Sadly, this was a chore to get through. I wish I DNF it— I was tempted to many times, but didn’t want to leave a review without having finished it.
The plot was…boring…and the writing was not for me. By the halfway point, the only thing that’s happened is she gets married. The plot was very shallow and lacking intrigue. I also really hated that the poly relationship involved siblings. While the siblings are not romantic/involved with each other, it’s very off-putting how close they are and are always hanging out together with their mutual lover, Lark. I also didn’t really like any of the characters.
The writing was too flowery for my liking. It was a lot of fluff that actually didn’t say anything.
I’m sure this is for people who just like the vibe of the book, but it was unfortunately a big no for me.

Thank you so much to author Lyndall Clipstone, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), and NetGalley for providing me this eARC for free in exchange for an honest review!

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is not my first Lyndall Clipstone novel, and it certainly will not be my last. Clipstone has a talent of crafting somewhat eerily cozy gothic tales that serve to pull you in from the first page. This novel follows our heroine Lacrimosa "Lark" Arriscane as she returns home from boarding school after a mysterious incident. She can no longer return to her education, and upon returning home, Lark finds that her family is essentially broke. To remedy this, Lark and her two brothers plot to marry her to a cthonic swan god in exchange for an abundance of salt/money. With interference from the world and the various groups that inhabit it. an accident finds Lark stuck between two worlds. Follow our heroine and a cast of mysterious siblings from her past, Alastair and Camille Felimat, and this story has a recipe for chaos (in a good way).

Going into this, I knew that I already liked this author's writing. Though it was familiar, I did find that this story still surprised me at times--primarily with its main trio. I don't really want to say too much (no spoilersss) but I did wish that that Felimat siblings and their connection to Lark was expanded upon a bit, both in the past, and in the present timeline of the story. I know that the plot is relatively fast paced, but I do wish there was more time to get to know them as characters separate from Lark. The setting and lore were quite interesting, as I do not believe I have read something as unique as this.

I will say that I do wish the author branched out a bit more with her plot, as I did feel as if Tenderly, I Am Devoured shared quite a bit of themes that I remember from her previous works, Lakesedge and Forestfall. The concept of a girl getting tangled with a water-based god and his different plane of existence is just too similar. However, I believe that readers who are new to this author will not be bothered by my nitpicking. I urge anyone interested in a queer gothic story drenched in a relatively unique kind of folklore to give this story a read!

I loved how detailed and poetic this world was!! The themes were so complex with elements of horror & sapphic romance!! The storyline is so unique and refreshing, perfect for those looking for a dark romantasy thriller!

In this book, we follow Lark, an aspiring artist who was raised by her brothers. Following her expulsion from her school, Lark finds herself in a situation where she must marry a cthonic god in exchange for her family's financial well being. This world is whimsical and dark and dreamy.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Lyndall Clipstone and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for access to this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

Look at this cover of the newest 4.75 star read from Lyndall Clipstone!
Do you like Gothic Romance? Do you like when the FMC will do anything for her family? Or an FMC who is a little c-tthroat in a world she's not really meant to be that sharp in?
Lacrimosa marries the god worshipped by her town after a disgrace sends her back home. When the god starts to have some planar difficulties, Lacrimosa turns to her first heartbreak....and his alluring sister, to help her.
Reminiscent of For The Wolf by Hannah Whitten, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a gothic, hopeful, and tenderly written story. Lark comes into her own in such a beautifully written way that it was simply a joy to read!
Get your copy on July 1st!

This book was such a trip! I am in awe of the prose, the descriptions, every little vivid detail adds so much depth to the story. I really loved the unique worldbuilding and extremely complex relationships. There were so many secrets and subplots going on at any given time and it was fascinating when it all came together.

Tenderly, I am Devoured spans a whole spectrum of shades of gray. Crisp cottagecore white, through shades of gray morals and all the way to some black hearts. This is definitely a story that I could reread and discover new things like little Easter eggs here and there.

