My first book of this author and I was just invested on this one as I couldn’t put it down. I keep asking myself “ what is happening here?”
I enjoyed reading this gothic romance fantasy and it’s nice to read something different and be taken into a different world.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher Penguin Random House Australia for the ARC.

I'm really disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more but I lost interest in everything a bit after halfway and then I never found proper motivation to continue it so I read force-fed it to myself until I just skimmed the ending.

｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ Lark 🦢 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
I started off loving it but then Lark, the fmc, really annoyed me because she acted really immature most of the time and nothing was happening for the first part of the book! Literally nothing happened until around 80%- we were just stuck in Lark's mindlessly confusing and drama-filled POV- and then it got so irritating that I just couldn't be bothered anymore. Her character was so... one-dimensional. Flat. Dull. (Annoying).
There was no character development and she just seemed to do whatever the hell she wanted without thinking about it.

｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ Romance 🌿 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
The romance (i'm gonna be real) was reallyyy badly portrayed. It was so angsty for no reason. There was no one to root for because basically Lark was full-on yearning for everyone that was friends with her??
It was polyamory but with both the brother, Alistair, and his sister, Camille, and that was NOT what I was expecting. It felt really incestuous and weird even though Alistair and Camille weren't doing anything with each other but Lark just went from one sibling to the next, and neither of them cared. Alistair really pissed me off especially when he kept on being nice to Lark one second and then the next, he's mad at her. He was so stuck-up. Camille was nice but her and Lark's attraction was like instalove. Camille had so much potential actually but that was ruined.

｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ The plot 🥀 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
In terms of the plot, NOTHING made sense. Like I mentioned before, it was boring, nothing happened until the very end and then it was all messily crammed in. I don't understand the whole purpose of anything. Someone could ask me what this book was about and I'd have no words. It was a waste of time.


Overall, this book was a huge let down because I was super excited for it since it sounded so interesting. I love gothic/dark academia books but this did not hit. Also I was waiting for the dark academia but that was only in Lark's flashbacks at her boarding? So I don't think that labelling this 'dark academia' fits the aesthetic but gothic does, I guess.

The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the title and the absolutely stunning cover and I just knew that this book would make me ache in the best possible way.

The story follows Lacrimosa (Lark) Arriscane as she returns home to her small town, Verse where she finds her home and brothers on the brink of financial ruin. Lark accepts a betrothal to Therion, the god her town worships in order to save them. But nothing is as simple as it seems... Lark becomes stuck between the mortal and chthonic realm. She uncovers secrets about herself, her family and is inexplicably drawn to her neighbours Alastair and Camille, the Felimath siblings. This book leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat the entire time. I will say this book will not appeal to every reader, but I fell in love with it.

Set on a gloomy, moorish seaside town straight out of a gothic fairytale, this book was written in beautifully aching prose filled with equal parts of yearning and horror. As Lark, Alastair and Camille work together to save Therion, they travel through forests, caves, salt mines and another realm which are all described with wholly poetic prose that fully immerses you into the world. It was part-gothic and part-horror, written with a deep appreciation and love for the sea. The world-building was stunning with salt priests, mysterious sea gods and a captivating and unconventional romance between Lark and both Alastair and Camille. Lark starts off adrift and lost but grows into a strong woman over the course of the book. Alastair was just achingly compelling and heartbreakingly soft, and Camille was so just so tender. Their dynamic together as they sacrifice for each other and go on a journey of self-discovery was beautifully expressed. Their relationships were so soft and alluring, giving us the most tender moments you will ever find.

This book was equally terrifying, soft, ethereal and through the most poetic prose will leave you utterly mesmerised and aching.

I was really enjoying the flashbacks and the way that the story was heading, but after finding out the reasoning behind some things it was giving very teenage drama, like 16 year old drama. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I am almost 30 years old. I quickly lost interest which is very disappointing, but I didn’t finish it

I really did enjoy the spooky vibes though.

What’ a swing romance book with all the gothic undertones. I know this is a YA book but it did not read that way at all. I love this authors work anyways, so I got what I expected. Amazingness.

🕯️ You will love this read if you’re a fan of a whimsical, moody, gothic, romantic folk horror ✨

Thank you so SO much @penguinbooksaus for the beautiful bookmail and interesting read! 🥹🫶🏻

Release date: July 1st 2025!

