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brenna95's review against another edition
Too slow and too many POVs that weren’t propelling the story
the_horror_maven's review against another edition
5.0
The Making of Gabriel Davenport is a brilliant dark novel. I couldn't find anything at all to critique with this novel, and that is extremely rare for me. It is the perfect mix of horror and fantasy, while also incorporating the human experience and the pains that bind us all together. I read this book overnight, and I would gladly do it over and over again.
First of all, Beverley Lee's writing is very clean. The editing was flawless, and I adored how fast the pace of the novel was. This is a perfect novel for those who enjoy horror/darker novels, as well as those who aren't experienced in the genre at all. It is one of those rare novels that is dark, but not crass or grotesque - and these types of novels are the best kind.
Lee is also a master at evolving her characters through the novel, as well as making the reader feel isolated with no one else to turn to but the characters themselves. Her writing allows the reader to become completely isolated inside of the story, and I now feel as though her characters are my own personal friends. I fought for them throughout the novel, and still think about them when they cross my mind. The Making of Gabriel Davenport is the best novel I have read in a really long time, and I am so honored to have read it at all. I cannot talk about this novel enough, and recommend it to anyone in the upper young adult - adult age range. It doesn't matter what genres you like to read, this book is perfect for anyone. And I guarantee that it will turn you to darker novels more than any other introductory novel. Lee is clearly passionate about her novel and her characters, and those passions shine beautifully through her words.
First of all, Beverley Lee's writing is very clean. The editing was flawless, and I adored how fast the pace of the novel was. This is a perfect novel for those who enjoy horror/darker novels, as well as those who aren't experienced in the genre at all. It is one of those rare novels that is dark, but not crass or grotesque - and these types of novels are the best kind.
Lee is also a master at evolving her characters through the novel, as well as making the reader feel isolated with no one else to turn to but the characters themselves. Her writing allows the reader to become completely isolated inside of the story, and I now feel as though her characters are my own personal friends. I fought for them throughout the novel, and still think about them when they cross my mind. The Making of Gabriel Davenport is the best novel I have read in a really long time, and I am so honored to have read it at all. I cannot talk about this novel enough, and recommend it to anyone in the upper young adult - adult age range. It doesn't matter what genres you like to read, this book is perfect for anyone. And I guarantee that it will turn you to darker novels more than any other introductory novel. Lee is clearly passionate about her novel and her characters, and those passions shine beautifully through her words.
sarina_langer's review against another edition
5.0
The Making of Gabriel Davenport was not what I expected - in all the right ways!
The opening line alone was beautiful, and drew me in right away. It also got dark very quickly, and set the tone for the rest of the book. I wasn't even five (short) chapters into the story before I was fearing for Beth's life, and I still feel for everything that's gone so terribly wrong for her. While she wasn't one of the most active characters throughout the book she's one of my favourites, which I think says a lot.
I *love* The Manor. It's the perfect sanctuary (demons notwithstanding) and GAWD, the things I'd do to search that vault and that library! They both sound like someone's perfect happy place! It might be time to start a list of fictional places I'd love to visit, and put this one at the top... Not that Carver would let me.
The one thing I really didn't expect was the supernatural twist. I knew there'd be a demon and something evil from the blurb, but I didn't expect someone who could see the dead, or fudging vampires. Not the fake, sparkly kind. The dark, dangerous kind. I thought I knew who my favourites were until Clove walked in.
The characters are real and convincing, and I felt protective of Beth early on. Olivia is my favourite character. She's a girl with a fascinating ability, who's unapologetic, and who gets things done!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought it, but it wasn't this and I can't wait for the sequel. The Making of Gabriel Davenport ended in such a brilliant way, and I can't recommend it enough.
The opening line alone was beautiful, and drew me in right away. It also got dark very quickly, and set the tone for the rest of the book. I wasn't even five (short) chapters into the story before I was fearing for Beth's life, and I still feel for everything that's gone so terribly wrong for her. While she wasn't one of the most active characters throughout the book she's one of my favourites, which I think says a lot.
I *love* The Manor. It's the perfect sanctuary (demons notwithstanding) and GAWD, the things I'd do to search that vault and that library! They both sound like someone's perfect happy place! It might be time to start a list of fictional places I'd love to visit, and put this one at the top... Not that Carver would let me.
The one thing I really didn't expect was the supernatural twist. I knew there'd be a demon and something evil from the blurb, but I didn't expect someone who could see the dead, or fudging vampires. Not the fake, sparkly kind. The dark, dangerous kind. I thought I knew who my favourites were until Clove walked in.
