Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Our town was small enough that I never developed a healthy fear of strangers. To me, they were exciting things, gift-wrapped and full of possibilities, the sweet smell of somewhere else wafting from them like perfume.

I though the writing was quite beautiful and that the setting was great. I liked the quiet little town and the decaying mansion.

However, I wasn't too keen on the plot. It got much too messy and ridiculous at one point. I was also quite indifferent to the characters, with the exception of River's evil half brother whom I absolutely loathe. Violet was all right until River showed up. Then her brain got scrambled. River very dull. The rest of the characters had little impact on the hole shenanigans.

As for the romance... The romance was not that great. Another frustrating case of insta-love that made me want to through the book out the window. And that's about it.