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Jan 06, 2012

Megan rated it:

I am not going to hide this review under a "contains spoilers" warning, because only a very young reader completely unaware of the current trend towards paranormal fiction or a severely mentally disabled person would not figure out the big mystery when, on page 64, Daniel "barks" at Grace when he invites her into his room and she makes the observation that, "It looked like someone had been keeping a large dog in this closet/room. The door was marred by several claw-like More...

40 comments like (52 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2012

Heather rated it:

I am such a sucker. This book is heinously written. I was sorely tempted to scrape it two pages in. The font is bolded, huge and all together overwhelming, making it hard to focus on any given page for too long. The writing is overly simplistic, terse, naïve and more than a bit juvenile. The writing style screams 6th grade writing assignment; yet, I kept reading because Becca Fitzpatrick’s blurb included one word sure to garner my attention, make that a two-word hyphenate, bad-boy. So I stuck More...

30 comments like (25 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

Good girl, studious protagonist: check
Dark, mysterious boy who is really the good guy but starts off being incredibly cruel: check
Unexplained sexual tension that controls protagonist: check
Perfect guy who isn't perfect: check
Love triangle: check
Best friend who gets protagonist to do something dangerous: check
Contrived plot elements to keep the reader in suspense: check

I don't know why I keep reading these when this post-Twilight formula for fantasy romance More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Joyzi rated it:

UPDATE: So much for books to movies? They're going to make a movie out of this book too.

http://breebiesingerdespain.blogspot.com...

One Sunday morning, I was bored and decided to read Specials the book three of the Uglies trilogies, but I find myself suffering to read it because it's too boring and then I've decided to read this book instead since one of my group here in goodreads was reading it.

At the very first chapter I feel like this was probably a g More...

14 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

Kimberly rated it:

This is such a cheap rip-off of the Twilight series. I won't even begin to go into all of the similarities; it's not worth my time. Suffice it to say, I was consistently rolling my eyes throughout the entire story. The only difference between this and Twilight is that Despain adds a clear Biblical take. It's sad that that is really the only original part of the whole story. This one has officially made my "no-dice" bookshelf on GR. I am so thankful this was a library book and I d More...

9 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2010

Jess (The Cozy Reader) rated it:

My Grade

Plot: 5
Setting: 4
Writing: 5
Originality: 5
Characters: 5
Passion: 5
Overall: 29/30 = 96% =A
Cover/Title Bonus: 4

I won this ARC on Bree’s blog in one of her monthly pre-release celebrations for The Dark Divine. I also got a bottle of matching nail polish as seen on the cover and a pedicure kit! :)

Summary (Bree’s website)

A prodigal son
A dangerous love
A deadly secret . . More...

3 comments like (27 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2010

Sab H. rated it:

More like 3.5 stars.

I was so exited about this book! I think I was too exited. Ballads of Suburbia is a hard book to follow, I kept thinking about it long after I was supposed to be into this one. This book was not awfully trapping. Even though I really liked the romance part, I didn't feel so much the supernatural. I didn't quite feel the edge or the mystery. She waited to long to explain what was going on. The writing was awkward, some dialogs seemed to be not believable.

More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2011

Kristi (The Story Siren) added it

Three words; I. Loved. It!

The pages inside are just as full of intrigue and mystery as the beautiful cover itself!

Wow! What an awesome debut! Picked this one up, and didn't put it down until I was finished. Not only was there great charactizations, extraordinary writing and a infallible mystery, but the story itself was just spectacular!

I loved Despain's talent of weaving ideas of mythology seamlessly into the everyday world. The daily struggle of Grace's life More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 17, 2011

Holli rated it:

The Dark Divine is truly an amazing book! It captured my heart from page one, and took me on an amazing ride of suspense, mystery, conviction, and unconditional love.

Bree Despain took a traditional stance with werewolves, but added a twist. These are not mere shape shifters like current novels would portray, but more like the fairytale monsters we imagined them to be as children. I appreciated the amount of back history she put into their origin of the Urbat. The contrast their More...

30 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Kaitlyn rated it:

I seriously love this book so much. All of the characters are amazing, the writing is excellent, and the plot is fantastic! I definitely recommend this book to anyone. You will LOVE it!!!

