Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a refreshing read. This truly offers something unique in the world of YA / Fantasy. Clipstone is great at creating a captivating atmosphere and set of characters. Tenderly, I Am Devoured also felt intellectual without being self-important, something that is sometimes hard to come by.

After being expelled from a prestigious art school in the city, Lacrimosa (Lark) Arriscane arrives home to her remote village only to find her family threatened by a dying salt mine and looming debts. In order to save her home, Lark agrees to marry the village’s swan god Therion and spend half the year in the underworld with him. It’s difficult to summarize this book without spoilers, but along the way, Lark becomes entangled with the wealthy kids in the village, siblings Alastair and Camille, who have secrets of their own.

This book is dripping with mood. The descriptions of the salt mines, cliffs, woods, the Felimath and Arriscane homes were so ethereal and gothic. I got swept up in the vivid imagery, the dreamy/surreal feeling of the story, and the plot that kept me hooked. I loved how brave and compassionate Lark is, how earnestly she loves, and how she and so many other characters survive despite betrayal and hurt.

One of the most beautiful parts of this book is how free from societal expectations the love stories are. It’s lovely and refreshing to see queer people have romantic and emotional arcs that are not about their journey to self-acceptance. I really liked the dynamic between Lark, Alastair, and Camille, and all the different kinds of love explored between the trio (sibling love, romantic love, friend love).

I also absolutely cannot get the image of Lark’s feathered wrist out of my head.

It is my first Lyndall Clipstone read but it won’t be my last.

This book truly matches the aesthetic it's aiming for. I was completely pulled into this work and I loved all the relationships. My only wish is that we had more relationship-building with their god, and the former-friend storyline (omg why am I blanking on her name) I think ended without much closure. But honestly still would reread and reread again!

Marry your family’s god to save your home? Instantly intrigued.

Tenderly, I Am Devoured opens with Lark at her lowest point. We don’t know what she did, only that it was bad enough to be expelled and sent home in disgrace. And now she has a chance to do something useful.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up (other than that Lyndall Clipstone wrote it, so I was going to read it). If you’re looking for a story where Lark adjusts to life in the underworld, this isn’t that. Her story is about friendship, betrayal, love, and even more betrayal.

It’s beautiful and haunting and I am going to fight everyone who ever hurt Lark, Camille, and Alastair (they know who they are and what they did).

I am so grateful to Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

If you like atmospheric books with hauntingly gothic vibes, queer poly rep, and kissing gods, this should be on your radar!

Thank you to Lyndall Clipstone, Macmillan & Netgalley for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was very thrilled to be approved for this arc considering how much I am a fan of Clipstone's previous work, "Unholy Terrors". The flowery purple prose of Clipstone's writing is exactly my kind of writing. That being said, I was not as in love with this story as I had hoped I would have been. I love when authors use water as a key element in their story. I just felt like something about this novel was lacking for me...and I was comparing it to a favorite book of mine that also involves water and academia...

Also I was under the impression it was going to have "Saltburn" elements. It felt extremely tame to make that connection. The horror elements were hard to be found as well.

I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed and quite frankly a bit weirded out by the end of the novel. I am by no means against love triangles but the sibling aspect of it gave me a bit of the ick...especially considering I did not believe the relationship with Camille & Lark, as much as I did with Alastair. I felt the relationship blooming between Lark and her school friend more convincing than Camille & Lark. I just felt the story lacked the connection that would make them more believable. (Also Alastar & Camille could have just not been siblings?) Also Lark makes some choices I cannot fully get behind, like making out with Camille, while Alastair is being punished...a bit weird if she's supposed to love him...

I don't want to make this an overall negative review but I really was hoping for *more* especially considering how much I adored "Unholy Terrors." That being said, what didn't work for me might work for you so please give this book a try.

Great book for anyone interested in reading gothic romantasy with some folklore themes. This was such an interesting book. I wasn't really sure what to expect at first, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was well written and the characters were very interesting.

