The Diviners (The Diviners, #1) by Libba Bray | An amazing cast of characters & entertaining roaring twenties!

Oh, man! «The Diviners» was such a roller coaster of emotions! 

The beginning of the book wasn’t as exciting as I hoped it would be, which translated into me starting this book twice. For the second time as I passed that first chapter (prologue) about the party and spirit summoning, I met Evie and fell in love with her character. The book just kept getting better and better from there. However, by the end, I was started to feel tired of reading the same story and the last 100 pages took me a couple of days to finish.

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goodreads blurb:

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.

GOODREADS  | AMAZON UK – US |  BOOKDEPOSITORY  | AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group, Atom for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own and not influenced by the company or its affiliates in any way.

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Set in 1920s New York, «The Diviners» is a paranormal murder mystery with an amazing cast of characters, funny banter and incredibly realistic setting. Reading this masterpiece by Libba Bray made me want to rewatch all movies set in the 20s – from «Ziegfield Girl» to «The Great Gatsby». 

WHAT I LIKED:

1 – Reading «The Diviners» and getting to know Evie and other characters, you can see how much work and research went into this book. Libba Bray had done a huge amount of work to be able to transport her readers to the roaring twenties – the age of cinema and jazz, flapper girls and social and cultural changes. 

She didn’t stop on just understanding the social and religious setting of that decade, she went even further to learn about current interests, influences, and even slang. I had so much fun reading the dialogues in that particular American accent of the 20s in my head! Or maybe I just watched too many movies set during that time. 😀 

2 – The characters are the strongest point of the book. And while the plot and murder mystery are interesting and make you want to read faster to find out who did it and how things will unravel. It’s the characters that won’t let you put the book down. 

Evie, Mabel, Theta, Sam, Jericho, Memphis, and Henry – they all bring something different to the story, besides all other secondary characters that were just as important for the story. The man character in «The Diviners» is Evie O’Neil – a flapper girl sent to New York to live with her uncle, after a rather embarrassing night out. 

Not sure why Evie’s parents thought that New York would be better for her, considering the roaring twenties and the number of distractions New York had to offer. But Evie was determined to make the best of her exile! 

The best word to describe her is Fun! She is one of those perky personalities that, at first glance, are always happy, don’t brood over negative things and always have a witty remark to make. I loved her dialogues. In fact, Libba Bray added a little bit of sass to all of her female characters. Even the shy and reserved Mabel made one of the best unintentional jokes:

“Could I have a Sloe Gin Fizz, without the gin?”
“What’s the point of that, Miss?” the waiter said.
“Tomorrow morning,” Mabel said.”

Besides the characters (I’m really looking forward to finding out more about Theta and Henry in the future books!) the dynamics between them were just as amusing and entertaining to read. 

• Evie and Mabel and their friendship that went through some rough time (and there are more to come in the sequels, I’m sure of it). 
• Evie and Sam and their cheeky banter. Uh! I loved their interactions so much! 
• Theta and Henry and their tender relationship. 
• Memphis and his younger brother. 
• The list can go on and on! 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

1 – The biggest disappointment was the romance. The entire book I was shipping the wrong ship. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Or better various wrong ships. I don’t want to spoil anything, so there isn’t much I can comment on, other than that the romance will create unnecessary drama that could have been easily avoided, and I really don’t like drama. 

My Rating:
★★★★☆

«The Diviners» introduced an incredible cast of characters, and I have a feeling that the sequels will (1) provide more details about characters that didn’t get much attention in the first book and (2) maybe add even more amazing complex characters to this story. 

Just the first book would make such an interesting TV show! If there will be a Top Ten Tuesday prompt about books that should get a TV or movie adaptation, «The Diviners» will definitely appear on my list. 

Have you read The Diviners? Who was your favorite character? Let me know in the comments below!

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