There were several revelations about Lark that I never would’ve guessed. We jump back and forth from “now” and “then” so we get to see Lark’s development as flashbacks from her perspective. I genuinely like Lark as a character. While reading, I felt mad with her, sad with her and happy with her. More Therion please 😉

Fav tropes:
Seaside 🌊
Gods 🦢
Slow burn ❤️‍🔥
Portals 🪞
Betrayal 💔
Academy 🏰
Cults 🌼
Sibling bonds 💞
Arranged marriage 💍
Trauma healing ❤️‍🩹
Inclusive ✨

Fav quotes:
“I’ve seen the cruelty of the mortal world; I have no fear of gods or monsters.”

“…the entire world, and all the good it has to offer, will be limitless, and yours.”


Thank you Lyndall Clipstone and NetGalley for the eARC of this amazing book.

Alright… I’ll start with the good. This was written very beautifully. It was so easy to get sucked into it at times with how pretty everything was described. The world building was stunning and so atmospheric. You honestly can’t go wrong with anything gothic and coastal, but… I can’t get behind the fact that the polyamorous romance was associated with siblings, even if the siblings did nothing with each other. I also found the pacing to be very slow the first 60ish percent and then way too fast in the end. Some of the “Then” chapters felt almost unnecessary most of the time as they didn’t really add anything to the story. Overall loved the idea and the prose, but I can’t get over the way the romance ended up. Why choose romance is fine, why choose with siblings is definitely a choice.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Kids for providing me with a digital copy. All thoughts are my own!

This was hauntingly beautiful. The prose is gorgeous and I was entirely swept away by this one. There was a deep melancholy that clung to me for a lot of this book and I could have swore I could smell the salt of the sea and the mines.

This one alternates timelines and Larks past genuinely broke my heart a little bit. She’s so eager for connection, so desperate to please, and it leads to her getting hurt by cruel people and I just wanted to wrap her in my arms and hold her tight.

Thankfully, both Camille and Alistair are there to do that for me. I loved the pull she felt towards both these characters and the way they were both happy to share her. This trio was utterly wonderful and their love for each other shone through the mild codependency.

I loved the plot with Therion; the fantasy, god and otherworldly elements he brought to this story. It was absolutely fascinating and I kind of wish we had more of him in this story because he came across as quite likeable in that cool, aloof, God-like way.

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a lush gothic read filled with folklore, horror, love and mystery. All of the characters were so well thought out and you can't help but love the 3 main characters as they embark on a wild journey filled with love and sea gods. The setting by the seaside and inside the mines was lush and so well written that I felt like I was a part of the story. This was a gorgeous gothic read with so much detail and I had such a hard time putting it down!

This was, truthfully, immaculately well done. It came to me at a point where I was beginning to get disinterested in books that could be described as gothic, but this pulled me right in again. The way Lyndall writes with the ability to pull you in to a brand new world, while somehow also setting a tone of comfort and almost nostalgia? I couldn't explain it. Nevertheless, this was lovely and great and I'm honoured to have gotten it early.

The cover is stunning and drew me in immediately! The atmospheric writing is absolutely dripping with gothic, salty, achingly beautiful imagery. Vibe readers will absolutely devour this one!

That said, the gorgeous writing and vibes sometimes can distract from what all felt a bit underdeveloped to me. The flashbacks to school and Lark's toxic codependent relationship with ex-best friend were definitely the most well-fleshed out. I was missing more of the swan god throughout the entire story. I think the doomed childhood friends/crushes relationship always has potential to be powerful and poignant, but it really didn't work with BOTH siblings here for me. Camile wasn't developed enough as a character for a meaningful relationship with Lark, she was just the one who was there.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing and vibes, but some of the depth and development fell a bit flat for me.

I feel like the cover of this book fits so well. Tenderly, I Am Devoured is both dark/gothic and flowery. I don't really know how to explain it. The atmospheric cottage by the sea ruled by a chthonic god, the romance, the eeriness, so many elements make this story beautiful and haunting.

Expelled from school, Lark returns home to chaos. Desperate to stop further financial ruin, she agrees to marry the god Therion; however, the ceremony is interrupted. Afterwards, Lark starts having visions and losing time. It's like she's being consumed. She turns to her friends and neighbors for help. The romance between Lark, Alistair, and Camille was wonderful. I'm glad that there wasn't unnecessary drama about the polyam romance, just acceptance.

