I am thoroughly impressed with this book. I am usually not into Young Adult horror novels as their just not as scary as I would like. But dang Ms. Herman created a very atmospheric and gothic read. Four Paths is the setting of our story and It felt quite realistic and whimsy and I loved the lore and the history behind the monster. and the four families The Devouring Gray is told from multiple POV's Our main characters are Harper Carlisle, missing an arm has a prominent father in the community and is a badass weapons wielder. Violet Saunders is our second main characters, bisexual and is moving back to Four Paths after the death of her sister. Isaac Sullivan our third main character also bisexual and has the best badass power he is also living on his own since his family passed away in an accident. Justin Hawthorne is our last main character Isaacs best friend, His mother is the sheriff and has tarot card reading sister May. My only complaint is how much the POV's bounce around. It was hard to connect to the characters. Yes they were all very interesting. but I didn't really feel for them. But aside from that The Devouring Gray was great the magic the characters could wield I also loved the LGBTQ rep. That ending it totally seems like there could be a sequel.

Overall The Devouring Gray is an atmospheric , gothic thriller filled with great characters.

full review to come on my blog. I really enjoyed the characters, the dynamic, the plot and the atmosphere it kept me intrigued throughout the whole novel so it was great

After the tragic, premature death of Violet’s older sister Rosie, Violet and her mother move back to her mother’s home town in the sleepy little town of Four Paths, NY. But Four Paths has more going on than originally meets the eye: it’s secretly the prison of a nefarious beast. Captured by the founders of the Four Paths, the beast lives in a shadow world on top of the regular world, called the Gray. As more and more people get pulled into the Gray and are violently, Violet and her new friends are called to use their newfound magical powers to stop the beast at any cost.

The book is being marketed as “Stranger Things” meets “The Raven Boys”, and I would say that is a pretty spot on comparison. The Gray is not unlike The Upside Down or Cabeswater. The difference, really, is that this book is lacking in a few areas where Stranger Things and The Raven Boys succeed: detailed characterization, nuanced worldbuilding, and extremely good writing. The characters in this one were one dimensional; Violet and Harper, two of our four main characters, were fairly interchangeable to me. The book fluctuates between following the children of the four main founders, and as a result, we only get to know a few of them really well. They are still interesting – they all have to deal with quite a bit of pressure from their parents and the town, but I wish they had each been developed more.

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding at first, but then a few details were introduced that clearly just served as plot devices. For example, if the children of the founders date each other, they will lose any magical abilities they may have inherited – there’s no need for this aside from generating romantic tension that could have been generated in a number of other ways. There were a few other plot points (like the rituals) that were never explained in a satisfying way. That said, I raced through the book. As I got closer to the end and realized there would be a sequel, I got a little less interested (this did not need to be a duology).

TLDR: While it’s not quite as good, folks who enjoyed Stranger Things or The Raven Boys will find a lot to like here too. Despite its many problems, it was a creative, compelling read, and I did end up enjoying it! 3 stars. I liked it. I’d read another book by this author.

Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the advance electronic copy which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. The Devouring Gray will be available for purchase on 02 April, but you can put your copy on hold today!

Review TK on Teenreads.com

Here's an excerpt:

For fans of HAVEN, Charmed and Laura Ruby’s BONE GAP, this book is atmosphere and chilling. I LOVED the characters and their backstories and powers. I loved the various point of views. Their perspectives provided such a rich understanding of the world and the small town. Even though the story was slow at times, I felt like I had a great grasp of the mythology of Four Paths, their odd traditions and superstitions and the history of a town. I felt very drawn to Isaac, a character that I wished had his own perspective chapters but had to make do with from other points of view. I won’t spoil the story except to say that even if I guessed the big twist at the end, I enjoyed the journey. The book felt like a long drawn out and very entertaining character study with some plot thrown in. I’m not complaining! I loved each character and can’t wait for the sequel! I especially love the depth of the secondary characters such as the Sheriff and Violet’s aunt, Daria.

I definitely would recommend this book to any reader looking for a well-read, carefully crafted novel, especially since the sequel is bound to be as gorgeous and mesmerizing as the first.

Posted to Goodreads: Violet and her mother have just moved to her mother's hometown of Four Paths. At first glance the town seems like any other boring town in America but Violet is immediately pulled into a dark and mysterious world known as the gray where a monster is held captive. Violet learns that her family is one of the founding families of Four Paths and she with the other Founders' descendant, Harper, Justine and Isaac, must keep the town safe.

