Info: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, copyright 2012, 578 pages
Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.
Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened. -Goodreads description
The Rundown
Evie is simply too big for small town Ohio. After a little too much gin and showing off her power of object reading at a party, her parents felt it best to get her out of town for a while until her most recent escapades are mostly forgotten. Her punishment? Spend the fall with her academic, museum curator Uncle Will in NYC. With all the excitement the city has to offer Evie sees her "punishment" as a blessing.
However, there's an evil lurking in the shadows of New York, and when a string of serial killings crop up over the city with a connection to the occult, Evie begins to assist her uncle with the investigations. An eclectic band of characters weave their stories together as the bodies pile up, but are their gifts enough to stop an otherworldly killer?
What Rocked
Basically everything! Libba Bray paints such beautiful images with her words that reading this book makes you feel like stepping into a time machine and landing in 1920s New York City. Dream come true? If you're a history nerd like me, yes! From speakeasies to Grand Central Station to dance halls and speakeasies it's a jazz age tour to the fullest.
Let's talk characters. You know how sometimes when a book is told from multiple points of view, there tends to be those one or two characters that when you see the next chapter is through their eyes it can be like pulling teeth until you're back to a better character? None of that here! No matter if you're at the Globe Theater with Ziegfeld girl Theta, a Harlem speakeasy with Memphis, or at the museum with Evie and Jericho you're pulled into the way their lives and interactions flow toward the bigger picture.
When I book talk this to a teen I have a hard time putting it into a definite genre, and that's great because this is one of those rare books that has something for everyone! Mystery. Fantasy. Supernatural. Paranormal. History. Romance. Plus there are moments when things are so downright creepy you'll want to turn on extra lights!
What Wasn't So Rockin'
This is a huge book. I get bummed sometimes because I feel like the size turns readers away before they give it a chance. I admit I was almost one of them! There's a lot of 1920s pop culture references that some readers may struggle with understanding, though it really doesn't take away from the story as a whole. If you don't know much about 1920s America, or New York City, I suggest reading the author's note in the back of the book before starting.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
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