#TheDivines #NetGalley
ARC Audio copy from NetGalley in exchange for review

After a slow and wandering start, it got better, much better.
Lots of social issues all weaved into one book: a little mean girls, boarding school life, sex, eating disorders, marriage, and family drama....
All to tell us that memories shape us, we don't see ourselves as others do, and perspective is a wonderful thing.

The Divines is one of those books that somehow manages to be incredibly compelling without being the least bit likable.

Our anti-hero Josephine has a fascinating inner life, though the reader can’t hope to warm up to her even by the end of the novel, which I suppose is part of the point of the book.

If you’re a reader who needs your main character to Learn Something, you’ll be mostly out of luck here. Years into the future, Jo has learned little and understands even less about her past.

She mentions something called Boarding School Syndrome, which really might apply to anyone who was bullied in school (of the boarding variety or not). Josephine thinks herself a victim of this, which makes some sense, except that she was far from a true victim as a student. In a world of Have and Have Nots, she was firmly on the Have end of things.

Her misguided perceptions of herself—even years after the fact—make for a perfectly wrought portrait of a woman who still lacks self awareness and any ability to place herself in the proverbial shoes of another. She’s shocked to hear about the way others thought of her when she was a Divine.

Her own insecurities back then prevented her from realizing she actually had it pretty good. And those same insecurities—still present many years later because she never addressed them—leave her shocked by others’ perceptions of her past self and even more shocked at how her peers seem to have rewritten their own histories to cast a more favorable light on them.

Because of that, the book becomes more than just a boarding school novel, and ends up being an interesting meditation on truth. What’s more true than the stories we tell ourselves—real or invented—about the past? What happens when our truths conflict with others’?

It’s a fascinating exploration of how we self-protect, —even from afar—when it comes to our own histories.

Audiobook: I don’t particularly recommend going this route for this book. The format is fine for the subject matter, but the narrator seems to really struggle to differentiate the voices for different characters, compensating by making almost everyone who might be irritating or problematic for the protagonist sound like an unintelligent male. Fat Fran and Geri get this treatment nearly all the time, and Skipper, Rod, and Lauren all meander into it more often than not. It makes for a poor performance.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. 20% into the book and I could no longer get past the unnecessary crassness, vulgar language, and graphic descriptions of body parts that did not move the story forward. It also is full of fat-shaming and generally was not worth my time. For me, this book was a no go and a huge disappointment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing house for the opportunity to read this book.

I liked this one but didn’t love it.

We’ve reached the day where coming of age stories move to the 90s. Here we have a story focused on a group of boarding school girls. Entitled girls who think they’re tougher than they really are. The book bounces back and forth from their teenage days and their modern lives.

There was little to nothing to like about the characters. Usually I like more character driven stories, but this one failed to draw me in. A fun read but nothing truly memorable.

The narrator was the best part for me. No complaints there.

Imogen Church is a fantastic narrator, she can take any story and bring it to life in a way that feels like you are watching a movie in your head.  I have listened to several of her audios over the past year and she never disappoints.  She brings to life The Divines, a coming-of-age tale about a group of young women at a boarding school that terrorize their peers and most anyone around them. The story was fast paced with a satisfying twist at the end.  I would recommend this book for anyone that is drawn to the synopsis and enjoy character driven stories. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to review an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review

I enjoyed this as a Netgalley audiobook and wasn't disappointed! I enjoyed the story from one pov but different timelines.
The reason I didn't give more stars is bc I was left wanting more with some of the story at the end. Without giving any spoilers, I felt it was a little rushed and could have given some more detail about the main character's realizations about her younger self.
I recommend this to anyone who likes boarding school novels especially with a little added mystery.

This is the story of Josephine's (Jo) life while at an elite boarding school and her life now. The Divines are rich, snotty and pretentious and mean.

I have listened to many other books with Imogen Church as narrator. I enjoyed them all. Through no fault of the narrator this book, however, dragged for me. For starters I strongly disliked the character Jo. She just wasn't a likeable person. Being told through a then and now perspective was fine, however there were no way to discern this at least in the audio book. I wonder if I would have enjoyed this particular book more if I had read the book instead of listening to it. Some books are better read and some are better listened to.

There were some moments and situations that made me think. Do any of us really remember accurately the things that happened as teenagers? Is the way we see ourselves even close to the way others see us? How did our younger years change what happens as adults?

Overall a decent book, just a little longer than it needed to be.

