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.

This book felt like a gothic reimagining of both The Red Shoes and Black Swan. Both lyrical and horrifying, it will definitely appeal to fans of Stephanie Garber's Caraval and Erin Craig's House of Salt and Sorrows. I already know the teens in my life will be clamoring for this!

Girls of Dark Divine pairs ballet with curses and mind control. In New Kora, girls dance to the audience's delight every night, but little do they know the girls are under the spell of it's mastermind. After realizing all was not as it seems, Emberlyn tries her best to free the girls from his control once and for all. This was a dark and disturbing tale about art, obsession, and how far people are willing to go to see their visions through.

Ballet is what brought me to E.V. Woods' debut Girls of Dark Divine, a story about a troupe of dancer cursed to dance as marionettes for a cruel puppet master.

Girls of Dark Divine is an atmospheric read with admirable world-building. I was able to imagine the ominous world in which the Marionettes danced in great detail thanks to Woods' ability to paint vivid scenes across her pages. However, I was not entirely compelled by this story despite feeling like I should be. Perhaps that was due to the drawing out of a fairly simple plot over 400 pages when a much shorter and succinct storyline would have sufficed. Not much happens in this novel, and for being a book about dance, there's frankly not a lot of that either.

Girls of Dark Divine is a murky, haunting story that tends to meander a bit more than is advisable in what should be a thrilling, pulse-pounding, yet lyrically beautiful read. 3.5 stars.

This is the kind of book that feels like a spell, enchanting and shattering in equal measure. It’s about love and defiance, the fight to reclaim yourself, and the price of breaking free. I am obsessed.

Girls Dark and Divine crafts this perfectly moody and atmospheric world. It falls into this little niche for me of books that have those fairytale-esque qualities and I have dedicated a whole bookshelf to. But for some reason I couldn't quite connect with the story. Something felt missing, there wasn't that hook that drew me in. I wanted to love it but ultimately ended up only kinda liking it. Which isn't bad. This story did excel in its world building but ultimately the pacing seemed to stumble for me. I'm infuriatingly quite middle of the road for this read.
Thanks Netgalley for the chance to review this arc!

I am a fan of gothic literature and this book definitely had those elements. It seemed a bit repetitive in some areas but overall that did not take away from the story.