Before the Devil Breaks You review
Title: Before the Devil Breaks You
Author(s): Libba Bray
My rating: ★★★★★
Format: Audiobook
1) The Diviners ★★★★
2) Lair of Dreams ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, loss of a loved one, murder, gore, body horror, medical procedures, ingestion of blood, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, the KKK, misogyny, slut shaming, ableism, themes of colonialism, domestic violence, non-consensual kiss, attempted rape, mentions of paedophilia
representation: main and side characters with depression and ptsd, side african-american characters, side jewish characters, side white passing cherokee character, side interracial m/f relationship, side gay characters, side m/m relationships, side biracial (irish-chinese) disabled gay asexual character, side interracial f/f relationship, side blind african-american character, side black lesbian character
“Tell me, do you have family near?” Miss Addie asked.
“I’m an orphan,” Theta said.
“You’re wrong.” The old woman blinked up at the ceiling, her fingers waving in the air. “You do have family. I see it in your aura. They’re… they’re all around you.”
Review can also be found on my goodreads.
I love the first two books in this series so much and, somehow, it got exponentially better. Being the third book, I can't really explain the specific plot, but this series is set in 1920s New York and follows a group of individuals each with a special power: Evie, a flapper with the ability to read objects; Memphis, a poet with a healing ability which has been dormant for a long time; Sam, a thief who can make people not see him; Henry, a pianist who can dream walk; Theta, a mysterious dancer who has fire powers; Ling, an aspiring scientist who can communicate with the dead in dreams; and Isaiah, Memphis' younger brother who can see the future. Then there's also non-diviner characters in Will, Evie's scholarly uncle, Jericho, Will's assistant with a dark past, and Mabel, Evie's activist best friend.
Things that I don't have any new thoughts about other than they're great: January LaVoy's narration, the audiobook as a whole, and the atmosphere.
I think this book is probably the most well-paced of them all because it's really drawing on the previous books' experiences for its plot, making it move a bit faster. This book also has quite possibly the greatest subplots of all time. The Campbell brothers with Mr. Johnson, Jericho at the mansion, Mabel's activism with the Secret Six, Theta and her backstory with Roy. They were all fantastic and it meant that there was never a single scene when I didn't care. Despite the plot being a bit more present, that doesn't in any way take away from character moments. I would still argue that this series is most definitely character-driven.
The relationships in this book just fucking peaked. I'll talk about my romantic-relationship-thoughts in a second, but the platonic relationships were also fantastic. Particularly the relationships between the women. There were several scenes with Evie, Mabel, Theta and Ling together, supporting each other and having fun, and it was so great. Also, Evie's willingness to just Fight everyone for her girls is incredible.
Romantic thoughts (some spoilery, so proceed with caution):
Evie/Sam: Oh my god, YES, my babes are finally together. The majority of this book was so painful as they were just pining and not realising that the other was desperately in love with them. BUT THEN, them kissing and Sam saying that he wants Evie to see him, and that sex scene, IT WAS ALL GREAT.
Jericho: He needs to stop fucking pining over Evie, it started to piss me off. Luckily it looks like that's finally dead, but christ on a bike, that was painful.
Memphis/Theta: They're still goals as fuck and I love them with all my heart, and I just hope that they live a long, happy life together.
Mabel/Arthur: At first I was like "this is great, Mabel deserves good things". Then he became a little snek and Mabel's death is completely his fault, the little fucking snek. I hope Evie murders him.
Henry/David: As a couple, I'm kind of indifferent, but I'm happy that Henry's happy. He's in love, he's getting some, and honestly, it's what he deserves.
Ling/Alma: These two stole my heart, and they had like two scenes together. Just Ling explaining her asexuality, and Alma not totally understanding but accepting it, and that scene with Alma dancing while the lowkey sex montage was going on, and them kissing and holding hands and constantly stealing glances at each other. @ Libba Bray, GIVE ME MORE PLS.
James/Luther: This was so unexpected and it fucking broke me. We literally see them in a depressing flashback, that's it, but it made me Feel So Much, because we know so much about James, and just the tragedy of what happened, and everything changing about how Evie sees her brother and what happened to him. Also, I really hope this is a reverse Louis, and that Evie gets her brother back.
Also, I really liked how this book briefly talked about the characters experiencing depression due to their PTSD. When someone (I don't remember who) mentions the oppressive sadness they feel sometimes and the others say that they experience it too. It was also just a really nice moment of the characters connecting. Okay, that's it for character-stuff.
This book was straight-up terrifying in some parts. That entire scene in the mental institution when most of them are there, in the basement and with Henry and Theta with Isaiah, that entire portion of the book was.... fuck. It was so well-written, and I can't even describe the joy I felt when they met up again. That's only one part of the book, too. There are so many other spooky parts that genuinely put me on edge in broad daylight.
My final thing is that this book went there. I'm not going to get into specifics but let me just say that there is definitely no guarantee that all of our faves are going to make it by the end of next book.
