Audiobook Review: ‘The Devil Makes Three’

It is officially spooky season and that means spooky and dark academia book time! I read this as part of the Illumicrate readalong but it was so good, I easily read ahead – whoops! Sorry not sorry. I really enjoyed this book and if you’re looking for something creepy for the autumn season, add The Devil Makes Three to your TBR right now!

Title: The Devil Makes Three
Author: Tori Bovalino
Series: Standalone
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Mystery

Goodreads Summary

The title ‘The Devil Makes Three’ already tips you off this is going to be a horror story and it doesn’t lie. It’s creepy as heck and I recommend reading at night for maximum horror effect – don’t worry, its not TOO much horror, it is still young adult after all!

Tess is your average girl just trying to survive private high school, working 2 jobs (one in a library!), and being a cello protégée. She gave up going to a music conservatory to go to this school in Pittsburgh, PA instead with her younger sister Natalie – her sister wouldn’t have been accepted without Tess too, and Tess gave up her dreams to help her sister have a better future. I love the relationship of the sisters – its only briefly explored, but its clear everything Tess does is to make sure her sister is taken care of and has the best possible education.

Eliot is your average boy, forced go to to private high school his father is headmaster of, forcing to leave his sick mother in England, and oh yeah, he has magic. I enjoyed how seamlessly the magic aspect was incorporated into this story and it felt natural. There is no wands or caps or pointy hats, but there are pentagrams and sacrifices that need to be made. The use of magic isn’t gone into too deeply but I wish there was more of it, I was interested in Eliot’s magic!

This book gives me college vibes rather than high school and I love that it feels on the older end of “young adult” so to speak.

When Eliot needs a forbidden magical book in the library only Tess can access (she doesn’t believe in magic), he gets her help and together they journey to the basement, only to find something they didn’t expect…and accidentally release the devil.

I love the way the devil is seamlessly incorporated into this book and the world and its such spooky vibes. Tess has to suspend her belief of the supernatural and admit something isn’t right.

This story truly won me over and it was such a fast paced read, it was hard to stop at any point in the story. I love the tenuous friendship that forms between Eliot and Tess – he’s a rich boy and she doesn’t want to get close to him when she hates his father, but Eliot just wants to be friends with Tess. Once again it felt natural and the interactions between them never felt forced.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m glad I picked it up this spooky season!

There are two narrators, one for Tess and one for Eliot, and I enjoyed both of them! I thought they did a great job with the story. I think this is a great audiobook and I do recommend it – it gave me horror factors I couldn’t have anticipated from the text alone. I don’t want to spoil too much, but this is an audiobook I would very much recommend.

My Rating:

It’s spooky season and this is a spooky book – you want this one on your TBR! If you’re looking for horror (but not too much horror) then this is your book! Its creepy but none of the serial killer going at you with a knife type of horror. More of the devil is released from an old book in the basement of an old library type.

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