Blurb:
“Perfect for fans of Saltburn, For the Wolf, and Wuthering Heights, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a moody, monstrously Gothic romantasy in which a young woman must bind herself to a dangerous underworld god to save her family’s legacy - and herself - from ruin.

Expelled from her prestigious boarding school, eighteen-year-old Lark returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the brink of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience ... to Therion, an underworld god worshipped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown.
Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath, the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille.
As the trio delves into the folklore of the gods, Lark falls under the spell of the Felimath siblings. Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a hedonistic ritual to repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom.
Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion - and Lark as well.”

Lacrimosa (not like the leeches in A Series of Unfortunate Events (I checked)) aka Lark is expelled from a prestigious boarding school and returns home with her head hung to find her two brothers (the only family she has left) are in financial ruin. Freshly 18, she promises to do anything to save them from losing their family’s estate and salt mine, and that just happens to mean marrying the swan-like monster of a god their coastal community worships in exchange for the the mine to prosper again. When the god disappears in an attack on their wedding night, Lark teams up with Alastair, her first love, and Camille Felimath, his alluring sister to get answers. 

This is a YA gothic (think a studying in drowning - belladonna - house of hollow vibes) fantasy horror and it’s DELICIOUS. I love Lark as a protagonist and her background was so interesting, the somethings-not-right-here settings, the lore and over-arching plotline, AND there were a couple of TOP SHELF twists! The story is told from dual timelines and the pacing was fantastic.

Bonus! The romance plotline is queer and polyamorous….
but that bonus is negated because the fmc’s two love interests are siblings and they’re totally fine with ‘sharing’ which is a little too close for my comfort. The final straw was Lark comparing how they kiss against each other. 🥴🥴
I really can’t tell you why this choice was made but unfortunately it totally overshadows how amazing this book is, and dropped it from a very strong 4.75 stars to an even 4. 🥲✨

I still really recommend this book and I will be reading more from Lyndall Clipstone but what I would give for them to be anything but siblings. 😫💔

Clipstone’s writing reads like being softly haunted in your dreams. It’s eerie and beautiful, with a special poignancy that breathes like watching the waves crash on a quiet shore—relentless, rhythmic, and full of aching memory. Her prose lingers like salt in the air, slipping beneath your skin, and settling in spaces where silence used to be.

I was completely immersed in this world, it’s unlike anything I’ve read before. Every character felt cut from entirely different cloth, each stitched together with passion, vengeance, aching silence, and raw longing. I loved them all. The dynamic between Lacrimosa (Lark), Alistair, and Camille was compelling, though at times it felt uneven, some connections felt more emotionally earned than others. The imagery was vivid, I could see the cold, black ocean stretching into the void, feel the eerie stillness of Saltswan, and lose myself in the lush, haunting beauty of Caedmon’s paintings. The horrors of the Chthonic deities added an otherworldly dread to the gothic atmosphere. It’s equal parts romantic and terrifying, a dark, seductive fever dream I never wanted to wake from.

Ultimately, it is a tender, ethereal concoction of flower-threaded horror, tragic romance, and folklore that curls around your senses like mist through a forest, delicate yet consuming, as if the story itself is breathing softly against your neck. Think Saltburn and The Secret History—all obsession, decay, and beauty, wrapped in prose that cuts as much as it captivates.

The elements I loved in the book
🌊 The wistful, ominous setting, and the
ocean/sea as a wild, all-consuming character
🌊 Haunted, soft heroine
🌊 Queer/poly rep / tragic romance
🌊 Betrothal to swan god
🌊 Unique plot
🌊 Dark academia

Thank you Lyndall, Netgalley and Penguin for the e-ARC!

4.5 stars!

'I don't want to be something fragile, too delicate to touch. If I must be glass, then I want to be the razored edge of a broken pane - sharp and dangerous.'

⭐⭐½

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a lush, moody YA fantasy novel, with haunting secrets lurking within a dark, misty seascape.

I'm a little bit conflicted about how to rate this book. On the one hand, I thought the writing was incredibly atmospheric. I could so vividly picture the rustic cottage of our FMC and the imposing manor of Saltswan by the coast. The book certainly felt like it was from an older, otherworldly time. I loved the description of the rituals that the people of Verse partake in to worship the Swan God, and I really enjoyed immersing myself in the world of Verse.

The issue that I had with this book was the pacing. I think the first half, if not more, was quite meandering. Clipstone writes beautifully, but after a time it felt needlessly repetitive. I think if the action had started to take off earlier in the book, it might have hit differently for me.