This book had an interesting premise however it never really grabbed me. I wasn't really hooked by the mystery or taken in by the creepiness of the monster. The story was just fine but I don't think I will revisit it in the sequel.

**3.5-stars**

Sawkill Girls meets Strange Grace...

BRANCHES, STONES, DAGGERS, BONES...

Welcome to Four Paths, New York, are words Violet Saunders could have done without. Riddled with grief after the loss of her sister, Rosie, Violet is forced to move to Four Paths at the start of her senior year. Not great.

It quickly becomes clear that Violet's mom, Juniper, has a very strong connection to Four Paths. In fact, she is a member of one of the founding families. The founders are treated like royalty in town -- quite literally worshipped as deities.

Why, you may ask?
Because they were the ones to capture the monster, trap it in the gray and continue to protect the townsfolk from it.

Basically, the monster trapped in 'the gray' is no longer as dormant as he used to be and teens that are each a part of one of the four founding families come together to fight back. There are familial and friendship dramas, secrets and investigations, love gone awry -- all the stuff. It's in here.

At times, I felt like I should have been taking notes, which decreased my ability to relax into the story. Additionally, there were a lot of rapid perspective shifts that tended to knock me out of it as well. While the content was quite interesting, the flow seemed a little off for me.

It was definitely dark, which is one of my favorite things, and the characters and history of the town were compelling. I loved the ending. It gave me chills and I will definitely read the next book in the duology.

I even feel that I could reread this one. It may be easier the second time round as I have a better handle on what is going on.
For a debut, this is impressive and I hope a lot of readers pick it up!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Book Group, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to hearing what other readers think of this one.

If you want a weird cult, a super vague magic system (if you can even call it that), and poor diversity, read this book.

And while there were huge plot holes and so many unanswered questions (seriously, why was everything so vague??), the diversity, or lack there of, bothered me the most. If you say that more than half of your characters are bisexual just for diversity’s sake, then you are doing diversity wrong (there are other orientations/races/ethnicities out there, in case that was unclear). Making everyone the same orientation, even if it is something other than straight, is no better than just making them all straight. That’s not diverse.

Review will post on all links in profile 3/30

2.5 star review

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman is set in Four Paths, New York. And as other reviews have stated it has a netherworld danger that smacks you in the face with a resemblance to Stranger Things. The only issue being that it isn't as well developed as the danger lurking on the Netflix hit and therefore doesn't come to life as the menacing threat that it is on TV.
Violet arrives to Four Paths with her mother, Juniper, five months after the sudden death of her older sister. Her mother had grown up in Four Paths but hadn't returned there since she left at the age of eighteen and never spoke much of it. Once Violet arrives things start to get odd and fast. They also start to get formulaic.
When Violet gets to her first day of school she meets other classmates quickly at the small highschool and people are dying. And of course Violet is sucked into the Devouring Gray (the netherworld harbouring the menacing beast) without knowing why but doesn't want to tell anyone.

She starts realizing she has unknown powers of her own (cue creepy music) when she resurrects her aunt's cat that suddenly dies in front of her feet. Ok, to be fair maybe that part just completely threw me off because I just don't do well reading about cats suddenly and gruesomely dropping dead and then Pet Sematary happening. Of course another teenager, Justin sees it and secrets about the town, powerful families and an ancestral secret begins to come to light.
Devouring Gray goes on from there to bring other town secrets and a dangerous plan to light. The teenagers have to work together to save themselves and the town from the beast and the Devouring Gray. It hands on one big cliffhanger and one big, not cliffhanger, but event that leads you to believe there is another book coming.
I just wasn't ever invested enough in the characters, the plot or the setting to really enjoy it. There were pieces here and there that were good. But there were larger swatches that had me thinking, are you kidding? It just felt like the plot to so many books I had read before. Person arrives at new town. Person is looking for friends, family. Person finds out they have secret powers. Person finds support. Person uncovers secrets. Person has to save the day with help of new friends...
Some may enjoy the Devouring Gray if this isn't a storyline they are familiar with but for me it fell flat.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this paranormal thriller, which is out on Tuesday. It felt a little Stranger Things-ish, as it takes place in a town held hostage by a dangerous creature that can only be stopped by a group of people who can slip into another dimension (basically). Four Paths has four founding families. Each family has a power, which manifests in their members between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. Once their ritual occurs, they have the responsibility of protecting the town from a beast who is trapped in The Gray. When Violet and her mom move from New York City to take care of her aunt, she realizes that her mom hasn’t been exactly honest with her about her life (and role as a founding family member). A couple of mature things in this one (that I honestly thought were unnecessary) leads me to recommend it for grades 8+. I look forward to the sequel!

