Edgy, gritty and sophisticated, April Genevieve Tucholke's debut novel simply blew me away. Not everyone will find it to their taste, but those who appreciate stories with ghastly Gothic atmosphere, gorgeous Southern settings, long buried secrets and truly unique characters will definitely love it. 
 Once I started Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, I didn't put it down until I was finished, and I cherished every reading minute of it. I haven't read anything quite like it in a very long time. Tucholke did a marvellous job depicting the hot Southern atmosphere. This book is dark and irresistible, and has a great classic/vintage-y feel to it. Fans of Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls or Kenneth Oppel's The Apprenticeship Of Victor Frankenstein will be delighted to discover this one! 
 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea succeeds on so many different levels. From the extremely well-developed and colorful characters, powerful imagery and evocative symbolism, to the thick and dark atmosphere that wraps itself around you like a late night fog - it's a work of genius. It's hands down my favorite read this month, and definitely one of the most extraordinary and memorable YA books I have ever read. 
 The beauty of this book lies in the riveting, seductive narrative-voice. Violet's voice is sharp and compelling. Reflective and completely addicting. It makes you lose yourself in the story. It's not too descriptive, though it definitely feeds your imagination with lush details and spot-on observations. You can't exactly call it lyrical, as it's rather simple and straight-forward, but it definitely FEELS lyrical, in that it's hypnotizing and mesmerizing. 
 Undeniably, this is a book that requires "the willing suspension of disbelief", in that it's vaguely supernatural and has some truly terrifying unnatural characters. at the same time, while dark and unsettling, it's still quite realistically spooky. The missing children, the local legend of the old crazy man who hides in the dark underground tunnel, waiting for his next victim to come close enough to drag them deep into the dark, the mystery surrounding River and his family, all the unsettling and bizarre things that start happening after he shows up.. it's all truly scary and fascinating. All throughout, this book is intense and exciting, but the fabulous crescendo ending is undeniably the best part of it - it leaves you breathless. There's no preparing for it. I totally did not see it coming. The ending is shocking and completely unpredictable. I am counting days, hours and minutes to the release of the next book in this phenomenal series!