Bree Despain

Grace Divine, almost seventeen, learns a dark secret when her childhood friend--practically a brother--returns, upsetting her pastor-father and the rest of her family, around the time strange things are happening in and near their small Minnesota town.

The dark Divine

Monicap

Ohmyjellydonuts, this was soooo good!

Full review without mention of jelly donuts will come once I've calmed down.

Plot: 5/5
Ohmyjellydonuts, this is a werewolf book. It is an amazing werewolf book. Like, one of the best I’ve read in a long, long time. The mythology was so unique and convoluted and cool, man. 
This book was very Christian-y, and the Christian-ness wove into the werewolf stuff and it meshed and it was amazing. Like, so good.

Characters: 5/5
Daniel: He’s a werewolf. It’s a very rare occasion when I run into a werewolf that I do NOT like and am NOT extremely attracted to.
Grace: Okay, I wasn’t raised as a backwards Christian-type who wasn’t even aloud to read Harry Potter, but still I would expect that when someone tells you he’s a werewolf, there’s enough knowledge within you to know that werewolfism can be transferred through biting. But that was the ONLY time she annoyed me, so overall, she’s pretty good.
Jude: I must have been emotionally invested in him, because at the end, when he was being STUPID, I was in tears whilst I shouted at him, “Would you stop being stupid, Jude!?!”
Pete: Ah, Pete Bradshaw. Your average high-school, jock-type, douche-bag. There’s one in every YA PNR story, isn’t there?
Don: As soon as Grace compared to Lenny, I couldn’t get that impression out of my head.

The Romance: 5/5
The romance in this book was set up in such away that I can’t really see it as insta-love. I’m sure some people out there do, but I don’t. One time, I read a book where the author tried to avoid insta-love by having me go into the book and having the character say “I’m already in love with this boy.” Actually, I don’t remember what book that was, but I didn’t like it. In this book, Bree Despain applies a similar technique, but she does it in a way where I don’t feel like I’m being told to love this boy, even though I met him two pages ago, and it WORKS. And I loved it.

Overall Grade: 15/15, perfect score. Plus ohmyjellydonuts makes for a great book.

2nd half got so good! a very interesting world 

Ralie Sutton

Maggie El Lethy

This book was sooo good!!!! Reminded me of Hush Hush, although it was a little different!

Laurie Abrial

Ma chronique : https://motsinsatiables.wordpress.com...
J’adorais la photo de la couverture, avec ses tons violet-noir, je trouvais ça très intrigant… De ce fait, je l’ai acheté. Il ne m’en faut pas plus pour motiver un achat, personnellement. Je suis irrécupérable. Mais en fin de compte, c’était plutôt sympa comme lecture !

Grace Divine est la fille d’un pasteur respectable. Petite, elle était amoureuse de son frère adoptif, Daniel. Mais un beau jour, il a disparu. Lorsqu’elle le revoit, Grace est décidée à creuser le passé afin de savoir ce qu’il s’est réellement passé la nuit où Jude, son frère, est rentré couvert de sang. De plus, l’adolescente constate que ses sentiments à l’égard de Daniel n’ont pas du tout changé.

Dès le début, Grace se retrouve en plein dilemme. Il s’agit du point central de ce roman. Jude, Daniel ? Daniel, Jude ? Lequel choisir, et comment ne pas blesser l’autre ? L’amour ou la famille ? Finalement, on finit par être autant déchirée qu’elle. De plus, certains moments, lorsqu’elle envoie paître Jude, sont absolument bouleversants.

Les personnages sont vraiment bons dans ce livre. La famille Divine est bercée par la religion, donc rien d’étonnant à cela. Mais découvrir l’énergie qu’ils déploient afin d’aider les autres, les quêtes, les dons, le passage chez les fidèles. Cela manque aujourd’hui dans notre monde, s’occuper des autres. Il y a là une jolie leçon de morale.

Et puis, Daniel. J’ai beaucoup aimé le grand frère qu’il a représenté pour Grace, l’évolution des sentiments de celle-ci jusqu’à la fascination, la dépendance. Le jeu établit entre eux. On a le cœur palpitant en accord avec celui de la jeune fille. On tombe amoureuse à notre tour de ce garçon torturé.

Leur romance est vraiment un régal. L’obsession de le vouloir dans toutes les scènes, espérer qu’il réapparaisse, qu’il s’accroche quand Grace l’évite. Leurs cours de dessins, le rendez-vous dans l’arbre. Son côté sombre et les secrets qui l’entourent.

En vérité, je n’aime pas particulièrement ce livre pour l’histoire ou l’écriture de l’auteure –que je qualifierais très simple, avec peu de vocabulaire. Si je l’ai autant apprécié, c’est pour les personnages : les parents de Grace, Baby James ; leurs liens : Daniel et Grace, Jude et Grace, etc. De plus, s’il y a une créature que j’adore par-dessus tout, c’est bien le loup-garou et… Eh bien, je ne suis pas pleinement satisfaite de ce que Bree Despain en fait dans ce roman…

Cependant, je me procurerai la suite car je désire connaître la suite des aventures de Grace. En somme, il s’agit donc d’une lecture simple, rapide et plutôt plaisante. Vous pouvez retrouvez le tome deux sous le nom de Lost Divine pour les amateurs -un troisième tome est prévu, en V.O. il se nomme « The Savage Grace ».

Jessica Nottingham

Bree Despain is a masterful writer! The Dark Divine is a book that plunks you down into a roller coaster car, tightens the harness and takes off without even giving you a chance to think twice. From the very first page I was hooked and there was no going back!

We meet Grace Divine, her sister Charity Divine and her brother Jude Divine. How much do you love their names? I know I did. They are the children of (fittingly enough) a pastor and have the "perfect family" vibe going on. 

Enter Daniel Kalbi. A spectre from their past, and Grace's long time crush. After vanishing, he comes back unexpectedly and Grace finds herself falling for him all over again. Except this time, he's a different person and there is something mysterious about him.

Grace is a really fantastic main character. I have heard others say that she doesn't actually contribute a lot to the story, but I disagree. Following her through the story is intriguing, and seeing how her upbringing affects her decisions is intense. There are so many times in the story that Grace is stuck in a moral quandary and still makes a great decision. 

Long story short? Really enjoyed this book!

Manda

Vicky  Nuñez 

Annalissa Powner 

Haleemah Sadiah

Rianne van der Wiel

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 his own 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 boy's 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.

The Dark Divine

Elizabeth Nolan

Victoria

Candice

Hyacinthe Karin

DeoDone Gous

Nicole

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.

The dark Divine

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