What a strange book. Not in a bad way necessarily, but with some definite haunting, atmospheric vibes.

The premise is intriguing: Violet, our MC, moves to a new town called Four Paths where she discovers herself to be the descendant of one of the four founders. What’s more, the founders possessed special abilities that allowed them to keep a vicious beast prisoner in a mysterious place called the Gray.

So down the line, the children of Four Paths’ founders are tasked with protecting the town and keeping the monster imprisoned. Except now the founder families are struggling to contain the Gray and its beast, and the town’s death count is rising fast.

I’d compare this book to How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather, another story in which a girl moves to a town where she’s the descendant of the man responsible for witch trials in their city. I also saw that another reviewer compared this to a CW show, and I think feel like that’s the perfect way to describe it. It’s just got the feel of a supernatural teen drama.

There’s nothing wrong with CW shows, per se! And if you like them, I’m sure you’ll find The Devouring Gray entertaining.

The way the author introduced each of the characters was very deliberate, and I appreciated the time she took to help us get to know the cast instead of just throwing a bunch of names out there. All of the founder children were complex and fascinating, shocking us with secrets and causing us to feel their pain along with them.

It took me a bit to understand what was happening and for the author to explain what exactly the Gray was. As I’m writing this review, I still don’t know if I quite understand it, but I get the gist. The magic system here was interesting; Herman kept it fresh and original.

The Grey itself and the beast within were both rightfully creepy. I’m home alone and reading some of these scenes caused me to actually shudder, and I had to continue the book with my back to the wall. Don’t judge me.

Overall, I think many people will enjoy this. The Devouring Gray was too weak for my taste, but I bet you Herman has many more stories to tell; I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. 3.5 stars.

An e-arc of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The Devouring Gray is one of those books where I can list elements that I enjoyed, but the combination of them was a little like a disjointed gear in a machine I should love. That's a bad metaphor. Maybe more like a few elements being off in a dish that has truffles so I should love it, but there's something holding me back. In a nutshell, I really appreciated Violet's struggle with grief, her relationship with her mother, Harper's sword lessons, the queer rep (two MC who are bisexual), how fast paced the book was.

But at the end of the day, the other elements I expected I would love fell short for me - the multiple perspective, the eeriness, and some of the character development. I'm not sure if some of these issues will be developed in the next book - as far as increasing the creepiness factor and developing some characters I'd like to see more of - like Isaac. But it's a story I enjoyed, but was hoping for a little more.

So I liked this book. I didn’t love it, but it was a good read. It reminded me a LOT of Riverdale, old family secrets, teenagers solving a mystery and power hungry parents who have a past.

I definitely liked the book more the closer to end I got. When I finally started getting answers to the 1,006 questions I had. The overall premise was very interesting, and I loved learning about the magic of the town.

The characters were fine. I liked them, but I think because the story involved so many of them it was hard to get to know any of them well. There was also a lot of telling not showing in this book, which I didn’t love. I was also initially frustrated with the lack of answers, I feel like perhaps instead of having everything revealed at the end, it would have been nice to have an answer here and there throughout the book.

All that being said, I will be reading what the second book in this series for sure.

I read to 45% before skipping to 80% and reading until the end.

I had seen a lot of people talking about this book on social medial, but it was the comparison of The Raven Boys and Stranger Things that had me wanting to read it. For me, this book wasn’t even close to either of those.

The four main characters are okay. They all have struggles with what’s going on, but in different ways. A lot of the writing was tell and not show, and maybe that’s why I couldn’t connect to any of them. No one stood out to me.

Plot wise, it was sort of the same. It was all so bland. Sure, there were a few interesting things, yet nothing kept me wanting to see how the story unfolds.

Overall, it was an interesting idea, but lacked something that would have captivated me.

**Huge thanks to Disney Hyperion for providing the arc free of charge**

3.5 stars

cw for: loss of a loved one, talking about death, murder, grief, violence, abandonment, and assault.

I wasn't super impressed with this one. I think it's mostly a *me thing* and not a *book thing.* Don't get me wrong, I flew through this in just two days, but I feel like I didn't connect that much with the story. IMO for the age group, I think this is pretty appropriate. When I was a teen I would have eaten this up hard. I think my reading tastes lie somewhere between ya and adult right now, and I was looking for something a little more twisted.

