Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: The Divines: A Novel

Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2022

A haunting journey into the English class divide, our fallible memories, and how they write our life stories.

I loved this book. It’s true to say that it’s a slow burn—however, the complexity of the characters draws you in. I found myself both despising them, and sympathizing with them in equal measure. The story isn’t a page-turner, it doesn’t twist and turn and surprise you chapter after chapter. Rather, it draws you in as you dive into the strange upper-class world of the ‘Divine’.

This book is written in shades of grey, not black and white, it's a book that through an investigation into another world, invites introspection into your own.

One person found this helpful

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Peggy

Slow Read

Reviewed in Canada on October 24, 2021

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I initially gave this book 4 stars. It the more I thought about it, I think 3 are sufficient. It’s an OK book. No mystery or great plot and when I find myself continuously looking to see how far from the end I am, I know it’s not a great read.

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thathappyreader

Would you return for your 20th reunion?

Reviewed in Canada on January 19, 2021

The Divines are the girls of St. John the Divines, an elite English boarding school. The Divines were famous for their hair flipping, chain smoking and harassment of teachers. Josephine, now in her thirties, spent five years at the school and receives an invitation to the upcoming reunion of former students of the institution that was closed in disgrace with her graduating class. Now married with a daughter of her own and living in California, Josephine is undecided on whether or not to attend. She hasn’t even spoken to any of her former classmates in fifteen years. The invitation evokes a strong need, however, to reflect upon her time as a Divine. The story is told from multiple timeframes - as a student, as a newlywed and the present. As the memories surface , Josephine’s life begins to change: she begins having difficulties with her marriage, she can’t concentrate on her work and most importantly her self identity is challenged.

I enjoyed reading this book. The character development was excellent. I appreciated the insight Josephine gleamed from others when they spoke of how she was perceived while at school. Where the book excels to me, however, is in observing Josephine’s personal insight into her true identity as the book progresses. On a more critical note, while I found the antics of The Divines were at times humorous, there was also evidence that some of these girls could be unkind to the point of bullying. The way they treated the staff and town’s residents was abhorrent, strongly suggestive of a pretentious upbringing likely fuelled by their time at the school. As a result, I found the characters were not likeable - a must have for me in order to be fully invested in a book. Additionally, the story felt a little long in parts and I found myself wanting to return to Josephine’s current storyline.

I listened to the audiobook edition of the book which was narrated by Imogen Church who gives a very good performance. I appreciated her ability to voice several characters and found her pacing to be excellent. I listened to the book at my usual 1.25x speed which I found to be comfortable. I would not hesitate to recommend the audiobook format to those readers who enjoy this format.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for the honest review provided here.

One person found this helpful

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Anon

I want to read it again already!

Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2021

A truly excellent read! I really loved this tale of adolescence at an all girls boarding school in England. Set in the 90’s, the references to teenage life are ‘spot on’, the emotional rollercoasters vivid and what a fantastic ending. Highly recommend!!

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Joburg Reader

Intrigue and suspense

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2021

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A story of intrigue and suspense. I look forward to reading the author's next book.

7rings

Eh

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2021

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Not bad, but I feel like the description of this book is a bit misleading. Wouldn’t call this a suspenseful read. At all. Also to call this an ~examination of sexuality~ is also a bit misleading. Again , not horrible- but also not great.

11 people found this helpful

Lisa

Good

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2021

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Wealthy girls attending a prestigious boarding school in England. They have long held traditions- call themselves Divine, they chain smoke, flip their hair, and call each other by male names. They are funny and clever and brutally cruel as only teenagers can be. Josephine is newly married and a mother and cannot get her memories of being at St John of the Divine out of her head. Besides the brutal bullying there was one evening where there was an incident that has haunted her into adulthood. She is positive she has PTSD from her experiences there and tells her mother who is also a Divine. Her mother not only disregards her concerns pushes her to go to a reunion. She tries to face up to her memories only to realize some may be spot on and some may be distorted. I liked it- Reading about adolescent insecurities and bullying- is tough. So it was not the light and fun read that I expected it to be. 4 stars bc it was very well done- but not as enjoyable as I’d hoped.

3 people found this helpful

Boxermom

Very Disappointed

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021

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The write up for this book was very, very misleading. It was a character study of nasty, rude teenage bullies.
None of the characters developed into better people, everyone is self absorbed, and behavior towards staff and teachers is totally unbelievable.

The end comes about very abruptly, with no conclusion - answers are left to your imagination.
I know people tend to muddle their memories, but Josephine's memories seem to be the result of a
psychotic break.

I also did not understand the need for the in depth descriptions of Josephine's adult sexual acts. It added
nothing to the story. As a teenager it made sense and reflected the confusion and angst girls experience.

I'm sorry for the bad review, but don't waste your time.

2 people found this helpful

Kimba_g

I wish I liked this book

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

POTENTIAL SPOILERS I really wanted to like this book. When the characters all started out as unlikeable I thought that there would be growth. I thought they would become better people and we would see them change in some way. But they were all pretty much horrible and miserable the whole way through. When it ended I thought that somehow I was missing pages. It was so abrupt with no resolution to anything.

3 people found this helpful

AliBC

Fascinating read about adolescence and the power of memory

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

I couldn’t put this book down. The Divines opens with a mystery - something very bad has happened at the school of St John the Divine, something bad enough to shut the school down, but it isn’t until our narrator Josephine is on her honeymoon and passes by the remains of her school, that we see how much it has haunted her. Eaton perfectly captures the awkwardness and savagery of high school politics and forces her readers to question whether we can ever really escape our past. Ultimately it’s a fast read, with very cinematic storytelling, and will leave you thinking like only the best novels do.

5 people found this helpful

5 star		29%
4 star		33%
3 star		23%
2 star		11%
1 star		3%

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