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Lair of Dreams (The Diviners)
by Libba Bray
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners.

Piano-playing Henry DuBois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret—for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City.

As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess…As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?

In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City.

 

“I’ve spent the last two hours worried that you were bleeding to death in a ditch,” Evie continued. “Now that I know you’re okay, I just want you to be bleeding to death in a ditch.”
“Aww, Lamb Chop, you missed me.”

Annnnnd the hype is officially real. It’s not often I love a book as much as I did the first, but, here, I was a goner. At the beginning I was like eh, okay, LET’S GET TO SAM AND EVIE AND JERICHO AND WHAT’S UP WITH THAT DRAMA AGHHH BRING IT ON. But then, as the story progressed, I just…I died a little. All of a sudden I didn’t want to rush through everything (well…maybe the scary-more on that later) and I cared so deeply about dear Henry and even Ling, that you couldn’t pay me to put it down.

Yes, she liked this very much. She just had to get Sam on board.
The operator broke the silence. “I’ve got that call for you, Miss O’Neill.”
Sam’s voice crackled over the line, filled with smirk. “Well, if it isn’t the future Mrs. Lloyd.
“Daaarling,” she trilled. “I’ve missed you.”
There was a brief pause on the other end, then: “Uh-oh.”

And about that love-I loved it just as much as the first…but in a different way. It’s like, you can’t compare horror to romance, can you?

(joke lost on those who haven’t seen this episode/obsessed about Friends)

Hmm. Joey thinks so. But, my point is, aside from the fact that they are BOTH terrifying (albeit in different ways), it’s so much more than the mystery, to me. It’s the characters. It’s each new challenge they face. It’s everything that’s built up to that moment and why they feel the way they do and what they do together and how they become closer and start to become best friends and crime fighters, in their own way, yet they are all so different and come from all kinds of walks of life. Their motivations? All different. But, in the end, the goal comes down to one thing, and one thing only: Saving the world and keeping everyone they love safe.

Ordinary people were capable of extraordinary bravery. That was the only magic Sam knew or trusted.

***

…things you loved deeply could be lost in a second, and then there was no filling the hole left inside you. So she lived in the moment, as if her life were one long party that never had to stop as long as she kept the good times going.

Sure, Naughty John was one bad mother F*****. But this new ghost? Ummm Like. How. IN THE HELL. Am I. Supposed. To. SLEEP?! Like…gnashing teeth. Unhinged jaws. Glows in the tunnel. Flickering lights-ghastly and ghostly creatures there one minute, crouching low to the ground with their SHARP teeth chomping, and simply gone the next. A ghostly woman in a veil coming through the mist…and out of a tunnel? Again, I implore you, how the EFF am I supposed to sleep after that?

Argh this series, guys, this series will be the END of me.

“Nothing,” Jericho said, his brows sharpening. “Where are the Mystical Mediums?”
“The Third Eyes? I left ’em to play with the tarot cards.”
“You what?” Jericho said.
“Relax, Freddy. I told ’em the tarot cards can only be read by special people with special powers. Naturally, they think that’s them. Trust me: They’re as happy as clams.”
“That’s a ridiculous analogy. As if someone could gauge the happiness of a mollusk,” Will grumbled, pawing at his messy desk till he found his cigarettes.

What’s so baffling to me is, and it’s hard to explain, the layers and the depth written into these beautiful novels. They’re terrifying not only because of what’s coming, what’s watching, whatever, but the words haunt you almost as much as the picture they’re painting. It shows each and every murder, most times in great detail-or, in this case, each loss of life through DREAMS-and you just don’t realize how much that gets under your skin…not until the end.

Each moment seems insignificant. But, as each new death/murder happens, they become more and more intense until, at the very end, our tension level is so high we might burst without even realizing we had been so pent up-and at that point? It’s too late. Each moment builds up to make the ultimate moment-and it explodes and spreads the tingling fear from head to toe, into each finger and limb, until you’re numb and scared through every pore…and yet you can’t put the book down and stop reading so you can keep your sanity-and SLEEP.

