“I’m not a lost lamb. I’m the black sheep.” 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

It’s vacation time with the Pace family, and our main character, Anna, is reluctantly meeting the rest of her family in Italy to stay at a villa. Anna is a free spirit and entirely different from the rest of her family; she’s also, infuriatingly, the punching bag.

This story is both a tale about a toxic and dysfunctional family and a tale about a super creepy Italian villa. It all fits quite well, and unlike most horror stories, nothing feels gratuitous. There’s just the right amount of drama, eerie and disturbing moments, and character development. The balancing act between dialogue, character development, spooks, and gore is masterfully done. There’s also a ton of Italian history that absolutely immersed me into the setting.

The family drama had me rooting for Anna until the last page, especially coupled with her haunting experiences and her dark wit. Anna was THAT BITCH, and some people may say this dragged, but I loved every unhinged moment.

This was darkly funny, sent shivers down my spine, and I was deeply invested in Anna’s family relationships. There were a few twists that left me shook, and the ending and epilogue couldn’t have been done better. Sometimes books like these fall flat at the very end, but I think this was perfect. I definitely recommend this as a summertime horror read!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this ARC & finished copy. Many thanks to Dreamscape Media as well, the audiobook was well done and a delight to listen to!

Jennifer Thorne, the author, has delivered with this well written haunting thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive setting of the story, and how it made me feel that I was placed into the book at times. The author did a great job in my opinion, as I grew to dislike the FMC, yet was rooting for her simultaneously. I did enjoy the origin background story of how the hauntings began, and reminded me of a Mike Flanagan show (i.e. Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor). So if you enjoy those shows, this would be up your alley.

Jennifer also wrote a great family dynamic that involves jealousy, resentment, and overall complicated feelings and emotions. As written in the GoodReads synopsis - it definitely "invoked feelings of irritation, dread and despair" that is associated with family gatherings.

It's been a while since finishing this digital ARC that I am thankful Netgalley and the publisher allowed me to read. However, since finishing it, this story has lived rent free and still haunts me at times. I definitely have recommended and encouraged my fellow bookstagram peeps to pick up and read. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This was such a wonderfully dark historical horror! I loved all the sltwusts and how the characters changed throughout the story. 👀

What's more frightening than your own family? This book delivers toxic family dynamics and all the drama your heart desires. I'm not sure which element was scarier, the familial horror or the paranormal elements of the story. I love the ambiance and spooky, gothic mood of the story. Haunted house books are my favorite reads because the tension builds throughout the story leaving me totally creeped out.

This book is perfect for readers who love to be spooked, or readers who crave stories about drama and family tension.

This was an oddly humorous dark fiction. I think I was expecting more direct and obvious horror components but I loved the gothic vibe. Gaslighting is a huge favorite of mine, so when the family was turning on the FMC I loved it. It felt like two separate books- when they were in Italy and when they were back home. This created a small disconnect for me, but I was able to catch up. I loved the horror imagery when they were in Italy. When they were back in NYC, it became more... humorous horror. Like she accepted the haunting and just rode along with it. Very entertaining read and I definitely want to read more by this author.

The first thing that attracted my attention to Diavola was this stunningly-disturbing cover. What does it even mean? I had to know.

Then I read the synopsis, which completely sold me. A Gothic-feeling Travel Horror novel, set in Italy, full of family drama and haunted happenings. Yes, please. I was lucky enough to receive an audio copy, and definitely recommend that format. The narration style of Andi Arndt was absolutely perfect for this story, and as a representation of the MC, Anna's, voice. I was transported into the Pace family vacation via this audio.

We follow Anna as she meets her family in Italy, where they have rented a gorgeous historic villa near the tiny town of Monteperso. As Anna tries to settle in, the atmosphere is tense. Her family is complicated.

Mom is always passively-aggressively nagging at Anna about her life choices. Dad seems distant, except when he would like to remind everyone of who paid for their vacation. Nicole, Anna's sister, has their entire itinerary mapped out to the second, and god forbid anyone question it. Nicole's two daughters are also there, as well as her husband. They seem to be the only ones in the family Anna even remotely gets along with. Thank goodness for them.

