While I enjoyed another book by this author, which is why I requested this one, Unholy Terrors just wasn't for me. The strong friendship between Everline and Lux and the developing relationship between Everline and Briar were positives. I also thought Ravel was an interesting character. I'm not a big romance fan and although it's mentioned in the blurb, I didn't expect it to take up so much of the story. That's just my preference. Some readers enjoy long passages of description, but in this case it distracted me. This one was a miss for me, but it certainly won't keep me from reading future releases by this author.

Unholy Terrors

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unholy Terrors
Lyndall Clipstone

“I don’t trust him. I need him. He needs me. And it is different. It is worse.”

I really liked the vibe of this book! I was fully in the world presented, but I personally felt like a lot was missing though and some things left me confused.

The three main girl characters… two of which were sisters, I assume both of the sisters were in love with the other female character. You could not tell who was and wasn’t into each other romantically vs. friendship. So many mixed signals and vibes. Just confusing to follow.

I also did not understand Everline jumping straight into the vespertines arms. Where was the build?! It didn’t make sense to me.

I will say the end of the book though was extremely good. This has so much potential, but it was missing a little for me.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't really for me. The premise sounded promising, but the execution was lacking for me. I couldn't get into the story at all, mainly because of the writing style and the fact that I couldn't identify myself with the main character at all. I thought of dnfing it, but decided to persist in the hopes of it getting better. That was not the case, sadly.

This book has so many of the key tropes and plots that make up my ideal read:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Classic horror
- Monsters
- Forbidden Romance
- FMC who just doesn't fit in where she's supposed to
- Found family

Unholy Terrors definitely falls further into Romantacy than Fantasy for a genre with a heavier focus on the romance in the story rather than the fantasy plot points. That's right up the alley for many readers and could be perfect for someone looking to get into fantasy. I personally wish there was a closer focus on the plot rather than just the relationship, but I can't be too mad about it.

Thank you to netgallery and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After dearly anticipating this book, promising dark, violent times, I have to say that I was very disappointed.

You’ve made your heroine ‘fierce’, but all she does is get bowled over, bowled over by a monster, half her size, that she’s supposedly been trained to kill her whole life, bowled over by the sudden need to go out to discover her shady origins under an inauspicious blood moon and bowled over by the villain’s poison dark eyes when she ought to be finding out if he ate her one true friend!

I’m tired.

Weak motivation, weak world building (after an amazing start) and weak characterization.

And the author has determined that there are no POC on the windswept moors! Which is fine! I don’t need POCs in books this dull!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

It took me awhile to get into the story but I did enjoy it. There was some enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, lgbtq+ rep and necromancy with some vampire elements. I liked the magic system.

Everline has always been a warden, protecting the border, but unlike the other wardens, she doesn't have magic in her blood. One night on patrol, she and her best friend Lux are attacked by a human-like vespertine. When Everline wants to bring the strange creature in for her father, the captain, to see, he punishes her and burns the body. But the next night, another human-like vespertine arrives and spirits away Lux. Now it's up to Everline and her half-sister to venture into the Thousandfold to rescue her, and it will take Everline's bond with the strange creature to do it.

I almost gave this a 4-star rating because I did like the overall vibe of the story, but the worldbuilding was just too weak for me. Almost nothing about the society is revealed; all we know is that there's a wall and monsters trying to get in, as well as some blood-based religion. I also had no real idea what a vespertine was. They sounded a bit like werewolves, but then Ravel comes along and everything about him screamed vampire. Basically, this turned into a vampire romance, where Ravel and Everline bind themselves with a blood truce, but also Ravel has to feed off of her and it gets VERY steamy. The steamy scenes and the bone armor were the strongest aspects of the book for me. I wanted a bit more about Lux and Ever's friendship, although I did enjoy the bonding between Ever and her sister. Overall this is a dark and moody novel that fans of paranormal romance will enjoy.

I hate to review a DNF, but it just wasn't holding my attention. The characters seemed lifeless and overblown at the same time, and after reading 20% of the book, I still wasn't far enough in to see if the plot picked up.

This book is heavy on atmosphere, magic, death, and overall gothic vibes. Everline and Ravel story is one of forbidden/enemies to lovers romance, an attraction between them they both know is unwise yet neither one of them can resist the other. High stakes tension with twists the reader doesn’t see coming.

The only thing that matters more than proving she’s not a liability without magic is showing she’s not an oath breaker like her mother. But when Everline brings a vespertine corpse back in an attempt to study its deformities, it only raises more questions regarding her role as a warden. And brings a heap of trouble she never could’ve imagined.

