Author: Libba Bray
Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Pages: 578
Cover Judge: I love it! Elegant, classy, slightly creepy with the eye and the dark covers.
Quote Choice: HA, I love Evie.
Source: For Review
Source: For Review
Goodreads: Link
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.
Now I can say for sure that Libba Bray's historicals are seriously what do it for me. I was discouraged because while I love her Gemma Doyle Trilogy, her last two contemporaries (although not really cotemporaries, what can I consider Beauty Queens and Going Bovine?) didn't really do it for me. But! The Diviners did not disappoint. (I can also officially say it's my favorite Libba book.)
One of my favorite things about Libba's writing is that although it's lush, descriptive, and prose-tastic, it's not boring and long. She writes with a simplistic style that doesn't make me want to keep flipping the pages but still manages to be not only beautiful but in this case? Creepy. If you don't know what the book it's about, a girl named Evie moves to New York to live with her Uncle at the same time that her Uncle starts helping out on this murder case that is strangely leaning towards the Occult. The story shifts from three main perspectives (aside from the killers): Evie, Theta, and Memphis but all in the third person. I loved this because while Evie is amazing, I loved hearing Theta and Memphis' stories, especially when they intertwined.
But seriously, Evie was awesome. Evie was "spoiled and a bit selfish" (as Jericho calls her) but also kind-hearted and witty and she just...she's the kind of character who you know if they were real, they'd be the type of people who light up a room when they get excited about things. She was upbeat and unrelenting in her originality and spunk which is a great contrast against Theta, who while still being spunky and fun, is much more inherently sad and her story much more dark. All the same, I loved her and I loved her relationship with her best friend, Henry. They were what best friends should be: teasing and fun but deep down they had this loyalty and honesty towards each other that I really loved reading about. And finally, Memphis! Memphis is someone you have to discover on your own people!
The murder aspect itself is creepy and crazy, as things usually get when they involve the occult and supernatural! The killer's chapters were dark and twisted and the way the supernatural in this world was woven into the story was very seamless and realistic.
And finally, the romance. There isn't much in the book but just enough to get my toes tingling, really. While there is no implicit love triangle or anything, there is more than one person vying for Evie's attentions. This is something I love about Libba: when she gives her main character more than one opinion, it never feels like it's suddenly a love triangle or a competition. It just is. And because of this, I have to mention Jericho who I love because gah he was so sweet and shy and stoic. I adored him and I adored him and Evie's moment in the story. That isn't to say I didn't love Sam! I mean, handsome, rakish, and just a little bit dangerous? That's practically the formula for every bad boy persona except Sam manages to pull it off with such a charm and candor that I actually enjoyed it instead of rolling my eyes all the time.
All in all, I recommend it a thousand times over! Happy Reading!
