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

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.

My Thoughts

I am at odds with this book, because I REALLY enjoyed it as I neared the ending, but throughout the rest of the book I found myself . . . frustrated.

To me, Violet felt very . . . floaty. Like she never really settled on a decision–she was more indecisive than I am (and that’s saying something, folks)! And I suppose that might make me a hypocrite, but this chick takes indecisive to a whole new level. Yes, I realize there’s some magicky, trickstery influencing going down, but even aside from those instances she can’t make up her mind. I just felt a disconnect with her because I didn’t understand her choices or her reasoning.

And River? I wanted so badly to love him, and in the height of the book I did grow fond of him. But he made it SO HARD for me throughout the rest of the story because I found him infuriating. He seemed like nothing fazed him and he didn’t care about anything and acted pretty . . . douche-y. Probably because I didn’t understand him as a character through a majority of the story.

BUT hindsight is 20/20.

The writing style hooked me when I first started reading because it felt quirky and different from what I’m used to. But the plot itself didn’t really grab my attention until about, oh, the last third of the book. Before then, I kept wondering if I was going to read Between the Spark and the Burn, the second and final part to the duology. This book sucked me in with a NEED to read it, but I wasn’t really interested by the plot. Then out of nowhere I was wrenched right into Echo and found myself unwilling to leave. (Out of nowhere being that last third/quarter of the book.)

And now I HAVE TO to read the conclusion.

So there you have it. I was confused at choices and frustrated at personalities, but then there was some understanding as the book came to a close and finally that feeling of wanting to throw myself at the pages that I long for. A mixed bag for me, so

3.5/5 stars;)