Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray - Juhina

Title: The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)

Author: Libba Bray

Publication date: September 18th, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal, Ghost)

Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

Pages: 608

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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.

Historical fiction and I are known to be best friends. Fantasy and I are really close friends. But why didn’t I get along with The Diviners by Libba Bray? I wasn’t even able to play nice and to at least be on friendly terms with it. The Diviners and I are not only NOT close, but we have become mortal enemies as my journey with it continued. At one point I thought we might be able to mend the failed friendship, to maybe even have a frenemies relationship, but unfortunately, I couldn’t, or maybe I wouldn’t; I’ll never know who is at fault. However I am sure when I say that The Diviners was an experience I never want to repeat again. 

The Diviners is 608 pages. I’ve read long books that I wished were even LONGER (think Harry Potter, The Host, and Divergent). I’ve also read books that are short that I wished were shorter, but they were a fairly quick and harmless failed attempt at getting to know a book during a coffee date so in the end I left feeling slightly disappointed, but moved on quickly. However what I had with The Diviners? It was a three-day supposed vacation where I got stuck with the new acquaintance that not only messed up my vacation but also my judgment towards who ever was able to get along with it. I was restless, whiny, and a pain in the butt to everyone who was around me while reading this book. I could not stop complaining about how boring, how long, how over the top descriptive it is and how there was over 10 POVs in this book. I almost quit several times but told myself I had to at least finish 50% of it, then on 49% of the book, I catch a glimpse of maybe something more. Maybe the book and I started off on the wrong foot and we just needed some warming up. So I read a little more, another 100 pages of disappointed, then that darn glimpse of something more. This was how the book was for me until the end.  

The ending of The Diviners, oh how clichéd it was. With a book that centered so much about naughty john and the murders and sacrifices and powers, to end it with a kiss between the girl and the love interest that popped up only in the last 50 pages? No, I.. no. No. I am so disappointed in The Diviners. The story behind this book could have been creepy, scary, and just so entertaining. But none of that happened. The main protagonist was so frivolous, so childish, and just so selfish I just couldn’t like her. Some of the POVs include Thea, Sam, Memphis, Mable, Will, Gabe, and others. This doesn’t include the characters that do appear but don’t have a chapter for their POV. In all honesty, I was drowning in this book and what kept me going was the hope of finally reaching the surface and ending the struggle I was in for the past six days.