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A review by perusing_pages
Between the Devil and the Sea by Chani Lynn Feener
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Check content and TWs.
Given the blurb for this book I expected this to be right up my street and although by the end I did enjoy this read and found the premise, world building & characters interesting the overall execution of the story lacked something for me. Both Shadow & Apollo are intriguing characters with layers to them but their connection as a couple and how that came about wasn't strong enough for me, it lacked something outside of the physical to really cement their bond in my opinion and even what the author threw in towards the very end wasn't enough for me to really believe their connection. I totally understood how and what the author was trying to do, but the lack of chemistry made it hard to fully believe. The very start of the book hooked me but then the pacing went right out the window and it seemed to take forever to reach a point where the story looked like it was finally going to deliver on what the synopsis & tws said it would, and to an extent it did but it quickly became repetitive and that had me zoning out.
Sci-fi setting, empaths, serial killer psychopath, noncon, stalking, kidnapping, murder, violence, abandonment issues, Stockholm syndrome, and yet I'm left feeling that somehow it wasn’t that dark. I can't explain it. Apollo delivers on being a true psychopath though, there is absolutely zero remorse for what he does and I appreciate the author delivering on that when I've read other books that claim to have a psychopathic character but they never fully commit. Overall, the bones of a great story were there and somewhat delivered upon, this was my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it enough to give more of their work a try. 🌶🌶🌶
"He was going to fulfill all of his dark desires. He'd have Shadow on his knees begging for him, begging to be hurt and loved and cared for and destroyed. He was going to twist the detective so tightly around his fingers, thoughts of anyone else wouldn't so much as enter Shadow's mind. Apollo was going to become his everything."
"He'd fix Shadow Yor, take him apart, figure out how the pieces went back together properly, and make him whole again. And then he'd slice that beautiful neck and watch as the life drained from those pretty hazel-colored eyes and get back to his regularly scheduled program."
Given the blurb for this book I expected this to be right up my street and although by the end I did enjoy this read and found the premise, world building & characters interesting the overall execution of the story lacked something for me. Both Shadow & Apollo are intriguing characters with layers to them but their connection as a couple and how that came about wasn't strong enough for me, it lacked something outside of the physical to really cement their bond in my opinion and even what the author threw in towards the very end wasn't enough for me to really believe their connection. I totally understood how and what the author was trying to do, but the lack of chemistry made it hard to fully believe. The very start of the book hooked me but then the pacing went right out the window and it seemed to take forever to reach a point where the story looked like it was finally going to deliver on what the synopsis & tws said it would, and to an extent it did but it quickly became repetitive and that had me zoning out.
Sci-fi setting, empaths, serial killer psychopath, noncon, stalking, kidnapping, murder, violence, abandonment issues, Stockholm syndrome, and yet I'm left feeling that somehow it wasn’t that dark. I can't explain it. Apollo delivers on being a true psychopath though, there is absolutely zero remorse for what he does and I appreciate the author delivering on that when I've read other books that claim to have a psychopathic character but they never fully commit. Overall, the bones of a great story were there and somewhat delivered upon, this was my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it enough to give more of their work a try. 🌶🌶🌶
"He was going to fulfill all of his dark desires. He'd have Shadow on his knees begging for him, begging to be hurt and loved and cared for and destroyed. He was going to twist the detective so tightly around his fingers, thoughts of anyone else wouldn't so much as enter Shadow's mind. Apollo was going to become his everything."
"He'd fix Shadow Yor, take him apart, figure out how the pieces went back together properly, and make him whole again. And then he'd slice that beautiful neck and watch as the life drained from those pretty hazel-colored eyes and get back to his regularly scheduled program."