𝟮.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗣
I most definitely had some high expectations going into this one because of the stunning cover and the intriguing premise, but I am sad to say that it let me down in more ways than one.

The whole first half of this book was an absolute slog to get through, but things did pick up in the second half. It had its eerie moments, but never once was I dying to know what would happen next. The painting aspect was my favorite part, hands down. However, I wasn’t fully sold on the “explanation” for the happenings.

This book was not BAD by any means, it just wasn’t nearly as creepy as I was expecting. The constant bickering between the family members was pretty annoying. I kept thinking that maybe the finale of the book would make me change my mind and forgive the aspects of the book that didn’t quite hit for me, but it sadly didn’t.

In terms of the audiobook, I would definitely recommend listening to this book. I honestly think I would’ve rated this book a bit lower had it not been for the audiobook. The voice actor did a great job changing her voice to differentiate each character. Overall, her inflection and tone was great. When a scene was meant to be creepy, you felt the ominous atmosphere in her voice.

I was able to listen to this book as an ARC from Netgally in exchange for an honest review. I am always down for a good horror and thought listening would make it even creepier. The details and descriptions the author gives was perfect and made me truly be able to picture the figures described. It was a slow burn, and I was hoping it was turn into a thriller/ have some exciting elements, but I really became bored. The ending was actually really good, so I am glad that I did not DNF.

This one was not what I expected after reading the synopsis. It had a super slow start. The first 15ish% was more like a contemporary family drama with the barest of sprinkles of ghostly intrigue. It picked up with the supernatural aspects and comedy around 20% but then quickly went back to dragging in pace and plot.

There wasn't nearly enough "haunted house" aspects as promised from the synopsis. The characters were vastly unlikeable, and I got more history and internal monologue about the main character's sex like than I cared to know. The ending barely made sense because the horror and ghost story didn't build at a steady enough pace.

I should have dnf'd it, but I kept expecting it to get better and make sense. The only thing I experienced from the synopsis was the "feelings of irritation." The true horror was found within the characters that were all horrible to each other.

Thanks for the e-arc Netgalley.

I absolutely loved this book! Haunted Italian Villa? Tense family dynamic? Yes please. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media and Tor Nightfire as well as the author for this audio ARC. It’s my pleasure to provide my honest and unbiased review.
#NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia #DreamscapeMedia #JenniferThorne #Diavola #audiobook
Title: Diavola
Author: Jennifer Marie Thorne
Narrator: Andi Arndt
Publisher: Dreamscape Media/Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Themes: Family dynamics, Vacation horror, haunted house, paranormal,
Trigger Warnings: Family drama, familial abuse, some depictions of child harm, alcohol, sibling rivalry, mental illness, animal death


Who hasn’t wanted to experience Italy? Imagine having a beautiful villa in the Italian countryside with a pool and a big, gorgeous kitchen. Now imagine it’s haunted by several ghosts of the poor souls who have died here because of a much nastier entity who wants to add you to his collection. Sounds great! Let’s do it. This is the plot of Diavola. Anna is joining her family for an Italian vacation. She’s the black sheep of her family, which includes her sister and her husband with their two young daughters, her twin brother with his boyfriend, and her parents. Obviously, things don’t go as planned.

This was a great example of a good slow burn. It’s so hard to get that right. This story took its time building up tension and showcasing the truly toxic family dynamics. I felt for Anna as her family treated her like absolute garbage. The character relationships kept the story interesting while it built up the dread over the haunting and established the idea of the unreliable narrator. I loved reading about the villa and Italy. Ms. Thorne has a gift for imagery and atmosphere. Her writing felt very cinematic. I felt like I was experiencing Italy right along with them, including the haunting. The whole effect was both tense and scary, just like watching a good horror movie.

A word about the narrator of this audio book…exemplary. Her performance was clear and effective. She differentiated between characters in such a way that made it clear who was saying what but not to the point of being cringe-inducing, which can happen with some audio books.

Having said that, it was difficult to care about any of the characters. Out of everyone, the protagonist was the one I was rooting for, which was the idea, of course. However, in the attempt to introduce doubt, Anna did lose a lot of likability. Her family members were despicable though. They were dismissive of her unless they needed something. Some were downright hostile due to Anna’s supposed history of mental illness. I wish any of the characters had a few more redeeming qualities.

The ambiguity that the author used in this book was slightly frustrating. I liked the ending quite a bit but I wish there were a few more answers.