But dreams can’t be contained for long. Their natural trajectory is forward. Out. Up. Away. Past all barriers and borders. Into the world.
This is true of nightmares, too.

Have I mentioned sleep a lot? Yes. Well. I’ve lost so much sleep reading this series-through both major feels and extreme fright-that I literally feel so bad today I don’t even have the will to do human things-I’m even skipping my workout. Like…this series has consumed my life. I’m not even joking. Even now, all I want to do is curl up with the book and read under a blanket on my soft and inviting couch. I’m so tired, and yet, I put reading above sleep. Talk about a sickness that could kill you. I might have a heart attack lol. Though, I’ve never said I’m not a wussy.

“Now is the only thing you can count on, Sam. It’s all we really get,” she said quietly, and felt that it was the truest thing she’d said in a long time.

Now, moving on from that, I finally got my Sam and Evie time. As I’ve said and will say many times over, I need more Sam and Evie, and I truly don’t think I could ever get my fill (fake relationships leading to true feelings for the WIN). And yet…..that ache? That hollowness that can only be filled when I get my every wish? It’s a vast craving that keeps me coming back for more like an addict-so the author must be doing something right because, even though I’m dying for more, I don’t want it.

“May I help you, sir?” he said, letting Sam know he’d worn out his sidewalk welcome.
“Pal,” Sam said, giving Evie one last, longing look, “I really wish you could.”

THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID IT: I’m so insane that I LOVE the tortuous slow burn that this author has created and I’m a fiend for it. When we get one or two chapters from their POV, I literally…well…my life is made in those moments. And when she takes them away to talk about other characters? I die a little inside. And the pining begins again. You see, it’s a vicious cycle-a vicious cycle that works. I may think about it 24/7 (crazy crazy), but it’s because I can’t just have what I want. And even if I got what I want, what’s the point of pining? So yes, I’m crazy…but I love it. I’m here for it. I’m ready for large declarations of love that will make my heart pound and my eyes water and I am a true psychotic follower.

“Done,” Sam said. He stared up at her with big peepers and a lupine grin. “We’ll have to make the chumps believe it. Moonlight strolls. Staring into each other’s eyes. Sharing the same straw in our egg cream. Dreadful pet names.”
“Not Lamb Chop,” Evie protested. “That’s hideous.”
“You got it, Pork Chop.”

That being said, I didn’t realize how obsessively in love with this series I was until I finished book one, wanted a break, yet couldn’t concentrate on anything else. What a remarkable feeling. I haven’t felt this way for a series in FOREVER. I can’t even tell you the last time I binge-read a series in this fashion…so, here I am, exclaiming my love (a bit repetitively, but who’s keeping track?) for this scary and tremendously addicting series.

“Pos-i-tute-ly isn’t a real word,” she said.
“Why, it pos-i-tute-ly is! It’s in the dictionary, just before prob-a-lute-ly.”
“You’re doing that simply to annoy me.”
“Abso-tive-ly not.” Henry’s smile was pure innocence.

I love Henry. I love Theta. I love Jericho and Sam and Evie and Ling and Memphis and even his brother…I won’t go into it, but I HATE that dumb Uncle Bill. I want to stab him. I HATE HIM. I do NOT get his moments and I loathe manipulation in that manner.

I fear something dark is coming from his involvement and I do. Not. Like. IT. But, I digress. I love almost every character, so every chapter just seeps into my pores and I was made again as I blazed through this story.

“Theta, I’d feel a whole lot better if you stayed here,” Memphis said.
“Nothing doing. Henry’s my best friend, my only family. He’s all I got.”
“You’ve got me,” Memphis said softly.
“Poet, I didn’t mean it that way.…”
“Mabel shouldn’t go. Theta shouldn’t go. Why is no one being chival… chivaroos… how come none of you bums is looking out for me?” Evie pouted as she sprawled across her chair..
“I am,” Theta said. She yanked Evie to a sitting position, put a cup of coffee to her lips, and practically poured it down her throat.