This was a fast paced, very well done audiobook. I highly recommend. The story of an adult woman revisiting her teen years at an upperclass boarding school is addictive. This would be a great book club read, as many people will have conflicting feelings about this book. The ending is a genuine shocker I did not see coming. It’s a study of the haves and the have nots.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book.

For the first 90% of the novel I was convinced this just wasn’t for me. I was struggling to connect to the story or invest in the characters. I felt frustrated and angry at Jo for her cowardice and pettiness. Her lack of empathy and depth. Until the very end. The ending, while perhaps a bit vague for my taste, was intriguing enough to change my perception of all of the chapters proceeding it.

First of all, I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator, Imogen Church, is just wonderful. Even through the earlier portion of the book, as I struggled to find the purpose of what I was reading, I loved her narration.

Secondly, our protagonist in this tale, Jo, is a bully. There’s no way around it. She’s a bully as a teen in an all girls boarding school, and she’s a bully as an adult who seems to hate her child and her life. Jo is unlikeable in every way. And at first, I thought this was a failing of the book. Until the ending made me wonder if that was the point all along.

I struggled to get through the present day portions of the book, which felt meandering and bitter. The way older Jo talked about her body and sex was a bit odd and (in my opinion) unnecessarily descriptive for a non-romance novel.

Jo’s time as a divine was far more interesting, though no less off putting. It is told from modern-day-Jo’s perspective, and is tainted by her own bias and victim mentality.

Jo remembers herself as an innocent bystander to her life, but we all know innocent bystanders don’t exist.

In the end, The Divines morphed into a fascinating exploration of the stories we tell about ourselves, the mythologies of our past, the foggy mirror we use for self reflection, our warped self image built on fairytales based on memories.

How even the villain is the hero of their own story.

I recommend The Divines to anyone who has ever fudged their history to erase their guilt over a misstep or a misdeed. To anyone who lives life as a hero while the darker parts of themselves cling to the corners of their life in their blind spot, out of sight but not forgotten.

Trigger Warning: fatphobia, ageism, homophobia, bullying, severe injury

Divine, simply divine. The book itself as a whole is cool, sharp and intelligently written. Ellie Eaton has a voice that transcends the audio book in a lovely manner. I enjoy a coming of age story and the settling of a boarding school was an effective backdrop to explore toxic friendships and the dynamics of girls. A divine debut indeed.

The Divines
By Ellie Eaton
Publishes: January 19, 2021
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What its like to be “divine”
Elitism
Toxic relationships
Exploring sexual roles

What I liked:
Imogen Church as narrator

What I disliked:
Obscenity for shock with no intrinsic value or addition to story line.
I’m not sure I can tell you what this story is about.

Perfect for:
⭐️ Fans of Pretty Little Things (tv show)
⭐️ Boarding school dropouts
⭐️ Fans of The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Thank you Netgalley for the complimentary audiobook in exchange for my review!

On the surface this book seems like a great time: unreliable narrator shaped by messed up boarding school experience. Cool. Sign me up. But not only is the narrator unreliable, I also hate her. I found myself having to listen to parts of this over again to figure out what was actually going on since so much happens in her head. I also had a really hard time keeping track of the timelines, which is not usually something I usually struggle with--but something about her just slipping into memory with hardly any notice really kept throwing me out of the story.

At first I wasn’t too sure what i was getting into as it begins slowly. We first meet Jo on her honeymoon with her new husband and an unplanned stop at her old boarding school. Shocked at what had became of the school seems to open a flood gate of her memories from her days at The Divines.

This is a story of regret and self discovery. Definitely a slow burner but after a bit you become very connected to Jo and want to find out what happened at The Divine and how it shaped the person that Jo became.

I really enjoyed the story and would recommend it to other readers that enjoy character driven novels.

I was able to receive the audiobook via #netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There’s something irresistible about a wicked boarding school story, and "The Divines," is no exception with characters that alternate between posh and utterly feral. Joe and her fellow Divines are ruthless and it’s no wonder the ‘townies’ dislike the school, but the same obsessive nature that drives their cruelty also fuels a fierce loyalty to one another. The author does a good job of showing how time and obsession can twist memories and creates an unreliable main character who is slowly coming unhinged as she rediscovers past memories she tried to forget.

The plot felt a little unfocused at points, which may have been a deliberate choice, but it seemed to distract from the build up to both the reveal of the incident with Gerry Lake and the book’s conclusion. With all the anticipation built throughout the book, the final scenes felt very rushed, only to be cut off with an abrupt conclusion that lost some of its punch by how quickly it finishes.

