Lyndall Clipstone

This book is just dripping with gothic creepiness and I LOVE it. It has it all and more - the dark mansion, magical battles, a tormented hot brooding man, a scary but sexy king of the underworld and last but not least the brave and self sacrificing main character of Violeta who both frustrated me and wowed me. The book cover art perfectly captures the goth romance feel of the story. Highly entertaining, I look forward to reading more from this debut author.

Lakesedge was a really interesting debut novel from Lyndall Clipstone. As a YA book about "monsters and the women who like to kiss them" this is clearly her wheelhouse. The setting was colorful and characters unique enough to stand out clearly. The magic of her world was vague, but felt like there was a depth there beyond the hand-wavey. All of that was for the good.

My issues with the book are mostly about the main character's motivations. When we meet her, we quickly learn that Violeta will show more do anything, even give up her own life, to protect her brother. She will sacrifice everything she has to protect him, endure physical and emotional trauma, anything. This is who we're cheering for through the entire book when suddenly it all changes.

This next bit is spoiler-y, so I'm using spoiler tags:

When Violeta decides that saving Rowan is worth surrendering the memories of her family for all eternity it just didn't make any sense. It was so entirely against her character that it threw off the rest of the book for me. Once the Lord Under specified that her brother was included in that, and that she'd never remember him, any chance of a better rating went out the window. Honestly at that point of the book it felt like the author forgot that Violeta had a brother at all as she spun up the romance plot, which, in retrospect, was far weaker of a connection to reality than her familial love. No, were I her editor I'd have told her to kill the romance angle completely and have her sacrifice her safety at Lakesedge to save the world, but leave the brother in peace. That fits her character more and avoids the trope. show less

logically, i shouldn't like this.
It literally has multiple of my least favorite YA tropes:
- 17 year old female protagonist
- first person present tense
- dark! corrupted! hot! boy!!
- vaguely "i can fix you"

however;
i did, so there's that ¿¿¿
i think maybe part of it was that at least Violeta's main goal was to protect her brother? and she didn't instantly lose her head over a hot boy and the characters weren't stupid and actually respectful and the romance wasn't weird as all get out and the show more writing was really evocative and pretty and the world was actually incredibly intriguing
also this reminded me of persephone and hades and i have a slight feeling the sequel will remind me of orpheus and eurydice. i hope not as tragic tho show less

Lacrimosa Arriscane returns to her home in Verse, recently expelled from her school, she is disgraced to return to her brother's home and failing salt mine. Upon returning home, her brother's rejoice, but tell Lacrimosa that they may have to sell their home and mines to their neighbor, Alastair Felimeth to repay a debt. Lacrimosa was once good friends with Alistair and his sister, Camille, but was pushed away by Alastair. Lacrimosa goes to the salt mines to pray to her god, Therion, only to show more find her brothers in discussion with him. Lacrimosa learns that she has been promised to marry Therion and join him in his world every salt season. In return, Therion will restore the salt harvest. Lacrimosa decides that she will marry Therion, but their ceremony is interrupted and Therion is bound to a world in between his and Lacrimosa where Therion is quickly fading. Despite their crumbling relationship, Lacrimosa enlists Alistair and Camille to help her unravel the mistake from the botched ceremony.

Tenderly, I am Devoured is an immersive Gothic Fantasy. Loosely based on the mythology of Hades and Persephone, but with unexpected twists and interesting character interactions. I found myself drawn into Lacrimosa and her world that was driven by salt mining and her god, Therion. Lacrimosa is passionate, determined and feels everything deeply. The writing bounces back and forth between the present and Lacrimosa's time in school as we slowly Iearn why she was expelled, leading to a deeper understanding of her wounds and why she has made the decisions that lead her to Therion. I would love to know more about the world that Verse is part of and how all of their gods fit in. Poetic writing surrounded descriptions of the ocean, homes and Lacrimosa's inner thoughts. I wish Therion himself was a larger character or had some chapters from his perspective to understand his need for Lacrimosa. The suspense unfolds slowly after Lacrimosa's botched betrothal leading Lacrimosa down several paths with her brothers, Alistair and Camille and the mysterious Salt Monks. The romantic tensions layered during this time and added to the drama surrounding the characters. Finishing with an appropriate flourish for all of the characters involved, Tenderly, I am Devoured shows the desire, honesty and darkness in us all.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less