Follows the main character, Lacrimosa, as she returns home after being expelled from school. She finds out her brothers are struggling financially, so in a desire to help, she ends up offering herself to the god they worship. You start to see bits and pieces of her past and present life with Alastair and Camille, which are her childhood estranged friends. They all become entangled with the god and now they need to work together to save themselves. During this, their love and desire for each other starts to grow.

Pros: I enjoyed the plot and the characters. The gothic ambiance was really cool. I enjoyed how the author described the world. I really liked both Camille and Alastair. I feel like their relationship with Lark was well built. Overall, this book did live up to the gothic romantasy hype.

CONS MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS
Cons: I am not 100% how I feel about Lark's relationship with the siblings (Alastair and Camille). I can see her loving both, it just seemed a little odd she ends up with both of them since they're siblings? It was just a little weird for me. I also would've loved to see more from Tharion. At the end, he basically says he loves her and I just wish that would've been fleshed out more. I feel like they barely knew each other. I personally would've liked to yearn more for Tharion.

This book grabbed me from the first sentence, and I knew I was going to love the story. What an amazing reading experience this was!

To save her family from ruin, Lark is betrothed to the god of sea & salt, Therion. But when disaster strikes on her wedding night, she has to trust her once friend, now enemy Alastair and his beautiful sister Camille to help her make amends with Therion. As they all seek a way to break her pact with the god, they find themselves drawn to each other. But can a promise to a god be broken?

Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a dreamlike, sensual gothic fantasy that explores growing up, relationships (both toxic & healing), and identity/ self. While this is definitely fantasy, the story reminded me as well of the Greek myths; there are elements of some of our oldest stories in these pages. The prose in this book is beautiful, dreamlike, and atmospheric, which matches the story perfectly. Like the ocean where the book is set, this story is beautiful, but also powerful and dangerous.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy gothic fantasy like A Study in Drowning, or House of Salt & Sorrows.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I am so grateful I was able to receive an arc on this absolute gorgeous book. If you want a haunting and beautiful read please do not skip this!!

Ooh this story was everything I needed for a dark stormy night. The characters were perfect and the story was written so well.

This book wasn't meant for me. I really liked all the elements of this book but felt like everything just fell very flat. 2 stars.

This book had everything I love. Eldritch gods, physical transformation, an immersive setting, and a hint of dark academia. The writing was absolutely beautiful, purple prose that felt perfectly fitted for this world without being exaggerated or overstated. I would recommend this book for people who are fans of Ava Reid, particularly their novel A Study in Drowning.
Where this book fell short for me was the romantic love triangle between our main character, Lark, and the siblings, Alastair and Camille. While I appreciate the sapphic representation, the relationship between Lark and Camille felt much more physical and lacked the emotional backstory that was present with Alastair. I also cannot get past the fact that the siblings never addressed that they were both in love (and being physical with) the same person! When I was 18, if my sibling was in a relationship with the same person as me, there would be hell to pay. I understand that this may not be the case for all siblings, but that's why it should've been addressed more. Because of this, I felt the romantic subplot never got any closure.
Despite this, I did LOVE this book and will be purchasing a physical copy when it is released!

What a weird book for the YA audience. I'm kind of baffled that this is meant for the age range that it is. The first piece of media that Goodreads description likened this book to was Saltburn which I don't think I need to explain is far from the intended age range of this book (14 to 18).

There's an absolutely bizarre moment early on between the protagonist and a character that there was never attraction communicated to the reader before the scene so it's just out of nowhere and vaguely uncomfortable given the context.

I think it gets the atmosphere right, I like the idea of the setting a lot but I think that this should've been intended for older readers like the new adult age group. As it stands if feels limited by the designated age group and half formed.

When a world has an interesting structure like this one, there should be some time into providing that exposition to the reader. There is no primer to it all and it shows.

I like segments of the writing but it loses itself in pushing this dynamic that has no merit to the actual plot. Everything that sells this book in its description is hardly in the book which is disappointing and frustrating.

