Rating: ★★★★★ / 5
Plot:
The teenagers of Four Paths must save their home, in the sequel to hit fantasy The Devouring Gray. For fans of Stranger Things, Riverdale and The Raven Cycle.
Though the Beast is seemingly subdued for now, a new threat looms in Four Paths: a corruption seeping from the Gray into the forest. And with the other Founders preoccupied by their tangled alliances and fraying relationships, only May Hawthorne seems to realize the danger. But saving the town she loves means seeking aid from the person her family despises most--her and Justin's father.
May's father isn't the only newcomer in town--Isaac Sullivan's older brother has also returned, seeking forgiveness for the role he played in Isaac's troubled past. But Isaac isn't ready to let go of his family's history, especially when that history might hold the key that he and Violet Saunders need to destroy the Gray and the monster within it.
Harper Carlisle isn't ready to forgive, either. Two devastating betrayals have left her isolated from her family and uncertain who to trust. As the corruption becomes impossible to ignore, Harper must learn to control her newfound powers in order to protect Four Paths. But the only people who can help her do that are the ones who have hurt her the most.
With the veil between the Gray and the town growing ever thinner, all of the Founder descendants must put their grievances with one another aside to stop the corruption and kill the Beast once and for all.
But maybe the monster they truly need to slay has never been the Beast...
Review:
The Devouring Gray was one of my favourite debuts in a long, long time and slowly but surely established its place not only as one of my favourite books of 2019, but as one of my favourite books of all time. I think this serves to give you an idea of just how much I was anticipating the conclusion to this duology and how unreasonably high my expectations for it were. Needless to say, when the lovely folk over at Titan Books offered me an early copy in exchange for an honest review, I was absolutely delighted. It was an even more pleasant surprise when the more I dived into this wonder of a book, the more it exceeded the aforementioned expectations.
At its core, this duology is very much the story of a a gang of misfits coming together to defeat a common evil; each of them is broken and scarred and trying to piece themselves back together in a world that is trying not only to break them, but to shatter everything around them while at it. They're all, each and every single one of them, running through it all - running from things, running towards things, moving blindly and on shaking legs in search of answers and peace of mind.
This sequel did everything I wanted to do. Firstly, it took this fascinating plot that was built in the first book, but instead of simply building on top of it (which it did superbly), Christine took that and turned it upside down. I never knew what to expect next, where any answers or a resolution would come from, but whenever another piece of the puzzle would be discovered it'd blow my mind how organically it fit into the story and how much sense it made in retrospect.
Thematically, as well as in terms of tone, this book did something that always sets YA (and all books, for that matter) apart for me: it explored countless sensitive topics with tenderness and care, with a kind of almost reverence. There is an undeniable darkness to this story, both in terms of narrative and themes, but there is also an everpresent underlying element of hope. No matter how much farther into the dark you're heading, Christine offers you a light at the end of the tunnel and holds your hand as you're walking through this the darkness.
The characters are hands down what made the first book so special for me from the very beginning. It was a fabulous choice on the author's part to hold some of their perspectives for this book. I found myself enjoying all of the POVs in this so much in so many different ways. Part of it is because all the narrative voices were so different that I never felt lost or confused or unaware of who was talking. Part of it was because all of them are on such different journeys despite being united by this common goal that it was like seeing different facets of my personality coming to life. It felt deeply personal in a way that got a physical reaction for me and I am forever in awe at how well crafted this cast of characters is.
This story feels both like a punch to the gut and a tender embrace in a way that I cannot truly explain, but deeply appreciate.
If you want a wild, fun paranormal story with a lot of depth behind it, then I cannot recommend this highly enough. I shall, for the sake of brevity, give you a previous blog post that shows you a bit of my initial excitement for THE DEVOURING GRAY (as well as reasons why you should pick it up, hopefully!)
Aaand that's that for me today.
Until next time ...
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