The Diviners by Libba Bray + GIVEAWAY [CLOSED]

• Received for review
• Hardcover: 578 pages
• Publisher: Atom (18 Sep 2012)
• Language: Unknown
• ISBN-10: 1907410392
• ISBN-13: 978-1907410390
• It's 1920s New York City. It's flappers and Follies, jazz and gin. It's after the war but before the depression. And for certain group of bright young things it's the opportunity to party like never before.
  
  For Evie O'Neill, it's escape. She's never fit in in small town Ohio and when she causes yet another scandal, she's shipped off to stay with an uncle in the big city. But far from being exile, this is exactly what she's always wanted: the chance to show how thoroughly modern and incredibly daring she can be.
  
  But New York City isn't about just jazz babies and follies girls. It has a darker side. Young women are being murdered across the city. And these aren't crimes of passion. They're gruesome. They're planned. They bear a strange resemblance to an obscure group of tarot cards. And the New York City police can't solve them alone.
  
  Evie wasn't just escaping the stifling life of Ohio, she was running from the knowledge of what she could do. She has a secret. A mysterious power that could help catch the killer - if he doesn't catch her first.

Cover: I love this cover!  It's gorgeous! All the blues are beautiful and the art deco design is perfect for a book set it in the 1920s.  Plus the creepy eye plays an important part in the book.

This is my first Libba Bray book, but it will certainly not be my last!

I was drawn to this book because it sounded like a blend of a few genres that I love- historical and supernatural, plus a bit of murder mystery.

I saw an interview with Libba Bray where she perfectly summed it up 'The Great Gatsby meets Stephen King, and The X Files with flappers'.  It really is.

I was dying to get into this book, and then I started it and worried I wouldn't get into it.  It wasn't that it was bad, but it's rather beasty at 578 pages, which is a little daunting, but I found it slow going at first.  I wasn't hating it though, but just seemed to take ages to get through.  Then I hit the 200 pages mark and it picked up, and I was completely absorbed.

Also, at the beginning I wasn't keen on Evie, the main protagonist.  I just didn't like her selfish attitude, but she develops far more later on in the book, to the point where I actually loved her as a character.
This book was amazing.  It's just to full of detail, and so much happens, and I can't wait to see what's to come in the next three books in the series.
This book was far creepier than I thought it would be.  I was reading it late at night, and was genuinely quite freaked.  Never had that with a book I was reading for- so definitely a perfect October/Halloween read.
You can definitely tell Libba Bray spent a long time researching the 1920's...the language and attention to detail is amazing, definitely sent me back in time and still managed to give me a supernatural twist.  Phrases such as 'You bet-ski' and 'the cat's pyjamas'.
It's light on the romance, so if you're not a big romance fan you may really enjoy this, however towards the end the potential for a romance is really set up for the future books, that I am really looking forward to.
I loved that we see a lot of different characters in this book, and that at first they start out separate, but the further along we get, they are drawn together in mysterious circumstances.
This book raises a lot of mysteries that remain unsolved at the end...and I can't wait to uncover more in book 2.
Without doubt 5/5 stars!  I recommend this book to absolutely  and I will be talking about it for weeks to come.

***Giveaway***

Little Brown have very kindly given me the chance to host a giveaway, giving you guys the chance to win a signed copy of The Diviners!!

Rules

* Open to UK residents only (Sorry US followers :( )
* Simply leave a comment below saying 'I want to enter the giveaway' and leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!!! e.g. coolbean(@)hotmail(dot)com
*Giveaway runs 19/10/12 to 25/10/12

Good luck!