2.5 stars
I sat on this for a bit and I just didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. This had all the makings of a book I would love. The world and prose is reminiscent of Ava Reid, Allison Saft, and Kelly Andrew. There are light fantasy aspects mixed with horror elements in a unique atmospheric world. Which is why I wanted to love this so much. The main problem with this book is how bored I was. This switches back and forth between flashbacks and current timelines, which didn’t feel necessary and the flashbacks were even explained in real time at some parts which felt repetitive. I almost feel like there wasn’t enough plot and the flashbacks were page fillers. The romance was ok but entirely too fast burn. One of the relationships is a second chance romance, which isn’t always my favorite trope and I didn’t feel connected to them enough to care once they got back together. The two siblings end up in a poly relationship with the main character which made me feel a little weird considering you could’ve just made them not siblings? I know the relationships are separate but I still got the ick every time they were romantic or affectionate in the same vicinity. This is a characters and vibes focused book but we didn’t get enough meaningful interactions with any of the characters for me to feel any way about them. I almost gaslit myself into thinking I liked this more than I did because I still feel like the potential is there. After writing this review and having a hard time finding things I actually liked, I realized this book just wasn’t for me. I might change my rating in the future if I think about it more.

To read Tenderly, I Am Devoured was to enter a dream—a gloomy, ominous, and evocative dream. I was drawn into the eerie world of Lacrimosa Arriscane from the very first page. I immediately identified with Lark's sense of desperation because her path is rife with gothic tension and familial strife. It's difficult to get expelled from school and come home to a family that is on the verge of financial collapse. The pressure Lark was under to not just save her family but also to deal with her own conflicted feelings and her past transgressions was what really captured my attention.

One of the more emotional aspects of the book was the betrothal to the chthonic god Therion. I couldn't get enough of the plot's magical and perilous element, which was the thought of marrying a genuine god, especially one that is so feared and revered. However, I really liked how the plot changed when things went wrong, focusing less on the marriage and more on Lark's personal journey. Her exploration into Therion folklore and the revelation of sinister truths was incredibly captivating. Given their respective complicated pasts and motivations, the interplay between her, Alastair, and Camille was particularly intriguing.

Like the plot itself, the romance in this book is unquestionably dark and alluring. It was particularly interesting to learn about Lark's relationship with Alastair, her past heartbreak. I was captivated by their conversations because they had a slow-burning quality. However, the story's exploration of power and control in relationships and the enchantment around Lark truly caught my attention. I was unable to turn the pages quickly enough because of the powerful, almost mesmerizing sense of the bacchanalia ritual they execute in an attempt to mend the relationship with Therion.

Tenderly, I Am Devoured will captivate you, as it captivated me, if you enjoy dark romances, gothic settings, and morally complicated people. It is the type of tale that lingers in your mind long after you have finished reading it, its sinister strands entangling themselves in your thoughts.

This book is not 5 stars. This book deserves way more than just 5 stars! I give it 1o stars! I had the time of my life reading it! Lyndall Clipstone is an fantastic author!

The cover is so beautiful, that it automatically caught my attention! I had the pleasure of reading about this gloomy magical world 🤍After this read, I think I need to move to Verse! The description of this world was perfect, I felt the sandy beach, and the salty breeze. The gothic horror this book gave was amazing!

4.25 stars! What a gorgeous gothic fantasy about the human experience. The main character endures so much loss, betrayal, and turmoil that it feels like I went through it with her. The love Lark gives and receives is boundless and full of passion. The writing is haunting and seductive; I found myself wanting to annotate because I had visceral reactions to so many of the beautifully written passages.

This book was so underwhelming, yet it still left me feeling a bit weirded out by the end. Not in a good way, either.

I will start with the positives, though. The prose and atmosphere of this novel is amazing. Clipstone really sets the mood of a mysterious little seaside town with the vast and vivid descriptions and pieces of lore sprinkled in. It made the world feel truly alive; it was one of the best aspects of the book in my eyes.

Unfortunately, everything else wasn't as good.

