The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Title: The Dark Divine

Author: Bree Despain

Series: The Dark Divine #1

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Release Date: 2009, December 22

Format: Hardcover, 372 pages

Source: Purchased with own money many moons ago

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis:

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:

OMG!  I have NO idea why I waited this long to read this book!  Once I got started reading it was the fastest 372 pages EVER!  I could not put this book down.  I had to constantly know what was going on and what was going to happen next.  When I originally purchased this book I was totally drawn to the cover.  It's kinda creepy and mysterious and I just love it!

Grace Divine is the local preacher's daughter and she's always been drawn to the boy next door, Daniel.  Now Daniel at one point was even considered a member of the Divine family, but then there was an incident and he disappeared.

Fast forward 3 years and Daniel is back in town.  Grace always knew that there was something not right about the circumstances in which Daniel just picked up, packed up and disappeared on them.  But no one EVER talks about what actually happened.  Now that Daniel is back in town, almost unrecognizable with his unkempt shaggy, dyed black hair Gracie's crush gets thrown yet again into high gear.

Then a whole bunch of REALLY mysterious things start happening and Grace is determined to get to the bottom of it all.  Whether her family and Daniel like it or not.

What I really liked was that you're a good chunk of the way into the book before you actually figure out what Daniel really is.  I think it would have detracted from the story if you knew right off what he really is.  But that's just my opinion.

Another thing that I really liked was how Bree constantly let you know where (like day, place, and even time wise) the characters were.  I thought that it helped the story flow much easier for me personally.  

 I also liked how the main character Grace Divine grew throughout the book.  In the beginning of the book I thought that Grace was kind of a follower and as more defecation hit the rotary oscillator (AKA Shit hitting the fan) she went more the other way and grew into leader type.  I also really liked how Grace spent a good chunk of the book trying to figure out who and what the monster(s) really were.

Overall, I really liked the story as a whole.  I can hardly wait until December when book 2 comes out!  Is it December yet?!