The Diviners By Libba Bray

The Diviner

Libba Bray

578 pg.
Published on September 18, 2012
Published by Little Brown Books For Young Readers

5 Stars

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.


The Diviners by Libba Bray was beyond amazing. I did not think that I would become as engrossed in this book as I was when I first picked it up. The mixture of darkness, mystery, and theory had me sucked in. This is a book full of questions and secrets that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The religious point of view it also had was really interesting. It was hard to believe that cults like that really existed. Though, it is best not to think about that at night.  It is best to steer clear of this book when you are alone and in the dark. I found myself trying to read it in those circumstances in my room and I could not do it. It can be gruesome at some points, but that is what made it suspenseful. I highly recommend this book for a fan of religious cults, suspense, and someone who likes to lose themselves in deep thought. 

Evie was not my favorite character in the begging of the book. I thought she was carless and lucky-go-happy.  As the story went on I felt that her ambition did make me grow fonder of her. She had a lot of tenacity for solving the mystery which is one thing I admired about. Anouther part of her that I liked was her bravery. She was never afraid to jump into a scary situation.Though her careless and happy-go-lucky attitude never went away, because of her newfound bravery and tenacity I found myself overlooking those parts of her. 

Memphis first reminded me as how I used to pronounce Metias from Legend’s name till I was corrected. He came off to me as a very caring, poetic, and charming soul. Though he had a dark past he used it to create beautiful poetry. He loved his family and would do anything to keep his brother safe. He was a loyal friends and stayed true to his word. He had a hard side that came out when he needed it to though. 

Theta was a very masked character. On the surface she was a strong and wild. Inside though she had her secrets like everyone else and was just as scared. At first I had no idea what a Ziegfeld girl was and I had to google it. So, she did teach me something new. I liked her sweet relationship with Henry. I was nice that they were not dating and that they were jut like brother and sister that helped each other in hard times. She was looking for an escape and found it while still achieving to accomplish her dreams. 

The plot and points of the book are what really makes it different. The villain and his group are not just killing people because they were mad at someone for something that they did like other books. What really separates this book from all the others I have read that it was about a cult. They killed people because they thought god told them to and they needed to as an act of goodness and holiness. The mystery of the diviners was also another point about it that I liked. The powers that they have are special and supernatural, but they are very unexplained which makes a person want to know more about them. The plot twists came in interesting ways as well. I knew that they were coming, but when they ended up happening they came in different but same ways than I expected and still managed to surprise me. 

The Diviners is definitely a book that I recommend to people, and I am looking forward to the second book. 

Hope you keep reading!

Grace