Fun urban fantasy set in the 1920s ( )

Evie O'Neill is making the move from small-town Ohio to New York City. Her unusual gift (and her mouth) has forced her family to send her to live with her uncle until things blow over. Uncle Will runs The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult (or The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies as it's known around town), with the help of his assistant Jericho. As Evie begins her stay in 1920's NYC, she has dreams of fabulous parties and adventures to last a lifetime. What she doesn't count on is a supernatural stirring that is taking over the city. When a series of grusome murders seems tied to some sort of cult, Will is asked to help (and Evie, not to be left out, tags along). She soon realizes that the gift that got her exiled from Ohio could actually help catch a dangerous and evil murderer.

With an incredible cast of characters, The Diviners gives readers a mystery and so much more!

My Thoughts:
I read this book for book club, so if it wasn't for that I probably never would have picked it up. It's so far outside of my comfort zone that I just don't seeing it ever getting on my radar. I mean it's Historical Fiction AND Supernatural... two genres I generally never read. Maybe because this was so different from my usual, or maybe just because the writing was so awesome, I found myself loving it right away!!

I have never read a Libba Bray book before, but I can pretty much guarantee this won't be the last. I didn't read much of the synopsis before I started, so I went in pretty much blind. I read one page and I was like "oh this is in the 20's??" and I wanted to quit. There's just something about Historical Fiction that just turns me off. But I pushed through... oh woah, I am so glad I did. It got SO interesting and even though the book is huge (578 pages), I flew through them because I was hooked.

My favorite part of this book was all the characters. Normally a book with so many main and side characters would have me confused. Somehow that didn't happen at all here. Every character had a story and a purpose. And they were all so memorable. You have troublemaker Sam, flapper/Ziegfeld girl Theta, sensible Mabel, strong and silent Jericho, sensitive Memphis, thick-headed Isaiah, set-in-his-ways Will, blind homeless Bill, good guy Henry... and of course head-strong Evie and so many more. And I loved them all! (Ok Jericho was kind of a yawn for me, but still...) My favorite was Memphis, but I don't think I'm alone in this. Hello!! Smart, sensitive guy who writes poetry and can heal people?? What more do you want? Evie, however, was something else. I enjoyed having her as the main character, but it's hard not to have a love-hate feeling towards her. She was such a smart-ass!! Especially for the time period! But at the same time I respected her courage and related to her inability to hold her emotions in. Her immaturity could definitely turn some people off, but she had enough redeeming qualities that I think people will be able to like her eventually.

I could tell this novel was the product of a ton of research. The way the era and city was painstakingly described was definitely a high point of this book for me. The atmosphere totally captured my imagination and has me wanting to read more about the history of New York. Some of the dialogue seemed a little forced and irked me at times, but all the "and how"'s, "giggle water"'s, and "pos-i-tute-ly"'s had me grinning most of the time.

If I could point out an observation about this book it would be that it seemed very adult. It's not the subject-matter or anything like that, it's just.... something. A feeling that I have that it's written more for adults who read YA than it is teen readers. I could be totally off base, but even my book club mentioned it, so it's not just me who's feeling it. Maybe it's because most of the characters are either adults or teens who live adult lives or maybe it's just the vibe I got, but something about it gave me the teens-won't-like-this-as-much feeling.

Bottom line: I can't wait to read the sequel! I look forward to seeing if/when these Diviners team up to defeat evil!!!

OVERALL: WOW! Definitely a favorite for me. I never read Historical Fiction, but this one made me want to try out more of them. It's one part mystery, one part paranormal, and one part historical.... and all parts creepy and addicting! Definitely a recommended read from me.

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The Diviners
By Libba Bray
I really loved this book! I got the audio version from the library and before I was even part way through, I put the second and third book on hold from the library!
This has great suspense, clever and witty banter, unusual characters, love the plot, and it's topped with great supernatural. Our gal of the story is from a small town and she is a bit of wild child. She also finds out the hard way that she has a gift. She can read objects from people. She accurately reads a boy's ring and it turns out to be a bad move. She has to go live with her Uncle Will in New York which is a perfect fit for her.
She makes friends there and helps her uncle with his Occult Museum. She loves NY and it is 1926! The book really makes you feel like you're there in the flapper era! The world building is fabulous!
There is a serial killer on the loose too. But it's not just any serial killer but one that is coming back from the dead. Something evil. Really spooky!
It's slightly slow for the first few pages then BAM! A wild roller coaster ride! A must read! ( )

I liked it for what it is, but I didn't like Evies overuse of slang, and she was just so obnoxious I'm shocked Jericho developed a crush on her.

I also felt the author just dragged the book out. In my opinion, there was a lot of unnecessary information and repetition.

It also feels like the book would be a good TV series, I'm not sure why but it definitely had a "TV" vibe to it. ( )

This is a very hard book to rate and I feel a bit mean giving it 3 stars. It has great scope and breadth but while I admire the author's ambition, it seemed that there were too many subplots and lead characters. A number of them aren't really necessary to the story and I wonder if it might have been better without them. I think the author caught the atmosphere of the 1920s and the sense of excitement and possibility really well. There was also a vast sense of America that encompassed everything from cars to superstitions, jazz to racial tension, radicalism to conservatism, and some very atmospheric and creepy writing. But there were so many threads, the story got confusing at times and the long list of major characters was distracting.

While there are undoubtedly great things about it, worthy of at least 4 stars, I think the main thing holding me back is that the dynamics between the central Museum Quartet of Evie, Unc Will, Jericho and Sam never really convinced me, no matter how much I tried to suspend my disbelief. Also the trio of Evie, Mabel and Theta didn't work for me. I could believe in either Evie and Mabel or Evie and Theta but not the three of them together, especially as it was clear from the start that Mabel and Theta had absolutely nothing in common. The Memphis/Isaiah subplot had a lot of characters and didn't add much to the main story. On the other hand I thought Naughty John, the villain, was very well done and his backstory was interesting and surprisingly believable, a testament to the author's research into late 19th century theosophy and spiritualism. ( )