THE DARK DIVINE by Bree Despain

The story of the Divine Family and most notably, seventeen year old daughter Grace and her brother Jude. When former family friend Daniel arrives back in town after disappearing three years ago, Jude goes from choir boy to vengefully aggressor. Daniel lived with the family to escape his abusive father before being returned to his mother and then disappearing for three years. Grace's mother and Jude, specifically want Grace to stay away from him, but no one will tell her why. Daniel is very different from the blonde haired boy he was when he lived with them. He's dark, edgy and brooding, but Grace can't seem to stay away from him.

I usually like books that give me a spark of excitement in what's to come early on and this book doesn't do that. This story is very slowly and methodically told from Grace's point of view. The daughter of a Pastor in the suburbs of Minnesota, Grace is always careful to do the right thing to behave in the proper manner. Though I have to say it's intriguing in the way Bree writes the characters. You can't help but keep reading as the layers of this family and this secret slowly unravel.

For religious people, they are remarkably unforgiving and intolerant of the one person who my need them the most. More concerned about what people think of them than their actual actions of forgiveness and compassion, which I personally find true of many overly religious people.

Though written well, I found the story too slow in getting to the point and way too slow to finish. I knew after baby James was taken that something was very wrong with Jude. It was just too predictable. It just seemed that Grace was so stuck in her own musings and world that she couldn't figure out that Pete was a schmuck. It was evident to me from how hard he was trying to get her attention. I also didn't like how Don's story ends. The author does leave it open for a possible sequel, with Grace as the powerful one. Not sure if that will work. But who knows... I'm not a teen girl.