And the banter? Again, it was off the charts hilarious. In fact, it was equal parts hilarious, sigh-inducing, eye-roll worthy, and HAWT. Depends who was bantering, haha, but every bit of it was worth your time. I am an avid fan of each person in this series and their banter makes me a permanent stalker in their lives. Yikes. I fit right in with the creepy crawlies! 😛 Oh, and, even I can’t believe it, but I had SIXTEEN ‘review highlights’ for this one!!! ‘twas agony choosing which to use *dramatic back of hand against forehead*.

Theta had been trying to figure out how to talk about this with Evie for weeks. She narrowed her eyes. “If you breathe a word of what I’m about to say, I swear I’ll hunt you for sport and wear your skin as a coat.” 
Evie opened one eye. “It would have a satin lining, though. Promise me it would.”

I feel like I could go on and on and on again….but the point is-if you didn’t catch it-this series is a winner. And I know I missed some things I was going to say by rambling on like I do, but it’s how I feel and I just think everyone should give this series a shot. I even tracked down the third book and found a SIGNED copy to order. #Obsession. So read it. Don’t read it. Either way, your loss. You’re either missing out….or you’re going down a path that I can’t pull you away from…and it’s terrifying (100th use of the word in my Diviner reviews HA).

**********

Oh Gahd, guys-it’s happened. I’ve been complaining for months that, while I’ve read plenty of excellent 4 or 5 star books this year, it’s been a while since a series has consumed my soul, made my heart pound, stolen my every waking thought-and now the time has come. And, wouldn’t ya know, it’s a fucking TERRIFYING series that, as mentioned above but in different, individual ways, makes my heart pound, steals my every waking thought, and consumed my soul…with evil.

That’s right. I am an obsessed love-sick puppy that craves this series (it’s crack) when I can’t be reading it. I think about it all day until I can pick it up again. I toss and turn long after I finish because I am completely obsessed and here for Evie and Sam and mayhem and peril, but also because I am terrified of ghosts and this series is f-ing with my head. I have lost more sleep since I started this series than when I just plain have a bad week of sleep.

These books? TERRIFYING. I don’t care what people say-they are scary. They are deep. They are romantic and addicting and so much fun. They. Are. EVIL.

I cannot wait for book three, but I don’t know if I can wait for book 4 when that day comes and I don’t have another book to jump to. I keep saying, oh I’m guna read another book inbetween, or two, and save these for near Halloween, yet I find my dumb ass running to the next book, curled up on the couch with every light on, absorbing my latest hit of adrenaline before attempting sleep again.

Dumb dumb dumb girl.

RTC. Yes, MORE review. I have LOTS to say.

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The Diviners (The Diviners #1)
by Libba Bray
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

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.

 

People tend to think that hate is the most dangerous emotion. But love is equally dangerous.

If there’s one thing you need to know about me when it comes to books or movies or anything, really, it’s that when I fall? I fall HARD. If I love something it becomes my most cherished thing, my baby, my obsession. I go through a few books a year like this. Wash, rinse, repeat. I love books HARD. But, I have to say, I was just talking to my bloggish buddy [Jen] the other day, and we noticed I hadn’t had any series obsessions in a long, long time. If you look through my feed, or on the blog, even, you’ll see that standalones have been my jam in 2018 and no series has really just made me go crazy with feels and anticipation-you know, that Chelsea peril I so love and crave. And, though peril may be a bit stretched here in my normal sense, I think that I’ve finally found my latest drug.

