Early Review: Girls of Dark Divine

Girls of Dark Divine by EV Woods

Published By: Usborne
Publication Date: August 14, 2025
Date Read: August 5, 2025
Genre: YA – Fantasy
Source: ARC from Usborne
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

A group of hauntingly beautiful girls have been bound together by a cruel curse—and one of them will go to any lengths to save them from their violent dance. A breathtakingly gorgeous gothic fantasy about love and control that will never let you go. This spellbinding debut is perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber!

In the legendary ballet theatre of New Kora, the girls on stage enchant the audience each night with their grace and divine beauty. Before Emberlyn became the show’s star, it was her dream to become one of the ballerinas… until she learned the price of their living nightmare.

A curse has bound the girls to the show’s mastermind, Malcolm, so they must obey his every command. They are controlled by the magic’s invisible strings that has the power to wield their limbs like marionette dolls. Only the commands don’t stop when the curtain comes down, and the girls live a life of fear from Malcolm’s wickedness and the twisted truth that each dancer is destined to turn to dust when the curse finally consumes her.

When the troupe is invited to perform in the glitzy city of Parlizia, Emberlyn knows this could be her best chance to save them all. She meets an elusive boy made of shadows with a magical connection to the girls. Together, they work to unravel the haunting truth about their creation and fight for their survival. But the cost of freedom might be too high, and as she dances closer to the edge of darkness she realizes she might break the curse… or break her own heart forever.

“I’m prepared to die tomorrow if that’s what is needed of me, to stop this monster. To stop him from hurting anyone else, ever again.”

Wow! There are no other words that immediately come to mind when I think about Girls of Dark Divine. I don’t really know what I was expecting when I went into the ARC of this book, but I was not expecting to be this obsessed with this fantastic novel. I won an ARC of this book from Usborne at YALC 2024, and I don’t know why I didn’t read it immediately but it was a good 9 months later that I finally picked it up… Why did I wait so long? This is one of the best YA Fantasy books I have read in a really long time.

Girls of Dark Divine is a deliciously creepy, dark romantic fantasy that immerses you completely in its world right from the first page. It follows the story of Emberlyn, the main dancer in the elite dance troupe Malcolm’s marionette’s. What nobody knows is the dark truth of this dance troupe. Malcolm, the manager, is a dark wielder, and he has cast a dark spell on his ‘girls’ making them real life marionette dolls. He can control their every movement and action, on and off the stage. I won’t lie, there’s some super dark themes explored in this book, due to the fact that Malcolm can control the actions of all of the dancers, so that makes this book definitely at the older end of the YA spectrum. I wouldn’t say it is appropriate for younger teens, as we do explore themes of physical violence, manipulation and control and gaslighting. So if these themes may be triggering for you, read with caution.

I personally adored all of the themes explored in this book. It never goes over the line for a YA book, so everything is completely appropriate for the older end of this age range. But parts of it are dark, and creepy. I couldn’t stop reading, as I was dying to know what was going to happen and if the girls were going to be able to break free of Malcolm’s curse. Even from the start, I sat down to read a chapter or two and see how it was and the next thing I knew I was 150 pages in. I honestly couldn’t put it down. There are scenes that will make you uncomfortable. There were moments where I was literally sat with my hand over my mouth, genuinely frightened about what was going to happen. But to me, that shows absolutely fantastic storytelling. I was so emotionally invested throughout the entire duration of this book.

I’m really glad I went into this book pretty blind. I hadn’t read much about the book, and that made me so happy as I experienced everything as a surprise. Including the fact that this is loosely inspired by Phantom of the Opera. As a theatre nerd, and Phantom being one of my all time favourite stories and musicals, when I got to the part where that sort of storyline came in I was like WHAAAAATTTTTTTT????? Honestly I adored every single moment of this book. It’s truly one of the standout reads of the year so far for me. It was everything I could possibly want in a YA Fantasy novel, wrapped up in a musical theatre loving bow. It was perfect!

Girls of Dark Divine has without a doubt been the best surprise of 2025 for me so far. I loved every single moment of it and from the second it was over, I really wanted everyone to read it so I could fangirl about it with them. This will definitely be going on my favourites shelf, and one I will read again and again and again. It’s truly fantastic. If you’re looking for a new YA Fantasy to obsess over, look no further… this is it! It’s dark, creepy, magical and romantic. It has everything I could have wanted and more. I am genuinely obsessed with this book. The writing was stunning, the characterisation fantastic… the plot… perfection! EV Woods is the 2025 debut author to watch out for. She has immediately gone onto my auto-buy list! So if there is one YA debut you pick up this year, make sure it is this one!

“You should get to dance one last time, if you want to. As you. As Emberlyn – not as somebody’s marionette.”