All in all, a solid story and a great narrator. I haven’t read Ms. Thorne’s other novel yet but I’m very excited about starting “Lute”. Highly recommend!

⭐️4.5 stars⭐️

I’m almost sad I didn’t save this for the fall, because this is the PERFECT spooky season read!

First of all, Anna’s sarcasm and sense of humor was perfect. Her and I would be very good friends. Second, her family is nuts. They drove me absolutely crazy! I would be trying to sneak off for time alone too.

This starts out like a lovely (family aside 🙄) Italian vacation full of wine, art, and good food. But oh how things change. Quickly, there are hauntings, strange noises, and unexplainable situations. That’s when the story really took off!

I highly recommend this one!

Thanks NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.

Diavola was an interesting book. Its not your classic haunted house story. Jennifer Thorne has a great skill of blending family drama, Gothic haunted house horror. This book was full of unlikable characters, at least to me anyway, Anna was probably my favorite out of the family, even though everyone didn't treat her nicely. Mom always questions her life choices. Dad always complaining that he paid for the vacation and just wanted peace and quiet. Her relationship with her twin Benny seemed the most normal, until suddenly at Villa Taccola it was not.. The horror started off quiet, then started doing things that were noticeable and confusing to the family. It was suspenseful and entertaining. I would recommend this book to our patrons. And I love the cover!

•Family Dynamics
•Haunting Villa
•Slow burn horror
•Loved the ending

The cover is hauntingly beautiful and the book is sharp, unsettling and eerie, it genuinely blew me away and kept me at the edge. I loved the setting and narration. Spookiness is spot on. Andi Arndt has not only narrated the book but added the feel and vibe of the book too.

Anna go on a vacation with her family in Italy. They stay in a remote villa in tiny Monteperso. But a pleasant vacation turns into something unimaginative when they start hearing strange noises, seeing haunting dreams and strange things starts happening. Despite the warning of local villagers and bizarre history of the villa, they stay in it. I like the creepy elements in the story. I wasn’t expecting the history of the villa be so tragic and past so violent. The author has described family dynamics so well. The twists and turns were unpredictable.

Some characters were good while some were simply mean and unlikeable. The family share good moments and some truths unveils too. The book gripped me from beginning and it didn’t let me go until the end. Some revelations were so shocking. The ending was so unexpected and it couldn’t have been better. I loved the description of Italy. I would highly recommend it.

Many Thanks to Dreamscape Media for providing the audiobook.

Welcome to Diavola - a chilling horror with an unhealthy spill of an awful family dynamic.
An American family goes to Italy for a vacation - the parents, a sister with her husband and daughters, a twin brother with his boyfriend and Anna. However, Villa Taccola is not what it seems. Anna see too many light and image flickers, but of course, everyone else in the family ignore all of it and blame Anna as the crazy one.
So there is the annoying family where the mother has too high expectations, the dad is the "if I ignore it, it doesn't happen" type, the sister is the jealous type and whines far too often for having children, the twin brother has a not so nice boyfriend and Anna being the black sheep of the family that recently broke her relationship, does not do the work to her full potential (according to the mother, of course) and draws like a professional artist.
But there is also the villa that is haunted - blood illusions here, "neighbours' children" running around, a creepy tower and of course a ghost that will follow you.
Overall it was a solid horror story, but I cannot get past the family and the little things like Anna being fluent in Italian after doing only Duolingo and Italians assuming that she is from an Italian family because of her accent. That seemed like an impossible stretch.

If you can get past the American version of a holiday in Italy (as a European - it was grinding my gears) - you will enjoy this book!
However, my vacations in Italy will not be the same. That's for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for providing me with the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book.

I think the less you know about this book, the better the experience of reading it will be for you so I will try to be as vague as possible in my review...

Anna is headed to Italy for a family holiday with her parents, her twin brother and his boyfriend, and her sister and her sister's husband and children. Try as she might, it seems that Anna will be the perpetual black sheep of the family so when strange things start happening at their vacation rental her family is quick to point fingers at her rather than accept that something might be deeply, darkly wrong.

Thorne expertly weaves together a story that builds a creeping and terrifying sense of impending dread with an examination of expectations and criticisms of family.

As the tension began building in this book, I started to feel as though I didn't like that I was reading it whilst home alone and such was the impact of this book that I find myself compelling to check over my shoulder to make sure there is no one there.

This book took turns that I did not expect it to take and it was really satisfying the way that I never felt as though I could truly feel safe in knowing what was going on or what was going to come next. I could see the choices that Thorne made to potentially subvert reader expectations to be something that doesn't land for all readers but for me it hit so damn hard.

