The Diviners

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Libba Bray
Format: Paperback
Pages: 578
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (Bless Goodreads): 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.

My Thoughts: This novel definitely gave me the heeby-geebies like it tried too. I have this little problem of reading at night and I'm sure that didn't help me in this case. I enjoyed the thought behind this story. I'm all for magic and people having strange gifts/talents so this book was totally my thing. I'm so glad that I kept on reading; I almost put it back on the shelf to read later. Anyway, creep factor was an eight. That's pretty good. The author has a great way of describing things to the reader. I also loved the point of view, it added to the story so much because even though most chapters followed a certain character and their thoughts, you also got the other characters thoughts. The end of some chapters shot around to give updates on minor characters or strangers to the story. I didn't understand them at first but I realized that they give us more background to the world and to how other people are seeing what was happening. It was very useful. 

I also need to give this author massive props for doing all the research necessary for this novel. It takes place in the twenties so not only did the author have to research landmarks from this time period but also how people acted, dressed, and spoke. I cannot even imagine the work that needed to be done for that. She mentions it all in the Author's Notes and Acknowledgements (always read these in books! They are often very funny and lend extra insight to the story. You get a feel for the author and can find out their thoughts on the subject. I love knowing the background to the story and how it came about. You always forget how much work goes into the books you're reading.). Plus, the author clearly has a thesaurus on hand. She uses excellent vocabulary with the except of the pos-i-tutly's and stuff that Evie sometimes says. That drive me nuts! Thought, in the end she says it less and you can see how she has grown.

The characters were solid and all very different but there were just too many of them. They don't all get the same time as the focus and, in the beginning, they are hard to keep straight. It doesn't help that soon they are all interacting. It's that fun six degrees of separation thing but it was rough until I figured out all the connections. Lots of characters die too. Keeping all those deaths is difficult too. They repeat thing enough to be able to figure it all out before the reader goes crazy or gives up. Try to hang in there. 

When I first chose the book I kept thinking how big it was but it went quickly once I got into the story. It wasn't so long as to get bored but it also needed to be that long to explain everything clearly. There were some parts of the book that I felt were just for fun, as in they could have been taken out, yet they made everything relate-able and showed time passing so I take that back. A warning: this book is, I believe, the beginning of a series so if you aren't looking for a series then steer away from this book, unless you don't need a solid ending. The ending of this story leads into something more.

So: I really enjoyed this book. I would read it again. I loved the idea behind the story and I think that the author has a brilliant way of writing (I've read her in the past). This book involves many different genres from action to love with spooky stuff thrown in the middle. Beware that it's the start of series but it's really good.

Fun Quotes (I love sassy writing but it's not as funny without context!):
- "Charity begins at home." "So does mental illness!"
- "What's wrong with Anna Karenina?" "Everything from A to enina." (I agree with this one completely)
- "I salute your spunk, but I question your sanity."

Basically...read the darn book!