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tortello_alla_zucca's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
laelyn's review against another edition
2.0
I rarely read young adult horror, so I was actually rather excited to dive into this one. "The Devil Makes Three" mixes paranormal horror with a dark academia-esque setting which I really liked. In the end, it still just wasn't for me.
The writing is solid and the characters are complex and well-written, too. Personally, I thought they read a little older than they are supposed to be, especially Elliot, and in general the setting screamed more college than high school to me. I think the book would have benefitted from ageing up the characters a little for the whole setting to make more sense, but this is a very minor complaint and I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Also, the whole magic thing felt out of place and weirdly tacked on, like the author was trying to write two different books at the same time. I really didn't need it in this particular novel.
The biggest issue I had with the novel was the pacing. I gotta admit that I thought about dnf-ing the book multiple times throughout the first about 30% of it because it was sooooo sloooow and nothing really happened. I was incredibly bored despite the book obviously trying to set up its later action by making me care for the characters, by building context for them, by fleshing them out. But it was just a lot of tell don't show and it dragged on and on and on until finally, things started to get moving once Tess and Elliot find the demonic book. The pacing was still too slow after that but at least there were actual things happening, and some of them were very dark and gruesome which I absolutely enjoyed.
The characters themselves were alright. I admire the complexity Bovalino gives them but there were also weird disconnects between the pov chapters that kept creeping up. Elliot would, in his own pov chapter, talk at length about how he would never make a move on Tess for several reasons, then in the next chapter, this time Tess' pov, he immediately asks her out. What the characters tell us in their pov chapters stands sometimes in opposition to what they do in the other character's chapters or at least doesn't always fit. The romance felt at the same time rushed and incredibly slow. The side characters were kind of... there, but really, none of them were particularly fleshed out, which in some cases kept me from emotionally engaging with certain parts of the plot.
The final twist is rather typical of the horror genre so I predicted it and I'm sure a lot of readers will too, but I still really liked it and it added to the eerie atmosphere of the second part of the book. The devil itself was really well done and I really enjoyed the ink-angle, but it couldn't save the book for me. I'd still recommend it to fans of the ya horror genre.
Many thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the arc!
The writing is solid and the characters are complex and well-written, too. Personally, I thought they read a little older than they are supposed to be, especially Elliot, and in general the setting screamed more college than high school to me. I think the book would have benefitted from ageing up the characters a little for the whole setting to make more sense, but this is a very minor complaint and I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Also, the whole magic thing felt out of place and weirdly tacked on, like the author was trying to write two different books at the same time. I really didn't need it in this particular novel.
The biggest issue I had with the novel was the pacing. I gotta admit that I thought about dnf-ing the book multiple times throughout the first about 30% of it because it was sooooo sloooow and nothing really happened. I was incredibly bored despite the book obviously trying to set up its later action by making me care for the characters, by building context for them, by fleshing them out. But it was just a lot of tell don't show and it dragged on and on and on until finally, things started to get moving once Tess and Elliot find the demonic book. The pacing was still too slow after that but at least there were actual things happening, and some of them were very dark and gruesome which I absolutely enjoyed.
The characters themselves were alright. I admire the complexity Bovalino gives them but there were also weird disconnects between the pov chapters that kept creeping up. Elliot would, in his own pov chapter, talk at length about how he would never make a move on Tess for several reasons, then in the next chapter, this time Tess' pov, he immediately asks her out. What the characters tell us in their pov chapters stands sometimes in opposition to what they do in the other character's chapters or at least doesn't always fit. The romance felt at the same time rushed and incredibly slow. The side characters were kind of... there, but really, none of them were particularly fleshed out, which in some cases kept me from emotionally engaging with certain parts of the plot.
The final twist is rather typical of the horror genre so I predicted it and I'm sure a lot of readers will too, but I still really liked it and it added to the eerie atmosphere of the second part of the book. The devil itself was really well done and I really enjoyed the ink-angle, but it couldn't save the book for me. I'd still recommend it to fans of the ya horror genre.
Many thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the arc!
emilye3's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t even know where to begin with this book. It felt like it was missing many things and the characters were t as flushed out as they could have been. Pacing seemed off at times and I found my self a little confused towards the end. Overall it was an okay book.
gabrielle_erin's review against another edition
2.0
Objectively, this was a perfectly fine book, but for some reason it just did not click with me. It took sooo long for me to get through it! The characters were bland and although the storyline had potential to be interesting the execution just was not what I thought I was going to get out of this book.
tilltab's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
hannah27's review against another edition
5.0
actually could i have 5 more of these little british boys
ek1bble's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
kberry513's review against another edition
3.0
Probably a 3.5 but not one I want to round up to 4. It was a decent read, a little predictable (but not in a bad way), it just didn't hold my attention very well at the beginning. I think maybe I just wasn't in the mood? If I reread it, I may want to rate it higher - we'll see.
itputsthebookupontheshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
I was super interested in this book premise, unfortunately it did't hit as well with me as I would have liked. First off I listened to this one on audio, thanks to the publisher, and while it was well recorded, I had a hard time enjoying it because the male narrator was much older than the female. As this is a "highschool" aged book, it just didn't sit well with me when he would talk about wanting to touch the girl, it came off more creepy in a bad way than being romantic sounding. It may be perfectly fine while physically reading, but in my experience with it, it was a miss. The pacing was also an issue for me, it seemed to drag out parts that could have been shortened and didn't contain as much action as I would have hoped for, for a horror genre type book. It may be fine for a Young Reader, but for me it just wasn't quite what I was hoping for after reading the premise.
Thank you to Netgally and RB Media for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest reviw
I was super interested in this book premise, unfortunately it did't hit as well with me as I would have liked. First off I listened to this one on audio, thanks to the publisher, and while it was well recorded, I had a hard time enjoying it because the male narrator was much older than the female. As this is a "highschool" aged book, it just didn't sit well with me when he would talk about wanting to touch the girl, it came off more creepy in a bad way than being romantic sounding. It may be perfectly fine while physically reading, but in my experience with it, it was a miss. The pacing was also an issue for me, it seemed to drag out parts that could have been shortened and didn't contain as much action as I would have hoped for, for a horror genre type book. It may be fine for a Young Reader, but for me it just wasn't quite what I was hoping for after reading the premise.
Thank you to Netgally and RB Media for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest reviw