Then there's Anna's twin brother, Benny, attending with his arrogant boyfriend, Christopher. Anna and Benny's relationship is the most difficult to figure out. As twins, their relationship has always been a special one, but it is definitely strained at this point. At times it seems good, at other times, not so much.

Honestly, that's the best way to describe this vacation: strained. Unfortunately, it's not just the family though. The villa itself, is strange and seems to be affecting everyone. There's a locked tower room, odd noises and an ominous atmosphere that's downright oppressive. I would certainly need a vacation after this vacation.

I was impressed with how immersive this ended up being. When I was in it, I was really in it. I went through a whole range of emotions and was astounded by the direction it ultimately went. I wasn't expecting a lot of what occurred in the later half of the story. It fleshed out so many layers that were there all along that I feel like I missed initially. I am already looking forward to reading it again. I would love to annotate it and really just spend some more time with it. It's beautifully executed!

I can't stress enough how gripping and haunting this is. My mind was left reeling, trying to interpret all of the events that went down. The atmosphere is top notch, but it never overshadowed the characters, or the emotions that were raging between them. I would recommend this to any Horror fan, particularly if you enjoy Travel Horror, or Horror featuring complicated family dynamics. I feel like I know the Pace family inside and out. I'm practically one of them at this point.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review.

Diavola has been my greatest surprise of 2024 thus far. I cannot wait to read more from Jennifer Marie Thorne!

This was so creepy! This book had me picking my feet up off the floor so the ghosts couldn't get me. I really enjoyed the setting and the switch up that happens. I sometimes get bored with gothic stories because it's like, ok the place is haunted, now what? This author did such a great job with the 'now what' part of this book! Also as annoying as this whole family was, the drama was wonderful.
All those great things and for some reason I have to give this a 3.25. I'm not sure if it was the pacing, the cringy monologue at the end, or the fact that I read this in a day. But I didn't have as much fun as I was hoping I would while reading this.
The second half of this book had some great energy though, and lol the hotdog boardroom scene was amazing. I think maybe there was a few different tones happening so the overall feeling was a bit choppy for me.
All in all a creepy story with lots of great writing [just something missing for me personally]. I will definitely be reading more from this author, because I think there's potential for me to really love her writing!

I wasn't really sure what I was going to get with this book, but I had seen it getting some good reviews so I was excited to give it a shot. And overall I think it was quite decent. I don't think I was blown away by any means, but Thorne did a good job not only creating a great sense of unease throughout the novel, the tension is tight for pretty much the whole thing - not only because of the ghost element but because of the family drama as well. It reminded me somewhat of the Haunting of Hill House show when everyone was older, and despite knowing that a lot of the behavior directed towards the main character was toxic it's mundane enough that you find yourself questioning it. The idea of setting a haunting in a family vacation was a smart one, especially with Anna being the black sheep. The sheer amount of mental gymnastics that this family participated in was wild, but somehow it seemed completely believable. All in all with some horrifying imagery, terrifying moments, enough family dysfunction to fuel a sitcom, and a snarky heroine Diavola was as refreshing as gelato on a hot summer day. I don't think it quite reached a level of becoming a favorite of mine for the year but I certainly won't hesitate to recommend it to shoppers looking for a good horror novel and wouldn't mind hand selling it either. Thorne has proven that she can break out the big guns, and I'll be curious to see what she comes up with next. Tor Nightfire has certainly been hitting it out of the park with the majority of their titles and I hope it continues!

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
The number of times I sent this emoji to my buddies during reading power hour.

Diavola might be the most unsettling book that I’ve ever read. I don’t read too much from the horror genre, but I dabble. And I do watch horror films. So I don’t think it’s just me being a baby. 😂

When I saw this book cover, I had to read it!

