Tenderly, I Am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone
Blurb:
An Indie Next Selection!
Perfect for fans of Saltburn, A Study in Drowning, and Don't Let the Forest In, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a moody, monstrously Gothic romantic folk horror in which a young woman must bind herself to a dangerous chthonic god with the help of the son of a rival family to save her family's legacy—and herself—from ruin.
Expelled from her prestigious boarding school following a violent incident, eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa Arriscane returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the point of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience… to Therion, the chthonic god worshipped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown.
But when her betrothal goes horribly wrong, Lark begins to vanish from the mortal realm. Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath: the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille. As the trio delve into the folklore of gods, Lark falls under the spell of both Felimath siblings.
Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a bacchanalia with hopes the hedonistic ritual will repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom. Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion—and Lark as well.
Featuring a polyamorous bisexual romance, lush prose, and flower-threaded horror, Tenderly, I am Devoured is a romantic folk horror that is intoxicating as chthonic liquor, and as unstoppable as the haunted tides.
Review:
"We were all made of liquid and slippery organs. Life was improbable. Fragile.”
-Lyndall Clipstone, Tenderly, I Am Devoured
Expelled from her prestigious, expensive boarding school after an incident that she longs to forget, Lacrimosa Arriscane returns home to her seaside village, where she hoped and even planned to never go back to. Determined to return to her brothers and help with the salt mine they harvest in order to pay off the debts left by their deceased parents to the cruel man who owns the land, she’s dumbfounded to discover that their debt has only increased, and they’ll lose everything. Unless, that is, Lacrimosa weds herself to their seaside god, Therion, a coastal deity who will restore enough salt to their dried-up mines to pay off the debt and achieve a life of normalcy.
Deciding to wed Therion, Lacrimosa prepares herself to vanish to the world of the gods for every salt season—when the salt will come in, ready to be harvested later on—and return only after the salt season ends. When the ritual of her marriage to Therion is interrupted and her (and her brothers’) carefully laid plans are thrown askew, Lacrimosa finds herself in need to fixing the promise she broke the furious god. Even if it means trusting in the alluring, traitorous children of the cruel man to whom her brothers are indebted.
This is the first I’ve read of Lyndall Clipstone’s work, though I’ve heard about Tenderly, I Am Devoured in passing time and time again. I don’t know why I pushed off reading this book for so long. It has a gorgeous cover, a stellar title, and an author whose presence other reader friends of mine have revered. I simply didn’t read the blurb and didn’t find myself picking it up until I went to my local library and plucked the book off a shelf on a whim. Despite some unfounded fear that I might not enjoy this narrative for whatever reason; the only thing I regretted was not reading book sooner—or quicker.
Clipstone has eye-catching prose and vivid, heartbreaking characters that will leave readers crying, gasping, and screaming with every turn of a page. Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a masterful mix of THIS RAGING SEA by De Elizabeth and A STUDY IN DROWNING by Ava Reid—a heat-racing adventure readers won’t forget. It’s truly a combination of all my favorite tropes, topics, and settings in a single book.
Depicted with a Bisexual main character and complex romantic relationships, this was the closest I’ve ever felt to a main character in a novel since the time I began reading books from the little libraries in my elementary school. Lacrimosa is determined, witty, and brilliant. I truly felt for her throughout the narrative, how she recovered from her past mistakes and betrayals and remained strong despite the effort it cost her. As a bisexual woman myself, I also related to her being drawn to more than just the obvious “love interest” in her narrative (though I am definitely an Alastair die-hard fan!)
I also particularly enjoyed the seaside atmosphere, and how everything always felt just a little eerie or just a little off. Having grown up near the Oregon coast and visiting it once a year, I was drawn to the unique and stylistic authorial tone Clipstone uses while describing the sea-based setting of this world.
The narrative overall felt very strongly grounded and easy to consume. This book has, ultimately and quickly, climbed the ranks of my shelves to become one of my favorite novels of all time.
