This month, myself, Marissa, and Maria (www.mariacag.wordpress.com) decided to start our own little friend read, book club. Our theme for October/Halloween was a creepy read, and the book we ended up choosing was Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. We each read the book and then had some discussion points on it. If you would like to participate in the month of November, we will be reading Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.
Caution, minor spoilers ahead!
Mallory: Do you think that the story feels a lot more unbelievable since all three characters are 17, yet they are living on their own? For me, I just really couldn’t wrap my head around these kids living and surviving on their own.
Marissa: I felt like these characters should have been older, especially for living on their own.
Maria: Yes, this made the story all the more unbelievable for me. It was just odd… kids living is this huge house, having no friends and having parents that don’t even check in on them. Oh, and then letting a stranger move in, this is just another reason why the book was a little weird for me.
Mallory: Would you rather that the characters were a bit older to make the story feel more true? I think that had they been in their 20′s it would have felt a little more believable for me.
Maria: I don’t think that their age really made a difference, besides the fact that they were living on their own. Even if the characters were older, the story would probably still feel “young” for me. The book seemed like a ghost story that I probably would have enjoyed more a few years ago.
Mallory: Did you notice that the author used a lot of colors for names? (ex: Violet Whitem, Blue Hoffman, Sunshine Black, River Redding). I kept noticing and wondering why she couldn’t have used normal, more original names.
Marissa: I never took into account that the author used a lot of colors, but now that I realize it, it is a little bit annoying.
Maria: I actually never noticed the colors, except for Violet White. And I thought that Sunshine was an odd name.
Mallory: What do you think of the authors writing style? I felt that there was no build up or anticipation with her writing, nothing to be excited about. Everything was quite plain and mediocre. The book didn’t even feel creepy of scary at all because it was not descriptive enough.
Marissa: I didn’t enjoy the authors style of writing. I found myself getting annoyed because she used the same word over and over in one sentence. (ex scream scream scream or mad mad mad).
Maria: I was expecting more. I heard a lot of good things about the writing style, especially when it came to the setting. But for some reason, I didn’t get the gothic feel I was hoping for. It’s not that the writing was bad, it just did not keep my attention – at all. I had to push myself to finish this one. And if I wouldn’t have decided to read through it for a few hours straight, it would have sat there for a long time. Even with all the creepy scenes, like the kids at the graveyard, I felt like it could have been better. It didn’t get to me like I wanted it to.
Mallory: Did River give you the creeps? Did you enjoy the romance that he and Violet had? I felt absolutely no affection for River. I despised him through about 95% of the book. Although he started growing on me in the end. I still couldn’t forgive him for the things he had done throughout the book. And the romance/relationship they had was the weirdest thing I might have ever encountered in a YA book. Napping together after just meeting and waking up basically naked? Just no.
Marissa: River was a bit creepy. Especially since he asked Violet to take a nap with him as soon as he met her. He grew on me a little near the end.
Maria: What romance? If some strange boy showed up at my house, I don’t think I would instantly be in love with him. Especially if he was as creepy as River. And the fact that one minute Violet hated River and thought he was such a liar, and then the next minute they were making out, sleeping next to each other or taking their clothes off… what was that about? I know sometimes it wasn’t her fault because of Rivers weird power, but once she understood what was happening, she still didn’t do anything about it. So I found the romance part of the book a bit weird. It was definitely lacking something, even though River couldn’t be trusted. I didn’t find this book romantic at all; however I did start liking River more towards the end. At this point I was more understanding when it came to what Violet saw in him.
Mallory: What did you think of Violet as a main character? I could not stand her throughout the whole book. In my opinion she was a stupid, extremely selfish and a huge pushover. I felt as though any of the characters could have talked her into doing anything. And what did you think of the scene where Sunshine’s parents were trying to murder her and instead of trying to help, Violet ran away? I couldn’t believe how much of a coward she was!
Marissa: Violet was a stupid main character. She was kind of ignorant and selfish. She could have tried harder to help Sunshine, instead of instantly running away. She made me roll my eyes a lot.
Maria: I don’t know if I would go that far, but I know that I personally didn’t connect with her at all. Actually I feel the same way about most of the characters in this book. I almost like Luke more than Violet. I thought she was pretty boring. She just wasn’t a strong main character in my opinion. Sunshine was even more annoying than Violet. She was so busy flirting and trying to be a slut the whole time. It was just dumb. That specific scene made no sense to me. I felt that Violet, as the main character, should have at least tried to do something about what was happening to her best friend Did she even care? She knew it had something to do with River, but it seemed like she just ran away to save herself. She wasn’t a very brave character.
Mallory: The best YA books are the ones that make you believe the plot could actually come true. Do you agree? Was this plot a little too out there for you? Nothing about this story felt real to me. The characters seemed fake and forced. The plot seemed all over the place. And it was just so strange. I couldn’t let myself enjoy it.
Marissa: This plot was too farfetched. There was so much potential, but when the third brother showed up I was like really? Who’s going to show up next? Also, Rivers power was so cool, it should have had an intense name other than “the glow”. The ending had me laughing by the time Brodie showed up even though it was supposed to be serious or scary.
Maria: Yes, it was a little too out there. Maybe if I connected to the characters a little more I would feel differently. I couldn’t relate to this story or the characters at all. The fast that the plot was so unbelievable did affect my feelings towards this book. It was fast paced, but I felt like things just kept popping up out of nowhere, with very little explanation.
Mallory: Will you continue the series? I’m not very interested in it, but if I change my mind, it will not be very high on my priority list.
Marissa: I don’t want to but I probably will because now I’m curious about Brodie.
Maria: I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. I might pick it up someday to find out what happens, but I’m in no rush for that.
Mallory: 3/5 on goodreads
Marissa: 3/5 on goodreads
Maria: 3/5 on goodreads
Make sure you go check out Maria’s blog! She is awesome and hasn’t been blogging for that long.
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