Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Atom (2012), Hardcover, 592 pages
Description
Seventeen-year-old Evie O'Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.
User reviews
LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the first book in the Diviners series by Bray. I have read all of Bray’s previous books and really enjoyed them. I am unsure how many books are planned for this series, but the 2nd one is scheduled for a 2014 release. I enjoyed this book just as much, if not more, than Bray’s A Great
Evie O’Neill has been shipped off from her hometown to New York City to stay with her uncle because of some secrets she revealed that hurt the reputation of one of the powerful families in Ohio. Evie is so excited to be in New York even if her Uncle does run the strange museum known affectionately as The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies. Then strange occult murders start happening and Evie’s uncle gets called in to consult. Evie gets drawn in as she starts to use her own special powers to help her uncle with the case.
I loved the setting for this book, the whole thing is set in the 1920’s flapper era. Bray obviously did her homework here. The slang she uses throughout as well as the descriptions of surroundings, fashions, and events make this world and era come alive in a way that is sparkling and fascinating.
The story is mainly told from Evie’s POV, but we also hear from a number of other character POVs. We hear from Theta (a chorus girl), Mabel (Evie’s best friend), Malcolm (a man with his own mysterious powers), and Sam (a pickpocket of sorts that Evie has a run in with early in the story). We also hear from the murder victims as they meet their demise.
Evie was a super fun heroine. She is brash and just a little too much for those around, she’s adventurous and loyal. She definitely has her flaws; she can be a bit too self-absorbed and a bit too in-your-face. These flaws just serve to make her more interesting and engaging.
The characters surrounding Evie have backgrounds that are just as complex and interesting as Evie’s. There are a number of characters in here with supernatural or paranormal powers. The maelstrom of these interesting characters starts to come together as the story progresses.
The book touches on a number of controversial issues as well (at least controversial for that time). There is discussion about inter-racial relationships and quite a bit of discussion about same sex relationships as well. None of this is the feature of the story but all of it goes on in the background, making the story more complex and even more engaging.
More than anything this book is a supernatural mystery. Basically Evie and team have to solve this series of grisly occult murders before one of them ends up as a victim. There are parts of this book that are extremely creepy where you feel like screaming at the characters “No! No! Don’t go down into the creepy basement cellar.” At points it was bad enough that I was torn between hiding behind a blanket so I didn’t have to see what was going to happen and reading it as fast as possible so I could finally know what was going to happen!
The story ties up very nicely, although there are still things left undone for future books. I am intrigued to see how all of these interesting characters with supernatural powers come together in future installments.
Overall an absolutely fantastic novel. The setting is realistic and absolutely comes alive; I loved reading about the roaring 20’s. The plot is mysterious and creepy with strong supernatural elements. The characters are quirky, mysterious, and super fun to read about. Highly recommended to those who love a good mystery with supernatural elements. I really, really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.
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and Terrible Beauty series. This book is masterfully written and was just an absolute pleasure to read.Evie O’Neill has been shipped off from her hometown to New York City to stay with her uncle because of some secrets she revealed that hurt the reputation of one of the powerful families in Ohio. Evie is so excited to be in New York even if her Uncle does run the strange museum known affectionately as The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies. Then strange occult murders start happening and Evie’s uncle gets called in to consult. Evie gets drawn in as she starts to use her own special powers to help her uncle with the case.
I loved the setting for this book, the whole thing is set in the 1920’s flapper era. Bray obviously did her homework here. The slang she uses throughout as well as the descriptions of surroundings, fashions, and events make this world and era come alive in a way that is sparkling and fascinating.
The story is mainly told from Evie’s POV, but we also hear from a number of other character POVs. We hear from Theta (a chorus girl), Mabel (Evie’s best friend), Malcolm (a man with his own mysterious powers), and Sam (a pickpocket of sorts that Evie has a run in with early in the story). We also hear from the murder victims as they meet their demise.
Evie was a super fun heroine. She is brash and just a little too much for those around, she’s adventurous and loyal. She definitely has her flaws; she can be a bit too self-absorbed and a bit too in-your-face. These flaws just serve to make her more interesting and engaging.
The characters surrounding Evie have backgrounds that are just as complex and interesting as Evie’s. There are a number of characters in here with supernatural or paranormal powers. The maelstrom of these interesting characters starts to come together as the story progresses.
The book touches on a number of controversial issues as well (at least controversial for that time). There is discussion about inter-racial relationships and quite a bit of discussion about same sex relationships as well. None of this is the feature of the story but all of it goes on in the background, making the story more complex and even more engaging.
More than anything this book is a supernatural mystery. Basically Evie and team have to solve this series of grisly occult murders before one of them ends up as a victim. There are parts of this book that are extremely creepy where you feel like screaming at the characters “No! No! Don’t go down into the creepy basement cellar.” At points it was bad enough that I was torn between hiding behind a blanket so I didn’t have to see what was going to happen and reading it as fast as possible so I could finally know what was going to happen!
The story ties up very nicely, although there are still things left undone for future books. I am intrigued to see how all of these interesting characters with supernatural powers come together in future installments.
Overall an absolutely fantastic novel. The setting is realistic and absolutely comes alive; I loved reading about the roaring 20’s. The plot is mysterious and creepy with strong supernatural elements. The characters are quirky, mysterious, and super fun to read about. Highly recommended to those who love a good mystery with supernatural elements. I really, really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.
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LibraryThing member picardyrose
Can't bring myself to finish it. Serial killer, unlikely romance, smart-ass heroine who thinks she's funny. What a waste of setting.
LibraryThing member AnnieMod
Welcome to the mid-20s in USA - before the financial crisis of the 30s, between the two wars and in the time when the young people tried to live fast and hard. It is 1926 and it is the biggest city - New York. And in the city, a collection of young people coincidentally start meeting... except that
The main character, Evie, is almost a caricature of the period (as are most of the other characters actually) - you can see a cliche after a cliche. But then, the cliches are there because this is what things used to be. The author does not try to bring any originality or to present a forward looking characters - she is writing a book set in the 20s with characters that are part of the time. And that works wonderfully. Even the old professor that is the curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies" is as cliched as they go. Or so it looks.
For the first 200+ pages, nothing happens. It reads as a periodic piece with some weird paranormal references here and there that can be discounted as part of the spiritualism of the times. Until the first murder takes place and things start being unusual and interesting. The murder escalates into a succession of murders, each more gruesome than the previous one (the book is definitely not for the people with weak stomachs) and the group of seemingly normal teenagers turns out to be quite extraordinary - one of them can read the past from touching an object, another is part machine/part human, a third can make people see through them. And at the same time, a few of the older characters seem to be uneasy and to know exactly what is going on... but never to spell it.
Add to this a ghost, dreams, a healer, an old religion, an old house, an old book and the police deciding that some of the good guys are the bad ones (well... it had to happen... they were always in the right place at the right time) and the story unfolds. But it is a story inside of a story - the murders and everything around them causes the main story to start unfolding - very slowly, in the background. And at the end of the book you realize that even if the murder mystery is solved, the book is just a buildup for a sequel (or 3). And this buildup obliges the author to come up with a pretty good conclusion down the road.
But on top of all this, it is also a story of growing up - the Evie of the first pages is not the same as the Evie at the end - she may be annoying and spoiled but by the end of the book she starts putting something else in front of her. Which does not mean that I did not want to smack her on the head more than once - she WAS annoying for most of the book.
The main problem of the book is the audience. It is published as YA but the only thing that makes it a YA is the age of the main characters. There is way too much buildup to keep the attention of someone young enough to be in the target audience. But then I may be underestimating the teens. But even if that's the case - I don not think that this should have been published under the YA label - even it got an Andre Norton nomination.
I really hope that the author knows how to tie all the ends she introduced - and that this conclusion will be worth of the buildup in this book. Because way too often, the end feel flat compared to the first books, especially if the first one is as good as this one. It is not for everyone - it is a slow burn of a novel (except in the murder investigation)... but if one likes the style, it works beautifully.
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it turns out that they are all special... in a certain way. The main character, Evie, is almost a caricature of the period (as are most of the other characters actually) - you can see a cliche after a cliche. But then, the cliches are there because this is what things used to be. The author does not try to bring any originality or to present a forward looking characters - she is writing a book set in the 20s with characters that are part of the time. And that works wonderfully. Even the old professor that is the curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies" is as cliched as they go. Or so it looks.
For the first 200+ pages, nothing happens. It reads as a periodic piece with some weird paranormal references here and there that can be discounted as part of the spiritualism of the times. Until the first murder takes place and things start being unusual and interesting. The murder escalates into a succession of murders, each more gruesome than the previous one (the book is definitely not for the people with weak stomachs) and the group of seemingly normal teenagers turns out to be quite extraordinary - one of them can read the past from touching an object, another is part machine/part human, a third can make people see through them. And at the same time, a few of the older characters seem to be uneasy and to know exactly what is going on... but never to spell it.
Add to this a ghost, dreams, a healer, an old religion, an old house, an old book and the police deciding that some of the good guys are the bad ones (well... it had to happen... they were always in the right place at the right time) and the story unfolds. But it is a story inside of a story - the murders and everything around them causes the main story to start unfolding - very slowly, in the background. And at the end of the book you realize that even if the murder mystery is solved, the book is just a buildup for a sequel (or 3). And this buildup obliges the author to come up with a pretty good conclusion down the road.
But on top of all this, it is also a story of growing up - the Evie of the first pages is not the same as the Evie at the end - she may be annoying and spoiled but by the end of the book she starts putting something else in front of her. Which does not mean that I did not want to smack her on the head more than once - she WAS annoying for most of the book.
The main problem of the book is the audience. It is published as YA but the only thing that makes it a YA is the age of the main characters. There is way too much buildup to keep the attention of someone young enough to be in the target audience. But then I may be underestimating the teens. But even if that's the case - I don not think that this should have been published under the YA label - even it got an Andre Norton nomination.
I really hope that the author knows how to tie all the ends she introduced - and that this conclusion will be worth of the buildup in this book. Because way too often, the end feel flat compared to the first books, especially if the first one is as good as this one. It is not for everyone - it is a slow burn of a novel (except in the murder investigation)... but if one likes the style, it works beautifully.
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LibraryThing member DeweyEver
Evie O'Neill is overjoyed when her skill at reading objects gets her banished from Ohio and sent to live with her uncle Will in New York City. New York in 1926 is a 24-hour party, at least to her. But when people start turning up dead in terrifying ways, the party suddenly seems a lot darker, and
This book was full of creeping, brilliant horror, which I was absolutely not expecting. Bray makes you fall in love with minor characters, even when you realize that they're doomed, and she spares none of the gory details on the deaths and crime scenes. But there's also really lyrical beauty in there, mixed in with heart-stopping freak-out lines like "In the graveyards, the dead are sleeping with eyes open."
There are lots of minor plots that surface only to fade away, clearly aiming to be addressed in future books. Normally this might be irritating, but I just want to know more about everyone, especially Memphis and Theta. I want to see them star in a Tommy-and-Tuppence style mystery series.
Verdict: Long, dense, excellent read. Recommended for horror fans, paranormal fans, and fans of the Bright Young Things books.
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much less glamorous. It'll take all of Evie's skills--natural and supernatural--to solve the crime before it's too late.This book was full of creeping, brilliant horror, which I was absolutely not expecting. Bray makes you fall in love with minor characters, even when you realize that they're doomed, and she spares none of the gory details on the deaths and crime scenes. But there's also really lyrical beauty in there, mixed in with heart-stopping freak-out lines like "In the graveyards, the dead are sleeping with eyes open."
There are lots of minor plots that surface only to fade away, clearly aiming to be addressed in future books. Normally this might be irritating, but I just want to know more about everyone, especially Memphis and Theta. I want to see them star in a Tommy-and-Tuppence style mystery series.
Verdict: Long, dense, excellent read. Recommended for horror fans, paranormal fans, and fans of the Bright Young Things books.
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LibraryThing member mamzel
Fantastic combination of horror with historical fiction. Evie is a young woman who is sent to New York City to stay with her uncle, the owner of a museum of oddities. A series of murders and her ability to see things when in contact with an object, leads her into an investigation and perilously
The audio version of the book is read by January LaVoy who does a wonderful job with the accents, and varied pitches for children and men or women.
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close to a serial killer known as Naughty John. We also meet her friends, Theta, who dances in the Ziefield Follies, and Mabel, whose parents are activists, and Jericho, her uncle's assistant with a mysterious past. The audio version of the book is read by January LaVoy who does a wonderful job with the accents, and varied pitches for children and men or women.
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LibraryThing member norabelle414
Evie O'Neill is way too big a fish for her tiny Ohio town. Evie is special, and when she uses that specialness to reveal the deep, dark secrets of the son of an influential family, she gets shipped off to live with her Uncle Will in New York City. SCORE! Now big fish Evie is causing trouble in the
If you liked A Great and Terrible Beauty, you will LOVE this book. Libba Bray is the master of adding just the right amount of fantasy to her historical fiction. The book is amazingly well researched and every bit of it feels true. I *loved* the fun peek into 1920s New York, and was totally creeped out by the creepy parts. I had a lot of trouble putting it down to sleep or eat or go to work . . .
(While The Diviners is the first book in a planned series, the major plot of the book does have a concrete ending. No cliffhanger here, which is great.)
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Big Apple in the 1920s: visiting jazz clubs, flaunting prohibition, and convincing communists' daughters to get their hair bobbed. Uncle Will owns and runs a museum of the occult, along with his assistant Jericho and a troublemaker named Sam who has his eye on Evie. Due to his expertise, he is called in to help the police with a series of mysterious and gruesome murders, the victims of which are marked with an occult symbol. Evie insists on tagging along, and her special ability comes in very handy. Evie is a headstrong, fearless girl, and the only thing she isn't sure about is why she has this power, and if she's the only one.If you liked A Great and Terrible Beauty, you will LOVE this book. Libba Bray is the master of adding just the right amount of fantasy to her historical fiction. The book is amazingly well researched and every bit of it feels true. I *loved* the fun peek into 1920s New York, and was totally creeped out by the creepy parts. I had a lot of trouble putting it down to sleep or eat or go to work . . .
(While The Diviners is the first book in a planned series, the major plot of the book does have a concrete ending. No cliffhanger here, which is great.)
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LibraryThing member cinnamonowl
This book was the bees knees, the elephants eyebrow, I pos-i-tute-ly loved it! It was the perfect blending of two of my favorite things to read about: flappers and the supernatural. I have to admit, when I first heard that Bray was mixing these two, I was unsure and skeptical. I wasn’t sure I
Evie O’Neil is flighty, a good time girl, who doesn’t take anything seriously except finding the gin and getting dolled up to go out dancing. She also has a secret- she is a medium, and if she has an object of yours, can see the past. She uses this as a party trick but divulges the wrong secret, and is sent to live in New York City with her uncle. I have no idea why her parents thought that would be a punishment, but there you go. Evie is of course thrilled, but keeping her feelings on the down low. Anyway, the real story begins once she is in New York.
Evie moves in with her uncle, into the Bennington. She meets her Uncle Will’s museum assistant Jericho, and thinks he is a bit of a bore but she doesn’t dislike him, since her best friend Mabel, who lives in the Bennington, has had a huge crush on him for three years. Evie plans to get them together. She also meets Theta and Henry, who live in the building as well – Theta is a flapper who performs in the Ziegfield Follies, and Henry is a piano player. The final member of Evie’s circle is Sam, a pickpocket and thief who robbed her in the first hour she was in New York. The backstory for these characters is really one of the best parts of this book. I think each character is so well developed and interesting in their own right, that you want to know about all of them, not just Evie, who is not as superficial as she seems sometimes.
There is of course the central mystery- a serial killer that the group is trying to stop. This part of the story was actually kind of scary and creepy. Kudos to Bray for giving me the heebie-jeebies, that is not always easy. There were a few things I would have liked wrapped up a little bit neater, but all in all it was very well done. An ancient evil, a book, a riddle, death – yikes!
Yet this time was not all shiny and bright, scuffed dancing shoes, bathtub gin and bubbly. And Bray did not shirk away from including the prejudices of the era. She touched on the Ku Klux Klan, the relationships such as interracial and homosexual that were not allowed and hidden, and eugenics. I had no idea that State Fairs had tents set up with great big signs with neon lights extolling the virtues of eugenics. Of the health contests, where people could earn bronze medals inscribed with “Yea, I be of goodly heritage” for having the desired (at the time) background. How disgusting and sickening, to think we could breed a better race of people. To me, this was the scariest part of the book, made more frightening as it was true.
I really enjoyed this book – when I finished it I just wanted to read it all over again. I even got past all the slang, which annoyed me in the beginning. I was entertained, I was scared, I was cheering Evie on. And most importantly, I learned a few things.
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could read it, and if I did, if I would like it. Well, Bray definitely stomped all over those worries while doing the Charleston. (Which, incidentally, I learned my friend Kelly can do really well. We believe we were flappers together in a past life.)Evie O’Neil is flighty, a good time girl, who doesn’t take anything seriously except finding the gin and getting dolled up to go out dancing. She also has a secret- she is a medium, and if she has an object of yours, can see the past. She uses this as a party trick but divulges the wrong secret, and is sent to live in New York City with her uncle. I have no idea why her parents thought that would be a punishment, but there you go. Evie is of course thrilled, but keeping her feelings on the down low. Anyway, the real story begins once she is in New York.
Evie moves in with her uncle, into the Bennington. She meets her Uncle Will’s museum assistant Jericho, and thinks he is a bit of a bore but she doesn’t dislike him, since her best friend Mabel, who lives in the Bennington, has had a huge crush on him for three years. Evie plans to get them together. She also meets Theta and Henry, who live in the building as well – Theta is a flapper who performs in the Ziegfield Follies, and Henry is a piano player. The final member of Evie’s circle is Sam, a pickpocket and thief who robbed her in the first hour she was in New York. The backstory for these characters is really one of the best parts of this book. I think each character is so well developed and interesting in their own right, that you want to know about all of them, not just Evie, who is not as superficial as she seems sometimes.
There is of course the central mystery- a serial killer that the group is trying to stop. This part of the story was actually kind of scary and creepy. Kudos to Bray for giving me the heebie-jeebies, that is not always easy. There were a few things I would have liked wrapped up a little bit neater, but all in all it was very well done. An ancient evil, a book, a riddle, death – yikes!
Yet this time was not all shiny and bright, scuffed dancing shoes, bathtub gin and bubbly. And Bray did not shirk away from including the prejudices of the era. She touched on the Ku Klux Klan, the relationships such as interracial and homosexual that were not allowed and hidden, and eugenics. I had no idea that State Fairs had tents set up with great big signs with neon lights extolling the virtues of eugenics. Of the health contests, where people could earn bronze medals inscribed with “Yea, I be of goodly heritage” for having the desired (at the time) background. How disgusting and sickening, to think we could breed a better race of people. To me, this was the scariest part of the book, made more frightening as it was true.
I really enjoyed this book – when I finished it I just wanted to read it all over again. I even got past all the slang, which annoyed me in the beginning. I was entertained, I was scared, I was cheering Evie on. And most importantly, I learned a few things.
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LibraryThing member kazhout
November 1 is just around the corner and, just last week, I was sad that I won't be able to read anything scary in time for it, but now I'm sad because I read the perfect Halloween book weeks away from it!
The Diviners starts with Libba Bray introducing us to Evie, an outspoken party girl from a
One of the things that I loved most about this book is how Bray's writing transported me to New York in the 1920s and introduced me to a plethora of living, breathing characters - all of whom were equally interesting and mysterious. I thought I had them all figured out - particularly Evie! - and then surprises smacked me right on the face, one after another. A few other Diviners weren't focused so much on in here, so I guess we'll meet them again next time. And here I thought they'd be like some paranormal version of X-Men, oh well.
I also loved how it tackled a wide range of issues in the family, religion, and society, even racism and abortion - both of which are wrong, no matter how I look at them.
The ending reminded me of the quiet before a storm. Bray wrote an exhilarating start for a series, packed with action, wit, and humor, brimming with mystery and suspense that had me guessing and shocked right until the end, and with just the right amount of romance (I'm Team Jericho, by the way *avoids the tomatoes*). It kept me on the edge of my seat - and my bed, and my school's corridor, because I brought it everywhere I went - and spooked me out a number of times because I actually believe in these paranormal stuff, and this book is another reminder of why I'd never play with a Ouija board even if my eyes were about to pop out of boredom. I pos-i-tute-ly can't wait for the next one!
MY FAVORITE PARTS were the revelations, and there were so much of those!
The Diviners starts with Libba Bray introducing us to Evie, an outspoken party girl from a
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ridiculously conservative town, who gets sent to New York after another episode of thoughtless fun. She - oh, just read the blurb above; it does its job quite well, really (especially because I copied it straight from the back of the book and into Goodreads! Guess who the new librarian is, hehe).One of the things that I loved most about this book is how Bray's writing transported me to New York in the 1920s and introduced me to a plethora of living, breathing characters - all of whom were equally interesting and mysterious. I thought I had them all figured out - particularly Evie! - and then surprises smacked me right on the face, one after another. A few other Diviners weren't focused so much on in here, so I guess we'll meet them again next time. And here I thought they'd be like some paranormal version of X-Men, oh well.
I also loved how it tackled a wide range of issues in the family, religion, and society, even racism and abortion - both of which are wrong, no matter how I look at them.
The ending reminded me of the quiet before a storm. Bray wrote an exhilarating start for a series, packed with action, wit, and humor, brimming with mystery and suspense that had me guessing and shocked right until the end, and with just the right amount of romance (I'm Team Jericho, by the way *avoids the tomatoes*). It kept me on the edge of my seat - and my bed, and my school's corridor, because I brought it everywhere I went - and spooked me out a number of times because I actually believe in these paranormal stuff, and this book is another reminder of why I'd never play with a Ouija board even if my eyes were about to pop out of boredom. I pos-i-tute-ly can't wait for the next one!
MY FAVORITE PARTS were the revelations, and there were so much of those!
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LibraryThing member ethel55
During the height of Prohibition and the Roaring 20's, Evie O'Neill messes up. After letting a little too much information out during a party in her small Ohio town, her parents send her to stay with her Uncle Will in New York City. Will is the director of a museum that specializes in the occult
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and really, and has no idea what to do with a teenaged niece. The police involve Will in what becomes a series of murders, probably the work of a serial killer. Evie, along with some of the other characters in the book, have special skills that seem to attract unwanted attention, but could be conducive to solving the murders. The narrative shifts between a lot of people and I for one am glad this was just a book for teens--I imagine the grisly details of these murders would have been much more graphic in an adult book. And although we get some closure, the idea that something is still coming will lead us to another tale. This by far may be the longest book I read all year, but you have to hand it to Bray. She's made another unique world and character in Evie and the others. Show Less
LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A paranormal serial killer brings forth a historical mystery set in the Roaring Twenties, filled with a delicious new evil wrecking havoc in New York City.
Opening Sentence: In the town house at a fashionable address on Manhattan’s Upper East
The Review:
Libba Bray has always been one of my favorite characters. From her very first novel, I have been a fan of her writing, her characters, and the worlds that she creates. Now, with The Diviners, my fangirling continues. What I didn’t expect was to lose sleep over this book. I didn’t realize how realistic Bray can make serial killing be. I mean, it’s close to dawn and I’m wide awake trying to finish the book, but also because I was scared of the things that to go bump in the night. Well played, Bray. Well played.
Set in the 1920s, New York is bustling with life that only the Big Apple can offer. Evie O’Neill has caused enough trouble in her hometown, and has managed to be sent to her uncle in New York City. The Roaring Twenties was about discovery and exploration, bringing forth the glamour of Broadway plays, fabulous music, and yes, even speakeasies. Living with her uncle Will is a small price to pay for reinventing herself. But when the police ask uncle Will for help in a murder scene, the trouble and secrets Evie ran away from will come back. Her secret may help catch the killer, but what else could it bring?
Evie is fancy-free and filled with so much energy. From Ohio to New York, Evie is as fun as ever. She’s very different than many other main characters that I see, and I loved getting to know her. Evie is someone who loves to dream big and love big, but also keep secrets so big that it grounds her. There was so much to find out about Evie, and at the end of the book, I still find myself wondering what else there is to her. Her secret, her gift, and her curse. One in the same, depending on how Evie and the reader looks at it. It plays a big part, and let me tell you, so many great scenes involving her and the gift.
Diviners has a wonderful array of supporting characters. From uncle Will, who I thought I had figured out but found out I didn’t even know a little bit at all, to Jericho, Memphis, Theta, Mabel, and so many more. Bray fills the pages with deep characters, each one adding another layer of awesome to the story. Each individual character has a role to play, and whether or not I saw it all in The Diviners, I felt they all played an integral part. Or, at least will in the books to come.
Bray has always been amazing at world building. I mean, this is the reason why I stayed up all night reading The Diviners! Not only did I want to finish the book, but her imagery was so realistic that I started questioning if I’ll be visited by evil haunted beings. Authors who can do that, put those questions of reality into your head, are amazing, and Bray is one of the top, definitely.
I can’t say enough about The Diviners by Libba Bray. From the wonderful story to the descriptive world, nothing compares to her characters. Expect to be shocked and explore the dark corners of the supernatural world. Bray warns you within the first pages, but don’t worry, you’ll be hooked in and still be looking for more.
Notable Scene:
Something stirs in the deep shadows, something terrible, and the wind, which knows evil well, shrinks from this place. It flees toward the safety of those magnificent tall buildings that promise the blue skies, nothing but blue skies, of the future, of industry and prosperity; the future, which does not believe in the evil of the past. If the wind were a sentinel, it would send up the alarm. It would cry out a warning of terrors to come. But it is only the wind, and it knows well that no one listens to its cries.
Deep in the cellar of the dilapidated house, a furnace comes to life with a death rattle like the last bitter cough of a dying man laughing contemptuously at his fat. A faint glow emanates from that dark, foul-smelling earthen tomb. Yes, something moves again in the shadows. A harbinger of much greater evil to come. Naughty John has come home. And he has work to do.
FTC Advisory: Little, Brown/Hachette provided me with a copy of The Diviners. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: A paranormal serial killer brings forth a historical mystery set in the Roaring Twenties, filled with a delicious new evil wrecking havoc in New York City.
Opening Sentence: In the town house at a fashionable address on Manhattan’s Upper East
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Side, every lamp blazes.The Review:
Libba Bray has always been one of my favorite characters. From her very first novel, I have been a fan of her writing, her characters, and the worlds that she creates. Now, with The Diviners, my fangirling continues. What I didn’t expect was to lose sleep over this book. I didn’t realize how realistic Bray can make serial killing be. I mean, it’s close to dawn and I’m wide awake trying to finish the book, but also because I was scared of the things that to go bump in the night. Well played, Bray. Well played.
Set in the 1920s, New York is bustling with life that only the Big Apple can offer. Evie O’Neill has caused enough trouble in her hometown, and has managed to be sent to her uncle in New York City. The Roaring Twenties was about discovery and exploration, bringing forth the glamour of Broadway plays, fabulous music, and yes, even speakeasies. Living with her uncle Will is a small price to pay for reinventing herself. But when the police ask uncle Will for help in a murder scene, the trouble and secrets Evie ran away from will come back. Her secret may help catch the killer, but what else could it bring?
Evie is fancy-free and filled with so much energy. From Ohio to New York, Evie is as fun as ever. She’s very different than many other main characters that I see, and I loved getting to know her. Evie is someone who loves to dream big and love big, but also keep secrets so big that it grounds her. There was so much to find out about Evie, and at the end of the book, I still find myself wondering what else there is to her. Her secret, her gift, and her curse. One in the same, depending on how Evie and the reader looks at it. It plays a big part, and let me tell you, so many great scenes involving her and the gift.
Diviners has a wonderful array of supporting characters. From uncle Will, who I thought I had figured out but found out I didn’t even know a little bit at all, to Jericho, Memphis, Theta, Mabel, and so many more. Bray fills the pages with deep characters, each one adding another layer of awesome to the story. Each individual character has a role to play, and whether or not I saw it all in The Diviners, I felt they all played an integral part. Or, at least will in the books to come.
Bray has always been amazing at world building. I mean, this is the reason why I stayed up all night reading The Diviners! Not only did I want to finish the book, but her imagery was so realistic that I started questioning if I’ll be visited by evil haunted beings. Authors who can do that, put those questions of reality into your head, are amazing, and Bray is one of the top, definitely.
I can’t say enough about The Diviners by Libba Bray. From the wonderful story to the descriptive world, nothing compares to her characters. Expect to be shocked and explore the dark corners of the supernatural world. Bray warns you within the first pages, but don’t worry, you’ll be hooked in and still be looking for more.
Notable Scene:
Something stirs in the deep shadows, something terrible, and the wind, which knows evil well, shrinks from this place. It flees toward the safety of those magnificent tall buildings that promise the blue skies, nothing but blue skies, of the future, of industry and prosperity; the future, which does not believe in the evil of the past. If the wind were a sentinel, it would send up the alarm. It would cry out a warning of terrors to come. But it is only the wind, and it knows well that no one listens to its cries.
Deep in the cellar of the dilapidated house, a furnace comes to life with a death rattle like the last bitter cough of a dying man laughing contemptuously at his fat. A faint glow emanates from that dark, foul-smelling earthen tomb. Yes, something moves again in the shadows. A harbinger of much greater evil to come. Naughty John has come home. And he has work to do.
FTC Advisory: Little, Brown/Hachette provided me with a copy of The Diviners. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member JackieBlem
I owe a debt to a co-worker for being relentless about convincing me to read this book--I shied away at its rather stout size, thinking of the stack of books I'd already collected. But she made a good case, and she was 100% correct--I LOVED this book, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Set
While technically a YA book, this is a great read for just about anyone who enjoys historic and/or atmospheric mysteries. And the best part--this is first book in a planned series.
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in the 1920's in New York City, the time of speakeasies and flappers, jazz and, at least for Gemma and her uncle, murder. Her uncle is an expert in the occult, and he is asked to help the police find the killer who had carved occult symbols into a murder victim and left her on the river's edge. Gemma, never one to stay on the sidelines, accidentally discovers some occult powers of her own that may help her identify the killer, if he doesn't get to her first.While technically a YA book, this is a great read for just about anyone who enjoys historic and/or atmospheric mysteries. And the best part--this is first book in a planned series.
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LibraryThing member karieh
First, let me say that this book is NOT for teens. I’ve read the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Bray, as well as “Beauty Queens” and liked them a great deal. Those books worked well for either young adults or actual adults. But “The Diviners”, which per Amazon, seems to be classified under
That out of the way, I did sort of eat this book up. It improved as it went, most likely due to the maturing of the main character, Evie. She comes to New York a spoiled, well-off girl, desperate to experience 1920’s Manhattan…and through the events of the book, becomes a woman – a young woman who has seen and experienced too much.
“The Diviners”, though at times a bit cheesy in its overuse of flapperisms, is a great story. Mystery, drama, spiritualism and the occult vie with some genuine insights and good writing for the reader’s attention. As I read, I found the pages turning faster, the whisper of “Just one more chapter” urging me on.
“Whispers filled the room, soft at first, then louder, like the sound of a thousand devils loosed upon a desert. The gloom moved. The shadows surged, pressing against the stranger and the offering while the cold distant stars looked away.”
This is an excellent ghost story, full of shadows and furtive movements just out of eyesight. Yet what catches the reader off guard more than this tale of a killer and the very special people trying to stop him, is the bits of real life, connections to our world that Bray captures so well.
Evie’s brother James had been in World War I, the war that changed so much forever. “A week later, they’d received the horrible telegram that James was dead, and her family had broken and been taped back together, a posed photograph kept behind fractured glass.”
Or descriptions of the New York that continues on, even in the face of brutal murders. “It was truly fall now. Chimney smoke burned the edges of the air, scenting the wind. The nights had weight.”
And when Evie’s uncle tries to explain fanaticism to her, I was stopped cold with how true this is not only of her time, but more so of ours. “When the world moves forward too fast for some people, they try to pull us all back with their fear.”
I assume this is the first in a series, and I will certainly be one of its followers.
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“Teens”, is not one I would let my daughter read.That out of the way, I did sort of eat this book up. It improved as it went, most likely due to the maturing of the main character, Evie. She comes to New York a spoiled, well-off girl, desperate to experience 1920’s Manhattan…and through the events of the book, becomes a woman – a young woman who has seen and experienced too much.
“The Diviners”, though at times a bit cheesy in its overuse of flapperisms, is a great story. Mystery, drama, spiritualism and the occult vie with some genuine insights and good writing for the reader’s attention. As I read, I found the pages turning faster, the whisper of “Just one more chapter” urging me on.
“Whispers filled the room, soft at first, then louder, like the sound of a thousand devils loosed upon a desert. The gloom moved. The shadows surged, pressing against the stranger and the offering while the cold distant stars looked away.”
This is an excellent ghost story, full of shadows and furtive movements just out of eyesight. Yet what catches the reader off guard more than this tale of a killer and the very special people trying to stop him, is the bits of real life, connections to our world that Bray captures so well.
Evie’s brother James had been in World War I, the war that changed so much forever. “A week later, they’d received the horrible telegram that James was dead, and her family had broken and been taped back together, a posed photograph kept behind fractured glass.”
Or descriptions of the New York that continues on, even in the face of brutal murders. “It was truly fall now. Chimney smoke burned the edges of the air, scenting the wind. The nights had weight.”
And when Evie’s uncle tries to explain fanaticism to her, I was stopped cold with how true this is not only of her time, but more so of ours. “When the world moves forward too fast for some people, they try to pull us all back with their fear.”
I assume this is the first in a series, and I will certainly be one of its followers.
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LibraryThing member danielleK77
Libba Bray is one of those writers who paints with words, who creates worlds that blend the mundane and fantastical, drawing readers in to forget the world around them. The Diviners is a beautifully written epic tale of mystery and the paranormal surrounding seemingly ordinary people navigating the
To say that I loved this book would be a gross understatement. I was immediately drawn in by Bray's poetic prose. This book is truly epic and in the hands of a less gifted writer could have easily turned into a convoluted mish-mash of characters and plot holes. However, Libba Bray weaves each character arc and sub plot into a beautiful tapestry, like a master choreographer leading a ballet.
Holding together the main plot of Naughty John's return are the tales of several young people making their way through Manhattan and Harlem in the backdrop of the 1920s. Evie O'Neill has just moved from Ohio to live with her uncle who runs the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult. She is a girl with dreams of making it big in the big city, a small-town girl who desperately wants to be somebody. A girl who is also hiding a secret. She teams up with the feisty Theta, a flapper and star of the Ziegfeld Follies. There is much more to Theta than one would assume, underneath all the glamour and make-up is a girl who is well-beyond her years. Memphis is a Harlem Poet hoping to follow in the footsteps of Langston Hughes, who carries the burden of his mother's death and father's abandonment and who does what he must to protect his younger brother Isiah. Sam the pickpocket and Jericho the brawny research assistant round out the cast. Each character is fully developed and their stories are presented to readers at the perfect pace. Little by little, you will find yourself attached to each of the characters -- and will feel at the end of the novel like you were right there with them facing great danger and terrible choices.
Libba Bray is a master of many genres, moving easily from the historical paranormal of The Gemma Doyle Trilogy to the satirical Beauty Queens. She is able to incorporate details that enhance the authenticity of the setting without weighing down the prose. The precision of description and inclusion of actual events and people show a tremendous amount of research without ever distracting from the story; indeed, it only serves to draw readers in more deeply and to make the fantastical and supernatural completely plausible. The dialogue is spot on, the slang is never distracting or overdone. Really, the writing here is as close to perfect as it gets; Libba Bray is truly one of the great literary talents of our time.
On the surface, The Diviners is a paranormal mystery. Evie and Co. are helping to solve a series of murders taking place around the city and uncover a secret society called The Brethren and realize there is also a tangible evil, much scarier than any ghost, at work. Evie's Uncle Will takes on the role of Bobby Singer or Rupert Giles--guiding the group with his knowledge of the supernatural.
There is so much goodness hidden in the pages of this book that it would be impossible for me to comment on it all. So I will conclude by saying that you cannot go wrong by reading this, there is something for everyone. Lovers of historical fiction, lovers of the supernatural, lovers of great writing, of lyrical prose, none will be disappointed by this book. Already, The Diviners is at the top of my 2012 favorite reads.
Review originally posted on MyMercurialMusings.com
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tenuous setting that is New York City in the 1920s. Amid flappers, speakeasies, and the Harlem Renaissance is a dark underbelly, a hungry entity known as Naughty John who has returned to fulfill a decades old promise of murder and evil intent.To say that I loved this book would be a gross understatement. I was immediately drawn in by Bray's poetic prose. This book is truly epic and in the hands of a less gifted writer could have easily turned into a convoluted mish-mash of characters and plot holes. However, Libba Bray weaves each character arc and sub plot into a beautiful tapestry, like a master choreographer leading a ballet.
Holding together the main plot of Naughty John's return are the tales of several young people making their way through Manhattan and Harlem in the backdrop of the 1920s. Evie O'Neill has just moved from Ohio to live with her uncle who runs the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult. She is a girl with dreams of making it big in the big city, a small-town girl who desperately wants to be somebody. A girl who is also hiding a secret. She teams up with the feisty Theta, a flapper and star of the Ziegfeld Follies. There is much more to Theta than one would assume, underneath all the glamour and make-up is a girl who is well-beyond her years. Memphis is a Harlem Poet hoping to follow in the footsteps of Langston Hughes, who carries the burden of his mother's death and father's abandonment and who does what he must to protect his younger brother Isiah. Sam the pickpocket and Jericho the brawny research assistant round out the cast. Each character is fully developed and their stories are presented to readers at the perfect pace. Little by little, you will find yourself attached to each of the characters -- and will feel at the end of the novel like you were right there with them facing great danger and terrible choices.
Libba Bray is a master of many genres, moving easily from the historical paranormal of The Gemma Doyle Trilogy to the satirical Beauty Queens. She is able to incorporate details that enhance the authenticity of the setting without weighing down the prose. The precision of description and inclusion of actual events and people show a tremendous amount of research without ever distracting from the story; indeed, it only serves to draw readers in more deeply and to make the fantastical and supernatural completely plausible. The dialogue is spot on, the slang is never distracting or overdone. Really, the writing here is as close to perfect as it gets; Libba Bray is truly one of the great literary talents of our time.
On the surface, The Diviners is a paranormal mystery. Evie and Co. are helping to solve a series of murders taking place around the city and uncover a secret society called The Brethren and realize there is also a tangible evil, much scarier than any ghost, at work. Evie's Uncle Will takes on the role of Bobby Singer or Rupert Giles--guiding the group with his knowledge of the supernatural.
There is so much goodness hidden in the pages of this book that it would be impossible for me to comment on it all. So I will conclude by saying that you cannot go wrong by reading this, there is something for everyone. Lovers of historical fiction, lovers of the supernatural, lovers of great writing, of lyrical prose, none will be disappointed by this book. Already, The Diviners is at the top of my 2012 favorite reads.
Review originally posted on MyMercurialMusings.com
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LibraryThing member foggidawn
Evie O'Neill's parents don't know what to do with her. When one particular scandal nearly leads to legal action, Evie is sent to New York City to live with her bachelor uncle Will, curator of a museum of occult paraphernalia known colloquially as the "Museum of the Creepy-Crawlies." Shortly after
I listened to the audiobook of this novel, and I'm glad I did. Narrator January LaVoy proves herself to be a virtuoso, with a great range and the ability to make me forget that I was listening to a story read by just one person. Beyond that, this is just a really interesting story. Evie is a sympathetic yet flawed heroine, and the plethora of secondary characters are likewise interesting and well-written. The plot is intricate and fast-paced; I never felt like the story dragged even though I was listening rather than reading. I will say that 1920s slang is "positutely" the most annoying ever, but it is at least authentic to both the period and Evie's character. The creepy factor of this story is about at my personal creepiness threshold, as I don't handle horror stories well at all -- there were definitely some moments when I wanted to yell, "No! Don't go down those stairs by yourself; are you stupid?!?" but nothing that I couldn't deal with. (It probably also helped that I listened to the story while driving, during daylight hours.) So, if you like the 20s, paranormal stories that are a little bit scary, and plucky heroines, give this book a try -- the audiobook particularly, if you are so inclined. You won't regret it!
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Evie's arrival. Will is asked to consult on a police case involving a serial killer, because some strange and possibly occult markings have been found on the corpses. What the police don't know is that the killer is actually a malevolent spirit, intent upon using a macabre ritual to bring about the end of the world. Evie is determined to help her uncle with the investigation, especially since she has a paranormal talent that could prove useful. However, investigating a murder (and attempting to exorcise dark forces) is not a game -- and Evie's life, and the lives of the friends she has made in New York City, could be in jeopardy.I listened to the audiobook of this novel, and I'm glad I did. Narrator January LaVoy proves herself to be a virtuoso, with a great range and the ability to make me forget that I was listening to a story read by just one person. Beyond that, this is just a really interesting story. Evie is a sympathetic yet flawed heroine, and the plethora of secondary characters are likewise interesting and well-written. The plot is intricate and fast-paced; I never felt like the story dragged even though I was listening rather than reading. I will say that 1920s slang is "positutely" the most annoying ever, but it is at least authentic to both the period and Evie's character. The creepy factor of this story is about at my personal creepiness threshold, as I don't handle horror stories well at all -- there were definitely some moments when I wanted to yell, "No! Don't go down those stairs by yourself; are you stupid?!?" but nothing that I couldn't deal with. (It probably also helped that I listened to the story while driving, during daylight hours.) So, if you like the 20s, paranormal stories that are a little bit scary, and plucky heroines, give this book a try -- the audiobook particularly, if you are so inclined. You won't regret it!
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LibraryThing member ltcl
Jul 02, 2012
rating didn't like it it was ok liked it really liked it it was amazing (my current rating)
bookshelves read
edit shelves
status Read from August 08 to 12, 2012
format Hardcover (edit)
review I think Libba Bray is one of the best writers of historical mysteries out there - not just for the
rating didn't like it it was ok liked it really liked it it was amazing (my current rating)
bookshelves read
edit shelves
status Read from August 08 to 12, 2012
format Hardcover (edit)
review I think Libba Bray is one of the best writers of historical mysteries out there - not just for the
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young adult market but adults as well and this may just be her best book yet. It has a little something for everyone - paranormal, roaring twenties, terrific characters that you can sink your teeth into, a hint of romance and enough suspense to make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up for days! The Diviners comes out in September and I thank the publishers for giving me a sneak peek at it. The story begins with a flapper- to- be, Evangeline O'Neill who gives her parents grey hair so they send her off to stay with her mysterious uncle Will who runs a museum of the supernatural in New York City. Evie is convinced that this will be the dullest time of her life until a series of horrific murders take place and she is called to use her powers to help her Uncle and the police solve the crime. Her new friends begin to get tied into the story as they all seem to have a hidden past and some paranormal abilities and the friends that don't have other talents. The reader gets a true feel of New York during the roaring twenties from the flappers in the Ziegfeld Show to the numbers runners and inequality between the races. Fans of Something Wicked This Way Comes, early Stephen King and Gangs of New York will dive right in to the creepy fantastic series - The Diviners Show Less
LibraryThing member reb922
After using her unusual power to preform a poorly received parlor trick Evie O'Neill is sent by her parents to her uncle in New York City as a "punishment". The Diviners is a historical fiction novel set in New York in the late 20's with a mix the supernatural. Evie, her uncle his ward somehow
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become involved with the investigation of a murder. Her uncle studies the occult and his ward has some secrets of his own. We are also introduced to some other characters in their late teens who may have some supernatural connections of their own. This is to be the first in a series. While the story wraps up at the end a whole assortment of questions are still left unanswered and some more are presented. A great and interesting read that will leave you waiting for the future books in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Evie-Bookish
Intelligent, complex and historically accurate, The Diviners in a riveting tale that plumbs the depths of human wickedness brought about by religious fanaticism and fascination with the occult. The blend of tension, charm, creepiness, atmosphere and characterization come together to ensure this to
Set in the Roaring Twenties in New York City, The Diviners tells the story of a group of young people investigating a series of gruesome occult-based murders. Something dark and powerful has been unleashed in New York, an evil force determined to bring about an apocalypse. People are being murdered - their body parts missing - and it all seems to follow a very disturbing pattern suggesting that the murderer is trying to finish a dark ritual started many years ago. A ritual that will unleash hell on earth and destroy everything. When Evie is shipped off to New York to live with her Uncle Will, the last thing she expects is to find herself right in the middle of a terrifying murder case. Instead of attending glamorous parties and enjoying vibrant New York life, she now has to deal with a psycho-ghost intent on carrying out his evil plan. Will her special powers help catch the killer? Or will the killer get to her first?
Evie (or as Theta calls her, Evil) is a fascinating character. Bold, attention-loving, dauntless, unpredictable, loud-mouthed and quick-witted, she's an unstoppable force, a real tornado of a girl. She's a troublemaker. She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut and rarely listens to anyone else, especially her parents and uncle . She doesn't back down from anybody and isn't easily intimidated. She's curious (sometimes a little bit too much for her own good), intelligent, snarky and pos-i-tute-ly energetic. All in all, she's a fine example of a reckless, fun-loving, convention-breaking flapper gal. On top of that, she is also a diviner, a person with a special ability. Evie's special talent allows her to tell people's secrets just by holding an objects that belongs to them and concentrating on it. Her extraordinary personality makes it extremely fun to follow her adventures. I instantly connected with her and wanted to get to know her better. She is my kind of heroine and I can't wait to meet her again.
All the characters in The Diviners - and it's a rather large cast - are beautifully fleshed out, vibrant and intriguing. They possess great qualities - their behaviour, motivations and reactions to events taking place around them are realistic and the range of emotions they show is quite incredible. I found them convincing, three-dimensional, and easy to care about. Some characters I liked more than others, but overall each one of them had a role to play - even if only a minor one - and they all seemed essential to the plot. I appreciated the diversity of cultural and social backgrounds that these characters came from and the fact that these were not your stereotypical, embellished YA heroes and heroines, but rather real teenagers, with real problems, dreams and fears. Misfits who struggled through life, drank, cried, worried and lied. I also liked the fact that the romance part of the story was almost non existent and all the romantic plot threads took a back seat to the main storyline.
At nearly 600-pages-long, this behemoth of a novel offers an insightful, compelling narrative, a meticulously researched historical and cultural background, a completely mind-blowing world-and-character building, and a disturbing story line that is sure to send chills down your spine. Could this book have been shorter? Perhaps. Would I want it to be shorter? Absolutely no. I loved every detail, every little nuance that Libba Bray weaved into the plot. They all added depth to the story and helped recreate the unique atmosphere of 1920s New York. In the Author's Note, Bray talks about the many hours spent pouring over books, photographs and various other sources that went into creating the world of The Diviners and I can't help but to feel impressed with how fabulous a job she did. She has breathed life into this story, these characters and settings. She made me forget about the real world for a while and lose myself in the world of flappers, vibrant city life, hobble skirts, first automobiles, jazz and petting parties. And it was swell! Everything - from the slang words and outfits to the social movements and politics of that time period - was fantastic. I really couldn't have loved this book more! So don't let the size of this book intimidate you, once you get sucked into the story you'll be in a real page-turning frenzy!
All in all, The Diviners is an accomplished novel and a very exciting new YA series that is as ambitious and intelligent as it is entertaining and downright scary! I highly recommend it!
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be an absorbing and intellectually stimulating experience. This is an absolutely phenomenal book and one of the best of the year thus far. An indisputable must-read for anyone who enjoys a thoroughly bone-chilling story set against well researched historical backdrop. Set in the Roaring Twenties in New York City, The Diviners tells the story of a group of young people investigating a series of gruesome occult-based murders. Something dark and powerful has been unleashed in New York, an evil force determined to bring about an apocalypse. People are being murdered - their body parts missing - and it all seems to follow a very disturbing pattern suggesting that the murderer is trying to finish a dark ritual started many years ago. A ritual that will unleash hell on earth and destroy everything. When Evie is shipped off to New York to live with her Uncle Will, the last thing she expects is to find herself right in the middle of a terrifying murder case. Instead of attending glamorous parties and enjoying vibrant New York life, she now has to deal with a psycho-ghost intent on carrying out his evil plan. Will her special powers help catch the killer? Or will the killer get to her first?
Evie (or as Theta calls her, Evil) is a fascinating character. Bold, attention-loving, dauntless, unpredictable, loud-mouthed and quick-witted, she's an unstoppable force, a real tornado of a girl. She's a troublemaker. She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut and rarely listens to anyone else, especially her parents and uncle . She doesn't back down from anybody and isn't easily intimidated. She's curious (sometimes a little bit too much for her own good), intelligent, snarky and pos-i-tute-ly energetic. All in all, she's a fine example of a reckless, fun-loving, convention-breaking flapper gal. On top of that, she is also a diviner, a person with a special ability. Evie's special talent allows her to tell people's secrets just by holding an objects that belongs to them and concentrating on it. Her extraordinary personality makes it extremely fun to follow her adventures. I instantly connected with her and wanted to get to know her better. She is my kind of heroine and I can't wait to meet her again.
All the characters in The Diviners - and it's a rather large cast - are beautifully fleshed out, vibrant and intriguing. They possess great qualities - their behaviour, motivations and reactions to events taking place around them are realistic and the range of emotions they show is quite incredible. I found them convincing, three-dimensional, and easy to care about. Some characters I liked more than others, but overall each one of them had a role to play - even if only a minor one - and they all seemed essential to the plot. I appreciated the diversity of cultural and social backgrounds that these characters came from and the fact that these were not your stereotypical, embellished YA heroes and heroines, but rather real teenagers, with real problems, dreams and fears. Misfits who struggled through life, drank, cried, worried and lied. I also liked the fact that the romance part of the story was almost non existent and all the romantic plot threads took a back seat to the main storyline.
At nearly 600-pages-long, this behemoth of a novel offers an insightful, compelling narrative, a meticulously researched historical and cultural background, a completely mind-blowing world-and-character building, and a disturbing story line that is sure to send chills down your spine. Could this book have been shorter? Perhaps. Would I want it to be shorter? Absolutely no. I loved every detail, every little nuance that Libba Bray weaved into the plot. They all added depth to the story and helped recreate the unique atmosphere of 1920s New York. In the Author's Note, Bray talks about the many hours spent pouring over books, photographs and various other sources that went into creating the world of The Diviners and I can't help but to feel impressed with how fabulous a job she did. She has breathed life into this story, these characters and settings. She made me forget about the real world for a while and lose myself in the world of flappers, vibrant city life, hobble skirts, first automobiles, jazz and petting parties. And it was swell! Everything - from the slang words and outfits to the social movements and politics of that time period - was fantastic. I really couldn't have loved this book more! So don't let the size of this book intimidate you, once you get sucked into the story you'll be in a real page-turning frenzy!
All in all, The Diviners is an accomplished novel and a very exciting new YA series that is as ambitious and intelligent as it is entertaining and downright scary! I highly recommend it!
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LibraryThing member 68papyrus
I have been anxiously awaiting the release of The Diviners since I first saw a synopsis of it on Goodreads last spring. I'm pleased to say the book did not disappoint! This book had it all glamour, flappers, the paranormal, suspense and just a dash of romance. It also managed to be well written and
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thought provoking. I'm excited that this is the first book in a series. I can't wait to read the next release. If you enjoy the paranormal and the Roaring 20's I highly recommend this book. I give this book a well deserved 5 stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryGirl11
Another in redouble work of historical fiction with a supernatural twist. This time, the setting is pre-Depression 1920s New York and Evie and her friends must solve a series of gruesome murders before it's too late. Clearly set up for a sequel.
LibraryThing member sszkutak
Background: Mysterious things are happening in New York City, and luckily Evie O'Neill has been sent there to live with her professor, uncle Will. Little does she know that a case involving the occult, murder, and spirits will engulf her life as she comes to realize that not everything is as it
Review: This was a LONG book! I got the chance to review an audio copy of The Diviners and was super excited to get started listening, sadly it has taken forever to get through, and I am not sure why. The reader is awesome and does very distinctive male and female voices for each of the characters- which also helped me to keep track of them all- there were quite a few. Of all the characters I had the hardest time coming to like Evie, the main character, she tends to be rude and stuck up and she was very self centered most of the story. I enjoyed uncle Will the quirky professor of the strange and unusual and think that would be an awesome profession. The others characters were also easy to follow but the story for q good portion seemed so fragmented by the multiple stories and how they didn't really overlap. In the end, it starts to make a little more sense, but like I mentioned it did take a good chunk of time to get through it all.
The plot was super spooky and eerie, there were a few moments that I had to switch it off because I was alone driving in the dark, granted I am a huge chicken, but still creepy. The author does an awesome job with details throughout, you will not believe the beautiful picture she portrays of the roaring 20's in NYC. I was listening while also in the evenings watching Boardwalk Empire and it all kind of painted a cool picture in my head of the types of people and parties during the period.
Without giving too much away, I have to say that the bad guy was appealingly grotesque in all the right ways.
If you haven't picked this up yet, please do as soon as you can, but maybe not too soon because there are more, it's a series!
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seems. Libba Bray tells the spooky tale of random people on the city and how they become involved in the lives or one another.Review: This was a LONG book! I got the chance to review an audio copy of The Diviners and was super excited to get started listening, sadly it has taken forever to get through, and I am not sure why. The reader is awesome and does very distinctive male and female voices for each of the characters- which also helped me to keep track of them all- there were quite a few. Of all the characters I had the hardest time coming to like Evie, the main character, she tends to be rude and stuck up and she was very self centered most of the story. I enjoyed uncle Will the quirky professor of the strange and unusual and think that would be an awesome profession. The others characters were also easy to follow but the story for q good portion seemed so fragmented by the multiple stories and how they didn't really overlap. In the end, it starts to make a little more sense, but like I mentioned it did take a good chunk of time to get through it all.
The plot was super spooky and eerie, there were a few moments that I had to switch it off because I was alone driving in the dark, granted I am a huge chicken, but still creepy. The author does an awesome job with details throughout, you will not believe the beautiful picture she portrays of the roaring 20's in NYC. I was listening while also in the evenings watching Boardwalk Empire and it all kind of painted a cool picture in my head of the types of people and parties during the period.
Without giving too much away, I have to say that the bad guy was appealingly grotesque in all the right ways.
If you haven't picked this up yet, please do as soon as you can, but maybe not too soon because there are more, it's a series!
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LibraryThing member aimless22
In 1926, Ohio native Evie is sent to Manhattan by her parents to live with her Uncle Will. Evie has the ability to divine people's secrets from touching objects that belong to them. Using this as a party trick, she reveals a secret affair of an acquaintance. He threatens to sue her for slander and
Evie reconnects with her childhood friend and pen pal, Mabel and together they meet more people in and around the apartment building, speakeasies, and theaters of the neighborhood.
Then mysterious murders begin and the police ask for her Uncle's assistance. His museum and teachings focus on the supernatural and the occult. They need his expertise.
Evie uses her own talent to assist in secret at first. Then her Uncle Will helps her to learn about her ability and to use it safely.
Can they stop the Pentacle Killer before he brings on Armageddon when the comet Solomon returns to cross the sky?
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her parents don;t believe it was a lucky guess. Her hometown is too boring for Evie anyway, so she looks forward to the adventure of New York. Evie reconnects with her childhood friend and pen pal, Mabel and together they meet more people in and around the apartment building, speakeasies, and theaters of the neighborhood.
Then mysterious murders begin and the police ask for her Uncle's assistance. His museum and teachings focus on the supernatural and the occult. They need his expertise.
Evie uses her own talent to assist in secret at first. Then her Uncle Will helps her to learn about her ability and to use it safely.
Can they stop the Pentacle Killer before he brings on Armageddon when the comet Solomon returns to cross the sky?
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LibraryThing member ShellyPYA
Evie, 17, has a gift - she can tell things about people if she touches something that belongs to them. Her party trick doesn't go over well in her small Ohio town, so her paretns send her to live with her Uncle Will in New York. He's curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the
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Occult. When he's called in to help the police with a grisly murder investigation, Evie accidentally touches something that belongs to the dead girl and gets glimpses of the moments leading up to her death. As she assists her uncle with the investigation, her path crosses with more people who have strange gifts like her own. There's a sense that a storm is brewing, but what that is has not been made clear. First in a series. Show Less
LibraryThing member kayceel
There was a LOT to this book. Prohibition, girls who just want to have fun (while hiding a secret psychic ability), men and women with secret pasts, scientific experimentation gone wrong, an evil spirit, ritualistic murder, love, humor and a rather unlikable heroine. Granted, she does grow on ya,
Bray is a lovely author - there was a lot of beauty in the writing, plus plenty of interest, but therein lies the problem: there was sooo much to this book, I worry that the intended audience - teens - will get bored. I nearly did, despite liking Bray's writing. It took me a week to finish this, mostly 'cause I simply wasn't driven to finish it...
So, while I did give this a 4-star review, I'd recommend it to *patient* readers with an interest in historical and/or paranormal fiction. Maybe to someone who likes Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series, but wishes there were MORE characters to read about.
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but she's so very self-centered through much of the story, it is a relief when the narrative strays to other characters' point-of-view.Bray is a lovely author - there was a lot of beauty in the writing, plus plenty of interest, but therein lies the problem: there was sooo much to this book, I worry that the intended audience - teens - will get bored. I nearly did, despite liking Bray's writing. It took me a week to finish this, mostly 'cause I simply wasn't driven to finish it...
So, while I did give this a 4-star review, I'd recommend it to *patient* readers with an interest in historical and/or paranormal fiction. Maybe to someone who likes Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series, but wishes there were MORE characters to read about.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
This would probably have scored a 4 stars if it hadn't been right after two great reads. Still it wasn't a bad story, even if it did remind me a bit in parts of the Frighteners.
Evie O'Neill is a flapper, living in the twenties there's a life ahead of her, a life full of promise. The Wall Street
It's an interesting story and I do want to read the next books in it. I really want to know what happens with Jerico and Evie and if Mabel will ever forgive her, and what happens with Theta and Memphis and their complicated relationship.
Left me wanting more.
Evie O'Neill is a flapper, living in the twenties there's a life ahead of her, a life full of promise. The Wall Street
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Crash hasn't happened, prohibition is in force, but that doesn't influence Evie, she's a party girl. Her latest escapades bring her into trouble when she accuses one of her compatriots of getting a girl pregnant. She's sent to her uncle in Manhattan and this starts a chain of events that will change her life.It's an interesting story and I do want to read the next books in it. I really want to know what happens with Jerico and Evie and if Mabel will ever forgive her, and what happens with Theta and Memphis and their complicated relationship.
Left me wanting more.
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LibraryThing member StefanieGeeks
I was really enjoying this book until 3/4 of the way through. The descriptions of life in 1930's New York are vivid and well-researched. The characters develop as the plot expands. The problem I had was with all the extra commentary at the end. It felt as if Bray had to add another couple of
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chapters to slap at the conclusion ofr the story in order to make a sequel possible when the book could have stood alone just fine. The audiobook itself is a good way to go if you are interested in reading the book. The narrator has excellent voices for the characters and reads at a steady and comfortable pace. Show Less
Awards
Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (Finalist — 2012)
Audie Award (Finalist — Teens — 2013)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2014)
Nutmeg Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2015)
Bram Stoker Award (Nominee — Young Adult Novel — 2012)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2015)
The White Ravens (2013)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2013)
CCBC Choices (2013)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Teens (Fiction — 2012)
Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2013)
Reading Olympics (High School — 2024)
OYAN Book Rave (2013)
Language
Original publication date
2012
Physical description
592 p.
ISBN
1907410392 / 9781907410390
Local notes
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 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.
Other editions
The Diviners by Libba Bray (Hardcover)