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A review by lyakimov
Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
4.0
4.5 stars
This series just keeps getting crazier and crazier. We learned SO MUCH in this book, including the true identity of the overall villain of the series, which is the personification of greed & violence & sin in the form of a man named the King of Crows. I thought that the path the series took to get to this point was really interesting and I thought it was intelligent.
PLOT
My favorite part of the book was the whole asylum piece. That was so disturbing and I was on the edge of my seat. Personally, I think they needed to do stuff with the asylum a little bit more in the book because I feel like it got brushed aside in the second half of the novel so the first and second halves feel disconnected. We needed some more closure at the asylum and more stuff going on, not just a complete stop on the asylum content.
Let me just say, every time a character in these books dreams…they literally have the worst dreams OF ALL TIME. I would never want to go to sleep if I was them.
CHARACTERS
Let’s talk about things I loved in this book. First off, Sam. Of course Sam my Ukrainian king is still my favorite character and I really enjoyed his development throughout this book, as well as his relationship with the other characters.
I also loved the development of Theta and Isaiah’s relationship. It was so cute and sweet, how he grew to trust her and she would always be protecting him. I loved how he began thinking of her as an older sister.
I thought Bill Johnson’s arc was SUPER INTERESTING!! I disliked him so much for hurting Isaiah but then he had a sort of redemption arc at the end and really came in clutch. He is a truly morally gray character and I really liked that about him.
I loved Theta’s storyline and how she grew so much in this book.
I did not love Mabel’s storyline, I was not super invested and was kind of annoyed because she needed to chill and she was making so many obviously dumb decisions. I was SO SAD that she died at the end though. What the hell was that??? Her whole romance with Arthur?? What an asshole, he was the reason she got killed.
Another thing I didn’t really like: Jericho’s storyline. Holy shit, I did not care. I honestly would remember throughout the book “omg Jericho actually exists, I totally forgot about him” because he was not in MOST of the book. I’ve never really liked Jericho’s character anyway.
I am going to be honest, I HATED HATED HATED that one scene where Jericho gets under the influence of the serum and assaults Evie?? Seriously, THIS IS HOW YOU SOLVE THE LOVE TRIANGLE PROBLEM?? Sever their connection because he ASSAULTS HER??? Even though it’s TECHNICALLY not his fault, that is horrific. I dislike Jericho’s character even more after that because I just can’t like a character that does shit like that. I hate how the author did this. You can solve a love triangle in much easier ways. This was unnecessary and for shock factor. That’s a no for me. Also, where the hell did Jericho go? He DISAPPEARED straight up for the last 150 pages.
Side note: I LOVE TS WOODHOUSE IN THIS BOOK FOR SOME REASON!!!! Him and Evie are just so funny together. It’s such a weird alliance.
ROMANCES
My next issue: the love triangle between Evie, Sam, and Jericho. The whole prospect of a love triangle was so unnecessary from the get-go because you can obviously tell it’s going to be Evie and Sam together. They have way more chemistry and spend so much more time together. I did not really understand Evie’s attraction to Jericho because it’s been subtly developed and it just seems insincere. I can believe he likes her, but Evie having feelings for him back?? I don’t know, I did not see any of that chemistry or even much page time between the two of them at all. I strongly disagree with the way the love triangle was solved, like I said.
Wouldn’t it be better to just have it be Sam and Evie working on their relationship and developing it? They already have such a complicated relationship, it would be better for the story in general to only focus their attention on Sam and Evie rather than them and ALSO the possibility of Evie and Jericho.
Loved Memphis and Theta. I feel like Ling and Henry did not get much development with their relationships as the other characters. I dislike that EVERYONE is paired up now. Like who really cares?? This is not really a romance heavy series but now it is I guess.
Everyone is so much more noticeably horny in this book. There was literally a horny montage, just a bunch of split scenes of different couples getting it on. Dude, can they chill? Also I find it funny how Mabel is not a huge part of the story because she is left out of a lot of the Diviner stuff, but she gets the longest, most detailed sex scene? Girl what the hell was going ON in this horny montage?! It was so funny but was also weird and ridiculous. Like get it together, we have a plot to unfold!!!
This series continues to be very consistent and VERY entertaining. I am worried about book 4 though, because it seems like SO MUCH to wrap up since there was so much new information in this book. Regardless, I’m excited to finish the series!
