The Devouring Gray

Synopsis

After the death of her sister, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn't: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods.

For generations, Justin Hawthorne's bloodline has protected Four Paths from the Gray- a lifeless dimension that imprisons a brutal monster. After Justin fails to inherit his family's powers, his mother is determined to keep this humiliation a secret. But Justin can't let go of the future he was promised and the town he swore to protect.

Ever since Harper Carlisle lost her hand to an accident that left her stranded in the Gray for days, she has vowed revenge on the person who abandoned her: Justin Hawthorne. There are ripples of dissent in Four Paths, and Harper seizes an opportunity to take down the Hawthornes and change her destiny- to what extent, even she doesn't yet know.

The Gray is growing stronger every day, and its victims are piling up. When Violent accidentally unleashes the monster, all three must band together with the other Founders to unearth the dark truths behind their families' abilities . . . before the Gray devours them all.

Loved

• The setting. So normally I don't go for urban fantasies just because I don't like the contemporary genre at all, but when this was pitched as Stranger Things meets Raven Boys, I was so there! Stranger Things is the only TV show of which I've actually watched every season. And this book totally had the Stranger Things vibes- teenagers with their own dramas, a small town with a lot of history, and another dimension that houses a brutal monster. This atmosphere was the perfect spookiness with the forest, small town, bodies showing up, unspoken secrets, and talk of a monster hanging about. If nothing else, the setting of the book makes this story totally worth reading.

• The spookiness. When it comes to creepiness, I have a pretty good threshold I can't cross. I can't do horror that involves gore and carnage that leaves you feeling sick inside. But this was more of a thriller/sci-fi type of scariness, which was perfect for me. I'm okay with finding some bodies if it's for the sake of a good mystery and trying to understand the monster behind it all. This is the perfect creepy level for me- enough to give you chills and pull your blanket up a little higher, but not keeping you up at night with awful images in your head. I would say it's actually quite a bit more mellow than Stranger Things as far as gore and scariness goes, even though they are very similar in the whole other-dimension-with-a-freaky-monster-thing.

• The mystery. At first this story feels confusing because we have no idea what's happening and don't know any of the history of the town or its inhabitants. But Violet, one of the main characters, is also new to the town and we get to learn about all these things through her perspective. I loved watching each character unravel small pieces of the puzzle and gain more clues by discovering secrets about his/her history and family. I loved how all the perspectives merged at the end as they all ended up together with their different clues and were able to collaborate all their information and fight together.

• The characters. Part of the spooky, small town atmosphere has to include some angsty teenage characters- am I right?? These four main characters all have a little angst going on- but all for good reasons. One of the best parts of this story is watching all four of these characters discover secrets about their families and their pasts, try to understand their history and powers, and overcome their individual fears, traumas, and insecurities. Each character's arc is pretty complex and I really enjoyed rooting for each one as they start discovering their strengths and using them for good. 

• The ending. This ending was clever and intense. I loved the fast-paced plot development as each character discovers different clues and they finally all come together to realize what's happening and are able to make a plan. I love that each character gets to find his/her strength and use it during the fight with the monster. This was a creepy, intense, and delicious climax to the mystery and plot development happening throughout the story. 

Didn't Love

• I have a few complaints with this book, even though I did really enjoy it.

• I didn't understand the magic system very well in this book. There were some really cool magic themes- tarot cards, powers descending from the four founding families, and character's discovering these powers in surprising ways. However, I never felt like we (or the characters) had a very clear idea of how the magic fit together with the history. It seemed disjoined at times- partly because the characters don't understand it all- but mostly because it didn't seem to be very thoroughly explained or thought out.

• The forced diversity. Now don't get me wrong- I'm all about diversity and I love that we get some good representation here. However, I felt like the author was trying so hard to make the characters diverse that it felt a little invasive and even disruptive to the story at times. Many of the characters are described as "white" or "black," which is fine, but it was done in a way that was distracting from the story because the description was so stark and abrupt ("A white girl walked into the diner" type of stuff). I also thought it was cool we got some LGBTQ rep, but I felt like having three out of the four main characters being bi was a little unrealistic and felt a little forced in some of the characters. Again, I'm all about the diversity, but this felt a little forced, so much so that it was distracting to the story at times.

• I also didn't like that there was so much strong language- again, I felt like it was distracting to the story and a bit abrupt at times.

Content

• Language:
• There is a lot of very strong language in this book. Many uses of f***- about once or twice per chapter. Also frequent uses of "damn," "hell," "ass," and "sh**."

• Sexual content:
• There is no developed or really even developing romance in this book, so there are no kissing or sex scenes.
• Some innuendo in joking with each other.

• Violence:
• For a sci-fi thriller, the gore is pretty minimal. 
• They do find multiple bodies that have been maimed and mangled. The descriptions are pretty disturbing- the bodies are barely recognizable after they've encountered the Gray.
• Lots of talk of death- most of the characters have lost loved ones, many of them in quite violent ways.
• Some scary scenes involving fighting the monster, being chased, having your mind taken over- you know, the usual sci-fi stuff ;)
• As I said above, if you've seen Stranger Things, that has much more gore, blood and creepiness than this book. The Devouring Gray is quite a bit more mellow.

• Other themes:
• We have some LGBTQ representation: most of the main characters are bisexual. One male character reveals to his male best friend that he has had romantic feelings for him for a long time, which creates some tension and drama in their relationship. Another character finds out her mom had a romantic relationship with her female best friend, which led to their moving away.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this as a spooky Halloween read. The small-town, forested atmosphere was the perfect setting and created a spooky atmosphere for the story. I loved the mystery and getting to unfold different clues from each character's perspective. The characters are dynamic and relatable, and watching them discover more about themselves and their strengths was gratifying and exciting. The creepiness level was perfect- some good mystery, monster fighting, spooky events, and intense scenes, but not too much gore. I did have a few issues with the under-developed magic system and the seemingly forced diversity at times. However, neither of these really took away from the story, and I still really enjoyed it! I would give it a solid four stars. This story is very similar to Stranger Things, so if you like that show then definitely give The Devouring Gray a shot!