I can't wait to reread this book when I get my hands on a physical copy.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

This book is like a beautiful hazy fantasy. I absolutely loved this book. The way she writes wraps you up in this incredible world of fantasy and love. The sensory overload that is this world is so well done and carefully thought out. I can not wait to see what she comes up with next.

Tenderly, I Am Devoured was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I am so incredibly pleased to say it did not disappoint at all.

Clipstone weaves a story of romance and family from salt and swans. I binged this in (almost) one sitting because it is that difficult to put down. The characters swim out of the page and lure you into the mines with them, sharing their adventures, hopes, and fears.

The romance is full of yearning and acceptance. I loved their dynamic and the way they protected one another throughout the novel. I extend apologies and gratitude to my friends for listening to my screams about how perfect this novel is; I know it was incomprehensible most of the time but I was trying not to spoil anything.

I fear this review does not fully encapsulate my feelings towards this book, but I hope I come close enough. I am impatiently waiting for Clipstone's next release.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The gods are not far, and they hunger. Tenderly, I Am Devoured is Lyndall Clipstone's best work to date, in my opinion of course. The story immerses readers in a darkly atmospheric world; her writing, sumptuous and eerie, delicately explores the depths of human emotion.

Lacrimosa, Lark for short, hasn't been home for nearly four years after leaving for her dream college to study art. She returns home disgraced, haunted, and feeling adrift. When she finds her home in shambles, her brothers desperate and scrambling to pay off their debts, Lark feels as though her life is spiraling out of control. To get a sliver of her life back, to help her brothers and keep their home, she agrees to a desperate plan. She will marry their god, Therion who represents the ocean and the wild parts of the woods. In return, Therion will replenish their family's empty salt mines.

But the marriage is interrupted and Lark's entire world becomes somewhat hazy. She starts losing time and experiences visions of the sea, an angry god, and the sensation of drowning. Lark turns to her childhood neighbors—her first friends, her first crush and first heartbreak—for help. In doing so they are all dragged into the pain and terror of a disappearing god and their own hardships.

While there are many challenges the trio face externally, there are internal complications for these characters as well that I felt more connected with. Lark's internal struggle with her self-worth, aspirations, and capabilities is profoundly relatable; I, myself and many readers will find echoes of their own experiences within these pages. The author’s note reveals that this story is deeply personal to Clipstone, reflecting many of her own feelings and challenges.

"Sometimes it feels like there's a limit to all the good things in the world. That by the time I realize what I want to do, now, instead, it will be too late."

As Lark grapples with her own self-worth, her relationships with her neighbors become central to her story, creating a haunting exploration of love and its complexities. There are many different types of love that are explored in this novel, good and bad, platonic and romantic, but the central romance between Lark, Alistair and Camille is poignant, and I admired that there wasn't an external conflict once the characters accepted their polyamorous relationship, allowing the story to focus on their individual struggles with self-worth in the context of love. This gives Lark and Alistair in particular a lot of growth as characters and love interests.

"I've seen the cruelty of the mortal world; I have no fear of gods or monsters."

I have only one hangup with this book, which does, unfortunately, drop it down a star. Without spoiling anything, I felt that the antagonist wasn't adequately fleshed out enough for me to totally comprehend the reasoning for their actions. It felt contrived, and well, a little weak compared to the rest of the story. The theme of love and self-worth is revisited repeatedly among most characters, including Lark's brothers. However, the antagonist's lack of this exploration leads to their interactions feeling somewhat hollow

Overall, Tenderly, I Am Devoured balances dark themes with moments of tenderness and growth, making it a memorable tale. I'm eager to read what Lyndall Clipstone has for us in the future, as her ability to weave a mesmerizing and aching story leaves me wanting more each time.

~3 ⭐~

↪ 𝓿𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼
◊ cottage by the sea
◊ dark academia
◊ romanticized folk horror
◊ misty, salt-soaked
◊ brokenhearted x lovers

↪ 𝓹𝓻𝓸
○ the locations felt very real
○ good prose
○ adored the dark/gothic-ness
○ the cover is ✨stunning ✨

↪ 𝓬𝓸𝓷
⪧ i didn't quite love Lyndall's writing style.
⪧ polyp romance m/f/f -- i wasn't aware that this was the romance and it took me by surprise. needless to say, it wasn't for me.
⪧ i was so board. i was waiting for the plot to pick up but it took so long to, i was ready to put the book down by the time it got interesting.
⪧ I didn't connect with any of the characters + the fact that lark's relationships felt very forced.

