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klippy's review
5.0
I loved this book - it has so many twist and turns. And the surprise ending!!! Cannot wait for the next one!
ambeesbookishpages's review
5.0
I loved this book, by far on of my Favorites of my 2012 reads so far.
I really liked the idea behind this book, Hounds of hell, werewolf, hot boys. What made it even more enjoyable was that the main character wasn't a whiny baby like the girls are in most books.
“You really are one of a kind. I mean, it's not every day my girlfriend offers to kill me.”
That is one of my favorite lines in this book, their love for each other is so strong. The setting was perfect and the characters well developed. This was something refreshing compared to what I have read lately. Can't wait to pick up the next book in the series.
stephxsu's review
3.0
THE DARK DIVINE is an interesting but ultimately underwhelming read that will still be eagerly embraced by paranormal romance fans of Twilight, Shiver, and other similar books.
The best thing about THE DARK DIVINE was the way it rewrote the typical werewolf story and infused it with history, magic, religion, and the balance of good and evil. It gave depth to Daniel’s werewolf character. I’m not a big werewolf girl, nor am I religious, but I enjoyed the way the two unexpectedly intertwined and enhanced one another in this book.
Unfortunately, the characters were for me rather difficult to connect with, as most of them felt like types I’ve read many times before. Grace was an extremely passive protagonist who elicited little sympathy from me. The tension between Grace’s parents often felt forced and unexplained. Daniel started out as stereotypical, but as the plot finally built and his background was finally revealed, he turned into a much more believable character.
As for the romance, it felt like one that I’ve read many times before: good girls feels undeniable attraction with bad boy, who acts like a jerk initially but actually reciprocates the feelings, and True Love Ends Happily Ever After. The familiarity of the course of the romance was unimpressive and rather disappointing to me.
The plot was rather infuriatingly slow, which may put off more impatient readers, but it does eventually build into an exciting paranormal world with an action-packed, heart-stopping ending. It does take an inventive writer to pull off what Bree Despain has as the ending, and I found it believable, heart-stopping, and satisfying. Overall, THE DARK DIVINE was perhaps not the book for me, but fans of Twilight-esque true love paranormal romances will find it a great addition to the genre.
The best thing about THE DARK DIVINE was the way it rewrote the typical werewolf story and infused it with history, magic, religion, and the balance of good and evil. It gave depth to Daniel’s werewolf character. I’m not a big werewolf girl, nor am I religious, but I enjoyed the way the two unexpectedly intertwined and enhanced one another in this book.
Unfortunately, the characters were for me rather difficult to connect with, as most of them felt like types I’ve read many times before. Grace was an extremely passive protagonist who elicited little sympathy from me. The tension between Grace’s parents often felt forced and unexplained. Daniel started out as stereotypical, but as the plot finally built and his background was finally revealed, he turned into a much more believable character.
As for the romance, it felt like one that I’ve read many times before: good girls feels undeniable attraction with bad boy, who acts like a jerk initially but actually reciprocates the feelings, and True Love Ends Happily Ever After. The familiarity of the course of the romance was unimpressive and rather disappointing to me.
The plot was rather infuriatingly slow, which may put off more impatient readers, but it does eventually build into an exciting paranormal world with an action-packed, heart-stopping ending. It does take an inventive writer to pull off what Bree Despain has as the ending, and I found it believable, heart-stopping, and satisfying. Overall, THE DARK DIVINE was perhaps not the book for me, but fans of Twilight-esque true love paranormal romances will find it a great addition to the genre.
silreadsalot's review
5.0
There is a nice twist in this one...don't want to give away and spoil for you. It;s a good read. Looking forward to the next one.
4saradouglas's review
2.0
What is with this book? There were some good parts and there were also some parts that were laugh-out-loud ridiculously bad. Moonstone? Are you kidding me? And I couldn't stand how they continuously called James "Baby James." Annoying. And Don just dies suddenly out of nowhere? In NYC? The whole ending was just stupid. All of the dog and wolf imagery was overpowering, especially referring to the best friend. I know she doesn't exist, but I feel bad for her considering how often she was referred to as dog-like, heh. And why does the cover have 0% to do with the content of the book? I really disliked this book... but I do own the sequel so I might as well read it.
roces's review
5.0
It was so good! Thank you, Maxinne, for lending it to me. It takes a whole new take on the supernatural. I can't wait to read The Lost Saint, the sequel to this book.
hnbb's review
3.0
I was hesitant to read this book even though it has been on my "to read" shelf for a while. Another urban fantasy book, what more can be said? But, it was interesting. I really liked the take on several things. I kept thinking that it made sense or was a new twist.
