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shelbyshoe's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
A lot of research went into this book and it shows. However, I feel as though she could have left out some things that did not lend itself to the main plot of the story. She brings up some HEAVY issues and never goes much further with them, which is a major disservice to them.
HEAVILY religious. I had to skim over almost paragraphs of religious recited text. We really get beat down with the evangelical fanaticism.
By the end of the book it was the Evie show and everyone else took a back seat. Evie's interest in a certain character by the end of the book came out of left field, leading me to believe that the publishers requested a love triangle or something to sell more books.
On a personal note, I adored Theta and Henry. They honestly could have their own book.
Some of the prose were beautiful. I enjoy the imagery that fleshes out the mood of the city. I felt like I was really there in 1920s New York. It was the main reason that I kept coming back. The horror aspects of the book were unexpected but I loved them so much. The moody creepy atmosphere she created was wonderful.
I wanted to love this book because there is a lot to love here, but it was overwritten. She had a lot of stories and characters that would have benefited from their own books. A major victim of not "killing your darlings" and a little too much showing not telling with pointless POVs. By the looks of the other three books, all around 700 pages each, I do not believe I will continue this series.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this era of history. This really made me feel like I got to step back in time for a while and that was the core concept for this book. A hidden gem for me as I'd never heard of it before finding it randomly in a used bookstore!
Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Abortion
hardbackhoarder's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Abortion, Colonisation, and Deportation
annakh16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I really appreciated the diversity of settings and characters, and learning about their struggles. It greatly strengthened the historical element of the story for me.
The characters themselves were lovable - well, mostly. Evie had me po-si-tutely annoyed sometimes, but she grew on me, and I also think her behaviour is actually realistic for a teenager in her position, which was refreshing. (But yes: too much slang. I agree with everyone on this).
I also absolutely loved the different friend/sibling/family dynamics. Theta/Henry and Memphis/Isaiah have my heart.
Regarding the ending,
Overall a fun read. Almost too spooky for me. But looking forward to the next book.
Moderate: Child death, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, and War
_haggis_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, and Abortion
I read this book is one sitting and am writing this review still kind of dizzy in a book-hangover, so these are my unedited, spur-of-the-moment thoughts. Firstly, the good and wonderful: - The dialogue. Bray can really write snappy, quick-fire dialogue. I think this was the best bit of the book for me. It really pushed the plot forward, felt dynamic and realistic, and really helped me as a reader develop a relationship with the characters. - The relationships between Henry and Theta, and Sam and Evie. Wonderful, really engaging and delightful. I especially love Hen and Theta and Bray did a really lovely job of showing the solidity and affection of platonic love. Sam and Evie were also wonderful to watch. - The time period: Bray has clearly done her research and it was so invigorating to be able to sink your teeth into a NYC of history - and a book which enjoys and spends time on how the city was a melting pot of religions and languages and ethnicities and superstitions and technology. Bray really captured the exhilaration that must have alive at the time - the heady swing of the flappers and speakeasys, the glitz and glamour, and the suspicions and crime and bigotry and zeal. She brought 1920s America fantastically to life in all it's good and bad. - The wealth of characters. The backstories and histories and cultures and subgroups. Very little felt forced, and it was really enjoyable to read and enjoy the collision of all these teenagers with their own jealousies and desperations and ambitions. - Which leads me to say. They felt like teenagers. Like really. And it's such a breath of fresh air. Catching a glimpse of someone in their pyjamas and thinking 'well that's it I'm in love forever', sitting on the rooftop sulking, difficult relationships with parents as you're figuring out what person you are, the feeling of frustration at the injustices of the world and noone taking you seriously and that noone cares, being overlooked, making mistakes and hurting people unintentionally -- it all felt os human and real. - I also really enjoyed Evie's selfishness. Yes sometimes it was annoying, yes she did come across as a bit petty, yes she could have been a better friend at this moment. But she makes mistakes - and deals with the consequences and fallout, she stands up for the people she loves, she says and does things she regrets and feels embarrassed about (I've been there). And you know what - it's time we have a female character who can be a bit brash, a bit honeyed, a bit arrogant, who takes up space. She's hardly the worst offender when it comes to all these things, and I'm tired of reading about female protagonists who are soft little mice (or worse, 'I'm not like other girls). Evie loves makeup and dresses and girl's magazines, she loves going out with her friends to the movies and sighing over actors. She also is desperate to be taken seriously as a woman, she sacrifices what's important to her, befriends social outcasts and tries to become a better person. Hear hear. Secondly, the things that didn't sit so right with me: - Mabel Rose. Other reviewers found her a little lacklustre or boring, and I totally see where they're coming from - compared to the glitz of Evie, Theta and Henry or the mystery of Jethro and Sam, she seems kinda plain. I think that's the point, she's hardworking and insecure about being overlooked. My main issue is that she is built up in the first half of the book and then completely abandoned. Apart from being someone that Evie knows and can bounce off when she first arrives in NYC, Mabel doesn't really contribute anything to the plot and is entirely forgotten about - only to reappear at the very end to have a haircut. This is a real disservice and I think Bray could possibly have cut her out altogether and the plot wouldn't change at all. What she contributes is minimal: 1) a way for Bray to spin and play on NYC history as the daughter of fairly radical socialists. 