*Thank you very much to the publisher for this ARC.*


Unfortunate DNF at 40%.
I felt disconnected from both the past and present versions of the narrator. I had expected some intentional disconnect as we unwound the character, but I felt like the writing was disjointed to the point where there wasn’t much to hold onto.
One of the more interesting plot points was the tension between the town folk and the boarding schoolers, which I would have liked to see the outcome of.

St John The Divine is an English boarding school for girls. The schools goal is to offer an elite selection of girls an exceptional education, and friendship for life. But in reality it produced hateful, sex obsessed, delinquent, pack mentality piranhas.
Josephine once fit in amount the Divines. Now fifteen years later, in reflection, she knows what she did was wrong. Her part in the schools scandal has haunted her for years. She has tried to forget the past, but it has a way of popping up again and again. She must face what she did and who she hurt.

Listening to Imogen Church narrate this audio book was a delight. I have heard her voice in several audiobooks, and find it to be hypnotic and versatile. She can go from posh English accent to a harsh New Yorker and a German male with obvious ease. The audio version brings life to characters. I found myself quickly immersed in the story being told, and could block out distractions.

The Divines is a different take on life in boarding school. Of course it touches on bullying, sex, drugs and scandal. But it also tells the story of regret and the PTSD that is very real for some of these girls. Living without parental supervision in the wolf pack of adolescent girls who essentially run the school, is a huge life experience. It not something you forget.
I easily related to Josephine's character, even though I never went to private school. Every girl has experienced sexual experimentation, social embarrassment and envy. I felt the hurt of her rejection, bringing up memories of girls I idolized in school.
Bouncing back and forth from school life in the 90s, to Josephine in her thirties, shows how her actions have effected her adult life. How friends you insist will be there forever, have disappeared. Its heartbreaking and so completely true.
Eaton has written an important book for teen girls and adults. Her words will ring true to both generations and hopefully force reflection and change. Bullying may have changed shape throughout the years, but it never goes away.

I read and reviewed this book as audio and a visual ebook. Of the two I would recommend the audio version, because of the extra bit it brings to the characters. The book is excellent either way.

I only got about a half an hour into this audiobook when it stopped working altogether and I could not get it to start playing again. The part I was able to hear was excellent; it sounded like the beginning of a really intriguing story.

The Divines is the nickname of the privileged, hair flicking teenage girls who attend an English boarding school called St. John the Divine in the 90s. The narrative switches between present day wife and mother Josephine and her experience as a teenage Divine student called Joe.

This story left me feeling conflicted as it was very intriguing, but uncomfortable on many levels. I loved the haunting, twisted atmosphere of the boarding school but disliked revisiting the awkwardness and cruelty of teenage girls and the toxic group mindset of the Divines. I loved Imogen Church's spirited rendition of the audio-book but I think her strong personality sometimes overpowered the author's more subtle voice. It reminded me a lot of Ruth Ware's stories, at first I thought this was due to Imogen Church's voice but I went back to the written version after finishing the audio-book and both Ellie Eaton's writing style and the dark and twisted nature of the story were reminiscent of Ruth Ware's books. I would recommend this book if you like dark, suspenseful stories!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy of this audio-book in exchange for an honest review.

The Divines was a gripping work of literary fiction. Fast paced and full of spice, this story revolves around boarding school girls and a disastrous event that changed them forever. The author’s raw, provocative style of writing reminded me of Colleen Hoover. The Divines was a stunning debut novel chock full of fascinating characters, propulsive plot, and heat. The audiobook was expertly narrated and highly enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley, author, publisher, and narrator for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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The premise of this one immediately drew me in and I was really looking forward to seeing this story playout. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. The main character is so unlikeable. We see glimpses of her as an adult and glasses of her at boarding school and there's absolutely no personal growth.

Most importantly I have no idea who the audience for this book is.

I will say the narration was great.

