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A review by nightowlloft
Mind Like a Diamond by Amanda Pavlov
4.0
Do you love haunted houses? Do you watch horror movies for fun? Does the thought of ghost walks and the macabre history of witchcraft and voodoo in New Orleans get your pulse racing? Then this book is for YOU!!
I first want to thank NetGalley and the author for sending this book to me free in exchange for my honest review. Because honestly I LOVED this wild ride! It was unlike anything I’ve ever read before and for the person who ran out of a theme park haunted house crying one Halloween it was thrillingly enjoyable.
I would certainly classify this as thriller/horror so if that is NOT your cup of tea do not read this book. You have been warned.
We meet our lead character Lisette in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The daughter of a thief/con artist mother, we watch her struggle with her potential as a good student at a private school and an aspiring gymnast versus the life she knows and the inevitable fate of turning into the woman who raised her.
Through a few chance meetings Lisette and her best friend Xavier decide to enter a haunted house on Halloween night that promises a $10,000 reward to the winner who escapes the 13th Realm of Hell before the witching hour. Propelled by determination and desperation having just received an eviction notice on their apartment door, Lisette believes she has the grit it takes to be the winner at all costs. And it certainly costs.
There are 13 levels or “realms” that need to be completed within the house. Think less carnival or boardwalk haunted house and more haunted maze at an amusement park terror night. And as you can imagine an attraction being run by actual witch covens makes it the perfect haunted maze on steroids. All manner of horror staples are featured including but not limited to dolls, clowns, zombies, and cannibalistic animal-headed butchers. There are plenty of atmospheric fears tackled as well including a death trap vehicle ride, Amazon jungle with deadly animals, small spaces, being buried alive, and one seriously creepy hospital.
In dealing with such “dark” elements there are plenty of trigger warnings to be had including drug use and references, alcohol use and references, orgies, sexual assault/attempted rape of a side character, themes of witchcraft/occultism/exorcism/voodoo, and a whole lot of murder and death.
Through all of this what shines brightest is the growth of Lisette. You see her in the beginning trying to be “good” and “do the right thing”, then you see her almost give up and settle into the life she assumes she is stuck in despite the amount of strength she has, and then you see the Realms test everything she thinks she knows about herself. She tries (and succeeds sometimes) to hold on to her selfish, every-man-for-himself attitude, but as she finally comes to the close of her journey she sets it all aside and taps into her true inner strength where she learns what it is to be a good friend, how to truly care for others and their well-being, what it means to finds a place where she can finally “belong”. A place she can call home.
There is no real “happily ever after” to be had with a book this intense, but the ending was like a warm hug after a nightmare and brought closure to all of my favorite characters in a very satisfying way. Overall, should you dare to mine inside its pages and sift through to the end, this book shines like a diamond.
I first want to thank NetGalley and the author for sending this book to me free in exchange for my honest review. Because honestly I LOVED this wild ride! It was unlike anything I’ve ever read before and for the person who ran out of a theme park haunted house crying one Halloween it was thrillingly enjoyable.
I would certainly classify this as thriller/horror so if that is NOT your cup of tea do not read this book. You have been warned.
We meet our lead character Lisette in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The daughter of a thief/con artist mother, we watch her struggle with her potential as a good student at a private school and an aspiring gymnast versus the life she knows and the inevitable fate of turning into the woman who raised her.
Through a few chance meetings Lisette and her best friend Xavier decide to enter a haunted house on Halloween night that promises a $10,000 reward to the winner who escapes the 13th Realm of Hell before the witching hour. Propelled by determination and desperation having just received an eviction notice on their apartment door, Lisette believes she has the grit it takes to be the winner at all costs. And it certainly costs.
There are 13 levels or “realms” that need to be completed within the house. Think less carnival or boardwalk haunted house and more haunted maze at an amusement park terror night. And as you can imagine an attraction being run by actual witch covens makes it the perfect haunted maze on steroids. All manner of horror staples are featured including but not limited to dolls, clowns, zombies, and cannibalistic animal-headed butchers. There are plenty of atmospheric fears tackled as well including a death trap vehicle ride, Amazon jungle with deadly animals, small spaces, being buried alive, and one seriously creepy hospital.
In dealing with such “dark” elements there are plenty of trigger warnings to be had including drug use and references, alcohol use and references, orgies, sexual assault/attempted rape of a side character, themes of witchcraft/occultism/exorcism/voodoo, and a whole lot of murder and death.
Through all of this what shines brightest is the growth of Lisette. You see her in the beginning trying to be “good” and “do the right thing”, then you see her almost give up and settle into the life she assumes she is stuck in despite the amount of strength she has, and then you see the Realms test everything she thinks she knows about herself. She tries (and succeeds sometimes) to hold on to her selfish, every-man-for-himself attitude, but as she finally comes to the close of her journey she sets it all aside and taps into her true inner strength where she learns what it is to be a good friend, how to truly care for others and their well-being, what it means to finds a place where she can finally “belong”. A place she can call home.
There is no real “happily ever after” to be had with a book this intense, but the ending was like a warm hug after a nightmare and brought closure to all of my favorite characters in a very satisfying way. Overall, should you dare to mine inside its pages and sift through to the end, this book shines like a diamond.