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.

The Devouring Gray is all sorts of wonderful creepiness. Imagine moving into a new town where everybody grew up with each other and knew each other since they were babies. Then imagine that this town is populated by families who have powers and are treated as superior to other all the other families. Oh, and there's a monster in the town, and people are dying.

There are mysteries to be solved in this town. Slowly, everything is revealed. Almost. The remaining mystery will be left for the second book in this series.

The Devouring Gray is just as much about the creepy town as it is about friendships. And secrets that can hurt friendships. One of the things that is great about this book is how the characters grow; how they own up to their past failures and decide to be brave so they can move forward. Another thing I liked about the characters is that they had a complexity to them. Nobody is just one thing, and this book has characters that have some goodness to them, yet at the same time have some darkness to them.

I enjoyed this book. The descriptions are wonderful. The setting is creepy, and the characters are well done. Even though the book's setting is a small town, there is still diversity in the cast. I hope to read the second book in this series when it comes out as well.

Ah, creepy towns with hidden secrets, whee! Those are fun. Makes you happy for your own hometown, no matter how lame it may be, right? And our girl Violet is about to realize how much she took her former hometown for granted.

The Things I Liked:

•The characters were pretty fabulous. Even the ones I side-eyed at the beginning (Harper a little, Justin definitely) I grew to love as the book went on. These kids have been through the damn ringer, and it shows. Even Violet, who grew up on the outside, has had too much trauma for one young life. But they're all really multifaceted, and all quite strong in their own ways.

•Their relationships, both with each other and their families, were key. I mean, you can tell that there's going to be some drama in here. It's like Riverdale, in the sense that everyone seems to be permanent fixtures, everyone knows everyone's business, and everyone is hanging onto drama and grudges and unrequited love from fifth grade. And it's awesome.

Plus, the families' stories are anything but tame. Their secrets have secrets, one more messed up than the next. And obviously this can mean hiding a ton of crap from the people who you're supposed to love. Oops? Sometimes these can be repaired, sometimes... well Idk there's a sequel so anything's possible.

•Atmosphere? On point. It absolutely has that creepy, secluded town vibe. You know, the place that if you saw it off the highway, your ass would keep driving no matter how low your gas tank is? Yeah. The author does a great job making it seem the right amount of eerie and the right amount of contemporary.

The Things I Didn't:

•Did this need to be a duology? Idk. Obviously the jury's still out, but I felt like sometimes things were moving too slow, and I wonder if it could have been condensed more? Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see when book two comes out. But I won't lie, it did feel longer than its supposed 368 pages (so say Goodreads and Amazon- I always double check if it seems off).

•This might be nitpicky, but... how did no one from the town ever tell the outside world that it was so jacked up in there? Like- people were allowed to leave (think Archie's mom, becoming a fancy Chicago lawyer!), so you mean to tell me that no one was talking about people being brutally murdered in a small upstate New York town? Sounds fake 🤷‍♀️.

•I am not taking this into account for rating purposes, but wow the formatting was hard to handle. Look, I get that they're unfinished and things won't be perfect, but there were no breaks whatsoever between POV changes, and in some cases no quotation marks when actual dialogue occurred and wow that is confusing. (I was told that physical ARCs do not have this same issue, so I assume that finished copies will be fine too, hence this just being a way for me to vent a little. And look, I try not to ever let it have an impact on my opinion of the book, but does it? Who knows!)

Bottom Line: It's a good story with an on-point atmosphere and characters I was invested in. But I feel it being a duology makes the pacing/plot suffer a bit as it seems a little watered down.

This book starts off great and only gets better. I liked the storyline line with the four families. The author really knows how yo keep the reader engaged. The story has beed told before, a monster is terrorizing a town and it up to these teens to stop it. What is new are the families’ backstories and the way you as a reader become engaged in thier lives.

If you are looking at that cover and thinking to yourself, “Wow that looks like a really creepy book!” you would be right. That cover really sets the tone for this book. Then as you start to read and encounter some wonderful atmospheric writing and you have an eerie and nightmarish read.

The story is mostly told through Violet, Justin and Harper’s points of view.

