Review: Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff

Title:  Fiendish 

Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill
Publishing Date: August 14th 2014
Pages: 341
Genre: YA Gothic Horror
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

  

Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten.

Now she’s out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why.

When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.

I was really excited for this book. I read Paper Valentine last year and loved it. Brenna Yovanoff has a twisted way for telling stories and it amazes me. This book as good but not as good as I was hoping, expecting, or wanting. I felt it was a bit too strange for my taste and the pacing lacked a bit for me. What really made the book good for me were the characters. If it weren't for the character development, this book would have been a star lower for me. But alas the characters and the romance saved the day. 

Clementine was buried a long long time ago in a house that was set fire to. She was just a bity girl at the time and now its quite a few years later and she is now a teenager. She is found by a boy and is set free. Strange thing, only a very few and I mean very few know who she is or that she ever existed. The curse that was put upon her was strong. Clementine is determined to find why she was buried, cursed, and never killed. She doesn't know if she was cursed to save her life or to get rid of her. Along the way she falls in love, learns secrets, and figures it all out. 

So this book wasn't at all what I was expecting. I'm really not sure how to put many of my thoughts down. This book was strange, not a bad strange and not a good strange, just an out there strange. One thing for sure it was original, it was creative, it was it's own story. I have never read anything else remotely like it before. So if you are looking for a strange and mysterious gothic horror. This would be the book for you. 

I normally love strange. The more strange, the more original, the better. But I felt this one was a bit to much for me because at times I felt confused. I would get lost easily and have to reread or rewind a part of the book. I think I may have been better off reading and not listening to this book. 

Part of the problem with me getting lost was the pacing. This played a huge part in the strange and slow parts of the book that would send me in a vicious circle of confusion. The book may have not seemed as slow in parts, but on audio I would tend to get distracted during the slow part and get lost in the abyss. So if you tend to get distracted and lost easily, read the book, don't listen to it. 

Another issue that had me confused at times, there is no real explanation of why there is magic in this town, where it came from who all has it and why. Sometimes that seems add to my confusion. The story wasn't about why there was magic as much as why the magic has to hide. So it didn't make a difference to the story just to me. 

The story was just amazing. I loved the plot it was so dark and beautiful and wicked. I really can't express how different this book was from anything I have ever read. I really do think this authors mind is off the charts on the brilliance scale. The story was good and the romance was even better. I adored the romance. 

The romance was sweet and even though it was a bit fast it didn't feel too fast. It wasn't over the top romantic or passionate, just sweet. First love kind of sweet. Something I wish more  YA books would have. I fell for it, I believed it, I felt it. 

The book did have some amazing characters. The main character, Clementine was just so lovable. She was a good kid who just wanted to learn the truth. The fact that she lost most of her life and that she was trapped in a house of ruins, didn't seem to bother her, anger her, or frighten her. She just wanted to know what the heck happened. She loved her cousin strongly and she bonded well with those she came to know. She was sweet and kind and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. I liked her very much. 

Fisher is just amazing too. A scared boy living in a frightening world where his gifts are not accepted and he has to hide them all the time. Clementine makes that difficult and makes him stronger. This is what initially brings them together and strengthens their bonds but their romance is also just the normal teenage first love sickness and he makes it easy to accept. He was very easy to love. 

There were some pretty dark and gloomy moments in the book but nothing too hard to handle. There is lots of magic, witch hating, and just plain out judgy kind of behavior that was just enough to set me on fire at the right times but there wasn't anything to graphic or extreme. So even though I consider this a gothic horror, its not overly horrifying. There is the huge mystery of Clementine and what happened to her and that seemed to tone down the horror to a bearable fright. 

I think mystery lovers, strange read lovers, and horror lovers will like this book. 

If you are in for wild ride, give it a try.

Website/GoodreadsHere are some things about me (not book-related):
I’m good at soccer, violent video games, and making very flaky pie pastry.
I’m bad at dancing, making decisions, and inspiring confidence as an authority figure. I suspect this is because I am short, and also terrible at sounding as though I have any idea what I’m talking about.