Book Blog Discussion

This month's book: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain. First, I'm going to open the discussion on the book. Anyone is welcome to comment on what I said or add their feelings about the book, sort of like we're all sitting around my lavish living room with mugs of steaming liquid while a snowstorm rages outside. Okay? Okay.

Also, I don't think there's too many spoilers if you haven't read it, so you can safely scan my review.

I'm all about exuding positivity, so I'm going to name what I liked first and then say a few things I wish were slightly different. Not bad, mind you. Not that I disliked. Just wish were different.

What I liked:

1. The cover. Too bad it has absolutely nothing to do with the words inside. But it intrigued me from the day I saw it, and I would've bought the book based on the cover alone.

2. The MC. She mostly stayed with her character. There was only one time she went gallivanting off doing things I didn't feel like were in her character. Overall, she was well-portrayed.

3. The MC's family. She had a "whole" family, with a mom and a dad and siblings. And that's pretty rare in YA these days. I enjoyed both her mom and dad, and the realism in their relationship. I liked the older brother a lot.

What I wish were slightly different:

1. The romance. Since I'm a character-driven reader, I like my characters to be believable and do realistic things. And the whole time I was being set up for the bad guy to be the male love interest. And he was too bad. He'd done unspeakable things. To her family. To her. To others.

And then...the girl is declaring her undying love for him. It didn't feel real to me. It felt rushed and convenient, with little reasoning.

2. The villain. I wasn't sure who it was -- except for the love interest. And then it turned out to be--get this--this other guy in the book! Um, no. I couldn't go there. The story didn't unfold in a way to lead me to that. And it just made me...unsettled.

3. I'll admit that I almost quit reading this book about 75 pages from the end. Here's why: The MC puts away this book that will tell her all the answers and says she doesn't want to know.

Well, if she doesn't, why should I?? I closed the book, a little peeved, and refused to pick it up again for 24 hours. Then I got over my petty fight with myself and finished it. But seriously? If the MC doesn't care about solving the mystery, why should the reader?

But overall, I would give The Dark Divine 3.5 stars out of 5. I did read it fairly fast, I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding the bad guy, and I loved the background of the MC.

If you've read this book, what did you think? If you haven't, you should, my "dislikes" notwithstanding.