Violet as the newcomer has a very interesting perspective on what is happening in the town, and while she thinks it’s weird, she is skeptical of what she learns. But once she starts to manifest her powers, she becomes more invested in learning the truth behind all of the lies and deceptions.
Justin is an interesting character, he is the only one without powers which sets him apart from the others. His perspective is probably the most trustworthy, you could tell he wanted the best for the town as well as truly wanting to help Violet.
Harper was so angry and resentful most of the time, she was hard to trust, but she was perhaps the strongest of all of them.
There are two other teens that figure into the story, Issac and May. Issac is also very angry all the time, and his backstory was perhaps the saddest. May’s power was the most interesting, but she so wants to please her mother all the time that it was hard to like her.
The adults in the story were all despicable. Justin and May’s mom was maybe the least horrible, she at least thought that what she was doing was in the town’s best interest. Harper’s dad was just plain horrid and a really nasty piece of work. He didn’t care about using people, including his own daughters, as long as he got what he wanted. I didn’t blame any of the kids for rebelling against them. Violet’s mom and aunt were ok, but they also had their issues.

The one thing that I really liked was that the beast in the woods was never really described. We just learn of it through it’s actions and the emotions that it invokes in others. I thought that this was way creepier than a description could ever be.

The plot on the whole was interesting and kept you engaged to the end. I can’t say much about it as I don’t want to give any spoilers. There were some choppy areas at times, where the plot didn’t quite work, or the view point changed quickly from one character to another, but over all was very well done for a debut author. There are moments of stunning clarity and some nice turns of phrase. The questionable methods used by the founders to protect the town, will make for some interesting discussions by readers.

I really enjoyed this creepy story about a small town that is harboring a secret and the teens who are willing to risk their lives to save it.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the concept of the town and the different families. There were a lot of characters at the beginning and I had to make a flow chart of sorts so hoping the final book has family trees at the beginning. I am looking forward to the next book in this duology to see what happens with all these characters.

Actual rating 4.5 stars.

This book was like the perfect amalgamation of so many things.
The historical intrigue and adventure of The Raven Cycle. The pleasant weirdness of Stranger Things. The paranormal town teen angst of Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries. The atmosphere of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
It’s almost as if Stephen King wrote a YA novel.

The author has a unique prose that took a little getting used to, but once I did I was hooked. This felt like a very plot-driven story. And it was exciting.

I enjoyed the story a lot, but the last 30% of the book is what really blew me away. It left me breathless.

I was lucky enough to get an eARC to review, and upon finishing I immediately preordered it. And now I have to endure the agonizing wait for book 2. I can’t wait to see how the story concludes.

The Devouring Gray
By: Christine Lynn Herman
Publication Date: April 02, 2019

A thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in return for my honest review...

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. Justin Hawthorne's bloodline has protected Four Paths for generations 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 Violet 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.

My Thoughts:

A parallel-dimension prison for a horrific evil is linked to a small town’s founding families. The town goes beyond quirky into odd territory, especially in the way the children of the founders’ families are exalted. Violet learns she’s from one such family, as fellow descendants Justin, Harper, and Justin’s hostile, volatile best friend, Isaac—with lots of bad blood between them—each try to woo her to their side. Justin believes Violet could be key to protecting the town from the Beast imprisoned in the Gray; Harper doesn’t want to see Violet betrayed by Justin like she was. Each of the four families has magical gifts to protect the townspeople from the Beast, now killing at greater frequency. Epic, Dark, and riveting!! Storyline, plot and characters will have you at the edge of your seat! Oh and that ending!!!!

The best way I could describe The Devouring Gray is that it's a CW show, but as a book. The tone was dark and broody with an air of mystery. The characters were all attractive with a complicated history and the adults were just as complicated as mysterious. Violet's introduction to the small town of Four Paths was interesting as it was a town that depended on four magical families to protect them from a Beast that could drag them to an alternate dimension and kill/eat them. I did think that Violet, who had never heard of Four Paths or anything related to it, accepted the magical town and her role too easily. At the end of the day, it was a decent read for me that didn't dig deeper.

