Fiendish Review

So, I just finished reading Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff. You can find a summary here. Personally, I was not a huge fan of the book. The reason that I was not a huge fan of the book was not because it was poorly written or anything like that. It was that there were so many questions in the plot that were not answered. I’m going to put those questions here. All I can say that based on this book, I don’t know if I would want to read possible sequels. What I’m afraid of is that the author won’t be able to answer any of the questions that I have.

How is it that Clementine is able to recognize magic? Did her mom teach her anything about magic? Or is magical knowledge innate?

Why exactly did Isola lock up Clementine in the cellar? And why Isola did sew Clementine’s eyes shut? Why didn’t Isola do anything about Davenport, Rae, Shiny, and Fisher as well if the entire group was such a threat? Or if it only took “getting rid” of one to resolve the issue, why didn’t Isola just do something more than just locking Clementine up in the cellar, putting some spell or hex on her, and sewing her eyes shut? And why was Clementine chosen? Why not choose any of the other children?

How is it that Clementine didn’t die from starvation from being in the cellar for 10 years with no access to food or water?

Why is it that everybody but Shiney, Davenport, Rae, Fisher, and Isola not remember who Clementine was?

How is that Clementine is able to adjust so quickly to the current world after spending 10 years stuck in a cellar, especially when it comes to social interaction? And what about the physical changes after 10 years, such as puberty? And why isn’t she talking like an 8-year-old?

How is it that Clementine and Fisher hooked up so quickly?

What is the reckoning, exactly?

Who or what is the Coalition of Purity? Is it an outside group that is anti-magic that somehow found out about the reckoning? Or is it just a group of town people who got together to get rid of magic? Why did the Coalition of Purity get together in the first place? Did they form just in response to this specific reckoning?

Why are the “townies” so afraid of magic if everybody grew up around it, whether or not they practiced it?

What exactly are the fiends? How did they come into being? Were they always around? Or were they created by some kind of magic?