fau's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the audiobook for this one but now am I ever gonna stop singing Naughty John ?
leewicks's review against another edition
5.0
More like a 4.95 stars (if I'm being super picky/a pain in the ass), just because I didn't love the ending. I felt a little unsatisfied with the last few chapters, but it seems like I picked a good time to read this book, as I can dive into book two pretty soon!
So originally, I had written this book off. It didn't have the greatest rating on Goodreads, and to be honest I didn't know *that* much about it (just that it was set in 1920s America and some murders take place), and I'd heard a couple of people express annoyance towards the main character, but no...This book is so much more than that.
The word I've seen being used to describe it is "atmosphere", and I couldn't agree more. The tone of this book had me hooked, and I loved how eerie and sinister it was in places, and how easy I found it to visualise what I was reading/hearing.
That being said, I can understand why some people may say that this book is slow in pace, and how you kind of want it to hurry up and get to "the good stuff", but in my opinion it just comes down to your perspective, and (as usual) your taste as a reader.
I personally really enjoyed the amount of detail this book has to offer (I have a love for 1920s America, as I studied it for 3 months in College), and you can tell that Libba Bray spent a lot of time and effort researching the time period of this book too. However, that does result in the plot feeling a little slow in some places.
For me, this just helped me to visualise the world better, and understand the characters and their situations/backgrounds/actions more clearly, but to some readers this may result in the book feeling like it drags on in some places, I think/assume? I don't know, as I didn't experience that, but I can understand that perspective at least.
ALSO! If you do want to experience this book, BUY THE AUDIOBOOK. January LaVoy is, hands down, the best narrator of an audiobook I have ever had the pleasure of listening to, and I sincerely hope that she's the narrator for book two!
One of the best books I've read this year, and I've read a lot of good books this year, so that's certainly saying something!
So originally, I had written this book off. It didn't have the greatest rating on Goodreads, and to be honest I didn't know *that* much about it (just that it was set in 1920s America and some murders take place), and I'd heard a couple of people express annoyance towards the main character, but no...This book is so much more than that.
The word I've seen being used to describe it is "atmosphere", and I couldn't agree more. The tone of this book had me hooked, and I loved how eerie and sinister it was in places, and how easy I found it to visualise what I was reading/hearing.
That being said, I can understand why some people may say that this book is slow in pace, and how you kind of want it to hurry up and get to "the good stuff", but in my opinion it just comes down to your perspective, and (as usual) your taste as a reader.
I personally really enjoyed the amount of detail this book has to offer (I have a love for 1920s America, as I studied it for 3 months in College), and you can tell that Libba Bray spent a lot of time and effort researching the time period of this book too. However, that does result in the plot feeling a little slow in some places.
For me, this just helped me to visualise the world better, and understand the characters and their situations/backgrounds/actions more clearly, but to some readers this may result in the book feeling like it drags on in some places, I think/assume? I don't know, as I didn't experience that, but I can understand that perspective at least.
ALSO! If you do want to experience this book, BUY THE AUDIOBOOK. January LaVoy is, hands down, the best narrator of an audiobook I have ever had the pleasure of listening to, and I sincerely hope that she's the narrator for book two!
One of the best books I've read this year, and I've read a lot of good books this year, so that's certainly saying something!
page_vee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
queerseer's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
This book is thrilling, lovely, terrifying, sad, and diverse. It explores a society beyond the standard straight white rich viewpoints so prevalent early 20th century New York City, and has a lot to offer in terms of religious, supernatural and occult mystery and history. You’ll learn period-accurate slang, references and daily activities and it makes the setting that much richer. In fact, there’s SO much in the way of intrigue and fast-paced terror and brilliant characters…that I was kind of disappointed to reach the end and realize it was set up for a series. I, personally, feel exhausted from the adventure I just read and wish that the book had either been longer or gone differently to tie in all the backstory at once. Great standalone story, but not one I have any interest in learning more about afterward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Mental illness, Grief, Classism, Blood, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Violence, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
There is graphic animal (pet) death in multiple sections.lauren_aida's review against another edition
5.0
I have been amazed by every single one of Libba's books and the Diviners is no exception. The Diviners is a monumental accomplishment and I will wait in agony for the next installment. Libba, you break my heart every time, and I love you.
marcus_bines's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
Loved the period feel of 1920s New York, and the characters are engaging and fun to spend time with. Also enjoyed the dark supernatural occultish elements which lend it the feel of a light-hearted horror. But it's too long for this kind of book (a supernatural mystery thriller), and it ends about seven times, because apparently all the major and minor characters need their own mini-ending.
sahury's review against another edition
4.0
Es una lastima que es descaradamente el primer libro de una serie, es mas oscuro de lo que uno creeria en un principio (cadaveres y rituales) pero todo esta escrito tan hermosamente que se lo perdono, todo.
