Reviews with content warning for Murder - Diavola

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

87 reviews

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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: Yes

Content Warnings

nad_books623's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow this book was amazing. It’s very creepy, but I could still tolerate it enough to finish the book. The descriptions and the writing style are perfect for this type of story. I could definitely see this being turned into a movie.

I think that the emotional abuse from her family was a part of the horror. Also, omg idk who’s worse her sister or brother.

Content Warnings

jclanders's review against another edition

4.5

emotional tense fast-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: Yes

Content Warnings

law_8290's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am very torn on how I feel about this book. While it was definitely not boring, it did feel like it dragged in parts and could have been a bit shorter. The beginning with the arrival to the villa gave me such creepy vibes and the family tension added to it but beyond that it seemed to be JUST family drama and little else. It became very repetitive (we get it..her family treats her like crap). Sometimes the book made ME feel like I was losing time (this will be more understood once read). I loved the idea of this book but wish some things could have been tightened up a bit more. It definitely set the mood for spooky season though.

Content Warnings

jo_stanford's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Creepy! Main character is super flawed but I love her. I washed to slap everyone in her family other than the nieces.

Content Warnings

eli_93's review against another edition

3.5

dark 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: Complicated

If the book had ended at " 'Well', she said, " Shit!" it would have been much better.
The writer is quite successful at writing suspense and evoking a strong sense of dread and wrong-ness. That is, in my opinion, the strongest aspect of the book. The final part of the book, however, does it a disservice as it makes everything a bit too explanatory to the point of being comical, almost childish. It doesn't make it a bad story, not a bad book, I just wish it could have taken its initial suspense a bit more seriously and be unafraid of un-endings, of complicated, messy dynamics, and unanswered questions.
The characters are quite unidimensional, understandable for the desired effect - as readers, we come to despise Anna's family, rooting for Anna to break free of more than one ghost and multiple hauntings. However, it would have been less repetitive if the characters could have been more nuanced.
I would still recommend this book to younger readers who are looking for an introduction in the genre.

Content Warnings

sezillee's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

Content Warnings

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional 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: Complicated

This is slow burn horror done right. I couldn’t stop thinking about this story whenever I set the book down. The pacing worked really well for the slow building of suspense, and it ticked enough trope boxes without over-saturating the story. I appreciated the way many questions had messy answers and how strong Anna was for facing the villa for or maybe in spite of her family.

In hindsight, I could see Anna being neurodivergent to a neurotypical family. She can’t understand them and they can’t her, but she’s an easy scapegoat cause she smiles and bears it.

Is it really the villa she’s trying to escape from?

Content Warnings

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious tense fast-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

Not the usual horror story, although it covers everything you expect from a good ghost story. But it is also a story about a very dysfunctional family and the kind of ghosts you carry with you, if you are considered to be the 'black sheep' amongst an awful bunch of people.

It took me a while to get into the second part of the book, after the story takes an unexpected turn. Although it was still interesting, for me it was the weaker part of the novel and made the end more forseeable, than I was hoping for it to be, after the first part.

Still an enjoyable, entertaining, well written story, which let me easily overlook some small plot holes and less convincing situations in some parts, because I had enough fun reading it overall.

Content Warnings

jourdanicus's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-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: Yes

Everything-I-love horror! Family issues, meta (and sassy) acknowledgement of the haunting, a kickass if somewhat unlikeable Final Girl.

Thorne's writing is propulsive, highly readable, and doesn't try too hard. Her aggravatingly believable characters have just the right amount of depth. The short chapters and not-too-long overall length of the book lended to the readability. Just Goldilocks horror for me.

The cover was probably scarier than the story itself, though... I had to turn my Kindle over at night 😂

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