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. I can't lie and say that the story didn't draw me in; I love the promise of a dark and twisted girls' school story. But there were key aspects about this one that really left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Our main character was generally unlikeable, which I typically don't mind, but I was hoping for some kind of growth by the end that felt like a significant change. The fatphobia that continued throughout the book was never addressed, and intense internalized homophobia never seemed to really grow or change either. I appreciate what the author was trying to do with these elements by creating characters that exemplify the darkest parts of teen girls, but the lack of resolution within these storylines was disappointing to me personally. The story felt like it stretched out longer than it needed to and I wanted more development with the personal relationships between the main character and the people she wronged. I think this book was just not for me, but I appreciate its capacity to pull people into the story and keep them interested.

What a great book about growing up in a boarding school and all the real this that happen. I laughed so hard at some of the stories told in this book during your school days. The ending was priceless. Great read.

Oh man. This book is hard to review. I'll start with the audio narration which I thought was terrific and really brought the story alive.

Now, as for the story, this book is about Josephine as she visits the town she went to school in with her new husband and someone yells a slur at her which then propels her to tell the story of her school years to her husband. The story goes back and forth between her school days and her present day.

Here's part of the problem for me: I didn't like either of the Josephines.

I understand that not all main characters have to be likable and this is the story of a girl reckoning with her past which was far from great. But she isn't really reckoning with it. She isn't really growing. She isn't really any better in her present day as she was back then.

The parts of the story that visit the toxic female friendships and how hard it can be to try to fit in and how we can make terribly poor choices so that we don't stand out, was so accurate and so well done that it made me wince the whole time. I had a visceral reaction to some of the scenes which clearly proves it's a well-written novel.

But, in the end, this was Jo's journey and, as a reader, I felt very let down by the end of it. And maybe that's a choice the author made, too: to show that not all people grow and learn and become better adults.

with gratitude to netgalley and Harper Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed the way this book was written. Dual timelines were presented to discuss the main character during her school days, and alternated with present day living with her new husband. The mystery and suspense grow throughout as you know horrible things occurred but you only get glimpses throughout most of the story.

I didn't love the attitudes and personalities of the school aged girls, though I believe that is what the author intended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC audiobook version of this title!

I'm not going to say any outright spoilers but I might say some spoilerish things, so if you don't want to know anything about this book beyond the summary, please tread lightly with my review!

This is a tough one for me to review. It usually takes me a while to listen to audiobooks and at just over 11 hours, I flew through it in around 4 days. This is in part due to Imogen Church's absolutely phenomenal narration. I would give books a shot that did not interest me in the slightest based solely on how she handled this audiobook. 10/10 for her, she did beautifully.

There were parts of this book that I loved tremendously. I was enamored by Lauren and the differences she caused in Jo, the tiffs between the girls, the feud between the Townies and the Divines. The creation of the "Divine" girl was also so interesting. All of their habits and traditions were endlessly entertaining. The critique and discussion about the nastiness of girlhood and being a teenager was also done really refreshingly.

But in the end I am left feeling so...unfulfilled. And maybe that's the point and I just don't get it? Maybe I wanted something out of this book that it was never going to give me. I spent a good amount of this time being so angry at Jo and I thought there would be an eventual moral pay off. I would ultimately describe this book as a book about teenage girls viciousness from one of the bully's perspectives. Jo isn't the worst by any means. She has redeeming qualities and Eaton does a fabulous job of showing the pervasiveness of toxic behavior. Maybe if The Divines had another omniscient narrator that offered another perspective, I would find it more complete.

I'm also so upset by adult Jo's behavior. Every time adult Jo would have a section, I would spend the majority of it wishing that we could go back to her school days. I wanted to see growth and development and acceptance. I would have even taken recognition. But instead...she was exactly the same. Arguably she was worse. And again, maybe that's the whole point. In fact, I'm sure of it. But for me it wasn't enough.

