The Devil In The Corner by Patricia Elliot

The Devil In The Corner
By Patricia Elliot
Published: March 6, 2014
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Stand-Alone
Pages: 400

A gorgeously gothic historical tale from the author of THE PIMPERNELLES

Penniless, and escaping the horrors of life as a governess to brutal households, Maud seeks refuge with the cousin-by-marriage she never knew. But Juliana quashes Maud's emerging friendships with the staff and locals - especially John, the artist commissioned to restore the sinister Doom in the local church. John, however, is smitten with Maud and makes every effort to woo her.

Maud, isolated and thwarted at every turn, continues to take the laudanum which was her only solace in London. Soon she becomes dependent on the drug - so is this the cause of her fresh anxieties? Or is someone - or something - plotting her demise?

Is the devil in the corner of the Doom a reality, or a figment of her imagination?

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 3.75 stars

My Thoughts:
Overall, I thought that this was a very good book.  I definitely would've given it four stars but it did start off very slow and I had a hard time getting into it.
I really liked both Maud and John as well as their relationship with each other.  I thought Maud was a very deep character and she had a lot of layers that took a very long time to uncover and though I was impatient to find out the secrets that she was hiding, I did think that the pacing of her character development in particular was very good.  John was a very fun character and I liked the way he cared for Maud but also his relationship with Edie.  I thought that he had a very adult relationship with her and even if he unintentionally led her on a little bit, if Edie did pick up on hints from him, the majority of them were little details blown out of proportion by a lovesick teenager.  Juliana was a very interesting character and I never knew whether I liked her or hated her because she was very up and down and kind of just all over the place.  I did like her as a character overall and I do wish everything hadn't gone down the way it had, though I did like it.
The plot started off very slow and I had a very hard time making myself read it, but once it started picking up I did enjoy it very much.  I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction, and people who have a bit more patience.

Thanks for reading!
Amber