User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
**4.5-stars rounded up**After the events of The Devouring Gray, the Beast is seemingly back under control and May, Justin, Harper, Violet and Isaac, are left to recover and rebuild.
Even after all they have overcome, old anxieties remain and as the teens move forward, they find themselves continuing to flounder as the town at large feels hostile, especially for Justin.
Unfortunately, things are far from over. A mysterious corruption beings to seep from the Gray, infecting those citizens it comes into contact with.
The Founder's children seem to be immune, so again it is up to them to save the town of Four Paths. Honestly, they should start charging for their services.
May seems especially tuned in to the changes around her, as she continues working on her powers dealing with the Deck of Omens.
As her relationship with her mother, Augusta, remains tedious, she reaches out to her estranged father for guidance.
Obviously her mother is less than pleased when he arrives, thus deepening the hole May is already in with her.
Speaking of people returning to town, Isaac's older brother, Gabriel, makes a sudden appearance as well. Thus forcing the Sullivan boys to have it out once and for all.
As the Gray continues to destabilize and the corruption begins to get out of control, the town leaders have no choice. They must evacuate the town's citizens for their own safety.
The Founding Families remain, preparing themselves for the ultimate showdown.
This second book of
The Devouring Gray duology continues the themes of long buried secrets and heartbreaking deceptions.
The truth about the Gray and its early beginnings are revealed, as it flips everything you thought you knew on its head.
You may think the most dangerous thing in Four Paths is the Beast, or the Gray, but you're wrong!
Guys, I enjoyed this story so, so much! Once I started, I absolutely could not put it down.
While with the first book, I felt that a lot of the plot got bogged down in the details, I didn't feel that at all with this one.
The town of Four Paths has a complex history and there is a lot to learn in regards to the Founding families, their powers, the Gray and the Beast.
I think, for me, I let myself get too caught up with all the details in the first book and it ended up losing some of its fun.
With
The Deck of Omens I went in with that foundation and was just able to relax into the story.
I loved the relationships and how they grew and changed as the teens gained more knowledge about their own family histories. At this point, I am so attached to these characters, I can't believe it is over.
I am so satisfied with the conclusion. If it has to end, I am happy with this result.
The ultimate showdown was pure nail-biting fun, which is another strong selling point, it was fast-paced the WHOLE way through! There was never a lull in the action.
I am beyond happy that I continued on with this duology and send a very hearty thank you to the publisher, Disney Book Group, for providing with a copy to read and review.
It's so far one of my favorite reads of the year! Well done, Christine Lynn Herman!
Rating: really liked it
4 stars 💙
“Ah, Four Paths…always finding new ways to ruin our lives.” The founder kids find themselves facing a new challenge when a strange corruption begins to spread from the gray.
Each character is facing their own personal demons and when the corruption gets worse they need to find a way to work together to defeat it.
As expected there are plenty of town secrets and hidden information that leads to explaining how the corruption was formed and why.
I’d be lying if I said the explanation was entirely straightforward and that I’ll remember it in the future, because i doubt I will.
But while reading I found it made rough sense so I could roll with it. (view spoiler)
[ so the original four founders realised that their magic came from the forest and the beast and they were draining it. So they tried to give their powers back but one founder didn’t want to give his up so he killed the others and in turn caused this corruption that has been lingering for years. Taking sacrifices to keep itself going. (hide spoiler)] My main love for this duology are the characters - platonic or romantic. (view spoiler)
[ I just don’t know why we waited so long for Harper and Justin to sort themselves out and get together only for them to break up right at the end?? (hide spoiler)] “Family is a privilege, not a right.” ****************************
The Devouring Gray was great so I’ve ordered this one immediately. 💜
Rating: really liked it
Returning to Four Paths was a breath of fresh air; I really enjoyed the eery, atmospheric buildup that was provided in The Devouring Gray, which left me prepared to find out more regarding The Beast and Gray in The Deck of Omens. What started out as backstory in book one has bled into determining a plan to defeat the evil entity encompassing the founding family's beloved home, while also dealing with personal struggles pertaining to each character individually. This sequel was again, very atmospheric, but also felt a bit more manic in the sense of everything coming to fruition, rather than the slow building suspense of the first book. A wonderful conclusion to the story, and I look forward to reading the author's future endeavors.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
TW: lots of body horror; possession; domestic violence
Even though I could not find a summary online of all the details of book one before reading this second book, I got back into the world quickly. This has a lot of elements that I enjoy: spooky corrupted forest, almost the entire cast of characters being disaster bisexuals, tarot cards, and some necromancy. While there are some definite plot holes in the world building and how the magic works, I still overall enjoyed this series and the atmosphere. I fly through these books. Some of the ending was rushed, but I really liked how a few plot points in particular were resolved.
Rating: really liked it
excuse me but why is this not in my gay hands
Rating: really liked it
I am incredibly satisfied by this conclusion!!!
Rating: really liked it
[12/27/19] - COVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! TITTTTTLEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
----------------
I just finished the Devouring Gray. I swear, this book cannot come soon enough!