This one plays out as a slow burn with plenty of eerie details sprinkled throughout the early chapters. I felt like I was in an A24 horror film. With cinematic prose and a truly ominous setting, I was ensorcelled by this book. If I wasn’t so scared, I probably would have read this all in one night. For my own well-being, I had to take breaks reading at night — especially after my daughter, Mabel decided to randomly say “oh hi monster” to the dark shadowy corner of my bedroom. 😱😅

I loved the shift in the story about halfway through the book, and I did not see that ending coming.

I highly recommend for horror fans and readers looking for an unsettling read.
My rating: 5⭐️

Thank you @NetGalley and @TorNightfire for the e-arc! Opinions are my own.

What a rollercoaster of a book! Diavola takes you on a family vacation, with the family you don’t like. It is dark humor combined with horror aspects made it such a unique, fun read. With so much foreboding as we are waiting to see what is going to happen on this hellish family vacation. The dysfunctional family was relatable and comical. The main character was one of my favorites in awhile. The way she handled the criticism from her judgmental family and coworkers with snark and sarcasm was perfect. And the ending was something I did not see coming, but really liked how it played out.

As the black sheep of the family, Anna Pace anticipated the tensions of their yearly family vacation. But their trip to Tuscany turned out to be much more challenging when external forces came into play.

This book was quite slow to begin with, but thankfully it gained momentum in its latter half. I enjoyed the ambiance and the various characters, even as flawed as they were. I definitely felt for Anna and rooted for her. The storyline was interesting, and I liked how it ended.

Diavola is the story of survival and resilience. It would appeal to readers who enjoy haunted house stories intertwined with toxic family dynamics.

Holy fecking hell! This is one of the best books of 2024-- it's only March, but I'm calling it now!

Part vacation nightmare and part folk-horror/family drama, Diavola hits all the sore spots you'd expect from a family vacation, but really truly goes into the depths of gritty despair.

It's dramatic right from the get-go and the sibling rivalry was so uncomfortably familiar to me that I felt myself cringing in recognition.

Anna has always been the "fuck-up" in her family; her parents still goad her about her ex boyfriend and how lovely he was while her sister is happily married with two sweet kids. Benny her twin brother is bringing his new partner to meet the family on this Italian vacation. Anna is used to biting her tongue around her family and being blamed for things, but when their Italian villa starts to come alive at night Anna decides to get to bottom of it and confront the ghostly inhabitants.

I wasn't prepared for just how creepy Diavola got-- I'm a seasoned horror reader and I had to stop reading this at night because it was spooking me! The story takes a sharp turn almost into the absurd towards the end, but then where so many other books would fail it manages to wrap things up with a tiny seed of doubt about the whole affair still remaining for the reader.

I'm obsessed with this book! I loved the author's other folk horror book Lute and loved Diavola even more. Moving Jennifer Thorne onto my "auto-buy" list!

I really enjoyed this book and Jennifer's writing, this being my first by this author I am glad to have her on my radar and I have to check out some of her other books soon.

I thought this was a unique and intresting take on a haunted house. The pace was great, and I loved the ending. I wish the backstory of the villa was explored more though, it was fascinating and creepy and I just wanted more of it. I was not expecting as much wit, sarcasm, and dry humour but it was a fun addition to the story all the while also being angered by this completely unhinged and pretty toxic family dynamics and STILL maintaining the spooky atmosphere.

And how great is the cover? I'm obsessed with it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire for sharing a digital copy. As always, opinions are my own.

Read this if you enjoy: horror, thrillers, vacation from hell, dysfunctional families, haunted houses, gothic, supernatural, drama, sibling rivalry.

𝟮.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗣
I most definitely had some high expectations going into this one because of the stunning cover and the intriguing premise, but I am sad to say that it let me down in more ways than one.

The whole first half of this book was an absolute slog to get through, but things did pick up in the second half. It had its eerie moments, but never once was I dying to know what would happen next. The painting aspect was my favorite part, hands down. However, I wasn’t fully sold on the “explanation” for the happenings.

This book was not BAD by any means, it just wasn’t nearly as creepy as I was expecting. The constant bickering between the family members was pretty annoying. I kept thinking that maybe the finale of the book would make me change my mind and forgive the aspects of the book that didn’t quite hit for me, but it sadly didn’t. Then again, maybe my high expectations set me up for a bigger disappointment overall.