The characters are real and convincing, and I felt protective of Beth early on. Olivia is my favourite character. She's a girl with a fascinating ability, who's unapologetic, and who gets things done!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought it, but it wasn't this and I can't wait for the sequel. The Making of Gabriel Davenport ended in such a brilliant way, and I can't recommend it enough.
sarina_langer's review
5.0
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book. I love Lee's writing and have been waiting for the conclusion to her deliciously dark series!
There was so much to love about The Purity of Crimson. It's easily the darkest of the three. Be warned: if you have any favourite characters, they'll get hurt emotionally as well as physically.Especially Moth. *ahem*
Every chapter kept me turning the pages as things progressively got worse for the boys. The foreshadowing was killing me, and I raced through the second half to find out how much of it came true and what was spared. Lee didn't hold back, her characters suffered, and it made this one hell of a ride.
The ending especially was perfect. It really felt like finality after a very long struggle and was the perfect last chapter to this series. Everything came together beautifully.
This is an incredibly accomplished series, friends. If you're looking for your next dark Spooktober read, look no further!
There was so much to love about The Purity of Crimson. It's easily the darkest of the three. Be warned: if you have any favourite characters, they'll get hurt emotionally as well as physically.
Every chapter kept me turning the pages as things progressively got worse for the boys. The foreshadowing was killing me, and I raced through the second half to find out how much of it came true and what was spared. Lee didn't hold back, her characters suffered, and it made this one hell of a ride.
The ending especially was perfect. It really felt like finality after a very long struggle and was the perfect last chapter to this series. Everything came together beautifully.
This is an incredibly accomplished series, friends. If you're looking for your next dark Spooktober read, look no further!
allygrove's review against another edition
5.0
Beverly Lee writes a compelling tale that draws the reader in and leaves them hungry for more. From the first paragraph I was hooked. I had to know; what, who and why. Generally I don't read horror fiction, so I'll admit it may have creeped me out way more than a seasoned veteran of the genre. The writing style was easy to fall into, the characters were varied and interesting and it held my interest enough to read late into the night. Overall I would recommend this book and will definitely be picking up any more books she writes.
michael_benavidez's review against another edition
5.0
Slight disclaimer: I have been a fan of Beverly Lee for a long while now, and thats less because of her books (Davenport is my first of hers) and more because of who she is as a person. She is a sweet wonderful human being who I hyped up and have been excited to read for the longest time.
So maybe there is done bias? But I don't think so. Looking at the hype that surrounds these books, I can rightly say it is wonderful.
Her writing is clear and detailed. It flows into the action and thoughts, and creates such vivid mystery and wonder you kind of forget this is a horror/thriller.
Demons, ghosts, vampires, a lil coven of X-Men styled people are all brought into play in these pages. It's all a wonder to behold, watching the set-up, watching it Tumble down. Everything seems so finely executed, by fully developed characters that I'm excited to delve into the next book in the series.
And there lies my only complaint. A series. There's so many books to read god only knows when I'll be able to pick up book 2 much less 3. But I will I promise it.
So maybe there is done bias? But I don't think so. Looking at the hype that surrounds these books, I can rightly say it is wonderful.
Her writing is clear and detailed. It flows into the action and thoughts, and creates such vivid mystery and wonder you kind of forget this is a horror/thriller.
Demons, ghosts, vampires, a lil coven of X-Men styled people are all brought into play in these pages. It's all a wonder to behold, watching the set-up, watching it Tumble down. Everything seems so finely executed, by fully developed characters that I'm excited to delve into the next book in the series.
And there lies my only complaint. A series. There's so many books to read god only knows when I'll be able to pick up book 2 much less 3. But I will I promise it.
tonimp28's review against another edition
4.0
Empieza fuerte, continua un poco flojo pero luego va in crescendo. La verdad es que me ha sorprendido para bien, la segunda mitad lo he devorado por querer saber qué iba a pasar.
Muy bien escrito (buena traducción), capítulos cortos y un final que puedes dejarlo cerrado o querer continuar con los otros dos, ya que es una trilogía, pero lamentablemente no están traducidos.
De todas formas, esto último no es motivo para no leer éste libro.
Muy bien escrito (buena traducción), capítulos cortos y un final que puedes dejarlo cerrado o querer continuar con los otros dos, ya que es una trilogía, pero lamentablemente no están traducidos.
De todas formas, esto último no es motivo para no leer éste libro.
_b_a_l_'s review against another edition
3.0
Is this a trashy horror story? Yes.
Is it a fantastic debut novel? Yes.
Is it a lot of fun? Also, yes!
Is it a fantastic debut novel? Yes.
Is it a lot of fun? Also, yes!
fae_princess_in_space's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
itadakinasu's review
2.0
One extra star for originality.
