allisonsmith120's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Antisemitism, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Minor: Medical trauma
overbooked207's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Violence
grexcarolinii's review
slow-paced
0.5
This probably would have been closer to a 2.5
but I had to take away 1 star for the incredibly triggering r*** scene written in second person - you know, just to add to the triggering effects (note: none of the rest of the book was written in 2nd person, nor has any of the previous novels. I can only assume the author did this to add to the disgust of the scene, so at best is exploitative and gross, at worst it's downright malicious).
A second star taken away for just the casual mention of having a side characters love interest in Confederate costuming. For a book/series that likes to touch and try to wrestle with the problems of 1920s America - this felt so gross and tone death. How in the same book can you have the slaves of ghosts, references to the Jim Crows laws, and then just have a guy show up in Confederate uniform like it's just... fine?
No. Absolutely not.
Add to this a host of kinda unlikeable characters, not a whole lot of plot for a 546 page book
And far, far too many really awkward gross sex scenes to boot...
The half a star is literally for having a single Ace character, that's it
but I had to take away 1 star for the incredibly triggering r*** scene written in second person - you know, just to add to the triggering effects (note: none of the rest of the book was written in 2nd person, nor has any of the previous novels. I can only assume the author did this to add to the disgust of the scene, so at best is exploitative and gross, at worst it's downright malicious).
A second star taken away for just the casual mention of having a side characters love interest in Confederate costuming. For a book/series that likes to touch and try to wrestle with the problems of 1920s America - this felt so gross and tone death. How in the same book can you have the slaves of ghosts, references to the Jim Crows laws, and then just have a guy show up in Confederate uniform like it's just... fine?
No. Absolutely not.
Add to this a host of kinda unlikeable characters, not a whole lot of plot for a 546 page book
And far, far too many really awkward gross sex scenes to boot...
The half a star is literally for having a single Ace character, that's it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual content
Notably: the rape scene is written in second personnienke's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Rape
bookswithjess's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Rape
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence
larareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia
peytonktracy's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So this installment of The Diviners series was a bit of a slog to get through but only because the already large cast started getting a lot more individual attention in their growth arcs and personal narratives in addition to really hitting the pavement towards the climax of the overarching plot against the Biggest Baddest Villain behind all the smaller, Still Bad But Not That Bad Villains. It's a lot to pay attention to - I think we had something like 14 characters who we got perspectives from at multiple points throughout the narrative, not including the four-ish camps of villains. It was a lot to keep track of, but it does lend itself to a very interesting vision of the main plot and the interactions between the characters because you get such comprehensive perspectives of everything and everyone. And I will also say, the characters are beautifully diverse in every way - a variety of races, sexualities, religious backgrounds, disabilities, socio-economic statuses, citizenship status, belief systems, attitudes towards institutions in this country, even ages. And that has always been appreciated in this series.
But the bulk of the marks against this book was how much I wished for some content warnings. This book took a turn for the serious (not that it hasn't always been serious) but several caught me completely off guard in vulnerable moments because they came with so little warning and one in particular put me off continuing this book for a month or so. And at the end Not that I think that writing choice was a problem or problematic but it was tonally inconsistent with where the book had been and so was just pretty surprising.
All this to say though, I've already checked out and started the final installment and had no qualms about doing so. I'm ready to GO.
But the bulk of the marks against this book was how much I wished for some content warnings. This book took a turn for the serious (not that it hasn't always been serious) but several caught me completely off guard in vulnerable moments because they came with so little warning and one in particular put me off continuing this book for a month or so. And at the end
Spoiler
Bray decided to go all George R. R. Martin/J. K. Rowling in Deathly Hallows on us and just murder like four people in the span of a few chapters that was a little surprising and unexpected.All this to say though, I've already checked out and started the final installment and had no qualms about doing so. I'm ready to GO.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia and Slavery
claudiaswords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Diviners is one of my all time favourite book series and for some reason it took me until book three to come to that conclusion. Not only is Libba Bray's writing incredibly beautiful and atmospheric, but her characters are some of the best characters I've ever read. They are round and flawed and you can't help but fall in love with them.
Probably my favourite part of this book was the "found family" trope finally coming together, since in the two previous books the group hadn't fully formed yet. I loved the relationships that formed and how they came to be, nothing felt forced on the characters. Most of all I loved the character development. I didn't love Evie at first, she seemed to me a bit too much at times and in the previous books I wasn't so interested in her story as much as that of other characters but in this book I came to absolutely love her. I think she might be one of my favourite characters in this series right now. Sam, Memphis and Theta are close seconds (I would give my life for all of them). I loved how their stories where developed in this book as well. I do wish we had gotten more Ling and Henry development but they were the focus of the last book (Lair of Dreams) so I understand why they were a bit more in the background this time around.
The ones I haven't mentioned yet are because they are a bit more delicate to handle in my opinion. Mabel and Jericho. Mabel had me on my toes during this whole book. She was a character I really liked in the first book, I related a lot to her, and I still did in this one, but I saw her going in a direction I didn't like. However, by the time the ending came around I completely understood everything she had done in this book was for a reason, that it was necessary for her growth and I appreciate it. Jericho I don't really know what to think of, he changed a lot in this book and I think I have to wait until I read the next one to say what I think about those changes.
All in all this was a wondeful read, I haven't given it 5 stars because the beginning felt a bit slow for me, but once the pace picked up it did so wonderfully and didn't drop for a second. I must admit some parts of this book had me tearing up and wanting (needing) to hug the characters.
All in all this was a very very good read and has finally confirmed Libba Bray as one of my favourite authors.
Probably my favourite part of this book was the "found family" trope finally coming together, since in the two previous books the group hadn't fully formed yet. I loved the relationships that formed and how they came to be, nothing felt forced on the characters. Most of all I loved the character development. I didn't love Evie at first, she seemed to me a bit too much at times and in the previous books I wasn't so interested in her story as much as that of other characters but in this book I came to absolutely love her. I think she might be one of my favourite characters in this series right now. Sam, Memphis and Theta are close seconds (I would give my life for all of them). I loved how their stories where developed in this book as well. I do wish we had gotten more Ling and Henry development but they were the focus of the last book (Lair of Dreams) so I understand why they were a bit more in the background this time around.
The ones I haven't mentioned yet are because they are a bit more delicate to handle in my opinion. Mabel and Jericho. Mabel had me on my toes during this whole book. She was a character I really liked in the first book, I related a lot to her, and I still did in this one, but I saw her going in a direction I didn't like. However, by the time the ending came around I completely understood everything she had done in this book was for a reason, that it was necessary for her growth and I appreciate it. Jericho I don't really know what to think of, he changed a lot in this book and I think I have to wait until I read the next one to say what I think about those changes.
All in all this was a wondeful read, I haven't given it 5 stars because the beginning felt a bit slow for me, but once the pace picked up it did so wonderfully and didn't drop for a second. I must admit some parts of this book had me tearing up and wanting (needing) to hug the characters.
All in all this was a very very good read and has finally confirmed Libba Bray as one of my favourite authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Rape, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Antisemitism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, and Slavery
flyinmoonlight's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Racism
Minor: Pedophilia
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