I don't think there were any major issues with the plot for me. The idea of the founders and this "big bad" that they must save the town from seemed very Sawkill Girls to me. It just seemed a little too straight forward. If this were to be a perfect novel for me, I need it to be a little more complicated. A little more complex. I think this book really could have benefited from not using a linear time frame to mess it up a little bit. (I have no evidence that this is true, so please just take this with a grain of salt lol)

I know people have been saying this was similar to The Raven Boys and Stranger Things and I definitely see where those similarities are coming from, but the structure of this book is completely different from those. The only tie I saw to The Raven Boys was really the card reading and and the small town spooky forest vibes. I suppose you could also say The Raven Boys & Stranger Things both have a strong friend group and this book also has a friend group, but I wouldn't put it on the same level as those two. (I'm pretty sure we're getting a second book, though so I could see the friend group coming full force in the future) Actually, Isaac really gave me Ronan vibes like a lot. He was probably one of my favorite characters in the whole book.

I will say this story had some amazing bi rep. The main character Violet and another main character Isaac are both confirmed bi. There are two other characters that are hinted as bi, but I can't remember if it's confirmed? This also had good disability rep as one of the main characters, Harper, is missing her left arm.

I think most of my qualms with this book can be summed up to me wanting more. I wanted to know more about the founders (this will probably come up in the future though). I wanted to know more about the gray and the monster (same). I wanted more depth from the characters (this is actually so frustrating because it feels like it's so close to being there. (I also feel like this could change with the sequel) lol

Again, I really think all of these things missing for me may not affect your reading at all. I still 100% recommend this book, and I definitely see myself reading the sequel whenever that comes out. I think a sequel could completely round out the story and give me all of the information I felt was missing from this book.

Sometimes a book niggles at you at every turn, causing you to do the Pick me Up Put me Down game- begging to be read in spurts...

Sometimes it snags and scratches at your patience- repeatedly begging to be thrown across the room at high velocity...

Sometimes it firmly grasps your attention with lyrically verbose writing and promises of better things yet to come...

AND

Sometimes it sticks to you like an industrial strength glue that seems impossible to break free from until the very last word is read and the spell is broken...


This book definitely falls squarely within the latter group. It was a creepy, mysterious ride. It wasn't elegant prose, gut-punches in the feels, high octane action or epic battles (although the faceoff at the end was pretty cool) that had me hooked. What had me happily stuck was the ever pressing need to know more... constantly asking "what the heck is going on?" and "What will happen next?".


Christine Lynn Herman sprinkled breadcrumb clues throughout, feeding my greed...my need to know ever more. It was suspenseful, slightly disturbing and the pacing was great. The world building and character development were solid. There were juicy town secrets and Power Plays by both Suped up Humans and Creature alike. Speaking of the dastardly creature... it actually made me second guess who I thought the true monster was at one point BUT in the end it was VERY apparent. There was a modicum of melodrama and the ever popular who did what to whom Blame Game. There was also a lot of "It wasn't me, I'm too righteous for such actions" and finger pointing all around. Reading this little town's deep dark secrets felt illicit. This is definitely how I picture town life in a tiny, non diverse, exceedingly eccentric, homogeneous, Tradition-centric town.


Overall: Was this book Epic? No. Was it deep and poetic?? Also no BUT it was satisfying through and through and I liked it, I really did!


*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

This would be a good read for fans of the Vampire Diaries because it is very much like it. Teenagers, small town in the woods, terrifying monsters. Some will love this fantasy novel, some won't.

“Four Paths had its charms, if you could ignore the fact that it was also a monster prison she apparently had some ancestral obligation to deal with.”

This is a really hard review for me to write, because this book had some of my favorite things of all time; lyrical and beautiful writing that I could nonstop highlight, an atmosphere setting that gives me goosebumps even just thinking about, a mystery all surrounding what hides in the dark depths of the forest, and a very diverse cast of characters. Like, damn. But if this isn’t the first review of The Devouring Gray you’ve read, yes, all the Riverdale and Stranger Things comparisons are all valid. I kind of think The Raven Cycle one is a bit of stretch, but I can kind of see it. But this debut novel really impressed me, and I can’t wait to see what the author does next.