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2010

Katieb (MundieMoms) rated it:

I received the ARC for The Dark Divine this week when our box of goodies came from Bree for being on her street team. I have to say, that I read the book in a day and I couldn't put it down. I was hooked when I read the first 17 pages here http://www.breedespain.com/TDDsneakpeak....

**This is SPOILER FREE**
Grace Divine is part of a tight knit family, who help everyone they can, are do gooders in their community and hold no secrets, or so Grace thought. When a child hood friend, a More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2010

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it:

I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Simply put, The Dark Divine exceeded all my expectations. Paranormal, bad boy and ordinary girl - who hasn't seen that before? Well, the relationship in this story was very well-done and evenly paced, and the "paranormal" aspect was so incredibly original and entertaining, so it felt like I was reading something completely fresh and new. Bree Despain's take on werewolves - which I'm sure we're all familiar with - is so INCREDIBLY original and actually makes sens More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2011

Amy rated it:

THE DARK DIVINE was one of the best debut books I've read this year. It could probably even be the best. This one was a real page-turner.

At first glance, the story is your typical paranormal romance. But whereas many of the YA paranormal romance books out there these days fall flat on their faces when it comes to the characters and the plot, this one does not. Bree Despain really knows how to create her characters, and give them personalities that make them shine. Or well, not nece More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2010

Michelle rated it:

The Original Review - Here!

If you take the legend of a fantastic creature, set history on present time, add an alternative touch to the story’s narrative and as main ingredient forge all those into a mysterious love story the result is: The Dark Divine. The story starts with a prologue that establishes expectations for the reader that the author graciously drives all the way to the end. We’ll know Grace, our narrator, not only as our eyes through the story, but also o More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2010

Heather rated it:

What a pleasantly, unexpected surprise this book turned out to be. I had know idea from the inside cover what this book was really about. I loved it...

I thought the religious tones were tastefully done. They didn't over power the story, they added to the overall theme and provided contrast to Grace and Daniels life.

This book was a little too goody-goody for me. A little dirtiness (maybe I've read too many romance novels) would have made this book perfect, well that and More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 06, 2010

LethalLovely~I'm Superman & It's My Show rated it:

My Thoughts:

I'm going to try my best to write this review without spoilers which is gonna be difficult given this book is mainly about Daniel's "secret".

Anyway,Grace is the daughter of a pastor & stepford wife-esque mother. She also has three siblings; a younger sister, older brother, & baby brother. When she was younger, she & her older brother were close to a neighborhood kid Daniel which ended abruptly when he disappeared the night her older brother (Jude) ca More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2011

Charlie rated it:

When the main character is the daughter of a local pastor, religion is going to be central to the plot, or it is fairly safe to assume. Why it works: Whether the author shares the same beliefs is irrelevant, because the views, actions and reactions to events are clearly expressed and formed within the fictional characters. In other words, this is where the character is coming from and how we are to interpret their motives. Does it matter if I agree with the beliefs presented? No, because it More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2010

Heather rated it:

Despite a really terrible job on the part of her publisher (missing words and typos abound, parsed out in a font so large and overwhelming in its boldness that I was distracted to no end, and enclosed in a bizarre cover that looks more like an erotic novel than a YA horror/paranormal fantasy), I was really, really pleasantly surprised by this story.

MILD SPOILERS:
Grace Divine is the daughter of a pastor in a conservative church-going community, but her straitlaced family has sp More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Jessica rated it:

The Dark Divine. . . . How clever of the author to think of a title like this.

While reading the jacketcover of my beat-up library book, I thought this sounded extremely interesting and would be very promising. But when I read the first few chapters I was like, "Ah, jeez. . . . This is going to be boring, cheesy, and just plain stupid."

The story begins with our lovely main character, Grace Divine, who is the town Pastor's daughter and goes to a Catholic school. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

JoJo - JJJ (Jo Anna) rated it:

Okay people please be patient with me as this is only my second review..... here it goes.

What started out as a slow read for me turned into staying up until the wee hours to finish this book. At first I struggled with Christian aspect, not that I have a problem with Christianity, of the book and feeling like I was reading about this perfect Pastor's family. In my world perfect doesn't really exist, don't know about any else. So I couldn't wrap my brain around it. When I saw more i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 28, 2011

Mateja rated it:

I picked up The Dark Divine when the paperback came out in 2010 but I abandoned reading it after a couple of chapters. But since I can't stand owning a book that goes unread for forever, I picked it up again with very low expectations. Though I can't say it knocked my socks off in my second attempt at reading it, I was still pleasantly surprised by the story.