Writing this review, I've talked myself up from 2 stars into 3 because I think there are some really strong aspects. I could see Ellie Eaton writing a book in the future that I would consider absolutely stellar based on those strengths, so I'm going to keep her on my radar. What I didn't like about this one just personally won out for me.

The Divines is a stunning, fierce and truly relatable portrayal of the difficulties in coming of age as an elite girl - and the future consequences on her personhood.

As soon as I read that this book has "the emotional power of Normal People," I WAS IN. And to cut the tension here, it really did live up to this high expectation. But it was so much more, as the plot moves back and forth between the teenage years and adulthood of Josephine - now a thirty-year-old, once a student of an elite English boarding school for girls called St John the Divine. Josephine struggles to come to terms with her past, not just as a troubled adolescent, but also with the traumatic events that took place at the school of "The Divines."

I knew I was going to love this book, as I myself also graduated from an elite boarding school which exposed me to a life completely different from what I'd known, as well as to challenges with interpersonal connections. While our stories are very different, I could very much relate to Josephine and her struggles, past and present,

As I was lucky to receive the audiobook version of this novel, I fell in love with the gorgeous writing, the setting and the plot even more, as the school was brought to life by an excellent narrator. I highly recommend this version of the novel, and I know I will be returning to it in the future.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

First things first, the narration by Imogen Church was outstanding. She manages to give distinct voice to a handful characters of various ages, and her emotional range really shines through her voice.

The story is told as past ruminations about Josephine's (or Jo's, since The Divines gave each other male nicknames) days at St. John the Divine boarding school in 1990's England. The girls at St. John's are known as The Divines because of their privilege, and the surrounding area folk as Townies.

What unfolds is an explosive burst of teenage angst, privilege, and terrorizing exclusive to a specific type of rich kid, and a combination of cruelty and comradeship that must be the double sided blade of growing up in a boarding school as Jo remembers her the final days of St. John the Divine's.

The Divines by Ellie Eaton is a great novel about a girl’s boarding school and the woman one of the girls grows up to be.

The Divines is the story of Josephine. Josephine is a married woman. On her honeymoon she runs into someone that knows her from high school. She went to St. Joseph the Divine, an all-girl elite British boarding school. This causes Josephine to think of old memories from The Divine. The story alternates between the past at The Divine and the present in Los Angeles.

The Divine is full of mean girls. Josephine (Jo) is a member of a mean girl clique that picks on her roommate, Jerry. Jo ends up becoming friends with someone outside the Divine which causes her to be an outcast.

I really enjoyed The Divines. It is a coming of age novel where the main character experienced every possible problem imaginable. The story also discusses Jo’s problems in adulthood. The Divines really focuses on what happened in the past and how that affects Jo in the present.

There are so many lies and rules broken in The Divines. The girls all go by nicknames that could be boy’s names. Jo experiments with her sexuality. The girls have their first sexual experiences. Drinking, smoking, sex, and the morning after pill are all present in The Divines.

The Divines demonstrates the differences between different classes. The elite boarding school is full of rich people. When Jo starts hanging out off campus, she discovers how less wealthy people live.

I loved the format of The Divines switching between past and present. Eaton does a great job showing the reader how Jo’s past actions affect her all these years later. Mistakes Jo made in boarding school affect her marriage even though she hasn’t told her husband about her past.

The Divines is an enjoyable book that teaches the reader about human nature at the same time. Sometimes instead of learning from their mistakes, people are haunted by their past.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Imogen Church and loved her narration. Imogen is one of my favorite narrators and she did a great job narrating The Divines.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio/William and Morrow for The Divines. All opinions are my own.

Present day quite literal mean girls told from the vision of a mean girl. It is hard to read at times - reflecting on Insecurities and talking behind peoples backs. This book tells the awkward story of trying to fit in, even when you are still in the in crowd. The things you have to give up and the road to travel. It is a quite tough one. It was quite difficult to read at times and was definitely not what I expected. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.