Diavola is spine-chilling and delivers on all fronts for horror fans. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time as I read this story that blends a classic haunted house tale with a sharp exploration of family dynamics.

From the eerie atmosphere to the palpable sense of dread, this will grip you from the start and have you thinking far after you’ve finished. This is a must-read for lovers of ghost stories and anyone who loves the deliciously unsettling feeling of someone lurking just behind them.

I started reading this book one night, alone in my apartment, and quickly decided I could not do that to myself!! I ended up reading little by little during the day, or out on a reading date with friends, because otherwise DIAVOLA was just a little too unsettling for me. Jennifer Thorne has a fantastic sense of horror, and captures the discomfort of family vacations and hauntings.
There's a turn in the end where the horror is a little less gothic and a little more traditional haunting/curse—I'll admit that even though it scared me less (meaning I could read more at a time), it didn't capture my imagination as much.
This was a stunning read, though, and I can already think of a few horror fans I'll be recommending it to.

A haunted Italian villa and a toxic family vacation? 🍋👻 count me in.

What a refreshing horror read. Elements of Diavola truly spooked me and left me deeply unsettled, while other times I was a fit of giggles. The family drama is served steaming on a hot plate, and my gosh, I am not sure how our FMC Anna held it together. As someone who also dreads family gatherings, I wanted to give Anna a big hug and tell her to run away. If you’re the black sheep of the family, this one is for you.

This is by far the best horror novel I’ve sank my teeth into in quite some time. Jennifer Thorne is an author to watch. There is such a novelty in her writing that you have to consume to understand.

Thank you Tor Nightfire & NetGalley for the ARC!

One word: Obsessed. This was nearly impossible for me to put down. Okay, the premise: We follow Anna Pace as she links up with her entiiire family for a two-week vacation in Italy. Firstly, Anna is amazing. I loved her as a character. She is constantly the scapegoat or the black sheep of the family, that becomes clear early on with the way her family members treat her and what comes to light throughout the novel. The family vacation attendees include Anna's immediate family (her parents, older sister, and twin brother) as well as her older sister's family (husband and two daughters) and her brother's current boyfriend, Christopher--not Chris. Yeah, ew. They are staying in this beautiful villa, Villa Taccola that has been built onto so it has an older part and newer extension with a modern look. The older part includes a tall tower that they are–of course–told not to go into and–of course–they do eventually break that rule. After which, hell ensues. I don't want to give much more away as I think Thorne brings a novelty to the haunted house trope in this story. The scares are slow and feel real. I think this is in part due to Anna, who is such a compelling and authentic character who you're really drawn to and empathize with a lot. My jaw literally dropped a couple of times throughout the story, so it definitely keeps you guessing.

Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Nightfire for the advanced copy -- I absolutely devoured it!

The nitty-gritty: Diavola has it all: a creepy, haunted villa, an uncomfortable, dysfunctional family gathering, an ominous Italian setting, and even some jump scares. Come for the well executed folk horror ambiance, stay for the unforgettable characters.

Diavola is a stunning piece of folk horror fiction, and I’m blown away by how much I loved this book. I enjoyed Jennifer Thorne’s last book, Lute, but Diavola is much better in every possible way, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Thorne’s bizarre mix of toxic family dynamics, a haunted villa, black humor, and colorful characters results in a dark, scary, funny story with a perfect ending.

Welcome to the medieval village of Monteperso in Tuscany, where a six hundred year old house called the Villa Taccola sits on a hilltop. This is where the Pace family has decided to gather for an extravagant family vacation, funded in full by mom and dad Pace. Anna arrives from New York, grateful for the break from her advertising agency job, but reluctant to face her toxic family members. Her twin brother Benny has brought his new boyfriend Christopher along, who has been told that Anna is a “train wreck” and has already decided he doesn’t like her. Anna’s sister Nicole, her husband and two young daughters round out the group, and even though Nicole has a bitter resentment towards her sister (for all sorts of reasons), Waverly and Mia love their Aunt Anna and can’t wait to see her.