↪ 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼
I wish I could have loved this book, but it just wasn't for me. before you read please look at CW's and TW's < 3 have a wonderful day lovelies.

𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓝𝓮𝓽𝓖𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓬!

4 ⭐️ I really liked this book! I loved the gods and them becoming real, loved Lark's brothers. I didn't really like the past and present chapters at the beginning but I did understand why it was like that. But all in all it ended really good!

“Everything feels delicate, like a ribbon of new silk. But in this moment, I am as fierce as an ocean storm, as unstoppable as the violence of a rising tide.”

A masterpiece, truly spectacular. Some books you fall into, and some books… will absolute consume you, this is the latter. The author not only created a world that felt tangible and real, but also completely unknowable. The interwoven magical realism held a witchy spirituality that bordered on possibility, not to mention the queer normative world where there was no question to whom one loved, at no point was that ever an issue. So many secrets are laid bare, and the way the author wove the different timelines with subtle differences in the narrative voice so that I didn’t even notice the change from first to third, for several chapters. There were moments that felt like someone had punched me due to how hard the emotions flickered around me.
I loved this book, I loved the folklore, I loved the twisted parts, and I loved that the ending was a warm embrace.

I really enjoyed this book! I can’t wait to reread it in physical :)
The storyline kept me engaged and I loved slowly unraveling the past at school, and the future back home. Each character had enjoyable moments and depth to them
There were moments I was left a little confused, but the overall atmosphere and vibes of this book are immaculate ✨

this book had so much potential to be something really beautiful. dripping in unique atmosphere, i fell in love with the world lyndall created and was hypnotized by the lore of the gods. i was optimistic about the set up—i was promised saltburn vibes and while that definitely delivered, the plot felt so superficial and the characters were quite petulant and immature. this story did not make sense through the eyes of an 18 year old and i had a really hard time connecting with even a single character for that reason. the poly couple being with siblings felt kind of yucky, and the whole rekindled friendship to lovers felt super rushed and forced making the whole romance unbelievable. we didn’t get enough context to really understand the dynamic between lark, camille, and alastair prior to them reconnecting as young adults outside of the fact that they hungout all the time as kids being neighbors (it was sort of described as a friendship of convenience though?) and while i could see a semblance of chemistry between alastair and lark, the camille bit felt super out of left field. also the hatred she placed in alastair felt super misplaced and unnecessarily heightened…lark kept saying he did this big terrible thing and he quite literally had no choice but to let her go. she also folded for him pretty quick for someone who spend 4 years despising this man.

i wanted so much more from therion in this one. the whole betrothal to a god storyline felt like an afterthought and definitely was not the dominant focus as advertised. therion being their altered all powerful god made me expect him to be fearsome and intimidating, and the whole book he was so easily manipulated and swindled. hugo (again, a child) being the main villain felt out so out of place, and really confused me how he was so easily able to bring this all powerful god to his knees. it was just disappointing as i was expecting so much more.

in all, this wasn’t a terrible read but i really think it could benefit from some reworking to refocus the main themes and an edit for pacing. there felt like too many loose ends and unaddressed plot points when we wrapped things up that certainly needed more exploration.

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a beautifully written story that left me with some mixed feelings overall, but is one that I really appreciate for what the author did with the story and how lovely it was to read. I really loved the darker, moody atmosphere that the author created and how well it set the tone for the story. I appreciated the way the characters were introduced and developed throughout the story. There are also some weird dynamics between some of the characters in this one that I wasn't sure of. Flashback chapters can sometimes be hit or miss for me, but I think they worked well in this book for establishing Lark's character and how everything was set up in this world. The world-building was really interesting, and I was taken by surprise I think by how many things were different, as I wasn't expected it for some reason! The main thing I struggled with was that it felt like it took a long time for this story to really get going, and I think I expected something slightly different based on how it was advertised. I didn't find myself as enamored with the plot itself as I'd expected to be, and it's largely Clipstone's writing that kept me reading at times, though I'm really glad I finished this one and gave it a shot! Overall, this is going to be a huge hit for many readers, and I had a good time with it as well!