Book Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

**Received this book from Around the World ARC Tours for review**

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  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.

My Thoughts:  Flapper girls, speakeasies, romance and ghosts!  What more could you possibly ask for in one book?  This book had it all for me and I did not want it to ever end!  However, like all good things must, this book did end so now I have to wait for the next book in the series.  Hopefully it won't be too long!

Evie has a gift.  At least, some people call it a gift.  She kind of thinks of it as a curse more than a gift.  Especially when this "gift" gets her in trouble.  The good thing though, she gets sent to New York to live with her uncle and who doesn't love New York? 

Back to Evie's gift though...Evie can "read" items from a person.  If she gets a personal item from someone, especially if that someone had strong emotions while wearing it or holding it, etc., she can tell what happened in the past. This comes in handy later in the story.

Evie meets Sam as soon as she gets to NYC.  She is not impressed with him however, especially after he steals $20 from her!  She continues on her way to her uncle's museum of "creepy crawlies".  There she meets her Uncle Will and his assistant, Jericho.  Everything is fun and games for Evie until her uncle gets called to help solve a ritualistic murder.  While at the scene with her uncle, Evie touches the dead girl's shoe and gets a vision.  She doesn't want to tell her uncle though because she doesn't want him to think she is crazy.

Theta is a Ziegfield girl who lives in the same building as Evie's uncle.  She lives with her friend, Henry, who is a piano player.  Theta has a past she is hiding from and a secret that no one but Henry knows.  She doesn't realize it but she is tied to Evie in a way that neither suspects.

Memphis and his brother, Isiah, live with their aunt.  Their mom died when they were young and their father left them shortly after.  Memphis is a numbers runner just trying to stay under the radar.  At one time, Memphis could "heal" people but after he tried to heal his mother, the gift left him.  His little brother, Isiah, can see the future.  Memphis tells Isiah to tell no one but Isiah is young and doesn't want his brother to boss him around. 

Evie, Jericho, Sam, Theta, Memphis and Isiah all come together with their gifts as Diviners.  The only thing is, they have no idea what is in store for them!

I loved how the story was told through the POVs of Evie, Theta, Memphis and sometimes Jericho, Will and Sam.  It made it interesting and wasn't the least bit confusing for me.  I also really enjoyed the paranormal mystery surrounding the murders.  It was very spooky and kept me up at night when my hubby was gone!  Not very many books can freak me out like that but I loved it!

I liked the relationship between Sam and Evie a lot and was actually very surprised by the romance that happened at the end.  I'm not sure I like the match but I did like that it was a little unexpected for me. 

This book is a seriously fun read with the very spooky mystery and murders!  If you like ghost stories, flappers and fun, this one is definitely for you!