Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea {A Book Review}

Title : Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke

Publisher: Dial Books

Release Date: August 15th, 2013

Summary from GoodReads:

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.

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

Quotes:

“Freddie often told me that you've got to be happy when you can, because life won't wait for you to take the time. And she was right.” 

My Take: Gothic, dark, suspenseful, mysterious, edgy, are all perfect adjectives to describe this book.  From the first page you read you sense something a bad is going to happen, but the title does that to you, and just the word devil does that to you.
River West, is evil, close to what you expect the devil to be. At least that is what Violet thinks of him, when she finds out the bad things that he has done around her quite town. Yes River is evil, but deep inside he is a good guy. We find ourselves, along with Violet justifying the things that River does. The people River hurt, had it coming, they were bad people. But you just couldn't help but like him. But at the same time, I found myself screaming at Violet and sometimes at myself for falling for River even after his evil-ish actions. 
But the book is more than River and evil, its about history, control, love and family. After her grandmother dies and her parents leave for Europe, Violet feels the need to hang on to anything that reminds her of her grandmother and her family. She fights with her brother all the time, but he is the most important person in her life. River struggles with his evil power and is losing control of it. But when an unexpected visitor comes, their idea of evil that is River is nothing compared to what they encounter. This new evil is seems to be stronger and madder (crazy) and does causes more destruction that River ever did.
It was great suspenseful book, and I can't wait to read the second book of the series Between the Spark and the Burn

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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