The Diviners by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners (The Diviners #1)

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR

Release Date: September 18, 2012

Source: From Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us?

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…

Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray opens a brand-new historical series with The Diviners, where the glittering surface of the Roaring Twenties hides a mystical horror creeping across the country.

I remember being really excited about Libba Bray's The Diviners when I first heard about it. And then I kept on seeing glowing reviews of the book, which only made me want to read it that much more. So I was beyond excited when my own gorgeous finished copy of The Diviners showed up on my doorstep, though I was slightly thrown aback by the size of the book. But that didn't deter me and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the book as I was reading it. 

Despite having been ousted of Ohio by her parents, Evie O'Neil is thrilled to now be living in Manhattan. Even if it's with her uncle Will, curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition and the Occult. For Evie, Manhattan means speakeasies, flappers and glamour all around. But everything may not be quite as glamorous as Evie hoped it would be. With a serial killer roaming around town, committing ritual killings. The only people who seem to be able to solve the mystery are Evie, her uncle Will and Jericho, her uncle's student and assistant. Among all the ritz and glamour of New York City, Evie must race against the clock to stop a killer before he unleashes hell on earth.

While I have absolutely nothing against long or big books, I was slightly thrown by the sheer size of Libba Bray's The Diviners. I was honestly wondering how I would be able to get through the book while also focusing on school and work. But it didn't prove to be that difficult once I really got into the story. With her writing, Libba Bray really transported me back to New York City and the 1920s. With her every word, I was able to picture this past Manhattan and the world that Evie was living in. And let me say that at times, that world and that writing gave me some serious chills, especially when I was reading alone at night. It was not exactly conducive to peaceful dreams. The story itself was engrossing. While it did take a little while for me to get into it, which could be accounted for by the fact I was only able to read sporadically, once the story won me over I was not longer able to put the book down. 

Miss Evie O'Neil was quite the character. From the start, she intrigued me. I was never quite sure what to make of her. At times she seemed like just your typical young women living life to the fullest in the roaring 20s. But then there were those moments where she took me by surprise, all of a sudden she would become this completely different Evie who took the time to think and didn't only think of herself. All that to say that Evie is the type of character who you really have to get to know before you make up your mind about her. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting to become attached to so many characters in this book. All of them each had their quirks and eccentricities that made them unique and, in my opinion, that much more likeable. I just never quite knew what to expect from any of them.

Overall, The Diviners by Libba Bray was a fantastic read, one that brought images of a long gone Manhattan to mine and one that will give you chills for any one of a myriad of reasons. My one recommendation: if you're alone at night, you may want to have multiple lights on when reading certain parts of the book.

For more information on the book, be sure to check out the HBG website.

Waiting on Wednesday (56)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming release they are particularly looking forward to.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:

THE DIVINERS BY LIBBA BRAY

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-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

I'll admit right now that the only book by Libba Bray that I've read is Beauty Queens despite owning her Gemma Doyle trilogy. Regardless of that, The Diviners sounds like a really interesting read and who doesn't love a paranormal mixed with historical fiction? I can't wait to be able to read this one.

The Diviners by Libba Bray will be published September 18, 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Title: Beauty Queens

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: May 24, 2011

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

Beauty Queens is the first Libba Bray book I’ve read and I am happy to have finally read one of her books. Beauty Queens was funny, witty and all around a great book. I highly enjoyed reading it and even wished it would have been longer.

What could possibly go wrong when a plane full of teenage beauty queens crashes on a deserted island? Just about everything. No one really knows what to do to survive and the girl put in charge thinks they shouldn’t do anything other than continue preparing for the pageant. Except that’s not really going to help them get off the island. But somehow they manage to survive and come together instead of seeing each other as competition. But then pirates show up and while trying to find a way off the island, the group of beauty queens discover there may be a lot more going on than meets the eye.

I don’t think I could have loved this story more. It was everything I expected and that much more. Libba Bray is an absolutely brilliant writer and I am so happy I finally picked up one of her books. The story she wrote had a bit of everything: action, adventure, drama, romance, humor, just to name a few. But even with all those elements thrown together, the story worked perfectly. And who would have thought a story about beauty queens stranded on a desert island would turn out to be so amazing? Let’s just say Libba Bray wrote a story I am not about to forget any time soon.

As much as I love being able to really relate to characters and there not being too many of them, I absolutely loved the cast of characters here. Each girl was unique and brought something different to the story. If I were to relate to one girl more than the others it would be Adina, simply because I felt we had similar personalities. But I loved the others too. I enjoyed seeing Mary Lou get comfortable with her body, the relationship between Jennifer and Sosie develop, as well as Shanti and Nicole come to terms with who they are and just seeing all the girls change and grow. And of course, Taylor was always a great source of entertainment. And don’t even get me started on the pirates and the secret agents. There wasn’t one boring character.

Beauty Queens was an absolutely amazing book. Libba Bray is a fantastic writer and I can’t wait to finally read more of her books and discover this great author.