This series just keeps getting crazier and crazier. We learned SO MUCH in this book, including the true identity of the overall villain of the series, which is the personification of greed & violence & sin in the form of a man named the King of Crows. I thought that the path the series took to get to this point was really interesting and I thought it was intelligent.
PLOT
My favorite part of the book was the whole asylum piece. That was so disturbing and I was on the edge of my seat. Personally, I think they needed to do stuff with the asylum a little bit more in the book because I feel like it got brushed aside in the second half of the novel so the first and second halves feel disconnected. We needed some more closure at the asylum and more stuff going on, not just a complete stop on the asylum content.
Let me just say, every time a character in these books dreams…they literally have the worst dreams OF ALL TIME. I would never want to go to sleep if I was them.
CHARACTERS
Let’s talk about things I loved in this book. First off, Sam. Of course Sam my Ukrainian king is still my favorite character and I really enjoyed his development throughout this book, as well as his relationship with the other characters.
I also loved the development of Theta and Isaiah’s relationship. It was so cute and sweet, how he grew to trust her and she would always be protecting him. I loved how he began thinking of her as an older sister.
I thought Bill Johnson’s arc was SUPER INTERESTING!! I disliked him so much for hurting Isaiah but then he had a sort of redemption arc at the end and really came in clutch. He is a truly morally gray character and I really liked that about him.
I loved Theta’s storyline and how she grew so much in this book.
I did not love Mabel’s storyline, I was not super invested and was kind of annoyed because she needed to chill and she was making so many obviously dumb decisions. I was SO SAD that she died at the end though. What the hell was that??? Her whole romance with Arthur?? What an asshole, he was the reason she got killed.
Another thing I didn’t really like: Jericho’s storyline. Holy shit, I did not care. I honestly would remember throughout the book “omg Jericho actually exists, I totally forgot about him” because he was not in MOST of the book. I’ve never really liked Jericho’s character anyway.
I am going to be honest, I HATED HATED HATED that one scene where Jericho gets under the influence of the serum and assaults Evie?? Seriously, THIS IS HOW YOU SOLVE THE LOVE TRIANGLE PROBLEM?? Sever their connection because he ASSAULTS HER??? Even though it’s TECHNICALLY not his fault, that is horrific. I dislike Jericho’s character even more after that because I just can’t like a character that does shit like that. I hate how the author did this. You can solve a love triangle in much easier ways. This was unnecessary and for shock factor. That’s a no for me. Also, where the hell did Jericho go? He DISAPPEARED straight up for the last 150 pages.
Side note: I LOVE TS WOODHOUSE IN THIS BOOK FOR SOME REASON!!!! Him and Evie are just so funny together. It’s such a weird alliance.
ROMANCES
My next issue: the love triangle between Evie, Sam, and Jericho. The whole prospect of a love triangle was so unnecessary from the get-go because you can obviously tell it’s going to be Evie and Sam together. They have way more chemistry and spend so much more time together. I did not really understand Evie’s attraction to Jericho because it’s been subtly developed and it just seems insincere. I can believe he likes her, but Evie having feelings for him back?? I don’t know, I did not see any of that chemistry or even much page time between the two of them at all. I strongly disagree with the way the love triangle was solved, like I said.
Wouldn’t it be better to just have it be Sam and Evie working on their relationship and developing it? They already have such a complicated relationship, it would be better for the story in general to only focus their attention on Sam and Evie rather than them and ALSO the possibility of Evie and Jericho.
Loved Memphis and Theta. I feel like Ling and Henry did not get much development with their relationships as the other characters. I dislike that EVERYONE is paired up now. Like who really cares?? This is not really a romance heavy series but now it is I guess.
Everyone is so much more noticeably horny in this book. There was literally a horny montage, just a bunch of split scenes of different couples getting it on. Dude, can they chill? Also I find it funny how Mabel is not a huge part of the story because she is left out of a lot of the Diviner stuff, but she gets the longest, most detailed sex scene? Girl what the hell was going ON in this horny montage?! It was so funny but was also weird and ridiculous. Like get it together, we have a plot to unfold!!!
This series continues to be very consistent and VERY entertaining. I am worried about book 4 though, because it seems like SO MUCH to wrap up since there was so much new information in this book. Regardless, I’m excited to finish the series!