The Diviners
Libba Bray’s The Diviners is the first book in the Diviners series. This series takes place in New York during 1926. This is in the middle of the age of Prohibition. Illegal speakeasies were common so people could party and get drunk. Many young women were at odds with their parents and choose to bob their hair and wear short, flapper dresses instead of embracing the traditional longer skirt. Among the wild parties, Zeigfeld girls, and crushed dreams, a supernatural evil arises in New York City and causes many stories to unfold.
Although there are many characters who get their chance to narrate chapters, Evangeline O’Neill (Evie) is the main protagonist, thus she is the only one I will be going into detail in. Evie is a girl who lives and breathes excitement. If she had her way, she would spend every night getting drunk at speakeasies. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior isn’t tolerated in her sleepy town of Zenith, Ohio. After her latest stunt, her parents have had enough. They send her to New York City as punishment, unaware that New York is the perfect place for her. Evie displays characteristics of being independent, confident, reckless and even brave. All of these traits mark her as the perfect example of a 1920s flapper. To make Evie a more complex character, she is grieving over her brother James, who died in World War I. While Evie is clearly affected by the death, she doesn’t let the death control her and dominate the book. This is amazing because many books either disregard the death of a loved one or let it control and drag down the story. Evie also possesses special abilities that allow her to read an object’s past, similar to Gwen from the Mythos Academyseries. The Diviners is a wonderful read. It takes place in New York during the 1920s. While there are many familiar landmarks, it is amazing to see how they were 90 years prior to our current era. Libba Bray does an amazing job of making New York into an amazing an interesting setting. She even includes the slang that is present at the time period. Besides the setting, the plot is interesting. It grabs your interest and keeps it as it slowly unfolds. During Evie’s adventures, many stories of other characters are unfolding around her. Exploring their vastly different lives, histories, and emotions is both refreshing and exciting. Each narrative intertwines beautifully with each other. Over the course of the books all of the characters develop and are positioned to have interesting relationships in future novels. This book also explores a murder mystery that involves supernatural elements. The mystery is interesting and combines supernatural and normal elements in a seamless way. I give this 578 page book 5 stars. |
The DivinersThis series takes place in New York City during the mid-1920s. For those who don't know about this time, this time period was known as the "Roaring Twenties". Prohibition banned all alcohol, yet speakeasies became popular so people could get their daily dose of intoxication. Organized crime wad at an all time high. Many young women embraced a new style of acting and dressing that conflicted with the generation before them. The Diviners combines this interesting 1920s setting with mystery and supernatural abilities. .
More books in the SeriesComing Soon
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