In terms of narration, Imogen Church did a brilliant job and made for a really engaging listen with unique and easily identifiable cues for each character.

In spite of the abrupt ending, it was still an engaging read worth checking out!

Thank you to HarperAudio and Netgalley for an advance copy of this audiobook.

This book was a big miss for me. The opening scenes are intriguing but I just couldn't stomach how unlikeable the characters were. I get that's the point, but it was over the top with fatphobia, homophobia, bullying, eating disorders, etc. I kept hoping the main character would grow or learn, but it seems her years as a Divine were something she never grew out of. At one point she watches her husband using the bathroom and cringes at the way he sits down to pee, calling it "effeminate." I just couldn't connect or care what happened to such a shallow, ignorant, hateful character telling us the story of her adolescence that to be honest, didn't seem to have a point.

I was intrigued but the cover and the blurb. It was such an excellent story and I was totally not expecting the ending. The author writes an intriguing view about what happens when you place all your self-worth on what happens while you are attending high school (let alone a swanky private school). I found it so fascinating that though Jo had a life filled with wonderful prior and things, she still held firmly onto her guilt and feelings of unworthiness and self-loathing due to her childhood mistakes. Also compelling that she was the only one of the Divines who let it affect her life post prep school. Imogen Church is hand down my favorite female narrator. She really bright this story to life for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperAudio for this audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.

It's about a boarding school of girls, known as Divines, and the main characters experiences there. It is also duo perspective which I really enjoyed but overall I thought it was just okay.

The narrator is the audiobook was great but after 20% into it I found myself being little bored. It was as if a lot happened but not at once. I do love a flawed character so I didn't mind Josephine but she was exhausting.

As a whole, the book was decent but the ending was unfulfilling for me.

3/5

Very interesting. Was not expecting the ending. A great lesson in what happens when you place all your self worth on what happens in high school. I found it fascinating that though Joe had all these wonderful things in her life, she still held onto guilt and feelings of unworthiness due to her past mistakes. It was interesting to see that she was the only one who let it ruin her life.

Completely chilling and keeps you needing more right to the end. I always adore Church as a narrator I'm definitely looking to purchase when available

A HUGE thank you to Netgalley for approving me for this arc. I was so excited upon early announcements, and it did NOT disappoint! I listened to this via audiobook, which was narrated by Imogen Church, arguably the BEST audiobook narrator of all time. Her vocals lend a very haunted atmosphere that suits the book so SO well.

This writing is so good. I mean, really first rate. It’s captivating, dark and draws you straight in. Even the atmosphere around the first time the phrase “I am divine” gave me chills. It has, at first glimpse all the intrigue of dark academia classic in the making with it’s girls-only boarding school, social class prejudices, set in the UK in the 90’s. We follow Josephine at two stages of her life, in high school where she goes by Jo and in her thirties where she goes by Sephine. There is a scandal involving one of the girls that was bullied by Jo and her friends which affects Sephine in her current life, significantly. We unpack the mystery along with her.

As you might imagine it explores volatile friendships, specifically between teenage girls, but Ellie Eaton doesn’t just show us these mean girls in action, we see the repercussions of these actions, the way they manifest into adulthood, the way they isolate each of the girls. Insecurity, peer pressure, privilege all come together in the perfect storm, shaping these 16 year girls into the “divine”. This kind of overwhelming influence creeps into Sephine’s life, 14 years later.

But Ellie Eaton doesn’t stop there. You MIGHT consider this SPOILERS so stay away if you aren’t interested, otherwise - THIS - is where the book became 5 stars and a new favorite for me;

The novel takes us through the muck of something very real. Society pushes and pins girls to be a certain way. We create a shame based system so that they have no choice but to have secrets. Secrets from their parents and teachers but also from each other. This creates an environment of isolation and in that isolation girls are vulnerable and exposed to unspeakable things. As children what even the girls believe to be power is revealed as a tool of manipulation, and their own undoing. The isolation is a dangerous and desperate reality.

So often a novel will give us sensational topics to make us feel disgusting and evoke a reaction, but this gives a raw but tender look into the real darkness, holding accountable more than just the “divine”. It just gave me absolute chills! I’m blown away and am hoping to snag a copy when it becomes available! I cannot wait to see what Ellie Eaton does next!