El uso de las palabras para envolverte en Nueva York de 1920 es casi magico, todos los personajes son interesantes a excepcion de Evangeline que me desesperaba a ratos. Casi no hay romance y eso a estas alturas del genero se agradece.
Si pueden escucharlo en audiolibro es mil veces mejor, tremenda narradora.
El uso de las palabras para envolverte en Nueva York de 1920 es casi magico, todos los personajes son interesantes a excepcion de Evangeline que me desesperaba a ratos. Casi no hay romance y eso a estas alturas del genero se agradece.
Si pueden escucharlo en audiolibro es mil veces mejor, tremenda narradora.
megmro's review against another edition
5.0
This was fantastic. Lots of separate stories that come together in the end. It initially feels like a lot of characters, but they are so fleshed out and vivid, you fall in love with every single one. Honestly, it felt like their were no flat characters in this book, and because of that, they were not hard to keep track of.
Wasn’t sure I was gonna love Evie, but then I did. Loved Henry, loved Memphis. Theta and Jerico grew on me.
The villain is creepy and his goal is unsettling.
The setting (NYC, Roaring 20s) was so fun! The writing is fantastic. The author has several sweeping, and yet still detailed, descriptions of America that will stay with me for years. Her paragraph about the lost generation of boys going off to WWI changed and devastated me. I needed a breath afterward. Magnificent writing.
Highly recommend.
This quote (at the climax of the novel) knocked the wind out of me:
“His hand was a claw, sharp enough to open her. She would be like all the others…She’d be like all those beautiful, shining boys marching off to war, rifles at their hips and promises on their lips to their best girls that they’d be home in time for Christmas, the excitement of the game showing in their bright faces. They’d come home men, heroes with adventures to tell about, how they’d walloped the enemy and put the world right side up again, funneled it into neat lines of yes and no. Black and white. Right and wrong. Here and there. Us and them. Instead, they had died tangled in barbed wire in Flanders, hollowed by influenza along the Western Front, blown apart in no-man’s-land, writhing in trenches with those smiles still in place, courtesy of the phosgene, chlorine, or mustard gas. Some had come home shell-shocked and blinking, hands shaking, mumbling to themselves, following orders in some private war still taking place in their minds. Or, like James, they’d simply vanished, relegated to history books no one bothered to read, medals put in cupboards kept closed. Just a bunch of chess pieces moved about by unseen hands in a universe bored with itself.”
Wasn’t sure I was gonna love Evie, but then I did. Loved Henry, loved Memphis. Theta and Jerico grew on me.
The villain is creepy and his goal is unsettling.
The setting (NYC, Roaring 20s) was so fun! The writing is fantastic. The author has several sweeping, and yet still detailed, descriptions of America that will stay with me for years. Her paragraph about the lost generation of boys going off to WWI changed and devastated me. I needed a breath afterward. Magnificent writing.
Highly recommend.
This quote (at the climax of the novel) knocked the wind out of me:
“His hand was a claw, sharp enough to open her. She would be like all the others…She’d be like all those beautiful, shining boys marching off to war, rifles at their hips and promises on their lips to their best girls that they’d be home in time for Christmas, the excitement of the game showing in their bright faces. They’d come home men, heroes with adventures to tell about, how they’d walloped the enemy and put the world right side up again, funneled it into neat lines of yes and no. Black and white. Right and wrong. Here and there. Us and them. Instead, they had died tangled in barbed wire in Flanders, hollowed by influenza along the Western Front, blown apart in no-man’s-land, writhing in trenches with those smiles still in place, courtesy of the phosgene, chlorine, or mustard gas. Some had come home shell-shocked and blinking, hands shaking, mumbling to themselves, following orders in some private war still taking place in their minds. Or, like James, they’d simply vanished, relegated to history books no one bothered to read, medals put in cupboards kept closed. Just a bunch of chess pieces moved about by unseen hands in a universe bored with itself.”