The Dark Divine

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.

 

Isn't the cover gorgeous?  And I love the title of the book, too.  The cover is what initially drew me to this book, so I was somewhat disappointed (though I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised) to discover that the cover has nothing to do with the actual story.  But enough about that.
 
What started out as a slow-moving story actually ended up being fairly entertaining.  The latter half of the book was especially good.  There was just something about Grace and Daniel's relationship that touched me.  No matter what others were telling them, they knew how they felt about each other.  They understood that their relationship was dangerous -- Grace, more so as the book progressed -- but they couldn't stay away from each other, and it was that love that overcame everything in the end.

While some parts of the book were a bit "churchy" -- Grace and Jude's father is a pastor, after all, and they attend a church school -- I liked that Grace wasn't ashamed of who she is.  She wasn't afraid to stand up for her beliefs.
 
There's a sequel coming out in December, and while I initially didn't think I'd care to read it (as I said, The Dark Divine wasn't pulling me in as much as I wanted it to at first), I'm actually excited to see what's next for Grace, Daniel, and Jude.
 
4/5