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The Dark Divine Bree Despain 9781606840573 Books

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The Dark Divine Bree Despain 9781606840573 Books

~3.5/5

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time, and it was actually better than I expected.

When Daniel shows back up in town, Grace is forced to either ignore him and push away the past, or let him back in her life and find out what really happened between him and her brother all those years ago.

It’s definitely frustrating the way they’re all keeping Grace in the dark about it, but it’s a surprise when she finally figures out what happened. It makes sense why they kept it a secret, and why Daniel disappeared. I wasn’t terribly surprised by who was behind it all, but it’s still a surprise how it went down and who all knew.

This was better than I thought it would be; it kept me interested through the whole book, and I liked the relationship between Grace and Daniel. I liked him. And the plot was actually pretty interesting, and makes me a little intrigued for the next book. I don’t know if I’ll be picking it up, but I definitely would have enjoyed it more when I was in high school.

[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]


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The Dark Divine Bree Despain 9781606840573 Books Reviews

** Mild Spoilers **

This novel is like a can of mixed nuts. It's got a few yummy cashews, which always get gobbled up first; the peanuts and almonds are next, though not as satisfying; last are the unidentifiable nuts, which no one really wants, but seem to make up the bulk of the mix. Yeah, this novel is just like that.

The Good
The Hounds of Heaven angle is an interesting take on werewolf lore. This is not merely a yarn about the duality of man - the story draws on the ages old battle between good and evil; heaven versus hell. The premise is interesting and gave the author much room in which to play. Unfortunately, many opportunities to delve deeply into the lore were squandered by less interesting story arcs.

The Bad
Though the novel never devolves into any bible-thumping rhetoric, the religious connotations are everywhere and are an inextricable component of the book. When married with the analogous character names (Grace Divine, really?), it's all just a bit too much. If you don't mind this sort of thing, you should be fine. And let me be clear, it's not so much that I was vexed by the biblical references or the religious tone, only that it was done in such a heavy-handed manner. Does that make sense?

The Ugly
Things kind of disintegrate in the end. After the marathon of storytelling, we're sprinting to the finish in a hodgepodge of action sequences and disjointed narrative. Some story arcs (Don Mooney) are abandoned and what little explanation is offered fails to satisfy. This is especially sad in Mooney's case as he was one of the more interesting characters and I was so hopeful his story would be more deeply explored. Frustrating. I'm also not certain I buy Grace's revival of conscience toward the end, nor do I buy the idea that two teens could be so in love they're willing to overlook the fact that one of them is dating someone else. That generally breeds all manner of conflict, yet all is fine? Whaaaat??? Perfect chance for legit conflict, totally ignored!

In short, this is pretty generic Y/A. Nothing about this book stands out and I struggle to find a reason to go on. There's no cliff-hanger ending, which I appreciate, so if you're interested in checking it out be assured you won't be required to get book two to see how it ends... unless you want to, of course.
The vague description on the jacket blurb is what kept me from this story for a full year. In retrospect, it was a good thing because the sequel has already been released! But I am a little behind the times by just reading this story now. The cover and the blurb don't give away much of the story, so readers might feel like they are flying blind at first, but gratefully the story gets really interesting really quickly!

Grace Divine is the pastor's daughter, and she and her family must live up to that status. Her brother Jude is the epitome of a pastor's son. He always thinks of others first, never fails to go out of his way to help people, and is the apple of everyone's eye. When Daniel Kalbi returns after a mysterious disappearance, Grace is drawn to him. Despite the memories of her brother returning covered in blood from seeing Daniel right before he disappeared and Jude's warning for Grace to stay far away from Daniel, she keeps finding herself with him.

As Daniel's story unfolds, Grace isn't sure who she can trust. Stories of ancient beings created to do God's bidding swirl into modern day stories of werewolves and monsters. Meanwhile, the town is again plagued with odd deaths and mutilations just as it was years ago before Daniel disappeared. Jude insists Daniel is evil, but Grace can't see beyond the kind, caring Daniel she used to know. Now Grace must decide whether she can make the ultimate sacrifice to save Daniel, and must weigh the consequences of her choice.

While this story has certainly been well played int he past few years, Despain does a good job of changing up the ready worn. She takes a supernatural creature and gives it new life and new purpose. I was glad this story did not take as long as some others (*cough* Hush, Hush *cough* Fallen) to reveal the nature of the odd stirrings and bumps in the night. Sometimes when the meat of the story is revealed too late, I find myself wondering whether it was worth the work to get through. Instead this is a well-paced story with interesting characters and plenty to keep you interested. The writing is relatively clean with hints of creepy happenings and violence without any real gore. It would be suitable for any junior high to high school student, but would probably appeal mostly to girls (the cover might have something to do with that).
~3.5/5

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time, and it was actually better than I expected.

When Daniel shows back up in town, Grace is forced to either ignore him and push away the past, or let him back in her life and find out what really happened between him and her brother all those years ago.

It’s definitely frustrating the way they’re all keeping Grace in the dark about it, but it’s a surprise when she finally figures out what happened. It makes sense why they kept it a secret, and why Daniel disappeared. I wasn’t terribly surprised by who was behind it all, but it’s still a surprise how it went down and who all knew.

This was better than I thought it would be; it kept me interested through the whole book, and I liked the relationship between Grace and Daniel. I liked him. And the plot was actually pretty interesting, and makes me a little intrigued for the next book. I don’t know if I’ll be picking it up, but I definitely would have enjoyed it more when I was in high school.

[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]