Violet Saunders has been whisked away to her mother's small hometown after a tragic event. At first, Violet considers Four Paths is just like any other small, sleepy town. She soon discovers that there are mysteries, lies, and secrets that are being hidden and it involves her family's history with the town.
I thought this was a really great start to this series. It kind of threw you right into the town and the founders, but I was able to catch up. I couldn't tell how it would end and I'm excited to read the next one.

I wanted to like it, but I kept getting frustrated with both the dialogue and the “tell not show” writing. I would recommend this to fans of The Raven Cycle.

This book is well-plotted, and a very compelling read! Although the premise feels familiar, it has great world-building elements that I think many young adult readers will be drawn into. While I can see a thematic comparison to Stranger Things and The Raven Cycle, those stories feel more literary and character-driven to me, whereas this book has the appeal of a fast-paced horror thriller. I think it will be a hit with young adult readers who love the supernatural, and it would make for a great TV drama in the style of The Vampire Diaries.

The Devouring Gray was a great horror read, and I will be looking for the follow up. We follow the lives of a few of Four Path's residents as newcomer Violet comes to town. She meets Justin, Harper, Issac, and May and discovers they are all part of the founding families that keep the town safe from the Gray. It is a shadow dimension that kills all that enter it. Violet must figure out where she stands with this new knowledge, and well as where she stands with her new friends.

It was a fun, and it will be a long wait until the new installment. It will recommend this book to my students.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

This story will appeal to both YA and adult readers. Filled with magic, confusion, an alternate world, the story grabs you right from the beginning. As the young people work out their issues with the adults around them, they realize they must work together to overcome “the gray”.

I really loved this book. All of the characters acted in manners that were believable, even when their actions were not in their best interest. Although the reader is aware of each character's intents and emotions, the author has done an excellent job of keeping that information from leaking to the characters, which creates a fine mess. Very highly recommended!

Returning to a town that your mother doesn't remember? What secrets of the founders does she not remember also? Who should Violet trust? Harper? Isaac? Justin? They each find their strength to fight The Grey and try to return the town to the folks living in it.

OH WOW. THIS IS SUCH A SOUL BOOK FOR ME.

I loved this creepy, atmospheric, powerful book so so much. I didn't zip through it like I thought I would, but I took my time to devour it (HAHA DEVOUR, SO CLEVER!) and I think I loved it more because of that.

The Founding Families aspect of the storyline was very interesting to me. I wanted to simultaneously read about the past family members while continuing with the characters in the present. Ever since I was little I always wanted my family to have some kind of crazy history dating back years and years, some intriguing story of how we came to settle in a certain place. Very little history is known in my family so perhaps I can still discover an awesome story, but maybe one quite different than the one in THE DEVOURING GRAY. I just can't imagine how the author was able to come up with all the lore surrounding the families, it was all so perfect! I can't stop thinking about it days after finishing the book.

I also love the dynamic between the four main characters: Violet, Justin, Isaac, and Harper. The relationships of course changed from the beginning of the story to the end and I can't wait to see how they grow and differ in the next installment. Also I have become quite involved with Isaac so friendly reminder: HANDS OFF. =]

I can't recommend this book enough. All the hype you are hearing is well deserved! I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy April 2nd, 2019!

I'm not sure why I had such a hard time finishing THE DEVOURING GRAY. On the surface it's everything I love, including small town intrigue, magical powers, romantic tension, and feline familiars. The character development is solid, and the world-building is well-rounded. However, despite the really unique premise, well-drawn out characters, and creepy mystery, I had a difficult time making it through this ARC. It's definitely the perfect book for people who love urban fantasy. I just wish it had done a better job of sweeping me away.

For months, I've heard about the Devouring Gray. The synopsis stuck out to me like a hitchhiker's thumb and I was eager to pick it up! Imagine my surprise when my request for the ARC was approved. This story was an absolute delight to read. I was engrossed from beginning to end. Violet, Justin, Issac, and Harper are main characters. The eerily little town of Four Paths is a main character as well. Four Paths is a place haunted by a dark past, which put them in the predicament everyone is in now. Centuries ago, four founders trapped a creature in the forests surrounding the town. A beast known as the Beast. Tread carefully in the forest or the Beast will lure you into the Devouring Gray, so your last breath can be there.

Violet, Issac, Justin, and Harper are descendants of the Founders. Each in a family that plays significant roles in protecting Four Paths and its citizens from the Beast's monstrous hunger. But just because their families go way back doesn't mean they're all friends.

Violet is clueless when she arrives in Four Paths, the historical stomping ground of her family.
Harper (disability rep for missing an arm) is on a path for vengeance.
Justin is a liar.
Issac is spiraling.

The tale is atmospheric, dark, and downright delicious. There's killings, betrayals, lies, witchy rituals, broken friendships that cut like glass, and family trees rotting from the inside out.

I would highly recommend this book!

This fantasy explores issues of power (both our own and that we wield over others), family secrets and when it’s safe to choose to trust. The teen characters struggle with shifting alliances as they try to do their part to get the truth about - and conquer- a threat to their town. The story moves at a nice pace, with a few surprising twists. The complex relationships among the characters are intriguing. The epilogue, though understandable, for me is frustrating and detracts from the story. Still an enjoyable read.

Absolutely loved this story! Great world building and dynamic characters. Looking forward to the next book!

The Founding Families are a powerful group of people who are charged with keeping the town safe. However, secrets have been unearthed that make the powers of the families come into question. How did they get their powers and why? And how are they really using them?

