lunaread 's review for:

The Devouring Gray by C.L. Herman

4.0

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4.25 stars

branches and stones, daggers and bones

things that made up The Devouring Gray: whimsical small town, dangerous magical beast, rival families and disaster bisexuals trying their best. and i enjoyed the heck out of it! i was in a terrible reading slump and it took me forever to read something with my eyeballs but i was intrigued throughout the Devouring Gray. it's not groundbreaking but it did what it had to do and gave the audience what they needed and ain't that everything you could have ever asked from a book.

The Devouring Gray is very effective in creating a creepy undercurrent that runs throughout the story. it's in the aesthetics of the building, the descriptions of places and just the weird way the town operates. it's super disorientating especially when we spend quite a lot of time with Violet—a descendant from a founder family who arrived to Four Path after the tragic death of her sister. Violet has never been super close with her mother and she knows very little of the secrets and dynamic that runs the town prior to being there. readers know from very early on that something is wrong with the town and the intrigue of what exactly is wrong has me hooked!

there're family secrets, secrets between rival families and even more secrets! i think it's what you would have wanted from a book set in a small town and *thumbs up*

i read All of US Villains before The Devouring Gray and i can definitely see the influence but the elements that felt familiar are ones that i loved so who am i to complain? but i will still complain about how there isn't a Alistair Lowe in The Devouring Gray. i'm not overly attached to any single character and i felt like that's what missing from this story. i wanna read more about a certain character but seems like the next one will be their book and not this one so my eyes are opened!!

don't get me wrong, i still like the characters: Violet, Justin, Harper, Isaac and May are all characters with a lot of potential and i'm interested in seeing where they are heading in the sequel.

also plus points for strong friendships in this story even though they all wanna murder each other at some point!!

onto the romance:

Spoiler

I was worried!! so worried the two couples will end up together by the end of this book and im so glad they didn't lol because this book is not super heavy on the romantic development and it would not be satisfying if they get together so soon.

also isaac's crush on justin?? saw that coming but also i didn't expect the author to go down that road?? but im glad it did???? i am so excited to find out how will the relationship between this two heal and whether they can be 'just friends' again. but isaac is so right he has to learn to put himself first you go!!

random thoughts: are Juniper and Augusta examples of girlbossing a bit too close to the sun???? violet spent so much time having black outs in this story lol im curious what will justin's role be in the next book because is he really powerless?? a part of me still couldn't believe that

Overall i had a super enjoyable reading experience and it reminded me of how reading is fun!! it should be fun!!!