A review by libralita
The Diviners by Libba Bray

5.0

This was a really enjoyable book. It was so post-twilight/early twenty-tens so it was a real nostalgia trip. Speaking of blasts from the pasts, the 1920s setting really felt alive. I could tell that Bray put a lot of effort into creating a realistic setting. Silly things like the slang that always made me laugh. To some really heavy shit.

I’ve seen some reviews saying that they didn’t like the main character Evie and personally I thought she was a pretty decent Main Character. She did some stupid thing but honestly I’ve seen much worse.

The one problem I did have for this book is how convenient everything is. Like everyone that Evie meets just happens to be a Diviner or has something to do with it. Or has something to do with the murder case. Like at points I just wanted Small World to start playing.

~Spoilers~

Apparently this book is spooky!

“[But] she’s heard he has a habit of inviting girls into his rumble seat for a petting party.”—Page 3

What an interesting sentence.

“Finally, there is movement on the board. ‘I…will…teach…you…fear,’ the hostess reads aloud.”—Page 4

Oh, really?

“Harold Brodie is a louse and a lothario who cheats at cards and has a different girl in his rumble seat every week. That coupe of his is a pos-i-tute-ly a petting palace. And he’s a terrible kisser to boot.”—Page 12

This old-timey speak is just the best.

“[A] distant shore upon which I hope to land.”—Page 13

1920’s sex talk is hilarious.

“Sister Benito Mussolini Facisti?”—Page 33

Okay, I Googled it and apparently 20 dollars is $269.76 in today’s money. So Evie basically just flashed 250 bucks. No wonder Sam stole it. Also $10 is about $134.88.

Jericho is cute. I also love that name.

So, Evie’s not going to tell her Uncle Will that she’s probably a Diviner.

All spoopy books must have creepy old ladies.

Poor Ruta.

“Isaiah sat very still, staring into the dark. ‘I am the dragon. The beast of old,’ he said.”—Page 82

Oh shit!

They’re putting $40 bucks on her doing her hair? Damn…

The cat’s particulars…interesting.

So, is everyone a Diviner?

“Darling girl, I’d be your fool, if I could only pass this stool, oh the curse of CON-STI-PAAA-TION!”—Page 145

This book is weird.

You can tell that this is a post-twilight/Shadowhunters era book because every male character clearly wants bone the female protagonist.

“In the museum’s musty lavatory, Sam washed his hands and left the tap running. Whistling, he sat on the cracked title floor and watched the shadow of Evie’s feet under the slit of the door as she paced. She’d get bored eventually. He opened Jericho’s wallet, which he had lifted while the blond giant was occupied in the stacks.”—Page 149

Such a dick.

“Soloman’s Comet. An event of heavenly significance.”—Page 154

I’m sure this has nothing to do with anything.

“She is the elephant’s eyebrows,”—Page 155

My god, sometimes I can’t take this book seriously.

A golden alter? Sacrifices to spirits? This show is a bit on the nose.

“The duck’s quake”, this is so weird.

“Isaiah stared straight ahead. ‘Anoint thy flesh and prepare ye the walls of your houses. The Lord will brook no weakness in his chosen.’
‘Ice Man?’
‘And the sixth offering shall be an offering of obedience.’”—Page 165

You are one creepy kid.

“Diviners.”—Page 166

Can’t be good.

So has Naughty John corrupted Isaiah?

“I once helped bring charges against the Grand Dragon of the Klan out there. I’m known to them.”—Page 181

Wait, Naughty John has referred to himself as the dragon. So is this like some evil Klanman spirit?

“Jericho cleared his throat. ‘Would you like to take first shift, or shall I?’ he asked, as if at any moment they’d be flooded with visitors.
‘Where’s Sam?’ Evie asked.
‘He went to call a friend about a motorcar.’
‘I’ll bet he did,’ Evie scoffed.
‘I could take first shift, if you like,’ Jericho offered.
‘No, I will,’”—Page 183

Man, Jericho is crushing on Evie hard.

So Liberty’s brother built a mansion and it turns out to be Evie’s uncle’s museum. SMALL WORLD!

“‘What was started long ago will now be finished when the fire burns in the sky,’ he said. Repent, for the Beast is come.’”—Page 203

Weird.

“The Sacrifice of the Faithful. The Tribute of the ten Servants of the Master. The Pale Horseman Riding Death Before the Stars. The Death of the Virgin. The Harlot Adorned and Cast upon the Sea. The Sacrifice of the Idle Son. The Turning Out of the Deceitful Brethren from the Temple of Solomon. The Veneration of the Angelic Herald. The Destruction of the Golden Idol. The Lamentation of the Widow. The Marriage of the Beast and the Woman Clothed in the Sun.”—Pages 211-212

These are all the things to come signaling the end is neigh. If I had to guess, the last one is going to be Evie.

“‘You said that the Brethren is a vanished cult. What happened to them?’
‘The entire sect burned to death in 1848.’”—Page 213

The first thing to happen was “The Sacrifice of the Faithful.”

Oh, well how convenient that the page we need is missing.

“Please, can you help? They took my sister from the factory.”—Page 223

Next victim?

“[Why] start with the fifth offering? It doesn’t make sense.”—Page 227

They happened hundreds of years ago. The offering, dammit. Please don’t take the entire book to figure this out.

“He thought about going to the Hotsy Totsy or the Tomb of the Fallen Angels”—Page 236

There’s your tomb.

“It’s very nice of your uncle to take you girls to a poetry reading. It’s important to tend to your education rather than fritter away time in bourgeois, immoral pastimes such as dancing in nightclubs.”—Page 249

I think poetry readings are pretty bourgeois.

“One of his bullets passed through the book of poetry in Memphis’s hand. Memphis stuck his finger through the hole. ‘That was a library book,’ he said, gasping.”—Page 268

Me.

“His words were a choke whisper: ‘Oh, my son, my son. What have you done?’”—Page 275

Chills.

Oh, I’m sure that Evie will be sent back to Ohio. I guess it’ll be Mabel’s story.

“Evie sat forward, hopeful. ‘It was just like sitting at the picture show, but a picture show where the projector light isn’t terribly strong. It was only a moment. I could see Mother sitting at her dressing table, and I could feel what she had been feeling when she’d worn the brooch.’
‘What was that?’
Evie looked him in the eyes. ‘She wished I’d been the one to die instead of James.’”—Page 294

Oh shit.

“Are there others like me?”—Page 295

Everyone is this damn book.

Looks like Gabe is the Angelic Herald.

So there’s some agency that’s collecting Diviners. Of course, there always is.

“Theta let out the breath she’d been holding.”—Page 323

This is an early 2010s book!

I’m suddenly very grateful for Google. All hail our evil overlord.

Memphis, don’t you fucking leave! Ugh…

Poor Jericho has a giant crush on Evie and he’s just completely ignored by her.

“Jericho came to sit beside her. ‘Murnau’s Faust is playing at the Palace.’
‘Swell,’ Evie said, still turning things over in her mind.
‘I was just wondering if you might—’
there was a knock at the door.
‘I’ll go,’ Evie said, sighing. ‘Probably another reporter.’
‘Wanted to go with me,’ Jericho finished as he watched Evie walk away.”—Page 361

Poor Jericho…

“‘This is happening pretty fast, isn’t it?’ Memphis said. He could not remember a time when he didn’t know Theta, a time when she didn’t occupy his thoughts and dreams.”—Page 370

Uh, guys, you’ve seen each other like 3 times.

“Come, come play with us….”—Page 372

That’s some Shining shit.

And Gabe is dead.

And Mabel and Evie are friends again.

“I believe this may be the lair of the Pentacle Killer.”—Page 380

Which is why we’re going in it.

“Theta was right to nickname you Evil. I believe you need the services of Sigmund Freud. He’s the only person who could possibly understand the workings of your very healthy mind.”—Page 380

Something about penises?

“But Evie’s attention was drawn to a door slowly creaking open at the far end of the corridor behind her.”—Page 385

Nopenopenopenopenopenope! N-O-P-E NOPE! DO NOT GO IN THAT ROOM EVIE.

This diary is super interesting. I wonder if Hobbes was always supernatural.

I wonder if we’ll see Ida Knowles’s spirit.

Gabe’s death is really sad.

“Memphis turned to her, his face gone hard. ‘I want to help you find Gabe’s killer.’”—Page 399

Yay, they’re working together! Will Fitzgerald’s School for Gifted Youngsters is being realized!

How can Will keep her safe?

“Evie thought of the small patch of cloth stuck on the laundry chute. It was so small—too small to be of note. Wasn’t it?”—Page 410

UGHHH!

Theta is getting an abortion. Well, that just got heavy.

“‘Talking to Gabriel.’ Isaiah’s teeth chattered. His eyes had the fixed, unseeing quality of a trance. ‘Memphis, brother,’ Isaiah whispered. ‘The storm is coming…the storm is coming…’”—Page 429

The everstorm? No but oh shit, I’m really concerned about Isaiah.

Did Theta or did Hobbes take the skin? Also is it that annoying girl?

Oh shit, Mary White is alive!

“‘You want to know about my John,’ she said in a voice weak with labored breathing.”—Page 441

And I wish she wasn’t.

Grave robbing time!

“I see you,”—Page 454

NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE

HE’S IN THE MUSEUM FUCK!!

…sweet pickles…?

They’re looking for Diviners. “Fitter Families For Future Firesides”.

“Making America strong through the science of eugenics.”—Page 469

Oh fuck. Wait, they were totally looking for Diviners. So do people who believed in eugenics are also in on this? I guess that makes sense since the Klan also has something to do with the Beast.

That pendant is going to be gone.

Oh, Mary is going to be the next victim, good luck.

Jericho is a cyborg!

Sometimes this story just gets really freaking dark.

Hobbes left Ruta’s shoe buckle in the museum. Dammit!

“No. We stay together.”—Page 525

Jericho Jones wins the prize for being the most intelligent YA character ever.

“‘I’ll hate you forever,’ she whispered, losing the battle against the tears.
‘I know,’ Will said softly.”—Page 553

Ow, that hit me hard.

I…don’t know if showing your supernatural abilities to reports is wisest idea.

I’ve never trusted Blind Bill….

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THAT CAT???

Here’s hoping my ship keeps sailing.