But The Devouring Gray follows four teens in upstate New York, all living in a little secluded town called Four Paths. And in this mysterious forest town, four families are held to a higher standard, because their descendants were the reason the town is protected from the Beast who hunts them. And all the descendants are able to harness the powers that should be passed down through their bloodline, but only if they survive a ritual pertaining to their ancestor. But now the town is under attack, and all hope is with four teens who are the descendants that are needed for survival, yet they might not be ready to provide protection for themselves, or anyone else, just yet.

“in eighteen forty-seven, a group of settlers seeking a new life in upstate New York decided to end their pilgrimage here. On this day, we celebrate the leaders of that group—Thomas Carlisle, Lydia Saunders, Richard Sullivan, and Hetty Hawthorne.”

➽ Harper Carlisle – Missing one arm from the elbow down after her ritual to harness her powers went wrong, and holding a grudge over someone who used to be her best friend but wanted nothing to do with her after her accident. Also, her father is a predominant figure in the safety of the town. Also, also, a warrior babe who can wield many weapons.

➽ Violet Saunders – Bisexual, just moving to Four Paths after the death of her sister and trying to learn to live with an astronomical amount of grief, while also learning that she has a hidden bloodline she never knew about. Also, piano playing goddess.

➽ Isaac Sullivan – Bisexual, living on his own after the rest of his family died in an accident. He is also Justin’s best friend, a broody reader babe, and he has the best and most scary power of them all. Also, he was easily my favorite character.

➽ Justin Hawthorne – The popular boy, who has the most powerful family in town, even though he feels like he must always do what his mother (also the sheriff of the town) wants, even though he is keeping a very big secret from her. Side note, I would die for his sister, May, my tarot card reading baby.

“Powers or not, he was still a Hawthorne. He would find a way to keep Four Paths safe.”

Yet, even though these are the four main characters, we have so many side characters, too! And this, in addition to the fact that the story jumps points of view a lot, I just feel like I never truly cared about any of the characters, even though I didn’t have a problem with any of them. I mean, it really is a strange feeling, because I can mentally break down that these are the four main characters, but while reading the chapter switching just makes me feel like I’m reading ASOIAF or something else that feels like we are given so many different points of view. I feel like this was the biggest factor that kept me from loving this book; I never truly got to know any of these characters because of the way the story jumps around.

Also, if I’m being honest the Beast and the Gray felt too much like Stranger Things to me, but also with not enough explanation. I obviously am here for a good mystery, but I think seeing more of this parallel world, the mysterious creature and its powers, would have really benefited the story by filling in some much-needed gaps and made the situation feel scarier and more high-risk. Like, I was honestly convinced that some type of humans or other beings were going to reside in this world! Or we were going to fully understand the powers and what this thing was capable and not capable of! I don’t know, the concept is just so amazing, but I felt really let down by the biggest risk factor of the story.

But I still loved watching all these teens learn how to find their powers and learn how to use their powers. I loved seeing them grow, both apart and together. I loved seeing all the different friendship roots; both brand new and old ones healing. I loved seeing how these four handled grief and trauma all very differently but still all very validly. And I loved to see all of these teens realize they are worth a hell of a lot more than the past mistakes of the ancestors they are forced to live up to.

“Something inside Violet had cracked the day Rosie died. There was an abscess in her chest, a gaping hole in the back of her skull. A place for evil things to slip right in.”

Overall, I really loved the ownvoices queer rep, and the atmosphere and setting were truly nothing short of amazing. I do want to mention that the main relationships in this are not f/f, but there are lots of hints at side f/f relationships! Also, even though I could never truly connect with the story, I still think there is so much good here. And I think many readers will still really enjoy this one upon release. But that epilogue ending made me audibly gasp that made my cat give me angry eyes for waking her! Is this the start of a series? Because I am totally down with reading whatever Christine Lynn Herman comes up with next, but especially with this setting as a backdrop.

I think this book will be very popular with older teens. Herman's writing is accessible, but has a maturity about it that may be lost on younger readers. For atmosphere, I haven't read anything like it in a while. The comp to Stranger Things really works, and I think my students will love how it nudges a line close to horror without being too over the top. Will definitely recommend to my contemporary fantasy students.

There was quite a slow start for a bit more than the first half of the book. But the rest of the book was worth the wait. You will love the diverse cast of characters for a fantasy novel. It involves a creepy forest, town residents who disappear or are killed and a mysterious creature.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book opens with the Five of Bones, which is a skeletal hand reaching out towards the reader. And if that’s not the best way to start a book, I don’t know what is. I mean, that pretty much says everything you need to know about this book. Roll credits!

