The Diviners (Libba Bray)

Title: The Diviners

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Length: 578

Rating: 3.5/5

It’s 1926 and seventeen year old Evie O’Neill is sent to live with her uncle Will in New York after a parlor trick in Ohio goes wrong. Evie is used to hiding her supernatural talent (until she gets to drunk on illegal booze, hence the trouble in Ohio). But after a girl is murdered and branded with a cryptic symbol, the police involve Will, and Evie finds that her talent might be the only way to solve the evil that has awakened with each new murder.

I love Libba Bray. Her stories always have the craziest twists, and she does a great job of blending genres together. The Diviners was a mix between historical fiction, the supernatural, and steampunk.

Sometimes it felt as if the book was doing too much to involve all these elements though. There were so many storylines and characters to keep track of with secondary characters all hiding weird secrets and secret talents like Evie’s. The book almost seemed a prequel or just a set-up to another book, which should have been called The Diviners, because the reader learns little about what the Diviners actually are in this book. I loved the detail, but the book is so long, and way too much to reread to remember all the detail before a sequel comes out. So my main complaint is that perhaps the editor should have been a little more heavy handed to make it an easier read (and then reread, because I’m definitely interested in the sequel).

However much wading through the storylines I had to do, I loved the scenes painted of the Roaring Twenties. The language and the setting in this book were amazing, and Bray clearly did her research to paint an accurate (but also supernatural) picture of New York in the 1920s. Who knew being a flapper could be so dangerous! Worth a read if you’ve got a little time on your hands!

City of Bones (Cassandra Clare)

Title: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: 485 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

On a night like any other, Clary Fray and her best friend Simon go to the Pandemonium Club in New York City for some dancing. But then Clary witnesses a murder by a few tattooed teenagers, and Simon doesn’t see a thing. Next thing you know, Clary’s mom disappears and Clary is attacked by a huge, creepy demon. Modern New York City isn’t all that it seems as Clary is thrown into the world of Shadowhunters, warriors who rid the world of demons, in a search for her mother. Why can Clary see demons and Downworlders all of a sudden- iosn’t she just an ordinary mundane? Where is her mother and who is this evil Valentine everyone keeps talking about? And why is Jace, Shadowhunter extraordinaire, so hot?

I told you in my review of Clockwork Angel (first in the prequel series to this series) that I would do what was necessary to get my hands on this book. I suffered through almost five CDs (not because they were awful but because I’m incapable of actually paying attention to audio books) before finally flying to Michigan to borrow the book from a friend (okay, full disclosure, I was visiting said friend, CD player in tow, and she just happened to have the book). So while the first hundred pages or so are rather blurry on the details, the rest was pretty awesome!

It’s crucial for me to like the main character of a book. I loved Clary. She’s snarky and funny and just the right amount of clueless (much like Tessa…). When the going gets tough, she rises up to it, and never backs away from a challenge, whether it’s breaking into a hotel full of vampires or not sleeping for 48 hours (or more? Does she ever sleep?).

Clary’s world is completely turned inside out and what’s great for the reader, is that everything we know is turned inside out too. It's set in modern New York. Kinda cool to think of other-worlders running around behind our backs (also creepy, but that’s where Shadowhunters come in).

The Shadowhunters in this book are the coolest teens EVER. Jace, Alec and Isabelle are attractive and pretty much run around New York killing demons without parental supervision. Talk about teen empowerment. Jace is the epitome of awesomeness: he’s brooding, mysterious and great at killing demons and making Clary crazy.

And in case Clary’s world didn’t become crazy enough, things get crazier. I can’t wait to dig into City of Ashes, the second book in the Mortal Instruments series.

Also, movie? Yes please. Can't wait!

Spoiler alert!! Don’t go any further if you haven’t read this book.

Stop reading!

Have you read this book?

Okay, you can keep reading.

What, Star Wars, WHAT?

That’s all. Please tell me it’s a lie.

No, I’m kidding- don’t tell me anything!