The Diviners

Today’s post is on ‘The Diviners’ by Libba Bray. It is 578 pages long and is published by Little, Brown, and Company which is an imprint of Hachette book group. The cover has a golden keyhole with an eye looking through it; with stylized sun, moon, and light swirls. The intended reader is older teen and adult because of the content. There is only hinted at sexuality but the murders are graphic and the reader spends some time in the murders’ head; so warning for some mild disturbing content. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- 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, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with 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…

Review- I have read Libba Bray before but the first thing that hit me as I was reading this was how much as a writer she has grown. Her Gemma Doyle trilogy is well written but her skill at the craft has grown so much. There are four different stories going on in this book but Bray does not overwhelm the reader with them nor she is taxed as a writer by this. Another thing that I just really enjoyed is that Bray does her research. I know some about the 1920’s here in America but Bray really made herself knowledgeable about the time. The language used, both by those who are trying to be hip and those who are not, the styles of the time, the political climate of the times, and this overall feeling that life cannot stay this good. Bray uses all her skills to give us this. The characters are very interesting and that is from the first page. In the Doyle Trilogy, it felt to me, that it took some time for the characters to become interesting but not in The Diviners. From the opening line to the last scene the characters are interesting and dynamic. I worried about the characters, I am curious about where the story is going next, and I want Evie to stay in New York. If you are looking for a very well written magical historical piece this is it. For all the good in this book I think that Bray is still growing as a writer, so I am looking forward to reading her as she grows.

I give this a four and half stars. I get nothing from my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.