I am desperately looking forward to reading more from Thorne as this book made it abundantly clear that she has a real talent to craft compelling horror that genuinely makes the reader feel uncomfortable.

I loved everything about this dark historical horror story.

It starts our as a fun (kinda) family vacation abroad that turns weird and hostile. The FMC Anna is always blamed for everything that goes wrong in the family. Even her twin has turned against her.

As the story progresses, things get weirder and darker until there is a physical change that starts to happen. As the mystery of the house and the one hainting it comes unraveled, so does Anna.

What I wild ride. I just loved the atmosphere and the way the whole story played out. I loved how, even at her lowest, Anna is strong-willed, wanting to learn as much as possible about why these things are happening.

Great ending! Highly recommend to anyone who loves a good historical horror with a haunted house. The audiobook was fantastic to listen to.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire, Dreamscape Media, and Netgalley for the gifted copy.

Diavola okay by Jennifer Thorne

Thank you so much Tor Nightfire, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for my gifted finished copy and the ALC.

Blurb:
“The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness—until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself... “

✨ My thoughts:
I love a good spooky story, and this one was GOOD. I also really love a good haunted house story and this book did it for me! Toxic families/people really burn me out in real like too so this felt relatable and dreadfully realistic. I read about 70% and listened about 30% and both were equally good! The narrator did a great job bringing this story to life. There’s a part in this story that happens between Anna and her ex that had me cackling!! I mean really cackling.. OUT LOUD. I loved the dark humor, the haunted house, and the entire vibe of this book. It’s creepy and unhinged and I loved it so much! This was an easy five stars for me and one I’ll be keeping on my shelves. 10/10 will recommend you read immediately! Diavola is out tomorrow 3/26/24!

Happy reading!

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne is a Italian family vacation horror and such a fun twist on the haunted house trope! In this book we follow Anna, the black sheep of her seemingly wealthy and dysfunctional family, as they vacation together in and stay at the private and very haunted, Villa Taccola, in Monteperso.

Initially this book was very dialogue heavy which required me to rewind a few times while listening to the audiobook, but besides that, it was an incredible read!

The audiobook quality was wonderful and the narrator did an incredible job with the Italian throughout the book!

Things I liked:
- atmospheric AF with super vivid writing
- the haunted house and possession vibes
- vacation horror... can this be a new subgenre!?!?

Some things I didn't like:
- Anna jumps to the "haunted" conclusion so fast
- the family OMG they were insufferable
- heavy dialogue in beginning made it a bit hard to follow

Overall, I really liked this one and think if I were to reread it, I would do so with the physical book!

A normal family excursion can be stressful. But when an extended family rents a remote villa in the town of Monteperso, their Italian vacation experience becomes a nightmare. From the odd sounds at night, the oppressive atmosphere and the warnings and frightened reactions of the local people, the Villa Taccola is far more than just a charming temporary residence.

Diavola is told from the perspective of Anna Pace: a flawed artist and the black sheep/scapegoat of the family. I have never rooted harder for a character. While Anna could initially come across as possibly a bit aloof towards most of her family-though her relationship with her nieces is great-her feelings and conduct become completely understandable once the vacation is underway.

The behavior of the Pace family is incredibly toxic in a needling and understated manner. Throughout the vacation, Anna sometimes questions her own actions-aware of her previous moments of impulsivity and thoughtlessness-and refuses to do certain things due to the knowledge that it will inevitably be used against her. And it is, as events in her “sordid” history are seen as appropriate by her family to discuss with a newcomer in the form of her twin brother’s unpleasant boyfriend.

Diavola does a wonderful job of building up the tension due to not only the eerie presence within the villa, but also the aspects of the family slowly unraveling as issues with missing time and food rapidly spoiling begin to occur. Its depictions of locations within Italy are also wonderful and only added to my desire to eventually visit there.

Diavola is not the typical haunted house story and I truly enjoyed its unique aspects: such as the history of spirits, what happens once the vacation ends and Anna’s inevitable-and clever-attempt at a showdown. While there were several moments throughout where I was internally raging, the ending of story left me feeling immensely elated.

