Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: September 18th 2012
Pages: 578
Genre: YA Supernatural Mystery
Series: The Diviners #1
Source: Audiobook

Goodreads Summary: 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-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies." 

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

Review:

I haven’t read any of Libba Bray’s books before and was really excited to get this book. I love the cover and I love stories from the 20’s. As soon as the book released I grabbed the audio and started a listen. The story was pretty good. There were a few slow parts and a few things about the story I wish were different (more on this further down), but for the most part a very exciting read.

The story is very different than any I have read before. Evie is a flapper and lives in a pretty quiet small town where she likes to party with her friends. Evie has a special gift and when she uses it on the wrong person she finds herself in quite a bit of trouble and gets sent to New York to live with her uncle. It is in New York where a serial killer is on a rampage, strange things are happening, and Evie learns her gift can be quite useful. She moves in with her uncle Will and his boarder Jericho. Will owns a museum of the all things strange and creepy. Will has been asked to help with catching the serial killer which is killing in strange ways. Evie tags along and quickly becomes caught up in the mystery and the danger.

The story was good for me, the only thing that bothered me was it ventured a little too much on the evil side for me. I like creepy, I like ghost stories, I like supernatural, but I don’t like evil. I was able to get into the story because the evil was just a bit of the story.

The writing was really wonderful. The world Libba Bray created was very real and I felt myself drifting back to the era of flappers and speak easys. The language, the style, the atmosphere was all there and made for great setting. The book was well paced in most parts but had a few slow parts. Things that might could have been omitted but the way everything flowed smoothly, it’s hard to say. The one thing that I found absolutely amazing and fascinating was the fact that there were many many wonderful characters and they all had their part of the story told from their point of view. I never felt confused and the transition between characters was flawless and with every switch, they characters stories slowly intertwined.

Speaking of the multiple characters, they were all so wonderful, lively, and oh so likeable. It would take a while to go into all of them, so I will name a few… my favorites….

Uncle Will… he is so loving but distant. I could see how much he cared for Evie but he was careful not to get too close to her. He wanted the best for her but didn’t know how to be her guardian. He was a very smart man with tenderness to him that I fell in love with.

Evie was just fun… She never knew when to give up, keep her mouth shut, or when enough was enough… but I didn’t care. Underneath her party girl exterior, she is a lost girl who needs to find her place in the world and find people who understand her and her ability.

Jericho is by far my most favorite. He is a big teddy bear with secrets and fears of his own. He is very sweet and very shy. He seems to have many layers and this book only opened up a couple. I really want to know more about him.

The character building is amazing in this book and some of the characters I was able to get to know quite well as others I was just beginning to get to know. I am sure more of their stories will appear in the next book.

I will continue to the series, at least see where the next book goes because overall I did like the book. It kept me intrigued with all the mystery and entertained with all the great characters.

Rating:

Book Trailer: