Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners

Series: The Diviners #1

Author: Libba Bray

Genre: YA, mystery, historical

Publication date: December 2013

Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Source: Owned paperback

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Synopsis:

Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us?

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 unfurl in the city that never sleeps. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened...

My rating: ★★★☆☆
This book was weird in that I didn’t like it... but I did?


So, you may or may not know by now that I’m not really into historical fiction type of books. But I thought I’d give this one a try because of the magic involved! I LOVE magic! Another reason I decided to pick it up was because the synopsis mentioned the solving of a murder, and I love murder mysteries as well! However, while the synopsis made it seem like the murder mystery was going to be a big part of the story, it actually took 100 PAGES to actually get to it!! Ugh!


It was a bit frustrating, and if I’m being honest, the beginning kind of dragged a bit.

Another thing—so many characters, so many POVs! I’m gonna admit that I’m not the biggest fan of multiple POVs to begin with, but I try to not let it bother me, and I typically succeed. But this had an over-the-top number of POVs! And not only that, but one particular storyline felt like it didn’t have anything to do with anything! Like, if you took it out of this already massive book, it would make no difference in the overall story that The Diviners had to tell! I’m pretty sure it was a setup for the next book. Actually, it felt like there was a lot of setup in this book, which distracted from the present story, unfortunately.

As for the individual characters, they were... fine.


Can’t say anyone in particular impressed me. Someone I really didn’t care for was the main character, Evie. Some people might say that Evie is fun-loving... I say she’s reckless! She’s spoiled and selfish and shallow and—she was just not a great character to be around, in my opinion. Even her friends see it!

“Don’t you ever know when to stop?” Mabel snapped. “You’re so selfish sometimes, Evie! It’s all a game to you—and you want to rig it in your favor all the time, and damn what anybody else wants.” ... “I’ve had enough, Evie. I’m tired, and I’m going to bed.”
Evie took in a shaky breath. “Mabesie, I... I didn’t think...”
“You never do. That’s the trouble.”

Thank you Mabel!

I did think some of them had some pretty cool supernatural abilities, though. Even Evie! But the thing with her is, she could’ve used this really cool ability to help her uncle solve the murder. She could tell her uncle (who would totally understand) about said ability and help. But does she? NO! Instead, she shows off her power to a roomful of strangers like it’s some sort of party trick.


Priorities, am I right?

So, no. I can’t say I enjoyed reading 578 pages of this—it was lengthy AF and I struggled through it quite a bit. Not to mention the over-the-top dialogue. I get that this is set in the 20s, okay? I get it. But no need to be so repetitive and annoying. And I’m not even going to go into the love triangle, ‘cause everyone knows how much I hate those. *sigh*


But here is the thing, I may say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would, BUT I had withdrawals after finishing it! Strange, I know. I actually missed this book! I realized that I just really loved this world, and it’s probably the only reason I’ll read the next book.

Alternate cover:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)