The Devouring Gray is chock full of monsters (human and otherwise), mystery, deception, and just enough creep factor to leave you wanting more. And I do. So where’s the sequel? There’s a pretty hefty cliffhanger at the end, and I demand moooore!

My Thoughts:

- Herman does a fantastic job of capturing all the humdrum of rural town life, which made the setting so terribly relatable for me. The whole elite hierarchy of a small town, the rumor mill, the secrets and inside stories that outsiders aren’t privy to, the way it’s so hard to free yourself and it somehow always manages to pull you back in. Magic isn’t needed for any of that. I mean, there is magic in The Devouring Gray, which makes it all the more thrilling, but just the atmosphere was captured so perfectly.

- There’s lots of LGBTQ rep! Which can be good and bad. On the one hand … LGBTQ rep! I mean, that’s always good, right? On the other, there are not one but TWO really cliche “fell in love with a best friend I can never be with” scenarios, which was super disappointing. And it was less LGBTQ and more … B. I’m pretty sure everyone non-heteronormative was bi, and there were a few of them. In a lot of books I read, any LGBT characters become almost token. There’s the token black guy and the token gay. But they were normal here. There was no big muss or fuss made. Dare I say they were actually, *gasp*, people? Almost like they were human, just like the heteronormative characters. Imagine that.

- There is such a delicious creep factor pervasive throughout the book. There’s secrets and lies and treachery and all the best shady things. In fact, they’re so pro at throwing shade that they have a whole world of it called the Gray. The mystery rolled out slowly, and we discovered Four Pines along with Violet, the newcomer to the town, which I thought really heightened the level of suspense. Because obviously, something is going on in the town. Obviously. I mean, the dead bodies are sort of a big giveaway, but that aside, there’s a lot of shady things going on.

- The magic in this world is so. frigging. interesting. I actually looked forward to finding out what everyone’s power was. The only people with magic are the four founding families: the Hawthornes, Sullivans, Carlisles, and Saunders. Or, as they’re called, the branches, daggers, stones, and bones. Which should give you a big hint about what their family powers are. I won’t mention them here, because half the fun is discovering them.

- I was so conflicted about these characters, because I both loved and hated them. Which I guess is realistic, but it sure made it hard to read them at times. There were plenty of times during the book where I had to stop and go, "Wait, what?" I just couldn't follow a character's logic or why they decided to do XYZ. It felt like they flip-flopped, and I just couldn't keep up with them. What I did love, though, was that all these characters have been through some stuff. They’re tough. They’re resilient. They refuse to give in and let their grief and hardships pull them under. The way they constantly rebounded was amazing.

Sticking Points:

- This book employs two of my least favorite YA tropes: all adults are evil and the fact that 90% of the character conflicts could have been solved if they just used their heads. Listen. I’m an adult. Mostly. I also might be slightly evil. But even I draw the line waaaaay before any of the adults in this book. There wasn’t a single redeeming adult among them, as far as I’m concerned, which I hate as a trope. It’s not necessary to scapegoat all the adults in order to make kids these bad-ass heroes, and it really bugs me when books do this. Also, I could forgive the lack of communication if these kids were younger, but they’re not. They’re all, what, 16 or 17. They’ve all grown up together. But instead of actually opening their word-holes, they all do this weird dance around each other where they assume the worst. And when someone is about to talk, they get shut down, which is even more frustrating. By the end, when people do actually start talking, it feels forced and unearned and downright confusing, because I wasn’t sure why these conversations were happening. I mean, other than the fact that it was the end of the book, of course.

- I just read almost 400 pages, and I’m still not sure what’s going on here … I mean, I know this is just book one and another book is planned, but after all this time, I was expecting to have some idea of what the Beast is. And I don’t. For a book that’s all about the Beast and the Gray, they actually came into play very little and almost no explanation is really given for either.

- This book takes place over the course of a month, and I’m not buying that all these kids were able to become BFF with Violet in that time. I grew up in a small town. I know the sort of bonds (and grudges) you can form over 17 years of knowing someone, plus adding in the complexities of family histories and rivalries, etc. I also know how cliquey it can be and how hard newcomers have it to fit in sometimes. But then Violet shows up, and before too long, people are spilling their guts to her and trusting her with secrets they don’t talk about often, and I was confused. Especially considering that all the main characters are super secretive people who don’t feel like they can trust others just in general. Yet, they all basically immediately trust Violet for no reason.