As the Pace family members settle into the villa and brace themselves for Nicole’s minute-by-minute itinerary, strange things begin to happen. Anna keeps hearing a voice behind her, but no one is there. Doors slam shut by themselves, and swarms of flies invade the house. At the top of the villa is a tower room, but the door to the tower is locked. Why, then, does Anna see a figure standing at the tower window? Even stranger, the next time she looks, the window is gone. Anna is also having weird dreams about a woman with bright yellow hair.

Is the villa haunted? If so, why is Anna the only one seeing and hearing things? Or is the rest of the family simply refusing to acknowledge the ghost, convinced that Anna’s being her usual dramatic self? As the incidents escalate, Anna finds herself caught between a vengeful spirit of the past and her horrible family in the present. And she’s not sure which is worse.

Diavola is one of those rare books where all the elements are perfectly balanced, with pitch perfect writing and pacing, great characters (who you’ll love to hate!) and a truly spooky, atmospheric setting that will have you jumping at shadows. Let’s start with the haunting, which was so scary and made me regret my decision to read at night. All the elements of folk horror are present: the secluded village full of odd, superstitious folk (none of whom speak English, by the way); the crumbling Villa Taccola with it’s secret doors, drafty rooms and insect-infested grounds; there’s even a goat tied up outside, perhaps as a sacrifice? Each sentence is dripping with quiet, unsettling horror, and Thorne masterfully infuses her story with seemingly insignificant details that make the reader uncomfortable. For example, insects are everywhere in this story. Mosquitos swarm the characters when they’re by the pool, leaving everyone with nasty bites. Anna wanders barefoot through an ant’s nest and is attacked. Later, when the ghost becomes particularly enraged, flies and maggots inexplicably invade the house. I’m not a big bug person, so these scenes were particularly upsetting for me.

The tower is the focal point of a lot of the horror, and I loved the old fashioned skeleton key that opens the door—although everyone is warned never to open it! The key is very important later in the story and becomes almost a character itself. I also loved the scenes by the villa’s pool, where, despite the blazing sun, some bad things happen. Anna’s shower scenes were pretty frightening as well, and I had a few days there where I was terrified to take a shower myself.

Just as uncomfortable is the way everyone treats Anna. I loved the way Thorne made the family dynamics such a big part of her story, and at times the interactions among them are even more entertaining than the haunted villa. I was shocked at how horrible everyone is to Anna, a successful but misunderstood woman who can’t seem to do anything right in their eyes. Sure, she’s a bit of a flirt and may have acted inappropriately with Nicole’s husband at one time, not that Nicole will ever let her forget it. And yes, during their last vacation she ditched the rest of the family when she met a cute bartender. Anna is convinced that they only invited her on the trip because she speaks Italian and can interpret for them, and that’s exactly what happens. I’ve read a lot of books with messed up families, but never one quite as messed up as the Paces.

Anna is an artist and spends a lot of time sketching the beautiful Italian landscape. She also knows a lot about Italian art history, and the author includes lots of scenes in museums and old churches where Anna is admiring the art. And Thorne doesn’t just include these scenes to add ambiance. A particular piece of art becomes central to the ghost story later on, and I thought those details made the story even better.

There is a weird shift about three quarters of the way in, where it seems like the story is going to end but then it doesn’t. And while this “surprise” type of shift doesn’t always work for me, this time it did. The ghostly antics increase at this point, and the story almost enters “bat shit crazy” territory. Luckily Jennifer Thorne is a talented writer and had complete control the entire time. The last chapter gives a nice sense of closure, and it’s one of my favorite endings of anything I’ve read in recent memory.

Bottom line, Diavola is a must read for horror fans, and it’s one of my favorite books of the year so far.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

“Tread lightly. Survive.”

