Author: Bree Despain
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 372
Source: Myself/Bought
Summary:
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.
Review: Bree Despain's debut novel is stunning and mysterious.
The novel starts off quickly with some intrigue, as Daniel Kalbi comes back into town. I've never quite read a novel that hooked me by the third page, but The Dark Divine did just that. Despain's writing has an addictive quality to it, and she seemed to effortlessly pull everything together in just the right way, with just enough mystery to keep you guessing.
The characters are drawn up perfectly on the page. Grace is the good-girl daughter of the local pastor, and she was easy to relate to. Daniel had "bad boy" written all over him, but he's sweet down to the core. Daniel's secrets draw Grace closer to him, as she tries to unravel the mystery of what happened between Daniel and Jude, and just what is Daniel.
Highlights: Despain's writing is addictive, and I never wanted to put the book down for a single second. I was also always curious about just what would happen next, and the ending definitely satisfied me. I also really enjoyed that Grace's religion wasn't delved into too deeply, and instead the novel dealt more with her morals.
Lowlights: Grace's "best" friend. What's up with crappy best friends in YA lately?
Rating: 
Lea
Great review!! I want to read this one, it sounds great!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I really want to get to read this novel!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I've heard mixed things about this, but now I'm reassured that it'll be worth the read. Thank you for your comments and tips! I'm now a member of the YA book blog directory and the YA blogosphere! Oh, and I think that I just gave you 300 followers ;D
ReplyDeleteSuch a great review! I lovedddddd TDD, and I'm glad to hear you did, as well. I agree though, sucky best friends are all too common these days in YA :)
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ReplyDeleteI've been looking forward to this. Great review and I totally agree with your best friends opinion. I'm reading Hush Hush and I absolutely am annoyed at Vee
ReplyDeleteIt sounds pretty amazing. And I loved the boys' names... I've read books with characters that I loved, with the same names. I'm weird, I know.
ReplyDeleteGreat review.I have been seeing this book a lot around in blogosphere and I want to read it now !
ReplyDeleteI only put this book down at times so I could stay in the world longer :P
ReplyDeleteThe Dark Divine is really addictive!
I know what you mean about crappy best friends. I just finished Seven Rays and started Some Girls Are and both of their best friends are crappy.
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this. I will definitely be ordering it when my books pile shrinks. It sounds fab!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I definitely want to read this!
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with your review. Especially the crappy best friends in YA these days!
ReplyDeleteHey, I just put up a Mr. Lindy for other reviews of the Dark Divine in my post. Hope you don't mind but I put up the link to your review!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I definitely agree TDD was amazing and had great characters. As for crappy best friends, who else would we hate? ;)
ReplyDeleteThe more I hear about this book, the more I want to read it! Great review!
ReplyDeletefrom what you've said this book sounds perfectly hookable...I'm putting it on my TBR!
ReplyDeleteOoooo I can't wait to read this!
ReplyDeleteI love bad best friends :)