The Dividing - Devin Downing

The Dividing

By Devin Downing

  • Release Date: 2020-05-29
  • Genre: Fantasy for Young Adults
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 144 Ratings

Description

Hunger Games meets Brandon Sanderson in this dystopian fantasy of epic proportions. Inspired by biblical theology, The Dividing will pull you into a world of magic, monsters, and mystery!

Adamic is the language of the Gods. When spoken, it has the power to create worlds, to raise the dead, to make man as God. Fortunately, no one has spoken it in thousands of years. The only remnants are the written spells. 

The people of Cavernum depend on these spells. They're etched into the city walls, fending off the feeders—deadly creatures with a thirst for human blood. Yet for the lower class, Cavernum isn't much safer. Children starve, and illness runs rampant. Only the elite have access to magic, and status must be earned. One's class is determined by a single competition: The Dividing. Those who excel join the guild of their choice. The rest are sent to the fields, condemned to a life of slave-labor. 

Princess Roselyn Malik has trained her entire life for The Dividing. She's guaranteed a spot in the royal orchestra, but equalist rebels threaten her throne. To secure her crown, Rose must acquire the power and prestige associated with the guard. Only guardsmen have access to the amulets—powerful weapons that grant dominion over the elements. 

Meanwhile, in Colorado, Matt will do anything to help his terminally-ill adoptive mother. For now, that means poaching to pay the bills. Until one day, Matt is attacked by a feeder and plunged into the world of Cavernum. There too, Matt is drawn to the guard, in search of a magic strong enough to save his mother. 

But danger lurks beyond the walls, and Cavernum won't be safe for long. 

Editorial Reviews:

"Downing has clearly put an immense amount of time working out the details of his fictional setting, and it shows on every page." -Kirkus Reviews

"Loved it! The Dividing is an intense urban fantasy reminiscent of early YA greats like Divergent or Throne of Glass." - Reedsy Discovery

"Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass. I would highly recommend it to all of my YA/NA lovers out there."  - D. Salazar

"There is something for everyone in this book: action, legends, magic, romance, a quest for knowledge, battles against injustice." - D. E. Bagenstose

Back Cover:

Through the Adamic language, God created the earth and everything on it. On the last day of creation, God created man and granted him dominion over all the earth.

"Dominion isn't everything, Matt. Sure, we can walk on water and set the air ablaze. We can do incredible things. Sometimes, that makes us feel like Gods... but we're not. We're just people. We can't always decide who lives and who dies."

Reviews

  • Nope

    1
    By CsheaC
    Poor character development, unconvincing dialogue and more editorial holes than a slice of swiss cheese. Don’t bother.
  • Loved it!

    5
    By twistherr
    It surprises me to know this isn’t a best seller. I love seeing two perspectives of a situation with our main characters Matt and Rose. It’s so interesting from beginning to end. Always something going on and constantly learning something new. This book hooks you at the very first page and keeps you wanting more. Looking forward to reading The Surviving next. There was not a moment I thought “I don’t care to finish this”. It was more “thank goodness there’s a second book out already!”
  • Punctuation is necessary. Hire an editor!

    2
    By Amommy2004
    Good story. Unfortunately, the lack of quotation marks pulls you out of the story...
  • Seductive beginnings

    5
    By u2zoo2
    The Dividing is quite fantastic. However it is not a complete story but the beginning of a saga where good or evil is not always clear. Although this perspective is reinforced repeatedly, It's a very difficult perspective to try to apply esp. to the United States 2020 presidential election. The story and characters are rich and complex. the author has created a medieval society co-existing with a 21st century technological one in real time. A textured story with no sex. Read the author's free 3-4 page short stories. Ones I've read are twisty (not twisted). Link at the end of The Dividing, which is also free.
  • Fantastic!!!

    5
    By dunc-dunc-09
    This is the book I decided to get into reading with and I was not disappointed. From the very beginning the story was intriguing. Multiple times during the story I could see the characters, the scenes, and the situations as if I was watching a TV show. Truly a great read and I can not wait for book 2.
  • A captivating read!

    5
    By ajune.e
    I only wish I could keep reading the story right now lol. Now we wait for book two haha
  • All I can say is... wow

    5
    By KinnyKat1
    This book is just amazing! The twists, the world, the characters... brought to life. I feel the emotions, pains, doubts, struggles, losses. The author does an stunning job at enticing the reader. Cliffhangers, unsolved mysteries, the spectacular and unique world all reel you into this masterpiece of a book. I can’t wait until the rest of the trilogy comes out. The Dividing has satisfied my soul after months of not reading.
  • Splendid, awesome, beautiful, and all those good words

    5
    By Volklyra29
    This book is amazing in so many ways. It has a little bit of everything that makes it so like-able. It incorporates mystery, magic, plot twists, emotions, and real world problems in a way that kept me turning the pages. It’s written in a way that makes you fall in love with some characters and absolutely hate others. From the beginning I was hooked and couldn’t stop reading. I wanted to know what would happen next because of how attached I became to the main characters. I can’t wait for the next book to come out. 11/10 would recommend to just about anybody.
  • Fantastic!

    5
    By hero_lynn
    This book left my gasping. MULTIPLE times. Once I thought I knew where it was going, BAM! Plot twist that I never saw coming. This was such a fantastic book to read, the characters were fanatically planned out, their backstories were so involved and really made me connect with them, the plot kept me wondering what was going to happen next. Fantastic book, and now I can’t wait for the next ones!!!
  • so amazing

    5
    By reader385936
    this book is one of my new favorite books! the plot and story throughout the book are incredible and explain things very simple! love this book so much!!!

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