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thereadingchallengechallenge 's review for:
Tenderly, I am Devoured
by Lyndall Clipstone
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When Lark returns to her seaside home after being kicked out of school, all she wants is the company of her brothers and to find a new future. She does not expect to find one in a betrothal to her local god and reconnecting with her childhood friends. But promising yourself to a god is no simple thing -- especially when the local religious sect gets involved in your impending nuptials.
This is one of those books where, as I was reading it, I couldn't stop thinking, "teenage-me would've loved this!" The enemies-to-lovers romance, the dark academia vibes that actually get unhinged, the surprise queerness and polyamory, the background unease of a proper Gothic setting and a story that doesn't care if it makes you uncomfortable.
I was not expecting any of that and I was so delighted to find it all contained in a book just shy of 300 pages long. That said, the setting does get a little difficult to parse because so much page-space is dedicated to the characters and the magic. But in the end, all you really needed to know about the setting was the link to the sea and how the sea functions as a character, the way a proper Gothic setting should.
The characters are where this novel really shines. Especially in the relationships between Lark, Alistair and Camille. At first, Lark's romance with Camille kind of confused me -- I didn't feel the chemistry and it was a little weird that Lark was into both siblings. But Camille's part to play in the story was so beautiful, Clipstone played that out very well.
If you were lured into A Study in Drowning by the dark academia, enemies-to-lovers and the semi-modern world but didn't like it too much, this one might be worth a try instead. It's certainly nice to have a proper Gothic romance around.
This is one of those books where, as I was reading it, I couldn't stop thinking, "teenage-me would've loved this!" The enemies-to-lovers romance, the dark academia vibes that actually get unhinged, the surprise queerness and polyamory, the background unease of a proper Gothic setting and a story that doesn't care if it makes you uncomfortable.
I was not expecting any of that and I was so delighted to find it all contained in a book just shy of 300 pages long. That said, the setting does get a little difficult to parse because so much page-space is dedicated to the characters and the magic. But in the end, all you really needed to know about the setting was the link to the sea and how the sea functions as a character, the way a proper Gothic setting should.
The characters are where this novel really shines. Especially in the relationships between Lark, Alistair and Camille. At first, Lark's romance with Camille kind of confused me -- I didn't feel the chemistry and it was a little weird that Lark was into both siblings. But Camille's part to play in the story was so beautiful, Clipstone played that out very well.
If you were lured into A Study in Drowning by the dark academia, enemies-to-lovers and the semi-modern world but didn't like it too much, this one might be worth a try instead. It's certainly nice to have a proper Gothic romance around.