Gosh, I liked this quite a bit! Very fun 1920s vibe, with extremely fun slang, and I think the book did a really good job setting the scene for larger story in the series through Memphis and Theta's bits, which highlight the larger context of the phenomenon of the Diviners, without letting it feel like too much of a distraction or sidetrack from the primary mystery occupying Evie and crew. Evie's impetuous, selfish, good-hearted personality was really effective, and she worked well as a proactive character who forces plot to happen. You can tell it's a YA book, with the de rigeur adolescent fretting against adult strictures on behaviour, but in her case she doesn't fret impotently. She secretly makes deals with reporters, sneaks out of her room to go dancing at speakeasies; she makes the book interesting because she's young and reckless.

I think this might be what makes me so typically hesitant with YA books. Often the young, dumb, reckless decisions of the protagonists have bad consequences, getting them into trouble. It makes plot happen, yes, but in a way that smells a little like those old morality tales, in which misbehaving children are naughty and must suffer as a result. But Evie's misbehaviour sometimes causes difficulties, but other times yields genuine insights and moves the plot forward productively, rather than destructively. And even when things go wrong, her endless youthful energy means she doesn't waste time brooding about it all, but picking herself up, going out to a dance, a party, to buy a new hat, and move on to the next thing. It makes for great pacing, great fun.

I don't particularly care for her interest in Jericho, though, however temporary it might be; I don't believe it. Tall, strong, handsome, brooding young men with secrets and trauma in their past are really, really boring. And it wasn't particularly helpful that he does nothing during the final confrontation to help Evie out. Like, he gets drugged and falls in a hole and then she's entirely on her own. And she does a great job on her own--of course she does; she has to wrap up the plot!--but I can't help feeling like someone (Jericho?) should have remarked on how useless Jericho was during it all. Sam Lloyd is much more fun. He's also proactive and makes plot happen. If he'd been there he may still have gotten drugged and fallen in a hole, but I suspect he would also have snuck something useful in his pockets on the way out of the house for important moments in later books. 

I also think the little interludes of people dying horribly to the villain were a bit dull. I don't particularly care for horror, so I didn't appreciate any added vibe. And since we knew exactly what was going to happen (horrible death awaits) it wasn't as if the interludes allowed us any further insight into the plot. Indeed, one such interlude was recapitulated later on in a found diary, so it was entirely superfluous. But then, these interludes were pretty short, and I guess they served to add more setting colour to the book---the all-night dance contests, the ambitions of children of immigrant families, the kid gangs, the Freemason temples, and so on. Maybe I'm just grumpy because I don't like being invited inside a character's head only to have them die horribly. 

I've also got to put in a note for the narrator here. I listened to the audiobook, and January LaVoy did a GREAT job with all the different characters! I genuinely believed the goofy 1920s slang coming out of Evie's mouth; and my little man Isaiah sounded just like a 7-year-old (or however old) kid from Harlem.