Book: The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman
Read From: 28th July - 4th August
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn't have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in woodland. The fact she's descended from one of the town's founder's doesn't help much either - her new neighbours treat her with distant respect and fear. When she meets Justin, May, Harper and Isaac - all children of founder families - she sees the otherworldly destruction and wonders if the townsfolk have the right to be afraid. When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?
I'll admit, it took me a while to get into this one properly. Initially I felt like this book was doing a bit too much to be like Stranger Things. However, when I properly got into the book at around the 100 page mark, I definitely became a lot more invested and it was clear that Herman made the concept her own by creating such a fascinating magic system! I love small town drama and I love family drama - The Devouring Gray was a combination of both! Add in some magic and you have an extremely gripping read.
I desperately wanted to love these characters but I just couldn't! It's not even that I disliked them either - I've just found that after finishing the book they were pretty forgettable to me and whilst I enjoyed this book, it's not one that will stick with me for that very reason. I think when you find yourself rooting for characters it really enhances the reading experience and sadly, as much as I enjoyed this book whilst I was reading it, my impartiality towards the Four Paths gang led this book to be middle of the road for me.
I would definitely recommend this if the concept sounds interesting to you though, it was a super fun and addicting book! Unfortunately it's not one that will stay with me but I am keen to read the sequel regardless and see how things pan out - I just probably won't get to it for a while because I'm not completely invested.