The Diviners by Libba Bray

Summary (from Goodreads): 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-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

 

Review: The Diviners was fantastic. Fantastic. Ok, now that I've established the awesomeness of this book, let's look at why it's fantastic.

 

1) The setting: 1920s New York City. Full of speakeasies, flappers and jazz clubs, the world of The Diviners is very Gatsby-esque.

 

2) The characters: There are a lot of them, but they're all fantastic. There's Evie, our main protagonist; her Uncle Will; Will's assistant Jericho; mysterious con-man Sam; Evie's best friend Mabel; Ziegfeld dancer Theta and her pianist friend Henry; and, last but not least, Memphis and his brother Isaiah. All of these characters are fleshed out by Bray and they all have interesting dynamics with each other.

 

3) Did I mention that most of these characters have special powers?: Because they do. They're like 1920s X-Men.

 

4) Extremely scary villains: Naughty John = legitimately terrifying. In fact, the whole Brotherhood is creepy. Read the book, you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

5) Satisfying conclusions, but enough open mysteries to leave you craving the next book: Which unfortunately won't be out until Spring of next year. Until then, I'll probably just sit here in a puddle of feels.

 

Bottom Line: Read The Diviners. It's historical/paranormal fiction by the amazing Libba Bray. If that doesn't make you want to buy this book, I don't know what will.