Disclaimer: This is a review, and as such will contain opinions, spoilers and (often) general shit talking. (If you talk about what you don’t like about a work, you learn a lot. When you think through a work with the stakes presented to you by the creator, by the context of the work, you learn a lot. I review things, not because I love to dislike things, but because dislike contains rich and vital information for the process of experiencing something, but I cannot access it without interrogating it.) So, if you don’t want to have this thing spoiled for you, or don’t know how to behave when a person on the internet, that you don’t know, has opinions that don’t line up with yours, this review is not for you. It’s also not for the author/creator of the work. Please and thank you.
I finished Diavola some weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it. From the cover that’ll give ANYONE nightmares to the exploration of toxic family dynamics through a supernatural haunting… perfect 👌
The whole toxic family dynamic thing was SO perfectly done – the way the villa literally feeds off the dysfunction of the Pace family? Chef’s kiss.
Loneliness was such a palpable thing throughout the book.
Through Anna, the FMC, we explore belonging (the lack thereof) and the seemingly inescapable bonds of your family mythology. Anna struggles as the family outsider who doesn’t fit their mould, highlighting her alienation and the desperate human need for acceptance within family structures.
Anna being the family scapegoat hit way too close to home – constantly blamed for everything while everyone else gets a pass. As someone who grew up with a narcissistic parent, that part of the family dysfunction was really well done and made me feel seen (which is what I love about books!).
And the villa just mirroring all that lack of communication, empathy, and support right back at them? Genius.
But what really got me was the generational trauma angle.
It’s not just about ghosts haunting the villa – it’s about how these families pass down all their emotional baggage and unresolved issues generation after generation. The villa’s dark past becoming this perfect metaphor for how trauma cycles through families? I mean, come on.
Villa Taccola itself represents that thing that gets passed down through the generations, the responsibility for it always landing on someone’s shoulders.
So when the Pace family enters this physical place that will make their dysfunction visible, they become haunted, not just by supernatural forces, but by emotional scars and unresolved conflicts that have been passed down over time, mirroring the history of the villa itself, which bears the curse of past violence and betrayal.
And can we talk about how the horror is both supernatural AND psychological?
Like, you’re constantly wondering if the haunting is real or if it’s just Anna’s internal struggles manifesting because her family is THAT toxic. The line between the two gets so blurry, which made it even creepier (this is my favourite kind of horror).
The intersection of supernatural horror and psychological distress becomes a key theme, where the haunting can be interpreted not just as a traditional ghost story but as an exploration of Anna’s internal struggles and the psychological scars both within her family and the ones they’ve given her.
The increasingly disturbing phenomena in and around Villa Taccola serve as external manifestations of the characters’ deep-rooted fears, insecurities, and unresolved issues.
Despite being blamed by her family for being unreliable and disappointing, Anna emerges as the most emotionally mature and adaptable family member, the only one willing to face and recognise the demons and face them head on. She’s the only one willing to do the work to stop passing on the generational trauma – if you’ve been that person in your family (like me) then this is a deeply resonant theme.
It really highlights how the supposed “problem child” often possesses the greatest capacity for growth and truth-telling. While Anna was literally the only one mature enough to face reality and deal with what was happening was both frustrating and so satisfying. Everyone else was in complete denial while she was the only one actually confronting the demons – both within the family and within the villa itself.
As scary as La Dama was, Anna’s family was way scarier than any supernatural element. Her mother and sister especially – like, how are actual living people that awful?
You can hear us unpacking our buddy read of this on Booked & Bothered.
“When Sasha Barrett gets bitten by a snake on a mission, her squad captain’s quick actions not only save her life, but also make her realise something she may have known all along…“
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