“The Diviners” is a Mesmerizing Mystery Set in the 1920s

“Sometimes you might hear odd sounds in the night. But you mustn’t be frightened. This city has its ghosts, you see.”

I couldn’t help loving this book.

It takes place during the Roaring Twenties, the plot follows a group of supernaturally powerful teens tracking down a serial killer, there’s forbidden love, ghosts, and secrets on every corner. What isn’t there to like?

The main character, Evie, was a sassy, spunky flapper girl. I loved Evie. She was independent to the core, naïve, and a tad bit silly, but she wasn’t afraid to take on sudden hardships and was utterly loyal to her friends. I thought she grew into a fine, strong woman over the course of the novel.

Then there’s the genius plot that Libba Bray has somehow constructed. I don’t even know what to say about the plot. It was purely amazing and brilliantly executed. I loved every moment of it. This book is nearly six hundred pages and I was never once bored.

The story begins with Evie getting sent to live with her Uncle Will in New York as punishment for “bad behavior” issues at home. Evie’s uncle is a lonely, solemn man who lives in a creepy occult museum. When Evie arrives, he doesn’t know what to do with her, and Evie is happy to run off and enjoy the wild fancies of New York (“the best city in the world!”). But suddenly both Will and his niece are caught up in a horrific case with the police when grotesquely murdered victims begin popping up all over the city.

To make matters worse, the killer isn’t even human—but no one knows that just yet. He’s an evil spirit named Naughty John, raised from the dead, and is intent on following his dark, twisted religious ideas to gain control over the world. He also has this tune he whistles right before he kills each of his victims that gave me shivers.

I think even better than the fabulous characters and plot, though, was the writing. I kept stumbling across so many great quotes I could hardly decide which ones to use in my review. Libba Bray has a fantastic gift—she made me feel like I was truly living in the time era of this novel. She set her scenes gorgeously, and at times the book shifted perspectives so fluidly it felt like watching a smooth camera glide across the screen in a movie.

“Do you know what this means?”
Will blew twin streams of smoke from his nostrils. “Trouble,” he said.

Upon finishing The Diviners, I instantly favorited it. How could I not? The only negative feelings I harbor toward this book are actually at myself: I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read it. It was near perfect.