co2lreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm very glad to be reading The Diviners series when I can go from one book directly to the next. This is a twisty mystery that keeps you turning to the next page to find out what is going to happen next. Libba Bray writes such incredible, diverse characters, and fits them in with the time period in a thoughtful way. This installment of the series really upped the stakes, with more danger and . I was left reeling!
Spoiler
huge character deaths
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
jackierabbit's review
adventurous
dark
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
Far less boring than its predecessor but somehow not as good. Bray has decided that either the characters are old enough to have sex or she got tired of not writing it, which is a shame. One of the things I enjoyed about this series was how chaste it was. Also, I don’t like the word “hardened”. It’s weird.
Despite my complaints, the characters, as usual, shined. Especially Mabel Rose, whom I have been adamantly defending since the first book. She is amazing and struggles with some serious moral dilemmas. I daresay I enjoyed her chapters more than Evie’s.
Despite my complaints, the characters, as usual, shined. Especially Mabel Rose, whom I have been adamantly defending since the first book. She is amazing and struggles with some serious moral dilemmas. I daresay I enjoyed her chapters more than Evie’s.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Death
pagesandtales's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Antisemitism
heather_freshparchment's review
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Classism, Racial slurs, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: War, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide attempt
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
📖 Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray Book Review 📖
2nd book of September 2022 and 28th of the year:
This was another great addition to the Diviners series with truly creepy moments, great mysteries, an amazing, lovable, and diverse cast of characters, important commentary and messages, the always beautiful found family trope, queer representation, disability representation, fantastic writing, and more! I think that Lair of Dreams is still my favorite of the three books I've read so far, but I still recommend the whole series as a whole and can’t wait to finish it hopefully soon! TW for death, violence, murder, mention of lobotomies and memory loss, discrimination, racism, antisemitism, eugenics, domestic abuse, blackmail, ableism, homophobia, alcohol, institutionalization, bomb/explosion, vomit, rape, sexual assault, gun violence, medical content/trauma, and grief📖🔮☠️🏳️🌈
2nd book of September 2022 and 28th of the year:
This was another great addition to the Diviners series with truly creepy moments, great mysteries, an amazing, lovable, and diverse cast of characters, important commentary and messages, the always beautiful found family trope, queer representation, disability representation, fantastic writing, and more! I think that Lair of Dreams is still my favorite of the three books I've read so far, but I still recommend the whole series as a whole and can’t wait to finish it hopefully soon! TW for death, violence, murder, mention of lobotomies and memory loss, discrimination, racism, antisemitism, eugenics, domestic abuse, blackmail, ableism, homophobia, alcohol, institutionalization, bomb/explosion, vomit, rape, sexual assault, gun violence, medical content/trauma, and grief📖🔮☠️🏳️🌈
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Sexism, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Murder, 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 personreadwithsuzanna's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed this more than the first two books, and holy crap the last 1/4 of the book! So much action, and some things I really didn't like, especially how one character is kind of just forgotten by the author. But I did find some of the more annoying/less-likable characters more tolerable and even likable in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Xenophobia, Stalking, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Racism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Gore, Ableism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Sexual content
bookswithbec's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Libba Bray.... what are you doing to my poor heart? These characters have become a part of me - the more history I learn of them the more love I gain for each Diviner.
I have many theories about how this quartet will end... but for now I can say that I did not see where this third installment took us. I am impressed with the history (and research) that was put into the creation of the diviners.
Ling Chen - dream walker, talks to the dead; having her idols crushed throughout this book has built her up to be stronger, tougher, and more confident.
Henry DuBois IV - dream walker; becoming proud of who he is after a tough loss/realization, protector of his "family" - the fellow diviners.
Isaiah Campbell - predictor of the future, dream walker; little brother who just wants to be recognized as one of the members of the group... and a valuable member.
Memphis Campbell - healer; trying so hard to tale care of those who he loves.
Theta Knight - heat/flame creator; Trying to run from her past, she has found a new life as a performer and a new love.
