Review: The Dark Devine by Bree Despain

Author: Bree Despain

Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd

Page Count: 384pages, Paperback

Date Published: first published December 22nd 2009

Find it on Goodreads: The Dark Devine

Source: Purchased second hand

Rating:  4/5

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood—but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry, glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boys' dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

My Thoughts: At first this seemed like a pretty generic paranormal, but in the end it had hooked me in and I really liked it!

Whenever I go into the bookstore, I always see the third book in this series, The Savage Grace. I LOVE the cover of it and had been dying to read this series, so when I found this one for 5$ at a used bookshop, I was so excited! To be honest though, I really had no idea what these would be about. I picked it up the other day because I had some time on my hands and I couldn't focus on any of my review books, so I decided to pick a random book and just read. Because sometimes you have to do that, you know? When I first began reading this, it seemed pretty generic. A girl and her perfect family,  an old friend comes back, strange things start to happen, etc. etc. You get the drift. But then I got hooked.

I wouldn't say The Dark Devine was a great book, but it definitely wasn't terrible. I cared about the characters, and I liked the story. The lore in it was unique and it was enjoyable to read about. There was something complex to Daniel's story that I loved, and I couldn't get enough of it. There was a lot of predictability to the story, but there were also some twists and turns that I did not see coming. I think what could have made this book better is  more explanation  in some parts, and less in others. Spread it out a little bit...

I both saw the ending coming and was also pretty surprised, so I'm looking forward to reading the next book, but am not dying for it. If I see it, I'll pick it up! I'm not sure exactly what it was about this book, but it reminded me a lot of Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder series. Maybe the writing style? This was a great book to get me sort of out of my reading slump, and I'm so glad I picked it up!

Let me know what you thought of this book if you've read it! I'd love to know what you think!
Happy reading!
~Kristy