The Reading Shelf

I’m a big Libba Bray fan; I’ve read all of her books except Going Bovine (don’t ask why I haven’t read it, I’m not quite sure considering how much I love everything else she’s written). I was quite excited about this book because it takes place in the Roaring Twenties and is another supernatural adventure, but I was also kind of nervous due to its large size and heightened anticipation. Luckily for me, this book turned out just as well as the rest of Bray’s books have for me.

There are certainly a lot of narrators in this book. There’s Evie, the main character, but plenty of other characters get at least a few chapters devoted to them and some characters get just one (no spoilers, but they’re normally the murder victims). Despite getting into so many different characters’ heads, though, sometimes it took a while to understand things, which can be frustrating but also just made me want to read more.

Despite having so many different characters, I enjoyed reading about just about every one of them. They were all pretty different, which helped when switching around so much. Evie, like the other characters, is quite interesting and complex. She’s a Roaring Twenties flapper, a small town girl who outgrew that small town long, long ago. She used a lot of ’20s lingo, but I didn’t mind it – it made the dialogue interesting and quick. She knows that she wants to experience life to the fullest, and that happens to include drinking, kissing boys, and generally having a great time. I think this helps prevent the book from falling into slut shaming the many flappers and party girls that flit in and out of the story. The only instance of slut shaming that I remember is directed at Evie herself, is unwarranted, and is the result of a bunch of overzealous, religious men who just don’t like the fact that Evie is a woman wearing makeup and having fun at a fair, or something along those lines. The scene made me mad, but in a way that put me on Evie’s side, which I assume is the intention.

A lot happens in this book – it is over 500 pages, after all. As I got closer to the end, I was surprised that this was a series since it seemed like it could be wrapped up without a second book. It did slightly seem like the ending was tacked on just so that a sequel could happen, but I think there were some seeds planted along the way and some questions left unanswered that can account for a second book. No matter what, I’m quite excited to return to the world of the Diviners and seeing what’s happened to the characters since the end of this book.

This book is creepy (in a good way), twisty, and quite interesting. Bray continues to be a favorite author of mine and I definitely plan on checking out the sequel and anything else she publishes in the future.