The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray
Format: Hardback
Publishers: ATOM
Published: 18th September 2012
Pages: 592
Main Characters: Evie, Memphis, Jericho, Sam, Theta
Date Started: 25th September 2012
Date Finished: 3rd October 2012
Rating Given: ***
The Blurb from Goodreads:
It's 1920s New York City. It's flappers and Follies, jazz and gin. It's after the war but before the depression. And for certain group of bright young things it's the opportunity to party like never before.
For Evie O'Neill, it's escape. She's never fit in in small town Ohio and when she causes yet another scandal, she's shipped off to stay with an uncle in the big city. But far from being exile, this is exactly what she's always wanted: the chance to show how thoroughly modern and incredibly daring she can be.
But New York City isn't about just jazz babies and follies girls. It has a darker side. Young women are being murdered across the city. And these aren't crimes of passion. They're gruesome. They're planned. They bear a strange resemblance to an obscure group of tarot cards. And the New York City police can't solve them alone.
Evie wasn't just escaping the stifling life of Ohio, she was running from the knowledge of what she could do. She has a secret. A mysterious power that could help catch the killer - if he doesn't catch her first.
The moment I saw the American book cover for this book I was wanting to read it and then when I saw the UK version I wanted it even. So imagine my delight when ATOM said I could review it and they sent me a finished copy I was over the moon. Big thanks to ATOM publishers for letting me review this book as it was a good start to the series.
I love this cover and it looks even better in person especially with as much effort on the inside as there is on the front. One of the reasons why I love it so much is the way in which it is stylized like the 20's which is the setting of the book. I just love it when a cover matches what the story is about like this one does.
I wanted to love this book from the start but I found it was a really slow beginning and it wasn't until at least halfway through when it started to pick up. This wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the length of the book which made me not want to continue with it. Towards the end of the book it really picked up as I was so drawn into the world that Bray created I didn't even want to put it down and could have easily have been a five star book if it wasn't for the beginning. There was times during the slow beginning when something would happen that got me intrigued but then it would go onto something else that wasn't so interesting. The best things during the beginning was very creepy which may sound rather weird but it creeped me out so much which hasn't really happened to me before. It was a very confusing start as I just didn't know what was happening and random things would happen but once things got explained it was a little less confusing. There was a lot of characters with a lot of secrets which did have me intrigued but I felt like there was just too many secrets with little explanations. Even by the end there was still some secrets that needed to be uncovered but there is more book in this series so I expected things will get cleared up by the last book. By the end of the book it was so gripping with all the twists and turns it just had me on the edge of my seat which I love when a book can do that to me.
Like the book I wasn't too keen on the characters at the beginning but by the end I was routing for them although I still don't love any of the characters which is a shame but I hope that will change as the series continues. Evie was a very spoilt and selfish girl at the beginning and even though she was still a little selfish at the end she grew into a better person and I'm hoping that she will get less selfish in the next book as I can't stand selfish characters. Jericho was nice enough but for me he was just a bit too nice. I liked Sam he was a bit of a bad boy as he was a pickpocket but he was funny at times. I felt the romance was a bit rushed towards the end but I am hoping there will be more on that in the next book.
Overall I think the book could have been made into a smaller book. It had a very slow start but when it picked up it was very creepy which I loved. I found it a good start to the series but I have high hopes that the next one will be better.
