Review: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Title:  Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Series:  Between #1
Author:  April Genevieve Tucholke
Publisher:  Dial
Pages:  368
Format:  Hardcover
Source:  Bought

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 guesthouse 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.

My Review:  Wow.  Wow.  This books was absolutely fantastic.  I really can't quite find the right words to describe it in it's entirety.  I bought it and finished it five hours later if that tells you anything.  I was just in a fog after I'd finished it, trying to regain my bearings.  I'm almost a little angry at myself for reading it right when it released because now I have forever to wait for the sequel, Between the Spark and the Burn.

The writing style was stunning.  The images it painted in my head while I read were lovely and elegant and terrifying.  I was so consumed by the words on the page that it felt as though I was watching everything unfold in a movie.  The writing just made the story so vivid.  And the way it flowed was wonderful - so lyrical and smooth.

I loved Violet.  She was a really unique character and capture my attention from the get go.  I liked seeing all the different sides of her and I liked seeing her be a little reckless. She was an engaging and captivating character that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know.  All of her quirks and her fashion style and the way she treated those around her and how she viewed the world absolutely snagged me and made her stand out like no other character I'd ever read.  I enjoyed her character so much.

And River.  This guy gives me chills and butterflies at the same time.  He like a drug - you know it's no good for you but it's so great you continue on with it anyways.  That's how I felt when it came to him.  I liked the way I was always on edge when he was in a scene and even when he wasn't, thoughts of him were always tickling the edges of my mind.  I loved how he could be so wicked one moment and so sweet the next.  He completely captured my heart and I don't care if he's a rather terrible person.  I like him anyways.  The other characters were also amazing.  All of them were three dimensional and stood out in the story.  I especially like Neely and Jack.  Their relationships with Violet were sweet and wonderful.

The story in all had me on edge throughout.  There was an obvious darkness and danger in this world and I felt as though I was right there with the characters while reading.  Some scenes had chills running up my spine while others had me melting into a big, gooey puddle.  I liked the intense emotions this book gave me and how I could go from feeling one to another so quickly.  

Another thing I couldn't help but think in this books was that it reminded me of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  It was a few very subtle things but sometimes some of the characters in this book reminded me of the characters in that one.  For example, Sunshine really reminded me of Daisy and River reminded me a lot of Gatsby.  And just some of the references and descriptions of clothes had my mind going to The Great Gatsby.  It was interesting and I loved it.  

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea has quite easily become one of my favorite books of all time.  It terrified and thrilled me all at the same time and I adored it for that.  Very rarely do you find a book that has the ability to do what this one has accomplished.  I'm very eagerly awaiting the next installment.

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