The premise is good and I love that there was a lot of romance in it. After the first few struggling chapters I fell into the More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2011

Kereesa rated it:

Grace Divine, daughter of the town's pastor, is just a normal girl trying to do well in AP art, and maybe catch the eye of a cute boy. That is until her childhood friend and crush, Daniel, comes back to town after years of being away. Darker, dangerous, and sexier, Daniel gets under Grace's skin as easily as she is drawn to him. But when strange things start to happen, her brother becomes more than a little paranoid, and secrets get revealed, Grace must figure out what exactly happened the night More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2011

Novels On The Run rated it:

Michelle's Review:

I loved this book and am looking forward eagerly to , 'The Lost Saint' the sequel. The more you read this book the more your heart goes out to Daniel. I cried for the abusive up bringing he had. Daniel's continual loss and rejection. His art is the one thing he does well. Grace , the one person he needs more than anything, can she love him? Can Daniel ask Grace to make the choice he so desperately needs. I could 'see' this book easily.
Bree Despain writes her More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

Lindsay rated it:

Its funny because when I first saw the book, I thought the cover was gorgeous - if not a little pale - but when I read the first chapter...everything kind of fell flat. I kept thinking I was gonna hate this book and I kept myself from reading it for awhile. But then I got further into the story and well...I was hooked!

The main character Grace Divine has to live up to certain expectations she would rather not, especially those set by her religious family. But when the mysterious Danie More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 01, 2011

Jenny rated it:

6/4/2011

I listened to this book on CD before reading the sequel, and it was interesting that my feelings were quite different this time around. I probably would change my rating to a 3.5...

I still liked it, but not nearly as much as the first time. This time I kept noticing glaring similarities to Twilight (of which the fervor has died down a LOT). It sort of bothered me. Also the first half of the book was not nearly as interesting to me as it was the first time. I d More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 10, 2011

Indigo rated it:

The Dark Divine is a very good book, good enough for me to give it five stars. It's basically a story about unconditional love and forgiveness, cleverly disguised as a action-y paranormal novel. As far as the concept went, the werewolf thing wasn't that original, but the "act of true love" that could save werewolves and the religious aspect of their creation was definitely something I'd never read before and I loved every moment of it. The plot was clear and predictable in the ve More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Jessica rated it:

From shutupimreading.blogspot.com

Wow. Talk about a book that will grab you, make you fall for it, and won't let you go. The Dark Divine was breathtakingly amazing. I absolutely loved it.

It's so hard to talk about the plot without giving anything away. It's fast-paced, darkly beautiful and romantic, and it constantly throws twists and turns at you. I could only put this down when forced to do so. Don't start this when you're busy. It's all you'll do, and all you'll think about More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

Douglas rated it:

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Grace Divine. As a heroine, she was plucky enough to get herself into trouble and then out of it, but her vulnerable nature, born of doubts and insecurities, made her real and grounded to me. Although Grace was often rescued during pivotal scenes by the love interest, Daniel Kalbi, I didn't find her helpless as much as simply in over her head. Any strong lead, male or female, can do the same, so I never found myself thinking of Grace as an More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 04, 2010

Cami rated it:

The Dark Divine is a paranormal romance with protagonist Grace Divine.
When her brother's former best friend Daniel returns to an unwelcoming former foster family and school, Grace is drawn to him. As she gets to closer to Daniel, her once-close brother Jude pulls further away from her. A terrible secret lies at the center of it all.

I enjoyed all the characters very much. I thought they were developed in a way that the reader can relate with. I loved best the relationship betwee More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2010

Amelia rated it:

I liked this book. Did it live up to the expectations I had? No, BUT I still liked it.

I thought it was a tad dull at times. I didn't like any of the supporting characters. In fact, they weren't really around that much. It was all about Grace, basically. Though, I did like Daniel. I felt like there should have been more interactions with the other characters aside from him. It was very isolating.

I loved the backstory of Grace, Jude, and Daniel. I wish it would have been f More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

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