I cannot get this story out of my head! There are people with powers, a dangerous and intense enemy, children who are almost treated as gods, and betrayals that are unparalleled.

This story is a fast read because you get sucked in so easily. The author wastes no time getting to the action and quickly laying a short backstory. However, the author also draws out a fuller backstory to create suspense and slowly reveals the “why” behind the characters’ actions. This leads to a strong desire to continue on with the story to see what will happen next and how the story will play out.

I cannot wait until the next story comes out to continue this journey with the Founding Families and the dreaded Beast.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.

If you read one book in 2019, it should be this one. This book is amazing! I’m not a fantasy reader, but I was HOOKED by the first page. This book is dark, it’s magical, and the characters are all amazingly flawed. I loved that you got to see things from multiple perspectives, and got to get deeper into each character’s mind. This book gets a solid five stars.

Seriously, this book grabs you hard. I sat down to read, and when I glanced at the clock it was two hours later and I had ready half of the book. I’m not even embarrassed at how gushy I am for this book. I need this book to be made into a movie, and I need a sequel. In any order.

#TheDevouringGray #NetGalley #Edelweiss
What a dark and creepy book! I loved it. Thank you to the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this book. It is a odd and dense book about for teens who must deal with their ancestors past. The characters are believable and the story is well plotted. I foresee reading another book if the author chooses to give us what we wish at the end. Wonderful job!

This isn't my usual sort of book to read--too melodramatic. However, the creepy atmosphere was a huge reason I picked it up. I was like watching an excellent psychological thriller, one that chills you while making you think throughout. The characters are messy, but they're REAL. They make mistakes as people truly would and have you screaming at them to go the other way. But that's the reason why you love them. Herman has done an amazing job of creating a cast that is not only flawed but likable and a setting that is so developed, it stands as its own character.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of The Devouring Gray (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very cool, original book! The four teenage decedents of the town's founders are well developed and believable. I understood each one and sympathized with their very real emotions. I have never read anything quite like this. Some of the book depicted truly awful historic events speckling the characters' pasts, adding to the extreme interest already kindled. (I do hope this is just the beginning...and there is at least one sequel. The last scene gives me hope!) Thank you to NetGalley and Christine-Lynn Herman for the ARC.

This looked interesting to me because it was blurbed as being for fans of Stranger Things. After reading it it is more like a cross between Parker's Beware the Wild and Stiefvater's Raven Boys books. Four Paths is a town with a capital H History. The original founders bound some creature in another dimension (or something, I don't remember if it expressly said where the other place was) called the Gray. The four founding families each received a magical gift to help contain the menace of the Beast. All four families should work together, but hey, 100 plus years changes people's attitudes. The Hawthornes run things, the Sullivans have been wiped out except for one remaining scion, the Carlisles have grown weak in their powers, and the Saunders are represented by one old dementia stricken woman. Until, dun, dun, dun...our heroine Violet Saunders is brought to town by her mother Juniper who escaped years ago.
Justin (I'm so sad because I don't have a fancy power) Hawthorne is barred by his mom town sheriff Augusta (I'm pretty evil but I mean well) Hawthorne from revealing anything to Violet because she doesn't know the town's history of fighting the Beast. Violet starts having weird experiences, winds up in the Gray, gets some powers, and starts figuring things out. She is befriended by Harper (I used to have some power but now everyone hates me because I don't and lost an arm) Carlisle who is still mad at Justin because what-a-hottie-why-didn't-he-stick-up-for-me. Isaac (isn't it totes obvious I'm gay even though I don't say it) Sullivan has trouble controlling his temper and gets in to bad situations because of it. Did I mention the super important equinox is coming up when the Beast will be at his strongest and these people who totally despise each other because of personal history must come together as a plucky band of misfits and save the day? Yeah, I've never read anything like that before.
It is a story with interesting enough pieces that just didn't flow very well and lots of kids doing really stupid things that real kids wouldn't do. There were a couple of plot twists that were intriguing but some other stuff that was just drawn out for way too long before the big reveal. I will still order this for the library because I know the students here will like the book, it is just not very good when compared to Raven Boys that does the tangled love web among elite friends with powers much better.

The Devouring Gray was honestly such a new and interesting read. It had all the classic themes that we have come to know and love and then it gave them such a fantastic twist that I was completely blown away.

Right off the bat, I knew that I had to get my hands on this book. Small town, monster in the woods, and people with powers? It’s all the things I love in one. Starting this book off, I had a feeling that I was going to like Violet, but I didn’t think just how much I would love her. She’s the new girl in school and she took it all in with such grace and power. Like it almost felt like nothing could faze her. She had gone through so much already before coming to Four Paths that family secrets and so much more almost seemed like a cake walk.

This book really does focus on the characters just as much as it does on the plot. Harper was so perfectly angry at what had been done to her and I honestly can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in the second book. The same goes for Isaac. As soon as that boy was introduced, let me just say he was my favorite. I felt like I learned just enough about the founding families to know what was happening and why this town was they was it was, but still left me wanting so much more.

Herman really did a fantastic job with this book and the writing was phenomenal. She really knew how to capture the reader's attention and keep it. I can’t wait to continue this series and see where the story takes these characters.

This book has fast pacing and an intiguing storyline. The intertwining stories of four teenagers from four different magical families is a great premise. I would have preferred a stand alone book instead of the start of a series however.