I don’t regret reading it, but I had very high hopes for this and I am left disappointed 

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

If you liked The Haunting of Hill House (the show not the book) then you’ll like this. 
Unexpected, just the right amount of horror and mystery that keeps you guessing. 
I liked the ending especially.
The sassiness of the FMC, the learning of Italian black magic and facing this ancient spirit



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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

SO CREEPY AND SO GOOD 😳 I am going to be thinking about this story for a while!

Anna is such a badass. Initially, I was unsure of whether I liked her or not, but as the story went on and the narrative unfolded I realised she was so villainised.
LET’S JUST SAY IT, the family were the fucking villains! Thank fuck for maybe Justin, Mia and Waverly 🙄


I am glad there was a relatively happy ending to it.
There is nothing like tying up loose ends than the protagonist always having a symbol of their haunting to keep, but then getting to move to Italy and be an artist 😂

I’m not saying it’s a happy tale throughout though. In fact, if you get squirmish I would not recommend this! Content warnings included below.

4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark tense medium-paced

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings