The Diviners by Libba Bray

The Diviners

by Libba Bray 

 

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

 

(summary from goodreads.com)

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Someday there will be breaking news - Author Libba Bray actually two authors! And I will think - ah, NOW it makes sense. There are a few Libba Bray books (okay, maybe only one) that are silly and hilarious and a wild ride (Beauty Queens, SO FUNNY), and others that are dark and mystical and deep, with not much the same between the two. This book falls into the latter category, which isn't my favorite of the two styles Bray writes in. It reminded me a lot of her series "A Great and Terrible Beauty" which honestly lost my interest mid-2nd book and never recovered. I loved the setting (more books need to be set in the 20s! Fun!) but thought it was a little long winded and awfully dark through most of that long windedness. I liked the characters but also thought it was a little too adult/serious/violent for a teen book, despite most of the main characters being 17. I'll probably give the 2nd book a try, we'll see if I make it through the whole thing.

Mom note: As a mother of readers, I also want to make a note to myself (and others if they care) why I would or would not have my children read this book, because honestly, sometimes I forget. This is a YA book, so everything is within YA strictures. Violence: YES, ick; Profanity: ??; Sex: yes, mostly married but abusive