I loved this book! It was everything i hoped for and somehow more! I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it. I didn't want to have to put it down! I couldnt! This book became my entire life until I finished it. I wish I had a time machine and could read it again for the first time.

This novel was a gem of a dark fairytale about talent and the struggle to forge a new future. I absolutely loved it.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Dark enough to satisfy those Gothic readers and creative enough that you do not feel as though you have read it before. This will definitely appeal to a certain segment of YA readers, and I will have one available so it can be read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! Girls of Dark Divine by E.V. Woods is a lush and haunting fantasy that explores sisterhood, power, and the cost of secrets. With lyrical prose and a richly imagined world, Woods crafts a darkly magical tale that feels both timeless and urgent. It’s an intoxicating read for fans of gothic fantasy and fierce, complex heroines.

hauntingly beautiful and entirely incredibly unique. the plotting, romance, and characters, all worked very well. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I have some complicated feelings about Girls of Dark Divine, but all in all, the fact remains that I couldn’t just leave it and DNF, and eventually ended up not being able to put it down and not wanting it to end. So, like I said, complicated! I’ll start with the things I loved: the world-building was effective and captivating, and I was almost immediately immersed in Emberlyn and the Marionettes’ world. Emberlyn could be an almost interoperable protagonist at times, but that actually didn’t bother me as much as it did some other readers here, mostly because it felt…real? She was complex and nuanced and totally human in her deep selfishness, her capacity for love and change, and her dimension. It was sort of refreshing to have a heroine who didn’t always get it right, think outside the box to solve the problem, put others before herself. She came around as the book went on, and that made it feel more worth the sometimes painstaking meandering she did. I also can’t lie, I loved the romance with Étienne so thoroughly. And, maybe its cheesy, but especially right now as a reader in the US, we need reminders that although evil can be grossly powerful, even the disenfranchised can make a difference and overpower evil with good.

The book *was* a bit of a slog for me. For some reason, even though I really enjoyed journeying through Ember’s world with her, it took me a while to read the first 2/3 of the book. But I kept coming back to it, so there was still something captivating even if it also felt somewhat prolonged. It also is undeniable that Ember as a protagonist can be seriously aggravating. She gets hopeless, she makes silly mistakes, she doesn’t always see some solutions that I as a reader kept wanting her to explore. But, again, I felt like this character flaw was sort of redeemed by the fact that it was authentic and just added to her humanness, which felt important given how dehumanizing the Marionettes’ curse was. Lastly, there were more glaring typos in this copy than I’m used to, and that was at times distracting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this debut novel by E. V. Woods! Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc. I’m excited to see what other worlds Woods creates for us!

What a mesmerizing story! Blending together elements of Phantom of the Opera, The 12 Dancing Princesses, and Black Swan to create a beautifully twisted gothic story!

I really loved the relationship between the “sisters” and adored Ember’s unbridled defiance throughout the book! What a beautifully written and intensely descriptive and imaginative story!

While reading this, I couldn’t help but think of that one episode in Criminal Minds where the man turns people into his own marionette dolls and that reminiscence added another layer to this story for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Girls of Dark Divine has a great premise: cursed ballerinas controlled like marionettes, a shadowy love interest, and a heroine trying to break free. The gothic vibes are strong, and the whole thing feels rich with dark fairy tale energy. Fans of Stephanie Garber and Erin A. Craig will probably eat it up for these reasons alone.

That said, the execution didn’t always land for me. The pacing dragged in the middle, and some of the worldbuilding felt more decorative than fully fleshed out. Emberlyn is a solid protagonist, but her arc hit a lot of familiar YA fantasy beats, and the romance didn’t feel fully developed—it moved fast and didn’t quite hit emotionally.

Still, it’s an interesting debut with a lot of style and some strong thematic threads about control and sacrifice. If you’re into cursed girls, gothic settings, and stories that lean into atmosphere, this will probably work for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 -

Girls of Dark Divine features a dancer protagonist, which is a surefire way to catch my interest in a book. Overall, I thought this was a solid debut but it stumbles at several points where debuts often do. To begin with what I loved, the writing was gorgeous, along with an intriguing main character from the get-go. A complex, not altogether likeable protagonist (positive), Emberlyn, I think, will either be loved or hated by readers with no in-between. I do wish she were more active and decisive at times, though, which leads me to my next point: At times I thought the plot lagged with its pace, though this might not be an issue for fans of slower-paced books. Emberlyn's lack of agency (ironically, a theme of the book--or maybe fittingly?) led to a lower, more hesitant pace. Overall, the prose was very good: dark and haunting, with worldbuilding to match. Recommended!

