Fiendish

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

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 read and loved Brenna Yovanoff’s Paper Valentine some time ago, and knew I wanted to read her newest book as soon as I could get my hands on it from the library.

I loved Fiendish! The writing was beautiful and the story captivated me right away. I needed to know why Clementine had been in the cellar, who put her there, and what would happen now that she was out.

The story, the characters, the romance, the writing – everything about this story worked for me! I was torn between wanting to race through the book to learn how it ended, and taking my time to really soak in the story and Brenna Yovanoff’s gorgeous writing.

The only thing really holding me back from giving this book five stars is that there were elements of the story that I wish had been explored or addressed more, and that I had hoped I’d learn about by the end of the book, and they either weren’t addressed enough or at all. It may not be a thing that stands out for or disappoints other readers, but it mattered to me.

I think Fiendish is a book that will not only appeal to fans of Paper Valentine, but that will also appeal to fans of Kate Karyus Quinn. There is something about her writing and Brenna Yovanoff’s that brings out the same feelings when I read their works, as well as the way they are able to write such lush and engrossing stories, with such complex characters.

Overall, I loved this book, totally recommend it, and I now have to read Brenna Yovanoff’s other books! In fact, I’ve had a borrowed copy of The Replacement sitting on my shelf for quite a while, and I think it’s time I picked that one up!