Urban fantasy is a really iffy genre for me, and the supernatural themes presented in The Making of Gabriel Davenport actually came as a bit of a surprise. Overall, I think it was done well. The supernatural elements followed some familiar rules but also brought out some twists.
Lee wrote in some solid foreshadowing while appropriately building up tension throughout the book.
Sadly, I think that's where the positives end.
Characters
Lee introduces a lot of characters within the first 15% of the book: victimized teenager Gabriel and his broken mother Beth, studious mentor Carver, sensitive priest Noah, hot-headed Olivia and her twin brother Ollie, the farmhand savior Tom, and several minor inconsequential people.
The main problem with them is that there's no depth or development of any of them. What you see is what you get with every single one from the time they're introduced to the end of the book. I actually felt more interest and sympathy for the demon than I did for any of the other characters, and I hardly felt anything when one of them was in danger (partially because it's clear that Lee is afraid of actually killing any of her main characters off).
This reads a lot like an origin story or prequel lacking a hook to draw readers into the main series.
Plot
First and foremost, Lee's stylistic choice here is not the best. For a story like Gabriel's, we need to feel something for the characters' losses and hardships. We need to see what they're thinking and feel their pain. This distant, almost journalistic tone does little to endear readers to the characters, thus all of their struggles seem meaningless and emotional scenes fall flat.
I was tempted to DNF up until about 40% because it just dragged. The introduction when Gabriel was a baby was fantastic, but after that it was just painfully slow as Lee started setting up the pieces for the middle. Things finally started to happen around 40% and the book found its pace that it (thankfully) maintained until the end.
The main problem for me was not the pacing, though. It was a lot of random elements being introduced without being explained. Many of these elements were extremely unrealistic, such as Beth's mental state following the incident when Gabriel was a baby. I'm able to suspend my belief a little bit if there are other elements that are done well to compensate, but this just wasn't.
Conclusion
This is clearly the origin story of Gabriel. While that fact alone is fine, it just wasn't gripping enough to make me want to read more about him. The tone of the writing didn't suit the content. The pacing is awful until the latter half of the book, and even then, there are so many unexplained and unrealistic mechanics used to propel the mediocre plot forward.
Urban fantasy is a really iffy genre for me, and the supernatural themes presented in The Making of Gabriel Davenport actually came as a bit of a surprise.
Spoiler
I mean, how often do we see demons and vampires duking it out?Lee wrote in some solid foreshadowing while appropriately building up tension throughout the book.
Sadly, I think that's where the positives end.
Characters
Lee introduces a lot of characters within the first 15% of the book: victimized teenager Gabriel and his broken mother Beth, studious mentor Carver, sensitive priest Noah, hot-headed Olivia and her twin brother Ollie, the farmhand savior Tom, and several minor inconsequential people.
The main problem with them is that there's no depth or development of any of them. What you see is what you get with every single one from the time they're introduced to the end of the book. I actually felt more interest and sympathy for the demon than I did for any of the other characters, and I hardly felt anything when one of them was in danger (partially because it's clear that Lee is afraid of actually killing any of her main characters off).
This reads a lot like an origin story or prequel lacking a hook to draw readers into the main series.
Plot
First and foremost, Lee's stylistic choice here is not the best. For a story like Gabriel's, we need to feel something for the characters' losses and hardships. We need to see what they're thinking and feel their pain. This distant, almost journalistic tone does little to endear readers to the characters, thus all of their struggles seem meaningless and emotional scenes fall flat.
I was tempted to DNF up until about 40% because it just dragged. The introduction when Gabriel was a baby was fantastic, but after that it was just painfully slow as Lee started setting up the pieces for the middle. Things finally started to happen around 40% and the book found its pace that it (thankfully) maintained until the end.
The main problem for me was not the pacing, though. It was a lot of random elements being introduced without being explained. Many of these elements were extremely unrealistic, such as Beth's mental state following the incident when Gabriel was a baby.
Spoiler
Or Stu magically knowing how to stop the demon and being able to communicate this to Olivia, who he has never met and wouldn't know was in any way related to Gabriel. Or Ollie's sudden sadistic sexual fantasies, when it's even specifically mentioned that he wasn't homosexual or a sadist. Or how Noah's prayers and psalm book is able to repel the demon in the beginning but somehow he isn't physically capable of prayer at the end.Conclusion
This is clearly the origin story of Gabriel. While that fact alone is fine, it just wasn't gripping enough to make me want to read more about him. The tone of the writing didn't suit the content. The pacing is awful until the latter half of the book, and even then, there are so many unexplained and unrealistic mechanics used to propel the mediocre plot forward.