I was a bit nervous at first to read The Devouring Gray, because I'm too much of a wuss to watch Stranger Things. Perhaps because horror/creepy fiction isn't my go-to genre, The Devouring Gray reminded me a lot of Tessa Gratton's Strange Grace. Small town, tangled love triangles, and a monster on the loose.
Four founding families work to protect Four Paths from the aforementioned monster. Each family has their own type of magic. Powers are inherited and family members can have different magnitudes of power after completing their ritual. To not give too much away, Violet Saunders moves back to Four Paths after the loss of her sister. Four Paths is spooky and Violet gets caught up in the family rivalries.
My biggest critique was that while the romance pacing was slow burn, the friendships/trusting of characters happened a little too fast.
Overall, I thought The Devouring Gray was entertaining! The main characters - Violet, Harper, Justin, and Isaac - all had distinct personalities and there is lots of queer rep! Some parts were *very* creepy but not nightmare-inducing.
3.5 stars. I received an ARC for review from NetGalley.

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.

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.