I also really wanted more from some of these characters. I felt that Therion was kind of glossed over in this story, despite being a fairly large part of the plot. I feel like the reader was supposed to see him as this intimidating God, but I honestly couldn't tell you why. I couldn't really understand why he was such a big deal, or why he was so feared.

All up, this was an okay read for me and I wish I loved it more. I think this will appeal to those who love moody, gothic reads and are after something that's quite lyrical in tone.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Tenderly, I am Devoured is told in dual timelines, with chapters exploring Lark’s past with Alastair and events leading to he expulsion, and the current timeline as she tries to save her family from their debt. It’s a story about learning who you are again while recovering from toxic, abusive relationships (content warnings for coercive control and physical abuse in childhood) and discovering what love and family truly looks like.

This book also has a creepy cult lurking around the edges, an ancient swan god, desperate and/or terrible people, big family secrets, and a poly romance.

If you loved A Study in Drowning, I think you should try this gothic fantasy YA standalone. For a lot of reasons, including the general vibes of the setting and the idolisation of an artist in Lark’s academic studies.
1 like

Tenderly, I am Devoured is a gothic fantasy thriller with lots of romance and feelings throughout. It follows the story of Lark, an orphan who has been raised by her two brothers. She is an aspiring artist and when she’s expelled from school, she returns home to find herself in the middle of a web of lies and deceit.

Alistair is broody & grumpy and he & Lark have been friends since childhood, along with Alistair’s sister Camille. Together they are thrown into a whirlwind of a journey and they must work together to survive.

I devoured 😂 this book! It’s different from anything I’ve read before and it’s just so hauntingly beautiful in every sense. It has such a unique concept.

L K Clipstone mentions in her acknowledgements how personal this book is for her and how it was born from a dark period of her life. You can definitely feel that with the raw emotions.

The worldbuilding in this book is phenomenal. It wasn’t too much but wow, the images in my head are absolutely insane. I felt like I was in the book as I read. To do this without huge world building scenes is very clever.

Overall, this is such a beautiful book and I would like to thank Penguin Random House & NetGalley for the opportunity to arc read.

I would recommend checking the triggers warnings before reading as there are definitely some heavier topics mentioned.

I’m really sad I didn’t love this because I absolutely adored unholy terrors and that entire vibe!

My biggest struggle here is that I didn’t connect with a single one of the characters and honestly, wasn’t invested in this a lot of the way.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

This is my favourite kind of story - I've been hanging out to read Tenderly, I Am Devoured for months and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read it early!
Lark is returns to Verse in disgrace and although her brothers love her and are happy to see her, there is a lot going on for them, with mountains of debt, a failing salt mine, and the man collecting their debt happens to be the boy Lark used to love. Throw in her betrothal to the swan god worshipped by her family and things are out of control.
This story has got excellent ethereal but creepy vibes, it's truly a strange story in the best possible way. Lark, Alistair and Camille, once childhood friends and now something more, are thrown together in the pursuit of Therion, the swan god, to try to save Lark. Lark is vulnerable and sweet, but she maintains a strength as her life is torn apart and her foundations shook. Alistair and Camille (it's hard to think of them separately, they are a pair) are charming and easy to love and even though I wanted to kick Alistair in the shins a bit at the start, he grew on me quickly.
I love the setting, it's haunting and beautiful, and the salt mines and the ocean and the way they are woven into the story feel perfect. I love a queer normative world and Lyndall Clipstone wrote this one perfectly, the relationships between Lark and the Felimaths, as well as seeing the way other relationships are portrayed, feels so natural and effortless. I didn't feel angst from Lark as she explored her relationships with Alistair and Camille, just a genuine desire not to hurt anyone, and the way the story ended felt like the most natural conclusion - it was perfect!
I loved that this was a standalone and I devoured it (sorry not sorry) in a day, I couldn't put it down. This was my first book by Lyndall Clipstone but I now want to read everything else written by her and feel that sense of losing touch with reality over and over again.

where do I even start? Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a masterpiece!

