Book Summary and Reviews of The Diviners by Libba Bray

The Diviners by Libba Bray

The Diviners

by Libba Bray

  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2012, 608 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Bray empties a wealth of topics into her complicated narrative - labor reform, a steampunkish robotics experiment, flapper culture, religious zealotry - but her trademark humor is less apparent." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. Not for the faint of heart due to both subject and length, but the intricate plot and magnificently imagined details of character, dialogue and setting take hold and don't let go. Not to be missed." - Kirkus Reviews

"Starred Review. Grades 9-12 Here’s your headline, boss: “Small-Town Dame Lands in Big Apple, Goes Wild, Tries to Stop Resurrection of Antichrist.” It’ll sell bundles! Indeed it will, as Bray continues her winning streak with this heedlessly sprawling series starter set in Prohibition-era New York." - Booklist

This information about The Diviners was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Sharon Livingston

What a creative writer!
There are several aspects that make the Diviners an exciting read; the characters are well drawn and intriguing, the time period is brought to life with all of your senses so that you can walk the streets of NYC in the 20's, and the magic of the diviners is believable. And wait til you read the sequel, Lair of Dreams. Such fun.

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Author Information

Libba Bray Author Biography

Libba Bray is an author of young adult novels, including A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing and Going Bovine.

Her first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, was a New York Times bestseller. In November 2006, a video promoting the book was a part of The Book Standard's Teen Book Video Awards.

Libba Bray lives in New York City with her husband and son.

Author Interview
Link to Libba Bray's Website

Name Pronunciation
Libba Bray: First syllable rhymes with rib. Libba is a nickname for Elizabeth. Her full name is Martha Elizabeth Bray

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