Reviews - The Diviners by Libba Bray

Series: The Diviners #1
Genre: Historical Fiction/Paranormal

Age Group: YA
Hardcover - 578 pgs

Source: Purchased
Published: 2012
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Rating: 5/5

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.

To quote Whitney Novels: " The best way I can describe this book is The Great Gatsby meets Buzzfeed Unsolved." 

After owning this book for years, and trying it several times, I finally picked it up and read the entire thing! The Diviners has slowly picked up steam over the past few years and I've heard more and more about it. After watching the series go through three cover changes, I was intrigued enough to try again. I am so glad I did. This book is fantastic.

There are a lot of different perspectives to follow and a lot diversity contained as well. We have a POC as a lead character as well a character with a disability. There are several strong women in this book. We address abortion, abuse, war and loss, workers rights, murder, racism, homophobia, xenophobia as well as the influence of hate and fear. All of these are rolled together and viewed through different lenses as we follow characters that represent a spectrum of New York at the time.

The audiobook really helped me through the first one hundred pages, which is where I stopped reading before, and made the reading experience absolutely stellar. The narrator is exceptionally talented and I plan to read the other two books in this series as audiobooks as well. I was completely drawn in by the narration. Each voice is distinct and January LaVoy did an amazing job with the effects and sections that required her to sing as well. I could not stop listening to this book.

Libba Bray did a wonderful job of creating mood of the book. The setting and even some of the characters feel veiled in shadows and mystery. The atmosphere is divine and everything from the bright lights of the stage to the dark dank house on the hill felt like I was there with Evie. Not only that, but the slang and dialogue between the characters was on point. The Diviners was incredibly well researched. In so many historical novels I've read, the descriptions are historically accurate, but the conversations feel modern. I admire how much time Libba Bray must have put into researching the 1920's and I appreciate her efforts.

Bray created a unique story that blends paranormal abilities with mystery and historical fiction. This book was crafted and I fully intend to pick up book two very very soon. 

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