A blood eclipse—the same one on the night Everline was born. Then her best friend is kidnapped by another vespertine. Desperate for answers and to get Lux back, Everline sets off in search of the vespertine who took her friend to make a bargain with him: his life for Lux’s. He agrees, but only if Everline can find Lux in the Thousandfold—a dark realm no warden has dared go before. All but Everline, who knows the Thousandfold won’t just give her best friend back, but also all the answers she’s waited her whole life to have.
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I really loved this book. Very dark fantasy with a great cast of characters and an enemie-to-lovers slowburn spice. I was immediately hooked into Evie’s POV and the mystery of why she lacks magic. Clipstone did a great job in the world building, both in how it looked like a literal city of bones in a dead forest and the war between the wardens and vespertine. I liked how Evie’s involvement in it was done, and I especially loved her *entanglement* with Ravel. As far as monster book bfs go, he’s definitely top of that category for me!

Overall, I also felt the tie-in and the wrap-up were both done really well. The pacing was steady but super thrilling between all the horrific action and the sexual build-up. Absolutely would recommend this!

I am always going to read a book with bone magic in the premise. Add in family complexity? Sold. In Unholy Terrors the magic is phenomenal whether it be action packed fights or magical powers which are outlawed. For Everline, she's always been shunned because of her mother's past and so while she has a family, they're mostly off limits to her. With her best friend, Everline is a curious one.

I knew nothing about this author or their previously work, I was entranced by the synopsis alone. I was more than pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this title.

I found the worldbuilding to be absolutely gorgeous - from the first page, I stepped into a space that was wholly unfamiliar, but Clipstone immediately gave me the blueprint.

Atmospheric, gothic, and chilling. As a kid who grew up Catholic, there were so many aspects of the Wardens and their work that felt pulled from the worship of saints and the liturgy.

Themes of outsider/otherness, father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships, queer love, and consent in intimate relationships all wrapped up in a fantasy makes this a fast favorite of mine for recommendation to patrons and friends.

4.5/5 Stars

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

I received an ARC of Unholy Terrors from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unholy Terrors is a book that, in trying to make itself sound poetic and gothic, it ended up sounding pretentious and uncomfortable. There was no world-building, no character-building/development, the plot made no sense because the characters made no sense, and the writing was hard to read. I got about halfway through before I couldn't read it anymore, and I'm surprised that I made it that far.

There was absolutely no world-building in this book besides trying to make everything dark. All I know is that these wardens lived in a place with a church surrounded by a wall of bones. Beyond the bone wall was a vast wasteland of nothing but "gorse and heather," which I remember because it was said nearly every time the place was described. Oh, and it rains a lot. That's all. We don't meet any other people besides the main few. How many wardens are there? I have no idea. Are there any other towns? I have no idea. Is there literally anything else out there besides this one town and the gorse and heather-covered wasteland? I have no idea. Where are all of the vespertines that supposedly roam these wastelands where the main characters go and yet encounter a grand total of one who becomes part of the team? I have no idea. I just ... there's nothing. I know absolutely nothing about this world and have so many unanswered questions.

The characters were just as bad. All of the decisions they made were entirely out of left field. I have no proper understanding of why anyone did what they did. Everline wants to figure out what happened to her mom. Okay, that's a great motivator. However, the decisions that she made were bonkers. The fact that there were little to no consequences for her horrible decisions blew my mind. And to top it off, even though the warden characters had these strict rules they were supposed to follow, they all broke them constantly just because they were following Everline around. And no one did anything about it. I cannot believe that these rules that were so near and dear to all of their hearts could just be thrown out the window without a care in the world by not one, not two, but three people just because Everline wanted some answers. It was bad.

And the writing. I'm all for writing in a way that conveys atmosphere, for example, using darker words for a darker tone. But. It was overdone. There were so many similes and metaphors that nothing was its own thing. And everything was repeated, so those similes and metaphors felt like they meant nothing because I read them so many times, even in comparison to different things. On top of that, the book reads like a thesaurus. It felt like the author refused to use any basic words if there was something even remotely "fancier" to use.

I had such high hopes for Unholy Terrors because it sounded like a dark, atmospheric, and creepy read. It was all of those things, but not in a good way. (On an off note, I'll also state that the story felt too similar to Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto, but it wasn't done nearly as well.)

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Everything about this story is stunning. I was drawn in by the initial description of "It’s a sin for a warden to feed a vespertine—let alone love one—and when their mutual dislike turns to attraction, Everline is torn between her vows and her heart" because who doesn't love a character with an impossible choice?! Clipstone's writing is some of my favorite. I adore her ability to immerse her readers, as well as her mastery of Gothic lit and what it truly is.

This fell a bit flat for me mostly because the writing style wasn’t quite my vibe and it felt an off with the world building.

I’d call this fine. It was enjoyable. But I wouldn’t read it again.

The blood magic was cool, but also got a bit overdone.

Idk. Fine is really the only word that comes to mind. I wanted to love it. But I was left just eager to get it done, know what happens next, and move on to my next read.

Book Report for Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

Cover Story: Unfinished
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Small World Secrets
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Dude
Factor: Bones
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Willing to Burn

Cover Story: Unfinished
I want to like this cover. It’s quite lovely and fierce in equal measure, but there’s a dissonance between the top of it, which looks unfinished, and the bottom, which looks much more complete. Additionally, the wolves seemingly protecting the female figure go against the story completely—the creatures in this book and the main character are mortal enemies. (Plus, the creatures look much more eldritch than that.)