The second thing you should know about me? I am a big. Fat. Baby. I get SCARED. I get scared TO THE BONE. So. Thus is the nature of the reading business, for me. I have been saving all the creepy crawly type books for my favorite month of the year-October. And, okay, people say it’s not that bad. Oh, it isn’t, is it? Well, define terrifying for me, and I’ll give you my definition in a series of questions as asked below:

-Do you believe in ghosts?
-Even if you don’t-does the idea of ghosts terrify you?
-Better yet, what about the idea of ghosts watching you?
-Does the idea of a sinister evil that is in corporal form give you the chills?
-In an abandoned street at night, while all alone, does a whistle that reverberates off the sidewalks and dark alleys creep you out?
-Or maybe a jaunty tune that goes along with a whistle?
-What about an old, abandoned house [at the top of the hill, no less] that a murderer lived in?
-Dark alleys?
-Whispering walls?
-The feeling of a house being alive while, yes, abandoned?
-What about all of this in one night, happening at once?
-Or spread out over a series of nights as the days count down to the ultimate worst case scenario..
-What about if you have to go into said house, with said sinister evil, with whistle and tune bouncing off the walls, with said sinister talking walls…all alone?

If you didn’t say yes to ANY of these questions-I question your sanity. And I didn’t even ask about creepy children, flashbacks, and being paralyzed while you are prayed upon. I didn’t even ASK. I shouldn’t have to because, this book? It’s terrifying. It doesn’t need bells and whistles-and that’s the most beautiful thing about it. And, okay, what the HELL is it with all the most wonderful romances…being set in such hideously addicting scary books? Because Sam and Evie??? My Lord. I can hardly stand it.

“This fella asked for your uncle, but I told him you were in charge, Your Highness.” Sam returned the bow.
Evie replied with an eye-roll. “Do you think you can manage to not steal anything while I’m gone?”
“The only thing I’m trying to steal is your heart, doll.” Sam smirked.
“You’re not that talented a thief, Sam Lloyd.”

I’ll admit, as I know everyone already knows and has already seen or heard of this because I am seriously the last person to read this series, there’s a love triangle and I just seriously am obsessed with it because, okay, who doesn’t love a good old fashioned jelly boy fight? No, this doesn’t really happen and NO, there’s no huge romantic sweeping gestures in this story but-BUT-there’s the beginning of something beautiful. A spark. A flame. A look here and touch there. A kiss. Connections. Thoughts of what-if? I’d go so far as to say either hate-to-love or enemies-to-lovers is in the works, but I can’t say she hated Sam or that they were necessarily enemies-just the last people who you would ever think would fall in love. And even Jericho, there was never hate, Evie and he just never really hit it off or were close in the beginning.

(Sam and Evie)

But, since romance isn’t the point of these, it is a slow-burn that happens between the scary scenes, the murders, the investigation and exploration of powers old and powers found. The unraveling of secrets and making of secrets and friendships and tests of loyalty. Banter and haughtiness and just…all around this book is just the berries. Can we talk about the lingo for a second? I’m a big fan. I just LOVE how they talk-it really adds something spectacular to an already excellent book. And, as many have said before (what can I really say that hasn’t been said before?) the atmosphere in this book??? It’s OUT OF THIS WORLD. I really felt like I was in this book, like Evie and Sam and Jericho and Theta and Mabel and Will were right next to me, like I was on the street with them. Which…explains why I was so utterly without breath and terrified the whole time.

And Evie-I really really really just love her so much.

She goes from being a spoiled brat to someone who would do anything to solve the murders and save the world as they know it.

Some mornings, she’d wake and vow, Today, I will get it right. I won’t be such an awful mess of a girl. I won’t lose my temper or make unkind remarks. I won’t go too far with a joke and feel the room go quiet with disapproval. I’ll be good and kind and sensible and patient. The sort everyone loves.
But by evening, her good intentions would have unraveled.

I am obsessed with her and I just love her friendships and her thoughts and her lingo and, honestly, how funny she really was. And her banter with almost everyone, especially Sam, just made me so happy. Her and Theta really get into it in the next book and it really cracks me up how Theta just wants to slap her lol.

Which brings me to my next and possibly final point because I could go on for days: I already finished book two. Forget writing a review. I can’t even put these books down long enough to get a review put together. Hell, if I didn’t have time right this second, I’d probably have started the third! Nothing can keep me away from these books-nothing. My poor husband hasn’t seen me at night for like a week-I scurry to the living room the minute my girl goes to sleep. It’s honestly pathetic…and I haven’t been organizing at ALL. Man. I have lost my marbles for this book. I curl up in a ball with the lights blazing, put a blanket on, and read until my eyes hurt-and it’s still not enough and I can’t possibly read fast enough.

