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A review by cassandrabee
The Diviners by Libba Bray
5.0
Evie O'Neill is an attention starved energetic girl from Ohio who gets sent to live with her uncle in New York after getting into trouble at home. There she gets immersed, not only in city life, but a murder mystery and all things occult. These experiences really draw her out as a complex person. She is a little selfish and flashy, but decisive, confident, empathetic, and smart. As her story unfolds, others' lives converge with hers and fill in the details of the story and the city. These subplots blend wonderfully into the narrative and set up the series with a lot of great opportunities for development.
It took me a while to get into this book, but it was a nice slow build. I wasn't totally hooked until the last hundred pages, but I was intrigued enough to keep going, and I'm glad that I did. The entire book, but especially the opening is very cinematic. Most people picture the events of a book in their head when they're reading, but you really have to commit to it when you read this book. The way Bray describes movement and sound are complex, but if you really go with it it takes the whole "movie in your head thing" to a whole new level. One of Bray's greatest strength is her ability to take advantage of all of your senses and pull you in, which is perfect for a book set in the 20's.
The only thing keeping me from loving this book was that I did feel kind of distant from the characters up until the last hundred pages. Everyone seemed to be guessing what others were thinking instead of talking about what they were thinking, but some real confessions came out toward the end. I still loved the third person narrating, but I'm a sucker for first person.
It took me a while to get into this book, but it was a nice slow build. I wasn't totally hooked until the last hundred pages, but I was intrigued enough to keep going, and I'm glad that I did. The entire book, but especially the opening is very cinematic. Most people picture the events of a book in their head when they're reading, but you really have to commit to it when you read this book. The way Bray describes movement and sound are complex, but if you really go with it it takes the whole "movie in your head thing" to a whole new level. One of Bray's greatest strength is her ability to take advantage of all of your senses and pull you in, which is perfect for a book set in the 20's.
The only thing keeping me from loving this book was that I did feel kind of distant from the characters up until the last hundred pages. Everyone seemed to be guessing what others were thinking instead of talking about what they were thinking, but some real confessions came out toward the end. I still loved the third person narrating, but I'm a sucker for first person.