I did not like the characters, though. They seemed too black and white. The main character was not likeable enough for me. She seemed so hollow and 1 dimensional. Her brother was too much in either direction depending on the point of the book. The time frame headings also bugged me and took me out of the story when I had to realign my thinking and then bring it back to the story.
I did not like the characters, though. They seemed too black and white. The main character was not likeable enough for me. She seemed so hollow and 1 dimensional. Her brother was too much in either direction depending on the point of the book. The time frame headings also bugged me and took me out of the story when I had to realign my thinking and then bring it back to the story.
abigailhartnett's review
5.0
This review is also available on www.ThinkyRead.com. Check out the blog for more awesome, thought-provoking book analyses!
As I've mentioned before, I listen to a podcast called Writing Excuses. Now, I never mentioned that I listen to it regularly. That I'm obsessed with it. That, should the last episode air tomorrow, I would DIE! But that's irrelevant.
(I promise I'm going somewhere with this...)
I was listening through some older episodes of Writing Excuses recently. I like to do that while I clean up around the apartment. And I came to the episode on Character Quirks with special guest star Bree Dispain. Bree is quite a prolific author in the YA world and on the podcast she described her trade with memorable words:
“I write paranormal romance, which is like horror, only with less blood and more kissing.”
Favorite quote ever.
Unfortunately paranormal romance has gotten a bad rep ever since the Twilight Fad. Of course there's the possibility the genre was never any good and Twilight just amplified that. I think it's more likely the one book that everyone knew as “paranormal romance” just happened to be a pretty sloppy book by a wishy-washy author. After that fiasco, the genre never really had a chance to shine in the 21,000 gigawatt public spotlight.
Bree's participation in the Writing Excuses podcast and the particulars she mentioned about her main character intrigued me. I happened to be looking for a girly “chick lit” to read that weekend, so I loaded up my Kindle app and tapped the orange pixels reading “instant buy.”
Redemption
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” says the classic Sunday School proverb. But do they really?
What if “everyone” murdered someone, or stole another man's wife? What if he's a psychopath who tortures children for fun? Does he deserve a second chance then? Is there any way to give him one even if he does?
This book made me think a lot about the price of redemption. Daniel didn't deserve a second chance. He was evil. Plain and simple. It wasn't his fault he was born with such a fate, but he was. And the only reward for being evil is death.
But what about all the good he did? When Grace did offer him that second chance, even without physically changing Daniel's evil nature, he was still a “good person.” He still rescued Baby James. He still cared for Grace. But, that can't be! He's evil! Isn't he?
I love how the conflict between good and evil in this series runs far deeper than the surface predictions, addressing the idea of the good and evil that every human lives and struggles with day in and day out. One can act like a good person without being pure on the inside. Daniel was capable of everything Grace was, but he was still condemned to darkness because he carried with him a heart of darkness. Is it possible to truly be good without dying to ourselves and receiving grace?
Darkness and Sacrifice *Spoiler Warning*
There's a Christian scripture that reads “There is no greater love than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friend.” But Bree takes the leap that there is a greater sacrifice. Dying is one thing. Knowingly condemning yourself to whatever version of hell you may or may not believe in to save the one you love? That falls into a completely different category.*Spoiler Warning End*
But some sacrifices are made in vain. Things grow dark and stupid accidents happen, like what BROTHER did to Grace in the parish, not even able to comprehend the consequences. Everything happens for a reason, doesn't it? Even if nothing happens for a reason, the fact remains that everything happens. And at the end of the day, it's time to pick ourselves up and soldier on. For the good of us. For the good of those we love. Life won't always be puppy dogs and rainbows, but true love can never be taken away.
Christian Perspective
Though this book is told from the point of view of an 18 year old pastor's daughter, I wouldn't classify it as “Christian fiction.” Looking back, there is a surprising amount of Christian metaphor throughout the work and the character herself is true to her faith, even in the darkest of times. But it didn't feel preachy in the least. In fact, reading through the series I sensed a depth that just isn't found in a lot of pop fiction like Twilight.
The juxtaposition of God and werewolves also made for a great read. After clearly presenting these creatures as abominations to the most high and then allowing our heroine to fall in love with one, I was kept on the edge of my seat wondering how Dispain would be able pull off what I assumed would be a Happily Ever After. Of course, then I remembered this was Book One of three. Book One never ends happily.
Though I think there were some interesting discussions of popular themes throughout this book, I realize it is, by no means, the book for everyone. I myself love a good decapitation scene directly followed by a passionate make out session (as long as said session isn't written like a poorly-imagined porno), but I realize some haters gotta hate. And I can respect them for that. This genre constantly takes a severe blow in “mature readers” eyes simply because it's flocked by horny teenage girls looking for a fix.
