Author: Libba Bray
ISBN: 9780449808764
Publisher: Little, Brown/Listening Library
Released: September 18, 2012
Series: Diviners #1
Duration: 18 hours, 14 minutes
Source: Audiobook from my public library
Summary:
"SOMETHING DARK AND EVIL HAS AWAKENED. . . .
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.
Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho is hiding a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened. . . ."
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First Lines:
"In a town house at a fashionable address on Manhattan's Upper West Side, every lamp blazes. There's a party going on - the last of the summer."
Page 1
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Review:
To be honest, I actually own a paper copy of this book. But it's just. so. huge. So I opted for the audio - in hopes of being able to listen to it more quickly. I'm going to assume that was successful :).
Evie has a special gift for getting into trouble. Well, and an actual special gift that usually goes with the trouble. She's shipped off to live with her uncle to live a glamorous life in NYC. Only, there's a killer on the loose. Her uncle gets called to help with the investigation and she tags along. Before long, she's fully involved and finds her life in grave danger. Plus there are parties, dancing and cute boys.
Everything about this 1920s setting lends itself to wonderful costumes, characters, and craziness. I really enjoyed delving fully into the time period. And it is quite the chilling mystery. I made the mistake a few times of listening right before I went to bed. Man! The author does a great job of the suspense - I had no idea the ending would turn out the way it did. She's a gifted story teller, for sure.
There were a lot of characters to follow. A few times I got a little lost - and it would have probably been worse if I had been reading a paper copy of the book. Luckily, the reader did a great job of keeping voices straight so I was able to figure things out based on that. I got worried every time a new character was introduced. But those characters are what really made this story move - all of the different experiences and perspectives. Not to mention, a few of those characters only existed for a chapter or so. Ahem.
I cannot review this book without talking about the audio. The reader for this book was fantastic. There were all sorts of crazy voices and songs that she did a wonderful job with. I was very impressed. She made it feel like I was totally transported back to the 20s. The lingo sounded natural and I imagine that she had a lot of practice with the various characters. It was just really well done and I highly recommend it.
If you're a fan of mysteries, then this book is totally for you. There's a bit of stuff about mysticism and the occult - which I have always found very interesting. It was just another part of this book that made me intrigued. So, I think if you can get over the size of the book, this is definitely one to give a shot. Or listen to. That's what worked for me on this one. But I'm a big fan of Libba Bray, so I might be jaded.
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