Got too scared typing in (ghost, creepy wall, ghost watching sooo this Is what you get):

And, if you read my pre-review, you know that I couldn’t even BREATHE at the end of this book because, frankly, this is what nightmares are made of, for me. A creak in the floorboard, the rustle of wind, the scrape of a hand and whispers in the dark. I don’t think I need to elaborate further-This book got to me, and got to me good. Chilled. To. The. Bone. I couldn’t even go to bed because my heart was pounding so hard after the final page was turned. Chills chills chills.

But, I do have to say, even though it’s right at the end of my review, this story trigger me a little. I don’t like animal deaths, yet this author seems to love them. Just for those people that care like me, get disturbed like me (all of it was disturbing, to be honest, but I truly believe everyone deserves to know because it disrupts your reading and it makes you sad, so), and who need a break after such things- I will tell you when not to read. Animal variety: View Spoiler »1. In the warehouse when the kids lock someone in and the guy is OBVIOUSLY in there, then tells the boy to run and get his cane at the other end of the warehouse. Honestly extremely fucked up-dog hanging, twitching, etc-just…don’t read it. 2. Some rabbit at the end when it talks about the gray man or whatever he is-I skimmed it, but I know it was f’d up, too. 3. A friend warned me, after I complained, not to read when Evie’s old woman neighbor WITH ALL THE CATS gets a scene at THE VERY END because something totally weird and unexpected happens to a cat. No idea what happens here, I didn’t read any of it, it was a very small scene-it was a wrap up scene, you’ll see. I didn’t even think it was going to happen-I thought she was wrong, but yeah. « Hide SpoilerOf the child/baby variety, though more subtle: View Spoiler »1. Theta had an abortion in a flashback (huge trigger for me, now that I’ve had a child) and it says something about scalpels-though brief, I am just telling you. 2. I honestly can’t say a ton because I was reading so fast I forgot some, but the bad guy is a child in a flashback Evie sees, and he’s CREEPY AF. That’s a mix-because the truly disturbing part is that a bunch of ‘followers / believers’ of this weird religion or whatever it was agree to be sacrificed and burned to the ground with this old church and they HAVE CHILDREN in there and, I’m sorry, it’s too much for me to think about. Yes, it talks about the ‘children screaming’. Fucked up. Sorry. « Hide SpoilerThere might be more, but those are what disturbed me and hurt my heart. And, lastly, though it’s made to be overexaggerated because these people are batshit crazy, religion plays a large part in the murders/motive. Just an FYI, but it didn’t bother me and most people agree, from what I can tell. 😊

“Oh, Evie, you’re too much,” people said, and it wasn’t complimentary. Yes, she was too much. She felt like too much inside all the time.
So why wasn’t she ever enough?

This book was beyond amazing and truly there are not enough words to express what this series has done to me. I love it, despite said flaws, with every fiber of my being. I just wish it wasn’t SO DANG SCARY so I could read it again, already. But, alas, this old girl can only handle so much, so, I’ll move forward and hope for a brave moment in the future when I can pick up my [future] hardback beauties and hug them and squeeze them to death with my affections as I read them many more times.

***************

This book literally-and I do mean literally–scared the crap out of me. I even took precautions-I finished the last 40% in the light (I’m not dumb)-I mean, literally every light in the main part of the house was blazing. Yet, as the end neared, my breathing was labored and I couldn’t stop looking all around me for ghosts and spirits and, honestly, listening for that damnable creak in the floorboard. I couldn’t sleep a wink. My heart exploded and thundered even when the AC came on. So. Yeah. Wussiness infinity.

I went to bed thinking this was a 4-because it did have things that were a personal trigger for me-but woke up and I cannot stop thinking about this excellent, addicting gem of a book. If that’s not a 5, I don’t know what is.

“Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells ’em off for a coupla stones.”

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