Review: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April GenevieveTucholke

By: unknown on Sunday, September 22, 2013



Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

 by April Genevieve Tucholke 

Published by Dial

Released: August 15, 2013

Hardcover, 360 pages

Source: eBook
Reviewed by Angela

 

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back.

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

(SPOILERS) 

  I  need to question my morals after reading this. Geez, fallen angels? Fine. But now the DEVIL. *sighs* There are many times in this book that I would give this book three stars to, then four stars, but in the end, it deserves five stars. Because its just that good.

Don't we all love ourselves some bad boys. Heheh. River West is just that. Dark, mysterious, alluring and hot, what kind of girl would not fall for that. The beginning was kind of slow, we didn't know what was going on exactly. We have our suspicions but nothings true. I didn't like any characters in the beginning either. Luke was an egotistic jerk, Sunshine was shallow. Nothing too interesting. It changes throughout the book though, and I ended up liking them a lot. Despite Luke's attitude and appearance, he really cared about Violet. Sunshine changed too, for the better. 

This book is like origami. Haha origami. Coincidence? You don't know what's happening, when you just start to fold the paper. You can't tell what the result is. Sometimes, it will look like something, then a few more folds then something's else. You can't truly predict the ending. But when the folding is done, the product is amazing. It had to go through all those steps for the finish. And that's exactly what this book was like.

I didn't know how to feel about this book when reading it. Sure, it was interesting, but there's so many places I was confused, lost and frustrated about. For example, was River really the devil? Obviously not. The Devil was just a metaphor in this case. I think. Geez. At times, I really couldn't place my feeling for River. He's sweet one moment, then he's off causing trouble. Bad trouble. You really don't know what is going on with him. The author made him seem like the bad guy, then the good guy...? You just never know. Then along comes a brother. And another one. I love Neelly. He's so cute :) He and River's relationship was really nice, knowing that even your brother has problems but staying by his side throughout it all. That's real man, that's hard. Brodie. That piece of shit. (sorry for my language...) He's seriously twisted. 

I kept feeling there was going to be a love triangle, with Neelly, Gianni, but turns out, there's just Violet and River. Maybe, something will develop in the next book. REAAAAAAD THIS. At times, you'll feel unsettling, but trust me, it's worth it. The ups and downs of this wild roller coaster ride. Awesome. It was creepy, twisted, kind of scary (not really, just creepy) but so, so good. 

3/5 stars