I am beyond grateful to be able to support Lyndall, who is a local author. I want to give a HUGE thank you to Penguin Books for sending me a physical copy of this book and allowing me to read it through NetGalley, too. (a girl needs access to her books 24/7)

This book will hold a very special place in my heart forever. Tenderly, I Am Devoured exceeded my expectations in the best way possible. Personally, this book felt so unique, and I really enjoyed the chapter layouts. Throughout the story, you can see Lark's character development. Each character is so compelling, deeply intriguing, and it is easy to empathise with their unique struggles. Their personalities are distinct, and every single character/interaction brings something valuable into the story: they are well thought out and fleshed out.
Every character interaction had me hooked. The dynamics, the tension and the beautiful writing style (so vivid and beautifully crafted)

And Verse? it's incredible! Lyndall has done an amazing job of placing us readers into her world. The worldbuilding was done ever so perfectly, and the writing is so lyrical and poetic. I never once felt lost, overwhelmed or out of place when reading about Verse. I am quite speechless as I have never come across a book so unique and engaging - my words will never do it justice.

The atmosphere, the twists, the heart, everything about it was PERFECT!

🦢 - gorgeous chapter headers
🦢 - polyamorous romance
🦢 - academia meets gothic vibes
🦢 - lyrical prose + haunting folk horror atmosphere

I have secret hopes that Lyndall will announce a second book/novella/art book, as I am really sad that it is over.

This is a gothic Romantasy that has such unique elements to it. The world building is truly something special - there’s salt priests & sea gods & betrothal to a chtonic God, there is LGBTQI+ representation, childhood heartbreak to lovers, strong sibling bonds & complicated family dynamics.
Art is also a major theme throughout the book, & there are many references to artists & their works.

Thanks netgalley & penguin for access to an early e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

✨2 stars ✨

And neither of us mentions that the true danger isn’t out there, in the dark. It’s within me.’

First off, thank you to Penguin Aus for allowing me an e-arc of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What to expect in this
* Gods
* Betrayals
* Sapphic romances
* Past POVs
* Haunting atmosphere
* Small town
* Folktale

I thought this was okay. I think it personally wasn’t for me but I did see why it’s going to be a lot of people’s favourites.

I think mostly for me, I was intrigued by the premise and the way the story went on. It was really unique and I really did like the atmosphere the reading experience gave.

In this case, I wasn’t drawn to reading it when I put it down. It was a really easy to read though so once I picked it up again I would be able to read a few chapters in a sitting.

I do think this has unique premise with some nice story telling but don’t think this was for me!

Check TWs and CWs
Happy reading 🩶

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: 4.5/5

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a beautifully written book with prose that took me away into another world. I was pleasantly surprised with how much the writing reminds me of A Study in Drowning (one of my favourite books). The only things that prevented this being a five star read was that I wish Therion had a larger role (and more character depth), and Lark's two love interests being siblings struck me as strange.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I didn’t find myself being gripped by the story or the characters. The changing timeline made the plot difficult to follow and seemed unnecessary.

This book is truly unique, and gave me the gothic sapphic romance of my dreams. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be ✨ vibes ✨. This book is really just a vibe, offering a world full of mystery, intrigue and horror, woven in with a complex romantic plot and undercurrents of eerie folklore. This book is probably best a mood read, and is written in such a poetic way. I definitely recommend reading the trigger warnings. I love the character development of Lark, and our main trio. The transformation throughout the book for Lark was fantastical and captivating.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Australia for the eARC of this book. This was such a beautiful and intriguing book to read and I've truly never read anything like it.

I have mixed feelings when it comes to Lyndall Clipstone's books -- I was disappointed with Lakesedge, but absolutely loved Unholy Terrors. I was hoping Tenderly, I Am Devoured would skew towards the latter but alas here we are.

If you love long, languid descriptive passages and purple prose, then you will love this book. I personally am not a fan, and found this to be a rather tedious read, my attention constantly battling between staying focused on the book and getting distracted by literally anything else. I decided to request the audiobook, hoping that would help. And it did, a little. I switched at the 39% read mark and finished the audiobook within a few days. The audio is also quite dramatic which I wasn't super fond of, but it matched the writing style of the book so I can't fault the narrator for that.

The gothic aesthetic was done very well, and the cthonic gods mythology was really interesting and definitely needed more of a focus. The main character Lark was quite reserved and weepy for a lot of the novel, which I personally found quite grating. Her relationship with her brothers was really nice though. The relationship between the rest of the characters I found a bit odd, but won't go into detail due to spoilers.

Unfortunately Tenderly, I Am Devoured seemed more focused on creating detailed imagery and descriptions, over plot-depth, and is one I would only recommend for readers who prefer beautiful imagery to actual story development.