Review: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Hardcover, 384 pages

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Released: Dec 22 2009

ISBN: 978-1606840573

Recommended for: paranormal romance lovers

Teaser quote:

A frightened shiver rushed through my body. Part of me wanted to climb back into my room and lock the window. But most of me wanted to take him in my arms and run away from everyone and everything. (pg 182)

My rating: 5 /5

My thoughts:

It's been three years since Grace Divine last saw Daniel. Daniel lived next door, was her brother, Jude's, best friend and was taken in by the Divine's when his abusive father took off. But something happened between Daniel & Jude; Daniel disappeared and the family refuses to talk about it or him. Then out of the blue, Daniel returns & Grace wants to be friends again or at least lend him some help. Unfortunately Jude wants her as far away from Daniel as possible. While the subject is off limits with her family, Grace has always wondered what happened to cause such a drastic shift.

This is not just your typical "good girl falls for bad boy" story. Grace is not a weak character. Her major flaw is innocence but she makes up for it with being stubborn yet open-minded when necessary. You can't help but feel for Daniel and what he had to endure growing up. He is fighting to prove he's better than where he came from. Throughout the book, I really felt the characters' emotions & was deeply drawn into the amazing story Bree created. Although much is wrapped up plot-wise & there's a satisfying ending, you can't help but wonder what happens next and it's easy to see that Bree has so much more in store for these characters. I'm really hoping for a sequel, can you tell?!

I know it's early in the game, but I think it's safe to say this is going to end up being a top 10 read for 2010. Yay, Bree on writing such an awesome debut!

On a side note: You know you've read an amazing book when days later, you wake up and remember a dream you just had when you hardly remember your dreams...then you realize it was probably brought on by the story you just finished. I woke up almost in tears after a dream where I was talking with my old neighbor. I haven't seen the family in ages and here I was talking to Eric's mom. When I was younger, Eric, was my best friend, we did everything together. He even tried to teach me how to pee standing up like him - hey I was three. Talk about true love LOL.