The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Pages: 372

Publisher: Egmont

Age Group: Young Adult

A Prodigal Son 

A Dangerous Love 

A Deadly Secret 

Grace Divine—daughter of the local pastor—always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood. 

Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother. 

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul.

Stars: 3.5/5

Cover: A

Plot:

Grace's life is going great. That is, until Daniel comes back. Her family wants nothing to do with him, but Grace can't help but be attracted to him.

But then weird things start happening, people are killed and mutilated, and Grace's brother, Jude, is convinced Daniel is behind it all.

Grace knows that there is something off about Daniel, but she would've never been able to guess what it actually was.

Grace races to figure out who's behind all the weird stuff happening in town, and keep the peace in her family.

I thought the plot was pretty good. It was exciting enough, and held my attention, but there was just one thing that I honestly think was thoroughly preventing me from enjoying the story --- how cliche everything was.

I felt like I knew the characters really really well (and not in a good way) and that I had read the story a million times before.

That being said, I did enjoy The Dark Divine. It was suspenseful, dark, and an easy, fast read.

Characters:

I didn't feel like I could connect to the characters, especially Daniel. 

I'm tired of the male characters being dark, handsome, and swoon-worthy. I want them to have some imperfections! 

Writing:

Bree's writing was good. I didn't notice anything I particularly disliked about the way she writes, and I didn't notice anything extraordinary, either.

Ending:

Most of the ending was fantastic! Things happened that were completely unexpected, and when I read who had been behind all of the weird things happening in town, I'm pretty sure my eyes bulged out of my head.

All was good with the ending . . . until the last five pages. It was completely predictable, cliche, and again, I felt like I had read it a thousand times.

Cover:

The cover is what first drew me to the book. It's gorgeous! I love how the books in this series' covers correspond with each other.

Lovely Line:

"It's wrong. He's wrong. Everything about him is wrong," Jude said. "I'm the good one. I'm the one who does everything this family needs. I'm the one who is here everyday for them, and now he's back for a few hours, and they believe him over me. Dad and Grace act like he's some kind of hero." His voice twanged. "How can Dad believe him after what he did?"

"What?" April asked. "What did he do?"

Jude sighed.

(Page 176)

The Final Verdict:

I would recommend all paranormal romance readers go find this book. Though it seems like a lot of other books out there, it's still a good read, and I don't regret reading it.

FTC: I bought this book.

*If you've read The Dark Divine and reviewed it, post the link to your review below! I'd love to know what your thoughts on the book were. :)