Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
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 actually preordered the audiobook on a whim because of some tiktok marketing that said this book was for fans of movies like Midsummer and Get Out, books like the Raven Boys, and shows like Twin Peaks. Did I get all of that? In ways, yes. Was the execution all there? Not really.
For a debut novel, a multi-pov is ambitious and while it did add to the story, I wonder if narrowing the scope could have helped tell a more fulfilling story. It felt to me that Neera was the most fleshed out, alongside Isaiah. Reid and Sam were lacking which is interesting considering it’s Sam’s brother that is the catalyst for her devil deal and Reid’s family is the one running the ritual. The epilogue just proves this to me - only showing Neera’s point of view with a cameo from Isaiah. They discuss Sam and Reid briefly but the focus is Neera.
This really didn’t scream blood and gore. There was not a lot of social commentary that wasn’t surface level when it comes to classism, poverty, debt, etc. There was a lot of things that her tiktok advertises:
- a sapphic south Asian mc
- a story about growing up in the south
- A southern gothic allegory about how the elite sacrifice the lower class to the devil for their own financial gain
- A story about the violence of the American dream
The ending - it reminds me of the end of a horror movie where they don’t really know how to end it so they do a Birds Eye shot of the police and ambulance outside the house and everyone is in foil blankets. It just sort of ends. They don’t even really bask in the event we’ve been building up to, it just happens. And the podcast is rendered to nothing really in the epilogue. There’s no true exploration of the aftermath of taking down this ritual that has been ingrained in the Clearwater residents’ lives for generations.
For a debut, it’s ambitious and there’s clearly a voice there with talent. It’s fine, it does what it needs to and ultimately there is a story told. Does it do everything that Kaur set out to do? No. In the words of my computer science sister, “it sounds like there was some scope creep”, and I agree. Kaur could do with narrowing her focus in order to tell a more fulfilling story with better execution and more impact.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Oooh, this was a moody, atmospheric AF southern gothic. The writing was so lush & descriptive — I really felt like I was walking through the hot, muggy lands of southwest Georgia with every page. Also, I LOOOOOVED the use of Southern folklore — devils & crossroads pacts etc made for rich, intriguing storytelling. The characters were equal parts fierce & complex, & the revolving POVs never felt stale or tiring. The plot moved at a good pace, & though all the main twists felt very obvious the writing did a good job of pulling me in regardless. My only complaint is that the ending felt pretty anticlimactic, bc how’re you gonna hype up the devil and have it end so quickly? & idk how I feel about where Neera especially ended up in the end, given all the things we learned about Grant & her beloved uncle.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"When Devils Sing" by Xan Kaur is a YA Southern horror that follows 4 teenagers living in an area of rural Georgia that's split by the affluent residents around the lake and the folks that live outside the gated community.
I saw this book being promoted on TikTok by the author (so Xan, if you're reading this, you're killing it online!) and was immediately intrigued by the premise, especially because I'm 1. an avid horror fan, and 2. a girlie pop that lives in the south! I think that Kaur is a strong writer and there were parts of the book that were truly so beautifully written and I loved how she included such different teenage perspectives. The reader gets a robust view of the town, the culture, and the curse through the lens of the 4 teens who have markedly differenrt experiences because of their identities (race, class, proximity to whiteness, sexual orientation, etc). My favorite character to read was Neera and I loved how Kaur explores the relationships between Neera and her mother/ grandparents. This was some of the best writing in the book. When Neera gets into that explosive fight with her grandfather? Chills!
Even though there were many parts of the book that I enjoyed, there were aspects that made me pause. I do think that ultimtely, there was a lot going on here and some of the elements were not very seamlessly woven together. Between having 4 different POVs where the kids had such fleshed out backstories (truly a double-edged knife here because there were aspects of this I appreciated) and the true crime investigation/ supernatual aspects of the book, I think that there were too many plates spinning on the narative for them all to have been executed effectively.
Even though this one was ultimately not for me, I do think that Kaur has the writing chops to really blow me away in the future so I'm 100% keeping an eye out for her next book!
I saw this book being promoted on TikTok by the author (so Xan, if you're reading this, you're killing it online!) and was immediately intrigued by the premise, especially because I'm 1. an avid horror fan, and 2. a girlie pop that lives in the south! I think that Kaur is a strong writer and there were parts of the book that were truly so beautifully written and I loved how she included such different teenage perspectives. The reader gets a robust view of the town, the culture, and the curse through the lens of the 4 teens who have markedly differenrt experiences because of their identities (race, class, proximity to whiteness, sexual orientation, etc). My favorite character to read was Neera and I loved how Kaur explores the relationships between Neera and her mother/ grandparents. This was some of the best writing in the book. When Neera gets into that explosive fight with her grandfather? Chills!
Even though there were many parts of the book that I enjoyed, there were aspects that made me pause. I do think that ultimtely, there was a lot going on here and some of the elements were not very seamlessly woven together. Between having 4 different POVs where the kids had such fleshed out backstories (truly a double-edged knife here because there were aspects of this I appreciated) and the true crime investigation/ supernatual aspects of the book, I think that there were too many plates spinning on the narative for them all to have been executed effectively.
Even though this one was ultimately not for me, I do think that Kaur has the writing chops to really blow me away in the future so I'm 100% keeping an eye out for her next book!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I picked up this book not knowing it was supposed to be YA. I found it dark and emotional, exploring topics like grief, alcoholism, suicide, and abuse. I thought it was extremely well written - I couldn’t put it down. I’m excited to see what else this author eventually writes.