2) to make a love triangle with Jethro and Evie.... that's it. It's kind of disappointing and a little boring. Hopefully she has more of a role in the next few books. I haven't read the rest of the series at all - but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Mabel dies at some point. She seems primed to be the fridged best friend. - Headhopping!! I'm all for multiple POVs and the Diviners is certainly full of characters and a thickly developing plot. However, I dislike headhopping - especially when it's done midscene or (worse) mid-sentence. Bray headhops rarely, but when she does it's very clunky and rarely contributes anything to a scene. My main issue with it is that it's lazy writing and tells reactions/emotions/character dynamics rather than shows them. - Speaking of telling-not-showing, Other times I felt the book felt flat were the moments where backstory and character details were delivered heavily to the reader. I felt like I wasn't being rewarded for picking up any subtle details, nor was there any of the pay-off and mystery of slowly learning more about each of the many characters. Instead, backstories were regularly given in little info-dumps rattling off facts and little tidbits. Bray is a skilful writer and her characters are interesting and compelling which makes these opaque moments all the more boring and disappointing (not to mention they regularly throw the pacing off) - This leads us onto the next point, pacing. Mostly I enjoyed the pace of the book. Everyone is going to have their own opinions about what makes a good book, personally I found the Diviners interesting (certainly enough to keep my reading in a single 5-hour sitdown). However.... there were passages which felt clunky, slow paced and a bit of a drag. They always had something in common: exposition and setting description. There were long interludes describing the city in some detail, or the wind, or characters we'd never met and won't meet again (I'm talking random drunks on the street and mothers with babies). I think these passages were intended to build suspense and horror and mystery, but with everything going on in the book - and such a fast moving plot, they didn't come off as tense and horror-inducing - but kinda rambling and boring. Again, Bray is a really skilled writer and there were descriptions I absolutely loved (the moon being compared to a vaudeville prop, the washing in the dirt to name a few). It isn't that I didn't like her writing style (I did) I just feel there were moments where the book felt cut in two: the murders, obsessive characters, riots, anger, giddiness and false glamour of the 1920s which are pacey and interesting and page turning; and the occasional interludes which are meandering, atmospheric, and slow paced. (I almost felt that Bray had two simultaneous ideas about how this book could be written and they warred with each other.) - The very start of the book: set in her home-town, with the Ouija board. This was very slowmoving and a bit clunky (some of the writing much more overwrought than the rest of Bray's quick touch). I wasn't interested in any of the characters - who we never see again, and it didn't set the scene satisfactorily. I get that we need a reason why Evie is sent to her uncle's... and an introduction to her gift... but this could have been done a lot faster (as it is.. so much of it was told-not-shown anyway). Also, I felt like the Ouija connection to the rest of the plotcharleyyyyy's review against another edition
3.0
💫It's clear that, had I read this book for the first time now, I really wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. But because of the nostalgia and my already existing love for the charicters, I had fun.
💜My favourite aspects of this book are the charicters and the setting.
The cast are all so vibrant and full of life, they also have great banter with each other that I very much enjoyed.
💫Evie is a very unlikeable protagonist, she is spoilt, annoying and selfish, but I've always loved her. I sympathise with her feeling like she's never enough, and that she just wants to be something special and have people like her. She is meant to be unlikeable, and thats part of her charm, i think. I enjoyed her development throughout the book.
💫I also remembered how much I love ✨️Henry!✨️ Henry is the best charicter in this whole series.
💜I appreciate that this cast of charicters is quite diverse, with queer charicters and BIPOC charicters and charicters with different religious beliefs.
💜The setting is very well writen, you really feel like you're in ✨️1920s New York✨️ because of the slang, the references, and the descriptions. It creates a great atmosphere.
💜This book was too long, it could have been cut down a lot, especially in the beginning.
💫The mystery developed very slowly, it felt like everytime we got a new piece of information about the murders, we then went dillydallying with the charicters doing nothing for the next 30 pages.
✨️Once the mystery realy got going though, it was fun.
💫This whole book did feel like a long prologue for the rest of the series, to introduce the charicters, their backstorys and the magic, before the story properly starts.
💜But I realy enjoyed being back with these charicters in this world.
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief and Abortion
maddiereadswords's review against another edition
5.0
This whole series is just so criminally underrated, I am frothing at the mouth, please come read these totally normal books that I am totally and completely normal about.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury
queerseer's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
There is graphic animal (pet) death in multiple sections.amariela02's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Abortion
trippalli's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism and War
kitanda's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol