Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Hardcover, 360 pages
 Release Date: August 15, 2013
Published by: Dial
Between, #1
Source: Own
For fans of: Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Sparkly Covers, Gothic, Horror, YA

     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 THOUGHTS*

     I was immediately drawn to this because of the cover. I hadn't even read the synopsis yet when I added it to my TBR. Finally I took the time to read the synopsis and I fell in love. This became one of my most anticipated reads of 2013 and let me tell you, I was not the least bit disappointed. 
     First things first... The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous! It was so good I was invested from the very beginning. I saw a couple of people saying they thought that the beginning didn't have much going on, but really I couldn't tell. I was so into the writing that I didn't know that it wasn't much going on lol In my mind though, everything was just fine. I enjoyed getting Violet's back story and then meeting River. I really wanted to quote this whole book, but for obvious reasons I couldn't.
"You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…"
pg. 1 (Hardcover)
      Next is the romance. I figured it wouldn't be all that great since it was a paranormal romance and for a while things were sketchy where he was concerned, but in the end I really fell in love with him. It was obvious that he felt something for Violet and that he was very serious where she was concerned. Pair this with the writing, and this romance was definitely one for the books. 
"And I prayed [...] about the Devil. I asked her to keep my hand out of his. I asked her to keep me safe from evil."
pg. 5 (Hardcover)
     I also loved the paranormal ability that River had. It was nothing like I had ever read before. And of course, that freaked me out. It was also unexpected. When it was finally revealed, I found myself having to go back and read the part that explained it all over again. Especially when things started to pile up. I just couldn't picture him doing those things. So I thought I had the mystery all put together when the next person turned up. But that was blown completely out the window too. This was my favorite part of the book. The mystery will blow your mind. I'm one of those people that will always be like "I solved it!" as soon as I'm done reading it and I find out I did. But with this one, I got it wrong. And I loved that. It meant that it wasn't too predictable.
"But for all my praying, the Devil still found me."
pg. 5 (Hardcover)
     This is one of those books where as soon as you read the first page you know whether or not you're going to like it. And this did exactly that for me. Expect as soon as I read page one, I knew it would be one of my favorites of 2013. You guys, I didn't believe this was a real debut! It's just that good! I really hope you all love it as much as I do!
Overall, I give this


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