Libba Bray is the devil, and she broke me. (also, I'm really stressed bc book four doesn't have a title, or release date)
Author(s): Libba Bray
My rating: ★★★★★
Format: Audiobook
1) The Diviners ★★★★
2) Lair of Dreams ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, loss of a loved one, murder, gore, body horror, medical procedures, ingestion of blood, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, the KKK, misogyny, slut shaming, ableism, themes of colonialism, domestic violence, non-consensual kiss, attempted rape, mentions of paedophilia
representation: main and side characters with depression and ptsd, side african-american characters, side jewish characters, side white passing cherokee character, side interracial m/f relationship, side gay characters, side m/m relationships, side biracial (irish-chinese) disabled gay asexual character, side interracial f/f relationship, side blind african-american character, side black lesbian character
“Tell me, do you have family near?” Miss Addie asked.
“I’m an orphan,” Theta said.
“You’re wrong.” The old woman blinked up at the ceiling, her fingers waving in the air. “You do have family. I see it in your aura. They’re… they’re all around you.”
Review can also be found on my goodreads.
I love the first two books in this series so much and, somehow, it got exponentially better. Being the third book, I can't really explain the specific plot, but this series is set in 1920s New York and follows a group of individuals each with a special power: Evie, a flapper with the ability to read objects; Memphis, a poet with a healing ability which has been dormant for a long time; Sam, a thief who can make people not see him; Henry, a pianist who can dream walk; Theta, a mysterious dancer who has fire powers; Ling, an aspiring scientist who can communicate with the dead in dreams; and Isaiah, Memphis' younger brother who can see the future. Then there's also non-diviner characters in Will, Evie's scholarly uncle, Jericho, Will's assistant with a dark past, and Mabel, Evie's activist best friend.
Things that I don't have any new thoughts about other than they're great: January LaVoy's narration, the audiobook as a whole, and the atmosphere.
I think this book is probably the most well-paced of them all because it's really drawing on the previous books' experiences for its plot, making it move a bit faster. This book also has quite possibly the greatest subplots of all time. The Campbell brothers with Mr. Johnson, Jericho at the mansion, Mabel's activism with the Secret Six, Theta and her backstory with Roy. They were all fantastic and it meant that there was never a single scene when I didn't care. Despite the plot being a bit more present, that doesn't in any way take away from character moments. I would still argue that this series is most definitely character-driven.
The relationships in this book just fucking peaked. I'll talk about my romantic-relationship-thoughts in a second, but the platonic relationships were also fantastic. Particularly the relationships between the women. There were several scenes with Evie, Mabel, Theta and Ling together, supporting each other and having fun, and it was so great. Also, Evie's willingness to just Fight everyone for her girls is incredible.
Romantic thoughts (some spoilery, so proceed with caution):
Evie/Sam: Oh my god, YES, my babes are finally together. The majority of this book was so painful as they were just pining and not realising that the other was desperately in love with them. BUT THEN, them kissing and Sam saying that he wants Evie to see him, and that sex scene, IT WAS ALL GREAT.
Jericho: He needs to stop fucking pining over Evie, it started to piss me off. Luckily it looks like that's finally dead, but christ on a bike, that was painful.
Memphis/Theta: They're still goals as fuck and I love them with all my heart, and I just hope that they live a long, happy life together.
Mabel/Arthur: At first I was like "this is great, Mabel deserves good things". Then he became a little snek and Mabel's death is completely his fault, the little fucking snek. I hope Evie murders him.
Henry/David: As a couple, I'm kind of indifferent, but I'm happy that Henry's happy. He's in love, he's getting some, and honestly, it's what he deserves.
Ling/Alma: These two stole my heart, and they had like two scenes together. Just Ling explaining her asexuality, and Alma not totally understanding but accepting it, and that scene with Alma dancing while the lowkey sex montage was going on, and them kissing and holding hands and constantly stealing glances at each other. @ Libba Bray, GIVE ME MORE PLS.
James/Luther: This was so unexpected and it fucking broke me. We literally see them in a depressing flashback, that's it, but it made me Feel So Much, because we know so much about James, and just the tragedy of what happened, and everything changing about how Evie sees her brother and what happened to him. Also, I really hope this is a reverse Louis, and that Evie gets her brother back.
Also, I really liked how this book briefly talked about the characters experiencing depression due to their PTSD. When someone (I don't remember who) mentions the oppressive sadness they feel sometimes and the others say that they experience it too. It was also just a really nice moment of the characters connecting. Okay, that's it for character-stuff.
This book was straight-up terrifying in some parts. That entire scene in the mental institution when most of them are there, in the basement and with Henry and Theta with Isaiah, that entire portion of the book was.... fuck. It was so well-written, and I can't even describe the joy I felt when they met up again. That's only one part of the book, too. There are so many other spooky parts that genuinely put me on edge in broad daylight.
My final thing is that this book went there. I'm not going to get into specifics but let me just say that there is definitely no guarantee that all of our faves are going to make it by the end of next book.
Libba Bray is the devil, and she broke me. (also, I'm really stressed bc book four doesn't have a title, or release date)
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