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Rating: really liked it
Can we please normalize killing off main characters (when there are more)?
I just want some death that will actually affect me.
Everybody can't survive all the time.
Just kill them.
Not these two, tho.
art by
@LesyaBlackBird.
Rating: really liked it
I LOVE ISAAC SULLIVAN AND VIOLET SAUNDERS!!!
I went into this still struggling with the lingering effects of a reading slump, so the first 100 pages were quite an effort for me. I felt
The Deck of Omens took a little while to develop, but once I was securely halfway, I streamed through this book. And I'm so glad about that, because I loved
The Devouring Gray, and if I hadn't enjoyed the sequel, I would have been devastated.
Once again, Christine Lynn Herman displays her talent at writing ensemble casts and making each character distinct with motivations, desires and opinions that differ for each. I think perhaps in this book there was a bit more
telling what characters thought and felt and wanted rather than
showing, but I can't recall whether that was also present in the first book or not. Nevertheless, we get to see a lot more of Isaac Sullivan and May Hawthorne this time around, and I especially loved the development of romance between Isaac and Violet. I love them, they're so cute.
I did feel this book verged slightly more into horror that the previous book did. (I know Rory Power was involved somewhat as she's in the acknowledgements, and there were definitely descriptions of nature horror that felt like they were from Rory's book
Wilder Girls.) I wasn't overly grossed out, but I still squirmed at the thought of roots worming under skin and weird hand-shaped flowers and people trapped in trees. The conflict in this plot primarily centres around a corruption of the woods which leads to a sickness, and considering how
The Deck of Omens is currently being released during a worldwide pandemic, this may or may not affect whether some readers want to read it right now versus later when everything is back to normal.
The conclusion of the duology's narrative was satisfying and felt appropriate. I really respected the resolution of Harper's character arc especially, as it did feel realistic and suited her character - looking forward to the future and not letting things hold her back, no matter how much she loves them.
I still hope in the future they'll be reunited. The epilogue also gave me Feels with a capital F; I loved the mythical vibes it has.
Also I'm just here shipping Augusta and Juniper lmao, gay moms let's go!!
With a complete duology now under her belt, I'm extremely excited to see what Christine Lynn Herman has up next (I've been following her tweets about her upcoming project
The Drowning Summer and I am exciteeeed.) She's definitely one of my favourite debut authors from the last few years, and I can't wait to support her in the future.
> 4 starsa slightly edited version of this review will be up on my blog beyondabookshelf.co.uk for my stop on the deck of omens blog tour on may 7th!
thank you Titan Books for the review copy <3
Rating: really liked it
“Ah, Four Paths.” Violet sighed. “Always finding new ways to ruin our lives.”First off, I really enjoyed The Devouring Gray and absolutely loved the eerie atmosphere, and the depth to all the characters. So of course, I was super excited to dive back into Four Paths in The Deck of Omens. I really loved how much action was in this book and we actually got to see new perspectives from characters in the first book. I really enjoyed how there really wasn’t a slow burn to the action, it was definitely crazy from the beginning.
I think we learned a lot more about the characters and they have so much more depth to them, which really made me care for them all. I adored the cute romances that were a side part of this amazing plot line. I really enjoyed how the author didn’t make the romance this huge part of the storyline, it was just kind of there and had just the right amount of cuteness. Another thing I really enjoyed which I stated above are the new perspectives. I love Isaac and getting to read from his perspective was everything. We also did see some of the same perspectives from The Devouring Gray which I loved, I really adore Violet and I’m glad she still had a huge part in this book.
Another aspect that I really appreciated was that in this book we had more horror. We got to see way more of The Gray and the beast that lives inside. The corruption that is happening in Four Paths was vividly written and I squirmed while reading. I loved how this story came together and had so many plot lines that all came together and had such a satisfying ending. I am sad that my time in Four Paths is over, but I can’t wait for the author to write more incredible books!
Rating: really liked it
This is the second instalment in The Devouring Grey series.
The Beast was vanquished and peace descended, in the first book in the series, but now a new evil entity approaches. The founders should be focusing on this new threat lurking at their community's borders but instead the shifting alliances between each family take centre-stage. The founding children take on the roles of their parents and also discover their plans within the town's confines, and inside of each other's lives.
I did enjoy my time within this story but did also find myself, like some of the characters, eager to focus on the magical and supernatural elements this contained, rather than the seemingly trivial contemporary and dramatic ones that appeared alongside. The interpersonal relationships did not interest me and it also felt like some of my connection with these characters was somehow lost between the first and second book, which further prompted my interest to remain elsewhere.
This contained no unlikable elements, it merely did not go in the direction I had anticipated nor remained on where I was most personally intrigued.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
Heavy on the Cabeswater vibes. A good continuation and conclusion of everything set up in the first book.
