The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
3 stars
Reasons for reading: sounded interesting, like the Minnesota setting, YA Challenge
Description: "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."
My thoughts: This one was okay. I found it fairly predictable and there was a lot of Twilight-ness to it, I thought, with the longing for the bad boy/supernatural creature that she shouldn't be with, etc. I did think it was interesting that faith was a focal part of the story without making it preachy or "Christian fiction" - I thought that aspect was fairly well done. Grace's willingness to sacrifice herself for Daniel is impressive and Daniel is probably the most interesting character, although it's pretty obvious from the start what his secret is. Despain creates some fairly interesting werewolf lore and there's enough excitement with mysterious attacks, the Divines' baby going missing, and a few red herrings to keep it interesting. Not sure I'm interested enough to read the sequel, but it's a surefire hit for paranormal romance fans.
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