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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A suspenseful family drama set in the Italian countryside, Diavola was a fun vacation read. There are a few horror elements throughout, but the most unsettling parts were definitely the unknown.
Anna is the black sheep of her family and is being forced to confront it head-on; she is a convenient scapegoat and is desperate to break out of the vicious cycle of her family experiencing hardship and immediately blaming her and using her exploits as the butt of the joke. The atmosphere was great, and you could feel the tension in the air as the family converged on the strange villa. Thorne was a little heavy-handed on the "hauntedness" of the place, if only to show the family's dismissive nature. Anna struggles with the family's complete disregard for her until they need something, and they gaslight her constantly until she wonders if what she is experiencing could even be possible. Thorne's writing was good but nothing spectacular. The plotline was easy to follow, the tension built throughout the story, and I did not see the ending coming.
Diavola focuses on resilience, trusting yourself, knowing when enough is enough, the courage to remove toxic people from your life, following your heart and your passions, and avoiding falling into old patterns. All this set against the backdrop of a ghost story was entertaining and compulsively readable.
Anna is the black sheep of her family and is being forced to confront it head-on; she is a convenient scapegoat and is desperate to break out of the vicious cycle of her family experiencing hardship and immediately blaming her and using her exploits as the butt of the joke. The atmosphere was great, and you could feel the tension in the air as the family converged on the strange villa. Thorne was a little heavy-handed on the "hauntedness" of the place, if only to show the family's dismissive nature. Anna struggles with the family's complete disregard for her until they need something, and they gaslight her constantly until she wonders if what she is experiencing could even be possible. Thorne's writing was good but nothing spectacular. The plotline was easy to follow, the tension built throughout the story, and I did not see the ending coming.
Diavola focuses on resilience, trusting yourself, knowing when enough is enough, the courage to remove toxic people from your life, following your heart and your passions, and avoiding falling into old patterns. All this set against the backdrop of a ghost story was entertaining and compulsively readable.
dark
mysterious
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
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
This was really good really solid horror with a non stupid ending (you know how horror hangs on the ending? Well this one worked.)
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the family drama and the main character. The setting in Italy was great and so was the haunted villa. Considering Daviola means Devil in Italian I expected this book to be more gruesome. It was more of a modern gothic tale with very little bloodshed. I wanted to know more about the history of the women in the house. I also felt that there were parts that were skimmed over and felt very unfinished. I did read this very quickly because I couldn’t put it down, but I always felt like there was something missing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
Spooky and atmospheric
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a wild ride. the book is effective in creating a chilly, haunted-house atmosphere, but it was definitely more comical and PULPY than i anticipated. not necessarily a bad thing, just wasn’t what i was expecting.
a fun summer read, for sure.
a fun summer read, for sure.