I loved this book and I immediately want to reread it again. Reading this I kept on making connections to Peter Pan and His shadow( if you read it you know why) . I also kept on being remind of I Feed Her To The Beast and The Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea whose main character is also a dancer/ballerina who finds herself in a bargain with a monster. I loved Ember's grit and determination and her conflict with her sisters and her own inner turmoil was written very well. I enjoyed all the scenes with the sisters in general. I always love found family themed books and while it's not exactly themed the found family is definitely relevant to the storyline as well as Ember's emotions. The ending did take me by surprise, what I thought was gonna happen end up not happening but I think for the story that was written, the ending makes sense and left me satisfied with the conclusion.

The kindest response I can give is that this book simply was not for me. I appreciated that the author wrote a character who wasn't traditionally "likable", but because she's also very passive, this was just a slog of nothing but this girl's bitterness. Give her bitterness and action and I'd have a very different opinion.

Why am I not hearing more about this book?! Phantom of the Opera meets Black Swan but in its own right. This was seriously amazingly good. It's gothic and mysterious with magic and I could not have asked for more.

This book reminds me of why (as an older adult) I love YA stories. Kind of like a fairy tale for teens/adults. Emberlyn is a strong, smart girl who is in the most dire predicament after a wolf in sheep’s clothing puts a curse on her. She is such a great lead character that I would love to read more about her. Another adventure? Well done!

If you like dark and brooding books, this may be the book for you. Emberlyn is the lead ballet dancer in the Marionette troupe. While the troupe receives accolades from everyone that sees them perform, the troupe has a dark secret. They are not the ones performing. Their manager, Malcolm, is literally pulling their strings during performances. Once the girls join the troupe, they are cursed by Malcolm so that he can control their bodies and lose their memories. Emberlyn has not forgotten everything and longs to be free. When the chance to escape comes as the troupe moves to a new city, will Emberlyn be able to escape and save her sister dancers or will she be trapped forever?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this deliciously dark and edge of your seat story! E.V. Woods debut breakout is amazing! I love the unique story line and her characters are deep. If you love Stephanie Garbed, this book is for you.

This was so dark and haunting. Controlled by Malcolm, the dancers have no freedom in sight. But the fight that one girl starts may change everything. This was such a rush.

This was a haunting book, with beautiful layers of heartbreak layered all between it. It strongly read of horror, because of the situation the girls were in, but also defiance and beauty in the pain. The relationships were gorgeous and realistic and I yearn to learn more of the stories that lay behind each girl.

Well this was the definition of intriguing. The entire concept, execution, finish it was all utterly intriguing. I will definitely read more from this author. I think the audio of this book is going to be fantastic. I hope they do a graphic audio someday!!

Having been crowned as the lead Marionette brings more horror than honor to Emerblyn as she buries her sister, taken too soon by the rot of a curse that haunts all in their trope. Being bound to their Puppet Master and forced to perform to perfection she and her sisters travel to a new theatre where secrets of the past threaten to unravel the threads that bind them.

What a haunting tragic fairytale like story we have.

I devoured this book fast than I anticipated, immediately I was hooked by this doomed collection of girls compelled to follow every demand of Malcom until it kills them. The anger of not fully being in control of your body is not lost on me in todays current climate and those little wins of defiance be it action or a cool smile when no one is looking was very powerful and I too hope we are able to find that kind of true freedom.

I loved the relationships between the sisters and while I wish we had more scenes of them together I understand why we could not. The journey Emberlyn needed to take in order to recognize the strength she always possessed within her could not be done in a situation where she felt the weight of responsibility for her friends at all times. Her friendships held her spirit but her lingering connection to the a Shadow helped her find her heart and that was truly beautiful.

There is so much to enjoy and be horrified with within this story leaving you with a feeling like falling into a dream that you don’t realize is a nightmare until the hooks are already buried deep within and I enjoyed every single second.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Right from the beginning you are sucked into the story and the girls world. The mystery throughout keeps you intrigued and keeps you guessing. Each character possesses their own distinctive qualities, setting them apart from the rest. The vibes are dark fans of gothic literature will love this one.