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The Diviners (The Diviners, 1)
A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book of The Diviners series--a stunning supernatural historical mystery set in 1920s New York City, from Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray.
Evangeline O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and sent off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is 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.
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 unfurl in the city that never sleeps. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened....
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Community Reviews
This was a very unique story with the captivating plot, although I was a bit annoyed with the main character. There really wasn't too much character development, I felt like she stayed pretty selfish the entire book. The ending was a bit quick and I was expecting something more complex combining everyone's abilities. I'm hearing the next books in the series explore more of the individual abilities, so I'm hoping they have stronger endings!
"We are the Diviners. We have been and we will be. It is a power that comes from the great energy of the land and its people, a realm shared for a spell, for as long as is needed. We see the dead. We speak to restless spirits. We walk in dreams. We read meaning from every held thing. The future unfolds for us like the navigator's map, showing seas we have yet to travel."
I've had this book on my TBR for years. It finally got moved to the top of the list as my Patron Pick of the Month and a massive thank you to Victoria (AMusicalBookworm on YouTube) for choosing it for me. While I'm late to the fan club for Libba Bray and THE DIVINERS, it was the perfect timing for me as I've recently read or have been exposed to a lot of the great authors referenced and quoted by the characters of this book and this era, the 1920s.
This book is a character driven reader's dream. I found so many of these characters relatable, charming, interesting and engaging. They were all so different, yet shared some fascinating qualities and commonalities. Before I go any further, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. January LaVoy deserves ALLLL the awards for her work here. I started reading this one physically, but my library hold came in a day or so after I started of the audiobook, so I was able to pair it with the physical for an immersion read and it increased my enjoyment exponentially. I cannot imagine going forward without the audiobooks - LaVoy brought these characters to life in a way that I could never have in my own head. I think my favorite characters she did here were Isaiah Campbell and Theta Knight. Of course, the narrator wouldn't have been able to do such amazing things if not for well written characters, and Libba Bray just knocked it out of the park.
"The Diviners must stand, or all shall fall."
The plot actually edged out the characters for me by just a little bit. It was unique and very evident Bray did her homework on the time period - the style of dress, lingo of that era and the atmosphere. I was enraptured and swear I could picture it in my mind as I read. I fell in love with the supernatural around 9 years old when my parents signed up for a subscription of some supernatural/paranormal books from some publisher and left them lying around for me to snoop through. Y'all should have seen me out trying to find a good stick to make my own diving rod to find metal and water, lol. Honestly, the first chapter had my "holy trinity" in it: the spirit/ghost of a serial killer being brought back by some drunk teens messing around with a Ouija board. It was a slam dunk.
It got to the point where I was unable to put the book down - I think I went through the second half in one day. It had reached a fevered pitch for me, I just HAD to know how it was all going to shake out. I'm sad it's over, but happy to know there are 3 more books published in this series that I am very much looking forward to reading soon.
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