The Diviners by Libba Bray Series: The Diviners #1
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on 18 September 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 603
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
| 
Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us?
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, Ziegfield 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....
Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray opens a brand-new historical series with The Diviners, where the glittering surface of the Roaring Twenties hides a mystical horror creeping across the country.
The Diviners is a very complex story, with historical aspects from the ’20s in NYC, magic, ghosts, weird powers, and many characters to follow on their creepy adventures.
My The Diviners review:
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Diviners, I hadn’t really heard much about it before I bought my own copy, after received an ARC of Lair of Dreams… What I got was a complex story, following several characters just discovering their new ‘powers’ of divining, seeing the future – or the past by touching an object – healing and others. Following several characters took a while getting used to, because they were all well fleshed out with a distinctive voice, however, through the multitude of sub-plots, they seemed to be closer together than they were when their story started.
At the beginning of The Diviners, Evie grated on my nerves. A lot! A very impulsive young girl, thinking the strict rules around here didn’t necessarily apply to her, she didn’t think things through and realize that there would be consequences for her actions. One of those consequences got her shipped off to her uncle in New York, but this felt like a liberation to her rather than the punishment her parents thought it would be. Evie was a lot smarter than she let on, though, and the way her mind was able to see around the obstacles her uncle and Jericho found in the way when investigating a paranormal serial killer made me admire her even when I didn’t really like her.
Because the diversity of the cast and the many narrative voices, The Diviners was quite slow paced, however, that fit the story perfectly. Searching for a killer who sought out his victims in a strange way, the main plot of stopping that killer implicated many more characters than Evie and her uncle, though. From the show-girl Theta who had her own deadly power, to her piano-playing friend Henry, to Mabel, Memphis and others, they all played an important part in the overall plot, even if most of them had no idea the others were more than most human beings were at the time.
Both the mystery and the mythology in The Diviners are well mastered, and I loved reading about a time in history when life seemed to be so simple, but here, there were dense and dark shadows over the seemingly light-hearted atmosphere in New York. With an omniscient narrator, the story unfolds slowly while sharing big and small secrets in the characters’ lives. The writing is hauntingly beautiful, almost lyrical in places, and allows for the paranormal aspects to feel very real.
Some of my favorite The Diviners quotes:
The wind takes it all in with indifference. It is only the wind. It will not become a radio star or a captain of industry. It will not run for office or fall in love with Douglas Fairbanks or sing the songs of Tin Pan Alley, songs of longing and regret and good times (ain’t we got fun?).
Evie blew kisses and tried not to cry. She waved slowly to the passing rooftops of Zenith, Ohio, where people liked to feel safe and snug and smug, where they handled objects every day in the most ordinary of ways and never once caught glimpses into other people’s secrets that should not be known or had terrible nightmares fo dead brothers. She envied them just a bit.
But it was Memphis’s smile everyone noticed first. When Memphis Campbell decided to turn on the full power of his charm, it always started with the smile: shy at first, then wide and blindingly bright, accompanied by a puppy-dog look that got even his aunt Octavia to relent sometimes.
Theta had tried to be what she thought a good wife should be, but every little thing seemed to set Roy off.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
I’m happy The Diviners was a win, Lexxie. It certainly sounds very interesting with the big cast and their varying powers. I guess it’s sort of a murder mystery on top of it all? I like that it’s historical YA and I bet having NYC as the setting worked really well. I may, eventually, pick up this one. 🙂
**BIG HUGS**
It is very interesting, and very complex, and yes, there is a murder mystery on top of it all! Having NYC as the setting worked so well, and I’m pretty sure you will pick this one up one day, Brandee 😉
*BIG HUGS*
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
It’s set in my favorite time period and sounds interesting but not sure about the slow-pace, but I will put it on my list as a maybe. 🙂
I think the slow pace works for this story, especially because we follow so many characters. And the setting and time period – you’re going to love that!
Twitter: talksupeblog
I missed the first book and I’m guessing I can’t skip and read this. Where’s an amazon sale when you need one?
This one is the first in the series, Braine, and I bought it so that I could read the ARC for the 2nd. And I don’t think I’d have understood much at all if I hadn’t read this one first 🙂
I am waiting on my library to release my hold on this one. I listened to part of Lair of Dreams (really liked what I heard) so I want to read this one first 🙂
You definitely should read this one first, Felicia, there are many things that happen, and I think Lair of Dreams will be much more enjoyable if you already know the characters 😀
Oh I am so happy that you enjoyed this one Lexxie^^ I’ve owned a copy for years and have yet to dig into it – even though I just know I’ll love it! I feel an even bigger need to read it now that, like you, I got a copy of Lair of Dreams. I’m glad that you warmed up to Evie, despite her impulsive nature, stuff like that can bug me too but she seems to grow into herself as she goes so I’m ok with that. I also don’t mind a slower pace, if the story can still hold my interest, and this certainly seems to fit the bill! Oh you’ve gotten me excited to finally start this one now 😀 Fabulous review! ♥
You should read it, Micheline! It’s a very good and complex story. All the characters are well fleshed out as well, even Evie! I think one of the reasons I was a little bugged with her was because she was quite spoiled – that wasn’t really her fault, though, and she did grow during the story.
Thanks for stopping by, Micheline!
Oh this actually sounds a lot more interesting than I thought it would be after reading the synopsis a while back – I usually avoid things that are set in the past but yeah wow this sounds good 🙂
I think that this story would have been less good if it had been set in the present, Lauren. And I hope you’ll decide to pick it up, it was very well done 🙂
I think I got this on audio awhile back, but I think I’d rather read it. Libba Bray is a hoot.
It was my first Libba Bray experience, and there will definitely be more, Chirsty!
Good review, Lexxie. This sounds really interesting with the time period, the characters and the paranormal aspects.
It really was, Jan, the paranormal aspects were quite different, which is something I always appreciate, and the swinging 20s is a good period to set a spooky story in 🙂
I have seen this quite a bit on Amazon as it keeps popping up on my recommended reads list, I am not sure if I will be keen on it being in the 1920’s but will definitely consider ir.
I keep avoiding this one because of the size, but everyone I know is in love with this novel, so I might have to give it a shot. I’m already 11 books ahead of my yearly goal, so there is no time like the present, right? Great review. This sounds a bit like The Bone Season, and I really loved that one.