Rating: really liked it
The writing in this is so pedestrian BUT MY SHIP SAILED SO DO I GIVE A FUCK? NO BITCH NO
Rating: really liked it
Comparing this series and The Raven Cycle was a more apt comparison than anyone realized: by the end, both series fell in the same "great potential, shoddy execution" pitfall, except TRC did, at least, the one thing I wanted it to do: delve deep into the characters.
I said this in one of my updates for the book but here it comes again: I had read 70% of this book and felt like I had read absolutely nothing, both character-wise and plot-wise. The plot was kickstarted a little at the end (more on this later), but the character development (as in, getting to know the characters better, not them ~changing for the better~, I don't care about that part all that much) I wanted never happened. Either the character development in the first book was better, or I just believed in its potential to develop later, because I remember being a lot more invested in them in the first book.
I definitely believed that the adults would get a little more "screentime" the second time around, but Augusta and Juniper were firmly benched (and yet we're supposed to care when they (view spoiler)
[start dating again officially (hide spoiler)] by the end), and Harper's dad, despite being a founder and a pretty important part of the first book, is completely absent here. Are we supposed to believe that he wasn't involved with running the town AT ALL and just left Augusta and Juniper make all the decisions? Truth be told, they didn't make all that many decisions at all because it's the kids running the show, but you get my point.
As for the kids, there was SO MUCH we didn't get. Harper learning the truth about her powers and having to leave her family home wasn't explored at all, and don't even get me started on the laughably vague "lessons to control her powers" she was supposed to be having with Augusta and Juniper, of which we're shown ONE lesson, that never amounted to anything anyway because she learned to control them by herself. More emphasis was given in That One Passionate Make Out Scene in the Lake With Justin than anything else regarding Harper.
Of course, poor Justin was underdeveloped in the first book to begin with, and that didn't change at all here. His fall from grace in the eyes of the townspeople, when he went from being the town's Golden Boy to basically being a pariah, or his relationship with his mother and sister when his mother still treats him like he's more special than May even when SHE has the Hawthorne powers, neither is explored at all. We're just told things instead of being shown them. Also, how the hell was he able to (view spoiler)
[wield the Deck of Omens to talk to the Beast near the end? Was it because he was corrupted and the corruption created some vague connection between him and the Beast, so he was suddenly given powers just because the plot demanded it? And were we supposed to feel scared about him dying or something? (hide spoiler)] Because I know I didn't.
Same goes for Violet's (view spoiler)
[injuries in the fight with Ezra/ Richard, when Gabriel oh-so-conveniently pops back in the story at EXACTLY the right time to save her. (hide spoiler)] I wasn't expecting something to predictable and eyeroll-worthy, but here we are.
Violet and Isaac are probably the most well-developed characters. I liked seeing them together (except for that stupid as balls scene in the beginning, when they think it's a great idea to do that ritual with the Beast again all on their own; like hell it'd work, if it did the book would just end right there, and that was in the first 50 pages of a 350 page book) and respected their interactions.... when I thought that it was just a platonic friendship ("Finally! A friendship between a boy and a girl in a YA book, with no romantic undercurrent! Violet herself says that she mistook Isaac's human decency for romantic attention when that wasn't the case! Fucking finally!") But then, predictably, they start dating in the end. I love how the two explicitly bi characters end up in a "straight" relationship, while the lesbian relationship of Augusta and Juniper is nothing more than a footnote, and this is the series that was marketed as "a more diverse Raven Cycle".
May was alright, probably the most nuanced character in the book. I don't have anything else to say about her.
The reveal that Ezra, May and Justin's dad, was (view spoiler)
[secretly an immortal founder and the Big Bad All Along? Weirdly convoluted and kind of pulled-out-of-the-author's-ass just to "defy expectations" for everyone who thought the literally named Beast was the Big Bad. Why exactly did Richard want to destroy the border between Four Paths and the Gray (or whatever it was that he wanted to do, I really couldn't be less interested in him or the predictable "big battle" with him at the end that happened offscreen) to "gain the powers of the other founders" when he HAD the powers? He was a Sullivan, and yet he had the immortality of a Saunders (he himself says it)? Seriously, I don't get it? What WAS his own power, after all? Sullivans can either destroy or heal, but all we ever see Richard do is control the corrupted trees and be immortal. I really, really think that the Richard Twist was put in the book just to have a Big Twist, but it wasn't pulled off well at all, in my opinion. (hide spoiler)]This book would've benefited A LOT from having POV chapters for the characters instead of just third person narration.
TL;DR because I want to wrap this review up already: the characters were pretty flat, a lot of potential wasn't taken advantage of at all, and things happened just because the plot required them to happen by the end. I still mostly enjoyed the book, but I think that's mostly because I spent the entirety of it taking the scraps and hoping for more to come, that never came. I definitely enjoyed The Devouring Gray more.
Rating: really liked it
OKAY SO WHY 2020? I MIGHT BE DEAD BY THEN SMH. I need some #Visaac in my life, okay. And OMG, what’s Harper gonna do? (#Jarper is also not-so-secretly OTP, even though they might not end up together because there’s just so much bad history there, wow).
