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kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
Escobar begins another interesting Urban Fantasy with this book. Kelsey Diviner is returning to the vocation that she left at age 14-- shaman who can walk in the spirit world and work magic and wards in the physical world.
When her shaman father is injured be a dark spirit, her tech genius friend Chris attacked, and a dark witch haunting Kelsey herself, she will have to call on her untrained powers to stop the dark spirit from entering her world.
There are some absolutely cool multicultural aspects to this book. I had to Google "invunche", which are pretty horrible demons, and Babalu Aye as well. Kelsey is sympathetic and well meaning, and definitely has her own volition and ideas about how to handle the intersection of paranormal and modern world.
There was a bit of vagueness to the shaman's powers, as opposed to the gods they encounter that was a bit dissatisfying, and while there is the slightest hint of a nascent romance, there was nowhere near the emotional engagement in the potential romance or even family member relationships that would get me invested in Kelsey for a series. So cool...but ultimately not enough to keep me reading more.
When her shaman father is injured be a dark spirit, her tech genius friend Chris attacked, and a dark witch haunting Kelsey herself, she will have to call on her untrained powers to stop the dark spirit from entering her world.
There are some absolutely cool multicultural aspects to this book. I had to Google "invunche", which are pretty horrible demons, and Babalu Aye as well. Kelsey is sympathetic and well meaning, and definitely has her own volition and ideas about how to handle the intersection of paranormal and modern world.
There was a bit of vagueness to the shaman's powers, as opposed to the gods they encounter that was a bit dissatisfying, and while there is the slightest hint of a nascent romance, there was nowhere near the emotional engagement in the potential romance or even family member relationships that would get me invested in Kelsey for a series. So cool...but ultimately not enough to keep me reading more.
jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was a very cool adventure into the spirit world. It had a unique world to explore and magic system that was used. The main character is engaging. However, the emotional weight is pretty light. I wanted to feel more from that father-daughter relationship. Overall, there's lots of potential, and I was left wanting more.
morebookspleaseblog's review against another edition
5.0
Kelsey Jackson Diviner is a shaman-in-training who witnesses an attack on a fellow shaman. There’s a shadow-in-black out to get all shamans, Kelsey is no exception. Her father, a fellow shaman, is attacked while helping Kelsey with a client. Can she help save her father and potentially the world?
Escobar writes an interesting group of characters, with each one serving a purpose. In the beginning, Kelsey’s father seems overly protective, until he’s attacked and not only do you see and understand why her father was always “butting in”, but you also got to see just how much training Kelsey still needed. This caused Kelsey to draw on an inner power she didn’t know she had within her. It wasn’t magic, she had plenty of that (although not fully trained with it), it was grit and determination. She was sympathetic and empathetic, with sometimes not a clear plan to achieve her goal, but she never gave up. Kelsey does have a hard time figuring out who can and can’t be trusted. No one wants to walk around feeling suspicious all the time; this is where her strengths were sometimes her weakness. Some magical details about shamans and gods could have been explained more, but it’s possible to learn more about them in the next installment. Overall, she achieves her goal, but not her end goal. This was written in such a way there was no true, clear cliffhanger… but just enough to get you excited about the next installment.
Escobar writes an interesting group of characters, with each one serving a purpose. In the beginning, Kelsey’s father seems overly protective, until he’s attacked and not only do you see and understand why her father was always “butting in”, but you also got to see just how much training Kelsey still needed. This caused Kelsey to draw on an inner power she didn’t know she had within her. It wasn’t magic, she had plenty of that (although not fully trained with it), it was grit and determination. She was sympathetic and empathetic, with sometimes not a clear plan to achieve her goal, but she never gave up. Kelsey does have a hard time figuring out who can and can’t be trusted. No one wants to walk around feeling suspicious all the time; this is where her strengths were sometimes her weakness. Some magical details about shamans and gods could have been explained more, but it’s possible to learn more about them in the next installment. Overall, she achieves her goal, but not her end goal. This was written in such a way there was no true, clear cliffhanger… but just enough to get you excited about the next installment.
cecelia_isaac_author's review against another edition
5.0
This book, along with the sequel, Order of the Black Sun was our January/February 2020 Book of the Month selection. Read our full review on F-BOM.com: https://f-bom.com/2020/01/01/the-diviners-f-bom-book-of-the-month-review/
"Main character Kelsey really drew me in. Kelsey has already had her rebellion — at 14 she decided not to be a shaman, and left her father’s house. But now she’s returned, accepting herself and her powers. Unfortunately, the ten years she spent as a normal person meant she wasn’t training her powers, so she isn’t a full-strength shaman. But she does know who she is, and where she wants to be. She’s still discovering herself but she’s grounded, and powerful, and decisive.
Between the unknown motivations of a tech billionaire, the shaky morality of a supernatural-crime-fighting organization, and the threat of the Night Lord, Kelsey is lucky to have her family to lean on while she grows in power and learns to use her skills."
"Main character Kelsey really drew me in. Kelsey has already had her rebellion — at 14 she decided not to be a shaman, and left her father’s house. But now she’s returned, accepting herself and her powers. Unfortunately, the ten years she spent as a normal person meant she wasn’t training her powers, so she isn’t a full-strength shaman. But she does know who she is, and where she wants to be. She’s still discovering herself but she’s grounded, and powerful, and decisive.
Between the unknown motivations of a tech billionaire, the shaky morality of a supernatural-crime-fighting organization, and the threat of the Night Lord, Kelsey is lucky to have her family to lean on while she grows in power and learns to use her skills."
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