Book Review: Between the Spark and the Burn

The new manuscript came back from my critique partner with MUCH less to do that I anticipated, so before jumping back into editing, I gladly picked up the second book in this duet:

I Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first book of this duet, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, was one of my favorite books of last year. While I don't like this one quite as well, I still enjoyed it very much. It feels fresh; it's genuinely creepy in places; and it's permeated from almost the first pages with a sense of dread that kept me from putting it down. The Redding brothers are truly morally compromised at the same time they are hard to resist--a bad boy archetype that isn't just window dressing. Tucholke's characters are not black and white, but elegantly rendered in shades of gray. Between the Spark and the Burn doesn't feel as fully developed as its predecessor, and I did think the ending was a bit weak, but I read it at a pummeling pace. She does a fantastic job with atmosphere, and I'm looking forward to more from her.



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