Diavola

I was sufficiently entertained. I'm flummoxed by Anna's family. They're awful, except for the two little girls. The prose was fine, if nothing special. There were some good moments, but nothing outstandingly scary. One particular disappearance in the middle–the circumstances around it–intrigued me; Anna's discovery of the incident was a positive for the book, honestly. It was certainly one of the better spectral parts of it. Other bits were less interesting and more trite. Nothing particularly inventive with the hauntings. I honestly could have used more folk magic moments to tie things together better.

The family drama–honestly, it was stressful. I'm sure it's over-the-top, but I didn't find it to be completely unrealistic. Anna's family are terrible. They blame her for everything. They almost make her a self-fulfilling prophecy: There are moments later in the book during which she's actually a truly terrible person. Between the ghost haunting and the family haunting, she's between a rock and a hard place.

I also thought there might be some lesbian themes here, but those fizzled out, sadly. Ms. Thorne should have leaned heavier into those. Especially since the only other queer characters are actually unbearable, one of whom being her own brother.

So, a fun way to spend some time. The audio book was decent. There's snark for those who like it. And, in the end, Anna makes the right choice for herself. That was something I did appreciate. If you're entire family except two little girls are awful, screw ‘em.

Fun enough, not amazing, but not horrible. More uncomfortable because of family stuff that might hit close to home for some. But the ghosty bits needed more.