Violet is still reeling from her sister's death when her mother drags them back to her hometown of Four Paths. It's quaint: tiny, remote, heavily forested, has no cemetery. Turns out, Violet is descended from one of Four Path's founders, which means she's got powers, responsibilities, and a tendency to slip into a nightmarish parallel dimension haunted by a monster that's been murdering Four Paths citizens for generations. The other descendants in her class immediately befriend her, but they all have ulterior motives. When the chips are down, though, damaged Isaac, angry Harper, and golden boy Justin are her best bet to survive Four Paths. Nice and creepy.

After the death of her sister, Violet Saunders and her mother move back to Four Paths, her mom's hometown, in order to be with her aunt. She doesn't know anything about this small town in upper New York, and the locals aren't very welcoming to newcomers. However, it turns out that her mom might know much more about the town and its dark secrets than she lets on.

Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley sent me a review copy of this, which I requested after reading the tag line: "Fans of The Raven Boys and Stranger Things rejoice. This is your new obsession." Which is actually the best description for this book. At first, I thought that this was going to be set in a different world (admittedly, didn't read the summary before I requested it), it's definitely more Stranger Things-esque. Small town plagued by a monster trapped in another world.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the multiple narrators. We get points of view from Violet, Justin, and Harper, which helps in building this complex world that Herman created. And it's kind of creepy! We never really get a concrete description of the Beast itself, but what it can do adds an element of darkness throughout the entire novel.In addition to the creepiness of the Gray, Herman's book also looks at power and the different ways people wield it. Though the founders are using their powers to protect the town, their methods become questionable at times. But is it okay because they're doing it for a good cause? You know the mark of a good book when you're still thinking about it when you're finished.

The only ding that I would give this book is that there is a lot of information given to you at the beginning, which can make the story a bit difficult to follow. But as you get more into the characters and each of their struggles, the world starts becoming clear. And there's bi rep in this book! Like, lots of bi rep. Which is really cool! 

I hope there's going to be a sequel because that ending left me wanting more.

The Devouring Gray was a book that looked interesting from the moment I found out about it. Though it wasn't high on my tbr list I knew I'd eventually want to read it. Having finished the book now, I'm sad to state that I did not like this book all that much. The Devouring Gray is character driven and the characters are well rounded but the plot is lacking. Half way through the book and nothing had happened. I couldn't justify continuing the book when I have so many books I need to read for both my personal life and my job. Hopefully, I'll come back to the book and re-read it with more clarity and understanding of the story at hand.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing the digital ARC of this book.

The premise of this fantasy YA is everything I love. Raven Boys? Yes. Stranger Things? Absolutely. However, these big hyped comparing newly released books to highly successful books and movies tends to lead to disappointment. Truth be told this had more of a Vampure Diaries feel to it than either of the aforementioned. The strange town, the long history of founding families, the unexplainable events all tied to the founding families....

Unfortunately, I wasn’t captivated by the characters, the story line or the writing. The first half of the book was written as a prequel, with major info-dumping of exposition and backstory which I found to be frustrating and boring. There wasn’t a moment where any of the characters “saved the cat” which is rather ironic considering a scene in the novel with the family cat. While the novel did pick up pace in the second half and allowed me, the reader, to experience the story as it unfolded alongside the characters, it was too late to fully redeem itself for me.

Another odd feature of this book was the nonexistent transitions from one character’s close third person to the next. I found myself having to backtrack most times the author changed POV to figure out what was happening.

With all that said, it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, and the ideas were interesting and suspenseful. I think it just needs a bit of cleaning up the scraggly parts to invest the reader from the start. I don’t foresee myself seeking out the next book in this series.

I devoured The Devouring Gray, not to be that person. This book was non-stop fantastic. I loved the characters, plot, and the way the book flowed. Herman did a great job and spinning the words into a great story.

The Devouring Gray is a book about a giant blob/dimension named Gray that devours people. Some teenagers who are descendants of the original settlers of the town end up stopping it (temporarily). The end of book 1.

This book isn't really good or bad; it just is. It tells the story of four teenagers and their families in the small town of Four Paths and how they deal with the giant magical dimension that eats people. Except like, halfway through the story, that plotline entirely disappears and we just get stuck dealing with all of the Drama and the Intrigue that surrounds the families. Which, to be fair, is well written, but still. The book kind of reminds me of if The Breakfast Club meets Practical Magical meets The Raven Boys.