I did not feel anything for the characters (Except slight disgust, but we'll get to that). Lark is sympathetic in a vacuum, but I never found her a strong lead due to her otherwise stale personality. The side cast was even more so, particularly the sibling love interests. Camille literally has nothing interesting about her. The only two traits of hers I can identify is that she cares for her brother and Lark, and that she's bad at math. She felt so empty and hollow as a character; I feel like very little would change if she was taken out of the story. Alastair had more going for him, but only because of what laid at the heart of of his and Lark's heartbreak. Anyone who reads the book could probably vouch that they saw the twist from 10 miles away, and the fact Lark didn't even try to even guess at it shows how little character she possesses. Everyone else was just there, but some had some intrigue. Lark's brothers, and another guy Hugo, who has a lot of plot relevance, but both are just squandered. There's also an entire cult called the Salt Priests who are the background villains, but not once do they actually show up in person. We're only told about their evilness second-handedly, which really sucks.

As for the romance - I'll just be plain: Lark ends up with both siblings. Said siblings aren't together romantically, but they still agreed to "share" Lark. It's not exactly incest, which normally is a major theme/device in gothic literature, but I just - can't comprehend a relationship like that. Besides, I feel like the whole triangle could be thrown out entirely. Like I said, Camille could have been erased from the plot. I feel like Clipstone made it a love trio between two siblings only to for the story to pull more gothic themes from the roots. I dunno, maybe if there was more actual chemistry and character from these people I would be more forgiving, but as it is, I just can't.

All in all, I'd only recommend this to people who just want good vibes from atmospheric worldbuilding but don't really care much about plot or characters. As someone who strongly desires the latter from my books, it just wasn't for me.

The lyrical prose kept me enchanted and captivated from beginning to end. Lyndall continues to expertly craft unique storylines that are timeless.

“The worst hurt doesn’t always come with open violence. Instead, there is tenderness before you’re devoured.”

Lark must marry the god of salt and sea and wood in order to restore her family’s salt mines to pay off their debts, but something goes wrong, and now it’s up to her and her former childhood best friends to uncover the truth Lark didn’t even know she needed.

“And neither of us mention that the true danger isn’t out there, in the dark. It’s within me.”

*slow claps* Gothic, lush, enthralling, the very definition of atmospheric, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is an absolute must-read.

The author’s eloquent writing evoked deep feelings in me. I’m talking gasping out loud, near to tears, wanting to clutch my heart, throwing hands in the air…all on a treadmill at the gym. I could not stop reading this book! It is entirely magnetic!

“I’m drawn to Camille. I’m drawn to Alastair. I care for them both in equal measure. We were always a trio, and it feels impossible to divide that, to choose one part and set aside the other.”

I adored all the queer representation. The romance was so tender (pun not intended, but definitely fits)! I just wanted to wrap my golden trio in a bubble. And oh my gosh, I did not expect to get so attached to the god in this story, but my heart went out to him!

The setting was just…astounding. I want to book a train ticket to Verse, please, so I can live in a cottage by the sea and frolic around with Lark, Camille, and Alastair.

- childhood heartbreak to lovers
- saltburn vibes
- gothic fantasy
- dark academia meets cottage core
- polyamorous (mff)
- haunted legacies
- upper ya standalone with some steeeeam

This gothic tale follows Lark who recently was kicked out of school (for reasons that become clear later in the book) and returns home only to find that her brothers are about to lose her family property. To save their home, Lark agrees to an arranged marriage with a god and when things go awry must work with the boy down the road Alastair and his sister Camilla.

This is my second Clipstone novel and I've found that her worlds are so lushly described with tension developing in a way that is so wonderfully satisfying. However, I did feel that Camille's motivations were less clear than Alastair's which made rooting for her a bit difficult. But overall, not a ton to complain about. The third act goes fairly apeshit but not as apeshit as other books.

Mild spoiler: Lark gets with both Alistair and Camilla, (as well as a God but no one seems upset about that). I don't see this as a problem as the description on GR basically tells you this is going to happen and the comparisons also make that clear. If that's not for you then I probably wouldn't read this book.

Also, I just have to make a comment on the cover because holy shit is it beautiful.