You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

A review by teaandtales1
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

๐“๐“พ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ป: Jennifer Marie Thorne
๐“Ÿ๐“ต๐“ธ๐“ฝ: Anna is really not looking forward to a trip with her super dysfunctional family. Sure, the Italian countryside is beautiful, but when everyone in the family always blames Anna for things that go wrong, and they just happen to be renting a haunted Tuscan villa, it's shaping up to be a terrible vacation.
๐“Ÿ๐“ช๐“ฐ๐“ฎ๐“ผ: 324
๐“–๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ป๐“ฎ: Horror, Haunted house
๐“‘๐“ฎ๐“ฌ๐“ฑ๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“ต ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฝ: yes
๐“ฃ๐“ฒ๐“ถ๐“ฎ ๐“Ÿ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ธ๐“ญ: contemporary
๐“ž๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ซ๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ด๐“ผ ๐“˜'๐“ฟ๐“ฎ ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ด๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ซ๐”‚ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ผ ๐“ช๐“พ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ป: first time reading her, but I already have Lute on my shelf to be read
๐“•๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ฏ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ผ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ: Haunting of Hill House (both the book and the show), dysfunctional families, ghosts, possession, dark humor
๐“ก๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐”€: โญโญโญโญโญ

I've been fortunate to have read many great books already this year, but I think this one might jump to being one of the best so far. This book tells the story of a centuries-old villa with a huge ghost problem, but it might be the most relatable horror book I've read in awhile. 

Thorne does a great job creating a compelling, yet flawed protagonist in Anna, while also rounding out the story with Anna's awful family. I saw awful, because that's how they treat each other - especially Anna - and when shit starts going down at the villa, guess where all the finger pointing is going to be directed. 

All that being said, I don't want to lose the horror in this review. This book is SCARY and had me peeking around corners on my way to bed last night.

I read this book in 2 sittings - it was entertaining, fast moving, terrifying, and also darkly funny. I'm ready to buy everything else Thorne has published.