That said, I have developed a respect for Dispain for choosing to not only write in such a medium, but to introduce such wonderful thoughtful questions throughout her books. If anything can redeem this genre, it's books like hers. Keep up the good work, Bree!
This review is also available on www.ThinkyRead.com. Check out the blog for more awesome, thought-provoking book analyses!
As I've mentioned before, I listen to a podcast called Writing Excuses. Now, I never mentioned that I listen to it regularly. That I'm obsessed with it. That, should the last episode air tomorrow, I would DIE! But that's irrelevant.
(I promise I'm going somewhere with this...)
I was listening through some older episodes of Writing Excuses recently. I like to do that while I clean up around the apartment. And I came to the episode on Character Quirks with special guest star Bree Dispain. Bree is quite a prolific author in the YA world and on the podcast she described her trade with memorable words:
“I write paranormal romance, which is like horror, only with less blood and more kissing.”
Favorite quote ever.
Unfortunately paranormal romance has gotten a bad rep ever since the Twilight Fad. Of course there's the possibility the genre was never any good and Twilight just amplified that. I think it's more likely the one book that everyone knew as “paranormal romance” just happened to be a pretty sloppy book by a wishy-washy author. After that fiasco, the genre never really had a chance to shine in the 21,000 gigawatt public spotlight.
Bree's participation in the Writing Excuses podcast and the particulars she mentioned about her main character intrigued me. I happened to be looking for a girly “chick lit” to read that weekend, so I loaded up my Kindle app and tapped the orange pixels reading “instant buy.”
Redemption
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” says the classic Sunday School proverb. But do they really?
What if “everyone” murdered someone, or stole another man's wife? What if he's a psychopath who tortures children for fun? Does he deserve a second chance then? Is there any way to give him one even if he does?
This book made me think a lot about the price of redemption. Daniel didn't deserve a second chance. He was evil. Plain and simple. It wasn't his fault he was born with such a fate, but he was. And the only reward for being evil is death.
But what about all the good he did? When Grace did offer him that second chance, even without physically changing Daniel's evil nature, he was still a “good person.” He still rescued Baby James. He still cared for Grace. But, that can't be! He's evil! Isn't he?
I love how the conflict between good and evil in this series runs far deeper than the surface predictions, addressing the idea of the good and evil that every human lives and struggles with day in and day out. One can act like a good person without being pure on the inside. Daniel was capable of everything Grace was, but he was still condemned to darkness because he carried with him a heart of darkness. Is it possible to truly be good without dying to ourselves and receiving grace?
Darkness and Sacrifice *Spoiler Warning*
There's a Christian scripture that reads “There is no greater love than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friend.” But Bree takes the leap that there is a greater sacrifice. Dying is one thing. Knowingly condemning yourself to whatever version of hell you may or may not believe in to save the one you love? That falls into a completely different category.*Spoiler Warning End*
But some sacrifices are made in vain. Things grow dark and stupid accidents happen, like what BROTHER did to Grace in the parish, not even able to comprehend the consequences. Everything happens for a reason, doesn't it? Even if nothing happens for a reason, the fact remains that everything happens. And at the end of the day, it's time to pick ourselves up and soldier on. For the good of us. For the good of those we love. Life won't always be puppy dogs and rainbows, but true love can never be taken away.
Christian Perspective
Though this book is told from the point of view of an 18 year old pastor's daughter, I wouldn't classify it as “Christian fiction.” Looking back, there is a surprising amount of Christian metaphor throughout the work and the character herself is true to her faith, even in the darkest of times. But it didn't feel preachy in the least. In fact, reading through the series I sensed a depth that just isn't found in a lot of pop fiction like Twilight.
The juxtaposition of God and werewolves also made for a great read. After clearly presenting these creatures as abominations to the most high and then allowing our heroine to fall in love with one, I was kept on the edge of my seat wondering how Dispain would be able pull off what I assumed would be a Happily Ever After. Of course, then I remembered this was Book One of three. Book One never ends happily.
Though I think there were some interesting discussions of popular themes throughout this book, I realize it is, by no means, the book for everyone. I myself love a good decapitation scene directly followed by a passionate make out session (as long as said session isn't written like a poorly-imagined porno), but I realize some haters gotta hate. And I can respect them for that. This genre constantly takes a severe blow in “mature readers” eyes simply because it's flocked by horny teenage girls looking for a fix.
That said, I have developed a respect for Dispain for choosing to not only write in such a medium, but to introduce such wonderful thoughtful questions throughout her books. If anything can redeem this genre, it's books like hers. Keep up the good work, Bree!
This review is also available on www.ThinkyRead.com. Check out the blog for more awesome, thought-provoking book analyses!