I think my other issue with the book besides the disappearing plotlines is the lack of sympathetic characters. The book does a decent job of switching POVs and giving us a look into everyone's head, but the trade off there is that all of the characters just end up being horrible people and I just honestly didn't give two shits about any of them.

One thing that the book does do well is that is inclusive to LGBTQ characters. I think half of the main group of characters are either bisexual or homosexual. So hats off to that.

Don't get me wrong, The Devouring Gray is a well-written book. It just wasn't the book for me.

Very well written can be enjoyed by YA and adult fantasy and thriller readers. Fast paced, each of the characters has their own great voice, very original and different from anything I've read before. I am very excited to see what happens in book 2! This will be an easy hand sell.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing style in and of itself was enchanting and dark, but had a flow to it that lulled me into the story and wouldn't let me go. Kind of like the monster in the Grey. I loved the various characters and powers that each distinct family had - it gave me a Grishaverse kind of vibe with distinct powers for people, but the set up was much different. Another thing I loved was the alternating POVs that she uses, allowing the reader to view into each character's mind and agonize over every thought. Overall, I really loved this book. I thought it was a heart racing joy ride of pain and I will never forgive Herman for that ending. Also, can we get book 2 now please? Thanks.

I absolutely LOVED this novel! It is definitely perfect for fans of the Raven Cycle and really thrillers/horror in general. The writing style was very engaging and kept me wanting more the entire time.

I was so excited to read this book, partly because of the description, partly because of the cover, and partly because it was pitched as The Raven Boys meets Stranger Things. Although I had a few problems with some of the pacing of the book, overall I really enjoyed reading this!

The Devouring Gray follows the story of Violet, who has to move away from her home and to her mother's hometown after the death of her sister Rosie. Little did Violet know that the town of Four Points harbours many secrets, from menacing forests to a Beast that seems to be out for blood. Violet soon finds out that she is a descendant of one of the original four founding families, who are still revered to this day, and now needs to help the other found families protect the town from the bloodthirsty Gray and Beast.

I initially as very drawn into the writing style of this book. It was extremely atmospheric and it really made me feel like I was in the small town, surrounded by trees and forests. I also really enjoyed how the mystery in this book played out. We were given hints and information little by little and, as a reader, you really related to Violet, who knew nothing about the town and the inner workings of the Gray. I also enjoyed learning about each family, their rituals, their powers, and each of the kids we followed throughout the book. The one issue I had with the storytelling was the amount of info dumps that were present, especially at the beginning of the story.

I really enjoyed the way each character was written. Every character in this book was written with flaws, and no one was the perfect person. It was really refreshing to read! In this book, we follow three perspectives: Violet, Harper and Justin. Justin is the character I think grew the most in this book, and was also the character who had the most mystery surrounding him. I am glad he came into his own by the end and was able to stand up for himself and those he loves. Harper was really interesting as well, but was the POV character I felt like I got to know the least. I really also wished I could have seen more from Isaac and May, as they both seem like really complex people, and I feel like I barely got to know them. Although I liked the direction most of the romantic relationships went in this book, I wasn't super excited about how some went (looking at the reveal at the end that was supposed to be a "twist" and "shocking")

Overall this was a great book, and I am interested to see where this series goes.

When I saw the cover of this novel, I wanted to read it without even seeing the description.  Comp titles like The Raven Cycle and Stranger Things are the equivalent of leaving a trail of chocolate to lure me in.

What a dark, atmospheric story this is, with spine-tingling moments, complex, flawed, fully-realized characters, and layered secrets intermingled with lies.  Small towns always hold the most secrets and lies.  Occasionally when I read, I'm skimming the pages and getting the gist of the story.  With this book, I was completely absorbed from page one, and read every single captivating word.

These characters - oof.  Complicated relationships, a diverse cast, and a few different POVs.  All of them are compelling, but with a tragic, mysterious past, Isaac is the character that most intrigued me, and it looks like more about his past will be revealed in the next book.

The Devouring Gray is an enticing blend of YA fantasy and horror.  It's not a fast-paced story, but more of a slow burn - and what a tantalizing burn it is, with all those secrets and lies slowly coming to light.  The second book in this duology will be on my wishlist for next year.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.