The Dark Divine
Bree Despain
Egmont USA, 2010
978-1-60684-057-3
Fiction
Kelley, 8th grade, MMS

A Decision of a Lifetime
“I hid behind the tree and listened to his father yell at him. I don’t remember what Daniel’s father said. It wasn’t the words that ripped me open; it was the sound of his voice getting deeper and more like a vicious snarl as he went on. I sank into the grass, with my knees pulled to my chest, and I wished I could do something to help. That was almost five and a half years before I saw him in Barlow’s class today. It was two years and seven months before he disappeared. But only one year before he came to live with us. One year before he became our brother.” (Pages 16-17)

Grace Divine is a normal teenager. She worries about grades, guys, and what is good and what’s not. She thinks that all is well until one day at school she hears a rumor about a new kid who is supposedly a major troublemaker. Her best friend, April, takes Grace to see this mystery boy. What Grace did not expect was that this “mystery guy” would be Daniel. Daniel, the boy who had lived with the Divine family, the first guy that Grace had ever loved, the one who had disappeared for many years and never came back, until today. This Daniel was also the one that Grace’s brother, Jude, hated for reasons that were unknown to Grace. Grace is determined to make Jude and Daniel friends again. What she did not realize at the time was that she would have to make a decision that could kill her and possibly the one she loved.

The Dark Divine is a truly amazing first and only book by Bree Despain. It’s filled with promises, surprises, hate, and love. It makes everyone wish for the day that they find someone as special as Daniel was to Grace. Once I got started with this book, I just had to continue reading until I knew the ending. Bree Despain takes us through the life of a girl who is faced with difficult decisions, such as the idea that she could save the love of her life, but it could possibly ruin hers. What would you do if you were in Grace’s situation? Could you give your life if you knew you could save someone else’s? What if that person was the one you loved?