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A review by kelly_
The Diviners by Libba Bray
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is the first book (which I listened to as an audiobook from borrowbox) in what I believe is a series of 4. Its main character is a 17 year old girl called Evie (she calls herself a flapper) who has visions. It’s set in the 1920s and written in third person.
Evie, her uncle, and a couple of friends need to research some creepy cult-like murders with supernatural elements to help stop a serial killer.
The time period it’s set in is very apparent, with the vocabulary, attitudes, clothing described etc. Initially it was great but it quickly got annoying as I did find that this was overdone with Evie particularly, with excessive slang terms and the suffix “ski” with random words (“positiv-a-lutely” and “you bet-ski”).
I enjoyed that there were hints towards a group of people with special abilities, and lots of info to gather around the location and serial killer, but the book did jump around to different POVs too much for my taste.
This book came across like an extended ghost story with the Ouija board leading to a killer ghost rampage and nightmares etc. What he was doing would certainly have been scary and disturbing but someone calling themselves “naughty John” constantly and singing a children’s song all the time just got really silly. It was a bit like Jeepers Creepers, without the jump moments.
Overall, I liked the idea but I didn’t personally connect to the any of the main characters so it’s clearly not for me.
Evie, her uncle, and a couple of friends need to research some creepy cult-like murders with supernatural elements to help stop a serial killer.
The time period it’s set in is very apparent, with the vocabulary, attitudes, clothing described etc. Initially it was great but it quickly got annoying as I did find that this was overdone with Evie particularly, with excessive slang terms and the suffix “ski” with random words (“positiv-a-lutely” and “you bet-ski”).
I enjoyed that there were hints towards a group of people with special abilities, and lots of info to gather around the location and serial killer, but the book did jump around to different POVs too much for my taste.
This book came across like an extended ghost story with the Ouija board leading to a killer ghost rampage and nightmares etc. What he was doing would certainly have been scary and disturbing but someone calling themselves “naughty John” constantly and singing a children’s song all the time just got really silly. It was a bit like Jeepers Creepers, without the jump moments.
Overall, I liked the idea but I didn’t personally connect to the any of the main characters so it’s clearly not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Child death, and Rape