The time has come again for another dreaded Pace family reunion. Anna can feel the weight of her family’s weariness and judgment as soon as she enters their private Italian villa. But Anna has vowed to keep the peace during this trip, to stay amicable and pleasant, no matter what happens. And it almost seems it could be easy, as Anna finds herself surrounded by beautiful architecture, rich culture and a historic Italian home to reside in. But this festive family vacation doesn’t turn out to be another test of her normalcy, as strange occurrences begin to litter their days. Pockets of cold, nightly moaning and dreams, doors closing, food rotting, and a strange tower that is blocked off from all guests. As her family’s intricate dynamics poke and prod at her sanity, visions of floating bodies and bloodied patrons of the past begin to sharpen her senses. There is evil in this house, but where does it come from?

“…there was something idiosyncratic about Villa Taccola. The whole house suggested pentimenti, original brushstrokes covered over by something else. The same object in a different style. Past mistakes hidden by fresh paint.

What mistakes had been made here?”

Our MC is Anna, an artist who works at a marketing firm who utilizes her drawings for advertisements. Anna thinks in lines, sketches, brush strokes and lighting. It is clear very early on that she has an eye for artistic expression and sees the finer details that others may quickly overlook. But when we meet Anna, there is a thick fog of mystery around her. She is clearly hesitant about being with her family again, and it immediately made me wonder if I had a Saltburn collection of rich weirdos on my hands.

Unfortunately, not.

As soon as Anna arrives at the villa, there is a sense of foreboding and mystery. But the million dollar question is: is it the house or just her passive-aggressive family?

OoOoOo the suspense!

It’s quickly clear that Anna’s family are a bunch of judgey, rude, self-centered and rigid assholes.

To put it nicely.

“…there were only so many times Anna could stand like a seawall and let the waves hit her again and again, unmoving.”

Everyone seems to have a grudge or hesitancy around Anna that she, quite impressively, lets slide off her. This is a constant theme with her family, the polarizing effect she seems to have on them, but our Anna behaves rather maturely and unbothered by their antics – which I found really admirable. Had it been me, I would be telling everyone to go f**k themselves.

“I’m not a lost lamb. I’m a black sheep.”

So as our story progresses during this family trip, there’s a sense that something isn’t quite right with Anna, according to her siblings and parents. There are stories from the past that are alluded to, indifference and indignation from her parents, and downright hostility from her siblings more times than not. But while we stumble into oblivion and let our imaginations run wild (me kindly hoping she splatters the walls with her kin) the real mystery here is Villa Taccola.

“The smell hit Anna first. Stale. Dust of ages, a pharaoh’s tomb. Then she felt the weight.

The air in here was active. It had intent.”

A beautiful old farmhouse, the villa is an Italian vacation dream. Though there is a tower that is locked and a black antique key the caretaker said NOT to use to open it (suspicious), odd sounds at night, dozens of stray cats, frightening and vivid dreams of the past, and hallucinations of dead bodies in the pool. But Anna seems to be the only person really experiencing the spooky effects of the house, or seeing apparitions and mangled bodies.

But as the vacation goes on, time begins to skip unnaturally and the tension between Anna and her family becomes taut. Until everything eventually explodes.

Now without giving anything away, I will continue in vague descriptions.

By the end of the book, I still hate Anna’s family and wish a lot worse had been done to them. Anna’s progression as a character starts out with her keeping a leash on herself, and by the end of the book our girl is letting it ALL. HANG. OUT. And I love her for every flawed, chaotic, crazed, and sassy moment of it. Because there were moments in this book where I was DYING laughing out loud. Because she does not care one iota.

“Could you back the fuck off for two seconds? I am monologuing!”

I found the story to be a little slow at first in terms of the plot, but the family dynamics were what propelled it forward until we really got into the thick of the mystery. I liked the switch back to Anna’s normal life and how her character unravels, especially with the hotdog scene that catapults everything into motion.

Truly, a work of art.

I think this book was great, a truly lovely paranormal horror that had humor, character progression, death, twists and turns, and an ending that rounded the story out well. I think Jennifer Marie Thorne will be an author I keep my eyes on in the future, especially if she continues writing in this genre.