Happily Ever Endings: The Diviners by Libba Bray

 What is it?
Happily Ever Endings was created by Amber of Down The Rabbit Hole due to the relatively frustrating feeling one has when it has been a while since they have read a book and now they are unsure of how it ended. This tends to be a problem when that book is part of a series. AND SO... this fabulous idea was brought to life. Obviously, there will be spoilers...so if you haven't read the book... don't read the post. There is also a mega list of posts which you can find over at Down The Rabbit Hole. Link on sidebar.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A REVIEW AND DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE DIVINERS DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST. 

Goodreads Summary:
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-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."
When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

Do NOT continue if you have not read The Diviners. Spoilers Ahead.


Click Read more to discover the full synopsis of The Diviners including the ending.

Brace yourself... this'll be a long one.

The book starts off at a rather dull Upper East Side Party where the rather desperate hostess gets out her Ouija to liven up the party with a seance. They reach a spirit who calls himself 'Naughty John' and after getting spooked by his rather angry messages they leave the Ouija board without saying 'Goodbye' to the spirit. The spirit escapes to an abandoned house where the reader is informed that Naughty John "Has work to do."

We are then introduced to Evie O'Neill of Zenith, Ohio. The Flapper. We learn right away that she has the ability to learn someones secrets, or what they had for dinner, just by touching an object that belongs to them. She gets in trouble using it at a house party and her parents who are still brokenhearted over the loss of her older brother James have lost patience with Evie and send her to live with her Uncle Will, who runs a museum of occult doodads, The Museum of Creepy Crawlies." off on New York. Upon arrival she is harassed by Sam, a pick-pocketing con who makes away with both a stolen kiss and Evie's twenty dollars.

Memphis Cambell is a New York City Native who now works numbers for Papa Charles, the cities master of speakeasies and gambling. Memphis used to be healer but we learn that for some reason he "can't do that no more."

In the next few chapters we also meet Mabel (Evie's best friend/pen pal/neighbor in New York), Jericho (Uncle Will's assistant at the Museum), Theta (A Ziegfield Chorus Girl and fellow Bennington tenant), Henry (a talented Pianist, Theta's rommate) Miss. Lillian and Miss Addie (a rather crazy pair of sisters living in the Bennington.)

Everything is all hunky dory and then we meet Ruta Badowski. She is upset because she just lost the dance competition because of her boyfriend. She insists on walking herself home... mistake she runs into a Mr. Hobbes, a Mr. John Hobbes. He offered to drive her home. He took her to his house and began to sing a rather disturbing Naughty John nursery rhyme thingy to her and speaks of a ritual beginning again. He kills Ruta.

Detective Malloy asks Uncle Will for his help with a murder case. Ruta Badowski's body was covered with occult symbols. Evie ended up coming with and after holding a shoe buckle of off Ruta's shoe she had a flash of the same song that the murder was whistling.

We learn the Memphis's little brother Isaiah is able to see the future: telling what cards will be pulled next and prophecies through a trance. Evie goes through one of her Uncle's books talking about a group of gifted people called the Diviners.

Now that i'm sure we've refreshed most of your memory of the basic plot and characters...let's jump to the endings. There were a few different stories weaving in and out so I'm going to do this in sections.

Naughty John/Evie/Rising of the Beast: Naughty John tricks Evie and Jericho into going back to Knowles End where the house has trapped them in. Evie finds the alter where Naughty John has set up for the beast to be risen. She discovers that she is now that Lady Clothed in the Sun whose heart John must tear out of her chest in order to transform into The Beast. She tries to bind Naughty John's spirit into something trivial and John informs her that it needs to be a holy object which he has taken from the area. He begins the spell just as the comet is flying over the top of the house and the damned souls of the brethren start stepping out of the wall toward Evie. John himself begins transforming into evil itself. Evie hold onto the coin given to her by her brother. She realizes that she herself considers it to be a holy coin. She begins the binding spell that expels the damned back into the walls of the house and traps the spirit of Naughty John into her coin. A fire burns the house down and Evie and Jericho barely escape. At the last moment, Naughty John mentions that she will never know what happened to her brother. The police release Uncle Will and Sam from custody claiming that "a police officer killed the murderer." At the conclusion of the novel Jericho confesses his feelings for Evie and they cuddle together and kiss, Evie still not knowing her true feelings. (conflicted between loyalty to her best friend Mabel, and her need of Jericho.)

STORIES YET TO BE RESOLVED:

Mabel: A mysterious visitor has now show up twice; Arthur Brown. As of yet we are unaware as to who he is and what he wants with Mabel. Mabel still has yet to find out about Evie and Jericho.

Theta and Henry: Theta is now seeing Memphis, a black man. She is the newly found star of the Globe theatre and on her way to the top. However, if Mr. Ziegfield finds out she's dating a black man, she will be fired for sure. We learned that Theta was previously Betty, who was married to a very abusive husband. There was a mysterious accident that happened that killed her husband, leaving us to believe she is a Diviner, but we do not know what it is that she is able to do. Theta is also bringing Henry to the top with her, we are aware that he is also a Diviner but I don't believe we were told what exactly his abilities were either.

Sam: Sam is out for revenge. His mother was taken a long time ago for a Project Buffalo, in which his family received word that she had died. He then received a postcard from an anonymous source that he believes was from his mother. He is set on finding her. Sam is also a Diviner and has the ability to escape people notice, he can simply suggest that one can't see him and then they will not notice him. He has feelings for Evie.

Memphis/Isaiah: Isaiah was attacked by Blind Bill Johnson for a peak at the numbers in his head. Memphis regained his healing powers when he healed Isaiah and Blind Bill Johnson seems to have a new obsession in Isaiah's ability to help him make money.

Jericho: We learned that Jericho is basically a super nifty machine/man combo. Also... he's in love with Evie. I'm betting on some really love triangles later on in this story.

Uncle Will: He seems to  be really upset with the fact that Evie got SO involved in the whole Naughty John case and almost got killed herself. After she catches him talking about her and the rest of the Diviners in a meeting with a mysterious woman, he tells Evie that she needs to go back to Ohio where it will be safer. He then pulls out an old envelope that reads: US Department of Paranormal 1917. Memorandum. To: William  Fitzgerald, Jacob Marlowe, Rotke Wasserman, Margaret Walker. Top Secret Buffalo. We now know that there is a lot the Uncle Will has kept from everyone else.

Evie: Very bitterly she shows basically all of New York that she has the ability to read people's secrets. Then upon catching Uncle Will talking with a Ms. Margaret Walker saying that if "he didn't tell her, she would" Evie confronts the pair where she learns no information other than that she must be sent back to Ohio because it is safer. She cuddles up with Jericho, hesitantly at first because of her best friends affections for her, but finds that she just needs the companionship and will deal with the consequences tomorrow.

Did I miss anything major? Let me know... I'm sure I did... that book was a beast. In the good way not the crazy, cult, murdering way. ;)