Author: Libba Bray
Publication Date: 9-18-12
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Description:
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-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.
Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.
Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.
My Review:
Absolutely phenomenal.
This is a story about a young girl, Evie, in the swinging 1920's with a desire to be the cutest flapper in all of NYC and a special supernatural gift to read objects that belong to people with her mind.
The story is multi-layered with the reader getting to gain an understanding of a lot of different aspects and characters at the same time.
We have NYC in the 20's with its speakeasies, chorus line girls, and charm. This makes a perfect setting for this story to take place. A lot of the supernatural elements would be too far removed if it was set in our time making the historical setting perfect for the story.
The main characters each have chapters to describe what they are going through and their specific set of powers which I think adds to the story and makes you feel for the supporting cast just as much as you do the dynamic Evie.
Evie was written wonderfully. From the language used to the old movie star references the author did a great job of showing what a teen girl might be like in this time period. She was charismatic, impetuous and easy to relate to on some many levels.
I loved the ghost elements and the overall creepy supernatural feel to the story and am very excited to continue on. I will say, that for anyone who read this at the time it was released and had to suffer through the 2 year wait for the sequel, I commend you because of the detail to the story and the large volume of side characters to easily forget about I think it would a difficult journey back into this world.
Other than the long wait time my only complaint would be that very little information was actually given about the "diviners", their importance, and what will make their super natural gifts so prevalent in the future. I think giving a little more information on this would have helped people stay hooked into the series.
My Star Rating:
5 out of 5
Read this if you enjoyed:
Authors like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett but for a younger audience.
The interesting self-discovery and supernatual elements of The Arcana Chronicles.
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