Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

⭐⭐⭐/5

A haunted Italian vacation story that left me wanting a main character with more agency.

Anna is the adult child of a dysfunctional family, who all decide to conveniently forget that they don't like each other and go on a family vacation to Italy. Honestly, this is my version of a nightmare already and we haven't even gotten to the haunted house part! Strange things start happening around the rented villa including doors and windows opening, a locked door to a tower with mysterious sounds coming from beyond it and an entirely missing day.

I like how Jennifer Thorne builds the setting. I felt like I was right beside Anna on this vacation, shadowing her as she experiences these strange happenings. I felt like the pacing slowed in the middle of the book, but if you like vibes in your horror stories, then you'll appreciate the time Jennifer Thorne is taking here.

We spend a lot of time experiencing the haunting of the villa and of Anna, but I wished our characters, especially our main character had more agency earlier in the book. Between the family being condescending and flat out mean at time (I'm looking at her sister who is convinced Anna is trying to steal her husband), and the haunting, it felt like the story was happening to Anna instead of Anna leading the story. I liked the ending. We get some real bad girl energy from Anna which I resonated with and wished for more of.

The audiobook is narrated by Andi Arndt, and she did an amazing job! Her voice is really soothing and she did a great job embodying the character and reacting to the parts of the story in a way that brought me deeper into the narrative. I am definitely going to look for more books narrated by her in the future. If you prefer audiobooks, then this is a good one to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advanced listener copy

This book is best read while painting in a small village along the Italian coast. If you start to feel an invisible pull towards an old house, run in the other direction.