Diavola

February 15, 2024
Anna Pace does not fit in her family. She doesn't live up to her parents' expectations, her sister is jealous of her beauty and freedom, and her twin brother is fed up with her inability to comply. But every year, she goes on the family vacation even though she knows it will be a week of discomfort, complicated emotions, and discussions of the even more complicated history they have with one other. Anna is prepared for all of this when she gets to the picturesque villa her parents have booked in the Florentine countryside. But she does not understand the full extent of what is waiting for her, starting with seeing a woman in a tower window--though the tower has no windows and no one has access to it. Anna, her nieces, and her brother all hear things and have nightmares. The whole family agrees the house feels wrong but are so set on following family tradition that they can't leave. The entangled relationships hinder their chances of survival, raising the question of which is scarier: your family or things that go bump in the night? Thorne's terrifying, perfectly paced latest (after Lute, 2022) is a must-read for anyone who likes haunted house stories.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 1, 2024

Anna is going on a family vacation in Italy and dreading having to navigate the dynamics that will come with it. Her twin brother is bringing his cringey new boyfriend, her sister will inevitably tell her all she's doing wrong, and her mother will question why Anna broke up with her boyfriend, all while her father disassociates. Thank goodness for her nieces--and the homicidal ghost that lives in their Airbnb. Thorne's (Lute) novel takes the typical fare of dysfunctional family fiction to another level. Anna's family not only brushes familial strife under the rug but does the same when they are all being openly attacked by the entity that is staying with them in Italy. Often it feels as if Anna might be safe in the light of day, only to be surprised by a hostile family member or something unnerving happening at the villa; readers never know when, or where, the next scare will come. VERDICT Full of emotions, humorous moments, spinetingling scenes, and lots of tension, Thorne's newest is a modern horror story that will grab readers and not let go.--Tegan Beese

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2024
Family drama, unspoken resentments, and something far more sinister simmer—but never reach a boiling point—in this lackluster ghost story from Thorne (Lute). Black sheep Anna Pace travels to Italy for a family vacation with her parents and adult siblings prepared to deflect and endure their judgments. As an unmarried, unambitious artist in her 30s, there’s no shortage of criticisms for the other Paces to throw her way. Anna weathers her sister’s need for control and her mother’s nagging comments, but as signs of a haunting appear around the villa they’re renting, the vacation devolves into one disaster after another. To make matters worse, when the Pace family looks into the history of the villa, they open some doors better left closed. Thorne paints in broad gothic strokes, incorporating all the major elements of the genre, from the spooky architecture to the blood and romance, but leaving things disappointingly underdeveloped. Anna’s snarky voice initially balances the darker elements but becomes grating as the story goes on. Eventually, her characterization descends into cliché: she’s smart enough to make everyone around her jealous, and though she’s supposedly unattractive, many of the male (and female) side characters lust after her. Seasoned genre fans will be disappointed. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jane Grinberg Literary.