*REVIEW* The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

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.

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  I think my hope and expectations were set just a little high with this one.  Going into the book I didn't really know what to expect but I expected it to be a bit more.  The bold words had me thinking that this was going to be intense right from the start and I guess that is a lot to expect from hitting the bold button.  Once I decided to be a little more realistic and managed to get into the book I did enjoy it.  

  The best part was actually the characters.


   I loved Grace.  She always wanted to do the right thing and I am used to the MC just doing it but she always had this inner debate.  It wasn't always easy for her to do what she thought was right and sometimes she didn't do what was right but what she felt should be done.  I would be lying if I didn't admit at times that I would like to smack her for giving in but she normally quickly fixed this issue and continued on her way.  She really for the most part lives up to her name of Grace Divine.  


  Daniel was such a torn and broken character for the most part.  It's not that he doesn't want to do the right thing so much as he doesn't think he is capable of doing the right thing.  His affection for Grace shines through loud and clear yet he tries to make it so that she wont care for him.  His rough background and sketchy living arrangements scream bad boy but I always felt there was something a little more pure and  caring than what was around him.


  Grace's family was another awesome set of characters.  Her dad the pastor probably being my favorite book pastor EVER.  He practices faith the way it should be as far as I am concerned.  He lives believing people should actively practice forgiveness and grace.  However he never becomes preachy or pushy about his beliefs but he does stand firm to them.   Her brother cares so strongly about her that at times he seems overbearing but they are a closely knit family.


  April and Pete made me want to pull my hair out most of the time but they did play their parts.  April is SUPPOSED to be Grace's best friend...  Although I am not sure how a best friend can be even considered a friend when they spend more time worried about your brother.  Yup, you heard me.  She crushed on him which was fine but then it was like she forgot Grace existed the second Jude paid any attention to her.  Pete for appearance sake seemed sweet but I just could never get over feeling like he had a hidden agenda!


  I think what really got me down with the book was the pace and the story itself.  It was plain.  I am not hard to please when it comes to writing style but this one was just over simplistic for me.  Outside of the well defined characters there wasn't really anything for me.  No world building or out there twists, just a basic line that continued on straight and steady.  I give it credit for being consistent and not jumping everywhere but I disliked the complete predictability of it all.  Being honest there was a bit of a jump at the end (I did somewhat expect it) and that gave me hope for the next book.


  I will continue on with this series because of how many awesome things I have heard about it and its promise.  There is a lot of potential to take the already developed characters and build an awesome world around them while spicing things up a little with where the story turned.  I don't expect things to change completely but I would like to see a little more excitement and a few extra twists in.  This is a promising series and I still have high hopes that I will end up loving it!