Jericho Jones - non-diviner but equally special; with the help from Will & Jake, he is able to be alive and feel what family truly means to people. Pinning for that one special someone throws him into a head spin he might not recover from.
Sam Lloyd - ability to become invisible; he is on a mission to discover the deep, dark truth about Project Buffalo and the location of his mother, what he finds instead stops him dead in his tracks.
Evie O'Neil - object reader; America's Sweetheart Seer by day, flapper/ party girl by night, she seems to be the wild one that brings this group together... but can she keep them together?
Mabel Rose - non-diviner, activist; being Evie's best friend and the daughter of communist labor organizers, she is bound to find herself in trouble once or twice... but the biggest trouble she will find will be with what her heart wants.
In 1920s America, these KIDS are just trying to find their way in a country that really doesn't seem to want to accept them. each is dealt with a history that is unfair but as a dysfunctional unit they learn what is truly important - family and love!
Some of my favorite quotes:
"But how did you fight an enemy who never fought fair? Didn't you have to break the rules to win against the devil?"
"Before the devil breaks you, first he will make you love him. Beware little sister. Beware the King of Crows."
"I'll be counting cats when I come over. There better be the same number each time."
"Even Evie believed in something, that something bing Evie a lot of the time."
"It's Yiddish. Like ... Ike hob dish lib."
"Soon I will take all you love and watch you burn. Sweet dreams, Object Reader."
"We are a country built by immigrants, dreams daring, and opportunity. We are a country built by the horror of slavery and genocide, the injustice of racism and exclusion. These realities exist side by side. It is our past and our present. The future is unwritten. This is a book about ghosts - for we live in a haunted house."
I have many theories about how this quartet will end... but for now I can say that I did not see where this third installment took us. I am impressed with the history (and research) that was put into the creation of the diviners.
Ling Chen - dream walker, talks to the dead; having her idols crushed throughout this book has built her up to be stronger, tougher, and more confident.
Henry DuBois IV - dream walker; becoming proud of who he is after a tough loss/realization, protector of his "family" - the fellow diviners.
Isaiah Campbell - predictor of the future, dream walker; little brother who just wants to be recognized as one of the members of the group... and a valuable member.
Memphis Campbell - healer; trying so hard to tale care of those who he loves.
Theta Knight - heat/flame creator; Trying to run from her past, she has found a new life as a performer and a new love.
Jericho Jones - non-diviner but equally special; with the help from Will & Jake, he is able to be alive and feel what family truly means to people. Pinning for that one special someone throws him into a head spin he might not recover from.
Sam Lloyd - ability to become invisible; he is on a mission to discover the deep, dark truth about Project Buffalo and the location of his mother, what he finds instead stops him dead in his tracks.
Evie O'Neil - object reader; America's Sweetheart Seer by day, flapper/ party girl by night, she seems to be the wild one that brings this group together... but can she keep them together?
Mabel Rose - non-diviner, activist; being Evie's best friend and the daughter of communist labor organizers, she is bound to find herself in trouble once or twice... but the biggest trouble she will find will be with what her heart wants.
In 1920s America, these KIDS are just trying to find their way in a country that really doesn't seem to want to accept them. each is dealt with a history that is unfair but as a dysfunctional unit they learn what is truly important - family and love!
Some of my favorite quotes:
"But how did you fight an enemy who never fought fair? Didn't you have to break the rules to win against the devil?"
"Before the devil breaks you, first he will make you love him. Beware little sister. Beware the King of Crows."
"I'll be counting cats when I come over. There better be the same number each time."
"Even Evie believed in something, that something bing Evie a lot of the time."
"It's Yiddish. Like ... Ike hob dish lib."
"Soon I will take all you love and watch you burn. Sweet dreams, Object Reader."
"We are a country built by immigrants, dreams daring, and opportunity. We are a country built by the horror of slavery and genocide, the injustice of racism and exclusion. These realities exist side by side. It is our past and our present. The future is unwritten. This is a book about ghosts - for we live in a haunted house."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Minor: Murder, Violence, and Racism