The narration by Andi Arndt was absolutely amazing and conveyed the sometimes-sardonic nuances of Anna’s thoughts and words and also the distinct voices of the other characters wonderfully.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and to Jennifer Thorne for providing access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

While I don’t necessarily recommend reading a horror book about a family vacation in Italy right before you go on vacation to Italy, this was such a fascinating book! I think it sits in this great place in the horror genre where it’s certainly horrifying and unsettling but you can also read it while walking around alone without completely freaking out. It’s also a fantastic audiobook read so you can really feel like there’s an evil entity standing over your shoulder, and Andi Arndt did a really good job at creating a distinctive narration of various characters and moments! If you’re looking for your next horror read, this is one worth checking out!

This book mixes together the horror of a dysfunctional family with the horror of a house that is most definitely haunted. I’m not a big consumer of haunted house horror, but I thought DIAVOLA did it really well, making the house this kind of catalyst of extremely bad vibes that seeped into the people. It plays with some common horror elements and combines them in a way that makes them feel inescapable. The writing itself also played a big part in creating this rich and haunting atmosphere.

There were a few things that made it hard to feel entirely sucked in, and I have semi-mixed feelings about the ending and the overall timeline that came into play with it, but overall I thought this was a solid read, and well worth the listen/read!

4.5 stars

I would like to first say thank you to Netgalley and Jennifer Thorne for letting me listen to this audio ARC.

What sounds like a fun family holiday in Italy is more like a torture holiday in….hell.
Anna is surrounded by family who dislike her for obviously no reasons at all.
What makes it worse for poor Anna, this AirB&B is haunted.
I honestly don’t know how she stays for how long she does manage, I would have left after a day.

I found the pace of this book perfect! Each chapter you wanted more and I kept rooting for Anna the whole way!
The combination of drama and horror Throne writes is impeccable!
This novel is well constructed throughout and I loved Anna’s dry humour.
The Narrator did a fantastic job!

I can’t say enough how much I loved this book and how much I enjoyed it.
If you liked Rachel Harrison’s books, then you should pick up this book!

Release date March 26!!

Diavola is the perfect horror for the summer. I’m now obsessed with horror novels that take place in Italy. This book was so creepy. I had such a fun time listening to it. The narrator is amazing.

It got a little slow after the 60% mark but picked right back up at the end. I also couldn’t stand the family but I think that’s the entire point of the story in the end.

I would highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a slow burn haunted house story.
4/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Diavola is easily one of my favorite books of 2024!

Was this the best book for me to read knowing I have my own Italy vacation coming up? No. Was it worth it? 1000% Yes. This is my third book by Jennifer Thorne and I plan to read everything they write at this point. This book was scary, satisfying, surprising and so much fun to read.

Geez this one got me! I couldn’t stop listening - I normally reserve audiobooks for the car but I had to bring this inside because it was so engrossing. I struggled a lot with how Anna was treated by her family (which I think is the point) - but she was such a badass - a great female lead. I will definitely look forward to more books by Thorne.

A tense family vacation to Tuscany turns into a vivid and intimate gothic horror in this wild ride of a novel. Being new to Thorne's work, I came into this book with zero expectations, but I was immediately drawn in by the cover and the book's apparent inspiration in the vibrant contrasts of Florentine Renaissance art.

The protagonist Anna is a flawed, cynical artist working an unsatisfying design job and nurturing deeply toxic relationships with, apparently, everyone in her family. Her codependent twin brother, her insecure sister, her judgmental mother, and her father, who thinks the best way to deal with family tension is to ignore it outright. The only relations with whom she has a genuinely positive connection are her two young nieces who don't understand why their mother sometimes says mean things about Auntie Anna. At the start of the story, Anna is arriving in the Florentine hinterland to spend a couple weeks sharing a vacation rental with all of them.

Villa Taccola has all the aesthetic charm you'd expect from a Tuscan villa, but things are tense from the moment Anna arrives. Of course, much of the building tension comes from her unhealthy family dynamics, but that can't explain all of it. The family begins to notice strange sounds and shapes, unexplainable little disasters, and the locals all seem to be avoiding them.

To be honest, Anna probably jumps to the ghost conclusion sooner than I would, but there is no question that something is very wrong with Villa Taccola. Something that goes all the way back to its Renaissance roots.

The dread in this story may have started at a simmer, but the terror is at a full rolling boil for the last third of the book. The haunt itself plays with the genre's conventions while still managing to surprise.

What starts as a classically creepy vacation haunting turns into something much more intimate, playing on both the nature of toxic family ties and Anna's own significant personal issues. If you like a messy protagonist, Anna is the perfect disaster to pick apart.

The audiobook narration was great, capturing all the incongruous and contradictory facets of Anna's mind.

Very glad that I read this book, and I will definitely seek out more of Jennifer Thorne's writing.