Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke (review)

After her bohemian artist parents skip town for Europe, seventeen-year-old Violet White is facing down a long, hot summer with her hostile twin brother in the family's decaying old mansion, with no AC and dwindling funds. Violet decides to rent out the guesthouse for some extra cash and in walks River, a beautiful boy with a seductive wit and "panther hips," and suddenly, Violet's summer is looking up. Unfortunately, shortly after River's arrival, strange things, like children going missing and appearances of "the Devil," start happening in Violet's small town of Echo. She's unsurprised when River cops to some of the occurrences—unsurprised but still alarmingly drawn to him, even after he uses his supernatural powers to murder the town drunk. Like any good gothic fare, this is as much about morality as it is about atmosphere, and Tucholke strikes just the right balance between the windswept, seaside setting and Violet's interior struggles with right and wrong (and wrong-but-oh-so-right feelings toward dangerous River). A small town focused on old money and older traditions, Echo perfectly reflects its name and feels like a fascinating remnant from another time, as does Violet, whose morbid obsessions with the clothes and possessions of her dead grandmother reveal her to be painfully lonely. River is the classic Byronic hero, a fact the book tacitly acknowledges through several literary allusions, and as such, he's dangerously enticing despite (and perhaps because of) his deplorable actions. An unforeseen twist involving his family offers River a bit of redemption, but it will be up to Violet and readers of the remaining installments of this proposed series to determine if he actually deserves absolution.