The Deal:
Evaline Blackthorn is the bastard daughter of a traitor, and a warden without magic. She’s made a place for herself amongst the wardens—a group of magically inclined people who fight the evil vespertine and keep them from attacking the common folk—by being skilled at tailoring bone armor, but she doesn’t quite belong. When the opportunity arises to learn more about her mother and the truth surrounding her birth, she jumps at the opportunity, even if it means breaking her warden vows, in more ways than one.

BFF Charm: Yay
Evie and I hit it off from the get-go, as much as a fictional character can connect with a reader. She’s smart, talented, and driven, and willing to do what it takes to find out the truth, even when that means jeopardizing the fragile relationship she has with the father who holds her at arm’s length because of her mother’s transgressions. (Dudes, amirite?) She puts her life on the line for her best friend and gives into passion when she knows it’s the absolute worst thing she can do. She follows her gut, but also listens to her head and heart. I would give her a BFF charm in a heartbeat, but I have a feeling that if we knew each other in real life it would be an unrequited platonic love.

Swoonworthy Scale: 8
It was getting real hot in my house while I was reading Unholy Terrors, and that’s not just because Texas is stupid and has spooky summer when it should be fall. Evie’s enemies-to-lovers chemistry with a person who challenges her, frustrates her, and never denies that he is, in fact, a monster, is the kind of swoon I like most. Ravel keeps secrets, isn’t really trustworthy, and has grey morals, and I pretty much immediately inducted him into my personal Book Boyfriend Hall of Fame. #alwaysinlovewiththevillain

Talky Talk: Small World Secrets
Unholy Terrors is a dark, gothic novel featuring monsters with too many eyes and girls who wear armor made of and do magic with human bones. The characters and their relationships are the centerpiece of the novel, and as Evie’s knowledge of the world expands, so does the reader’s. The setting of the novel is a very small slice of the world, and it’s interesting to reflect on that after reading. We only got to see one particular way of life; elsewhere in this world, there are men and women who get to go about their day, oblivious to or uncaring about the dangers of Evie’s life. It makes for a much more engrossing, tense read, and heightened the emotional nature of the book nicely.

Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Dude
I already gushed about him above, but Ravel starts out as an MLD, a Fitzwilliam Darcy-type if Darcy was a man with fangs, claws, and a proclivity for drinking blood. (He’s not a vampire, but he’s not not a vampire.) Evie first spots Ravel literally lurking on the edge of a moor. There’s no scene with him walking out of a lake wearing a sopping-wet white shirt, but I can certainly imagine it.

Factor: Bones
I am a huge fan of a skull motif, and not just at Halloween time. Evie and the rest of the wardens are equally interested in bones, but in a much different manner. There’s a creep factor to knowing they’re wearing and using bones from humans—and some might say a disrespect—but it’s normal in this society. And super badass.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Because of his anger at her mother, Evie’s dad treats her like an acquaintance, giving her the smallest of love breadcrumbs to keep her compliant. She calls him by his first name, or Commander, according to his wishes, and does everything she can to prove herself worthy of his pride. His “true” daughter, Briar, also treats Evie like dirt, and their father goes along with it. The fact that he thinks of them in such terms just cements what a terrible dad he is.

Relationship Status: Smitten
You’re not the type to show a lot of emotion, Book, but there’s definitely something between us. The spark I felt at first easily grew into a roaring blaze, and I’m sitting closer than I should be. But I’m willing to chance a burn to know you.

I had tried this author out when it came to her debut. Although it wasn’t something I enjoyed I wanted to give her latest book a shot! The cover was cool and I liked the sound of the blurb.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Everline. She was very curious about her mother’s betrayal to the wardens and would do anything to figure out. She has a step-sister who is a jerk a lot of the time and is the opposite of how she is. Her friend was always there for her which was nice to see, but she also didn’t play a huge part or have a lot of development besides to move the story along and be there for plot twists.

I can’t say that I liked the characters. Everline was insufferable at times. She only had a one track mind and didn’t care who got hurt in the process of her wanting to figure out her past. I at least liked that she was more open to understanding the vespertines than those she worked with. Her relationship with one was meh and I didn’t feel the chemistry.

This story has the perfect vibe for this season and I liked seeing vespertines being used in a different way.

Overall, this one wasn’t for me. I don’t think I will try another from this author as I have realized her writing just isn’t for me!

Aesthetically, this book is beautiful. The descriptions are so lush and visceral and full of sensory detail. The reader can see and taste and smell and feel everything that is happening.

That said, some of the writing feels repetitive, with concepts restated more than necessary. That pushes the reading level to the younger edge of YA… but the content—with lots of blood magic, eldritch monsters, cult-like religious fervor, and mildly explicit sexual content—is definitely older YA or NA. As a reviewer, I might hesitate in knowing who to recommend this book to.