Author: Libba Bray
Series: The Diviners #1
Edition: Paperback
Publication: September 18, 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought from Fullybooked
Pages: 592
Genre: Romance, Horror, Paranormal
Synopsis:
Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.
Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.
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At first glance, I was really hesitant to buy The Diviners. It's just so thick that I know there's a huge chance that I will get bored. But since I am hearing nothing but great reviews about it, I gave in and bagged a copy. I am happy I did and my first Libba Bray book did not disappoint at all.
The novel takes off when Evie O'Niel, a seventeen-year-old forthright lass, was sent to New York as a punishment for being tacky. Her parents couldn't take the incident she's involved in, that her loudness and tactlessness always get her into trouble. Deep inside, she likes to go to New York for the endless possibilities it could bring her but little did she know, her "gift" will be used to solve a heinous crime and stop the armageddon from happening.
The Diviners is set in 1900s about teenagers with special gifts or powers. Their lives intertwine with each other in ways they haven't expected. Heroes series for some reason came to mind. I could say that Libba Bray have done an awesome job in research and writing. This novel isn't for the faint hearted because aside from the gruesome murders and ghosts, it showcases a very sensitive premise that touches religion and politics. Another lovely point is Bray takes the readers to old school New York which for me, is really fascinating. It is another world building that I fell in love with.
The characters in the novel are very special and they each carry powers different from each other. Most of the time, Evie annoys me. I know she's very straight forward and she knows what she wants, but she just doesn't know where or when to stop. She's stubborn and conceited. Its just a good thing that sometimes she's cute and funny that I forget how annoying she really is. And the same goes to clever Sam. At some point I feel like he could tame Evie. I like his witty antics and his ability to use his charms particularly in good ways. He's the total opposite of Jericho though. Jericho is serious and very focused man. I couldn't blame him for that because his past is so dark and painful. Both Jericho and Isaiah gave me the chills.
The Diviners is very creepy, gruesome and horrifying novel. The demonic level it has on its pages is very strong that there are moments I pause to take a deep breath. And I loved it. I loved the pinch of romance in it. It is so good that I didn't get bored. I feel like am a detective trying to figure out things with Evie. I just thought it is way too long and it took a while for the story to really begin. I also couldn't see why there were plenty of characters that doesn't really have anything to do with the novel. Human robots in 1900s doesn't convince me as well.
I've so many questions about Sam and Will that I couldn't wait for Diviners #2 to come out. So dark and evil yet romantic and funny! I really am eager to know what happens to the sequel of this riveting and intriguing novel that scared me, annoyed me and made me love it to bits!
"Some mornings, she’d wake and vow, Today, I will get it right. I won’t be such an awful mess of a girl. I won’t lose my temper or make unkind remarks. I won’t go too far with a joke and feel the room go quiet with disapproval. I’ll be good and kind and sensible and patient. The sort everyone loves. But by evening, her good intentions would have unraveled. She’d say the wrong thing or talk a little too loudly. She’d take a dare she shouldn’t, just to be noticed. Perhaps Mabel was right, and she was selfish. But what was the point of living so quietly you made no noise at all? “Oh, Evie, you’re too much,” people said, and it wasn’t complimentary. Yes, she was too much. She felt like too much inside all the time. So why wasn’t she ever enough?"
