fantasy – Page 7 – Baltimore Bibliophile

Title : The Devouring Gray

Author : Christine Lynn Herman

Publisher : Titan Books

368 pages

Rating : 4/5

Goodreads Synopsis

On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

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 the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?

Review

So, my apologies for not having a picture of this book that I took myself. I was so excited to get my library books back on time today that I forgot to take a photo first! Total fail, I’ll do better next time y’all. Anyhow, I wasn’t going to let that setback keep me from reviewing this beautiful book!

The Devouring Gray is a solid book that has all the things I am drawn to in YA Fantasy books. You’ve got this group of young characters with the weight of the world on their shoulders… all while still being in high school. They all have troubled pasts or troubled presents and have a connection to each other – they must work together to save their town from the monster in the Gray. Next, you’ve got a corrupt town and a group of adults who are frankly terrible and need to go somewhere quickly. Of COURSE the kids are the only sane one’s in the whole town of Four Paths. Lastly, it’s got a town with rich history, customs, and most importantly – MAGIC!

FOUR PATHS. Basically, a long while ago four people came across a town with a monster terrorizing it. They fought the monster and took some of it’s powers, banishing it to the “Gray”. The four youngsters are all descendants of the original four who saved the town – called “founders”. The town “worships” (doesn’t apply to everyone – in comes RISING ACTION!) them, as the descendants continue to patrol the town and fend off the Gray. The one catch is not every descendant gets powers. They just complete a ritual – each family has a different one. Those who fail – generally die. In the book, the Gray is becoming stronger and the founders are becoming weaker – the four main characters must work together to weaken it once and for all.

CHARACTERS. Justin, Harper, Isaac, and Violet. All founders, different families. Harper hates Justin for a past issue, Justin holds firmly onto the guilt of what he did to Harper. Both Justin & Harper failed their rituals*. Isaac has more power than he can control, and this gets him into trouble. Violet moved to Four Paths with her mother completely unaware of her heritage – but she quickly learns, and is less than impressed. They all have a good character arc, decent back stories, and will pull at the heartstrings.

THE ADULTS. OK. Look. I get it that we adults think we’re all that and a bag of chips, but honestly these kids are smarter than the adults. Justin’s mom Augusta is the Sheriff of Four Paths, but has a power that no one knows about because it would lead to SEVERE distrust if people knew. She would NOT have any power in the town if they had any clue what she’s been doing to them. She runs the place as if she is judge, jury, AND executioner and it is ANNOYING. She can seriously leave and wouldn’t be missed. Then Harper’s dad is part of a group that is trying to overthrow Augusta – but also has a much darker mission. Again, cue STUPIDITY. They almost got their damn selves killed. SMH. But I digress.

CRITIQUE. I generally LOVED this book. I was on the edge of my seat in the beginning because this type of book really is my YA bread and butter. BUT, there were parts that were hard to understand and weren’t explained super well – basically the whole climax scene. Also, the cliffhanger was good, but not GREAT. Give me a cliffhanger that makes me NEED the next book pronto mucho. The Devouring Gray leaves you with unanswered questions and a definite opening for the sequel, but I’m not feverishly refreshing the author’s Instagram page for release updates. For these reasons, I docked it one star – 4/5.

Title : Daughter of the Pirate King

Author : Tricia Levenseller

Publisher : Feiwel Friends

311 pages

Rating : 4.5/5

Goodreads Synopsis

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

Review

“Lass, you’ve the face of an angel but the tongue of a snake.”
― Tricia Levenseller, Daughter of the Pirate King

Hi all! I finished this quick read this past weekend (trying to get to all of my library books before they are due back, yikes!). I’ve seen this title on Bookstagram a few times, but not super often. I honestly only grabbed it from the library for 3 reasons:

I like the author. I read Warrior of the Wild a little while ago and loved it, so I wanted to give her other books a try. I knew Daughter of the Siren Queen came out semi-recently, so I knew if I liked it I could easily get to the next one.
It looked short. I normally go for really long and meaty books, but when I was perusing the library I wanted to get some quick and easy reads to break up some of the more extensive books I have on my TBR.
I saw it on Bookstagram. I wasn’t invested enough to buy it, but that’s what libraries are for.

So as you can see, I picked this one up for pretty simple reasons. I really enjoyed it though! The characters were likable (mostly) and the plot was good, if not outstanding. Like I said, I picked this for it’s simplicity, not to spend weeks on it.

Let’s start with our main characters – Alosa and Riden. It becomes apparent quickly that we’re going to have a romance between these two. Like it’s so obvious that I’m not even classifying this as a spoiler. They have an instant curiosity towards each other because Riden seems to have Alosa figured out, and she isn’t used to that. He is smart, insightful, and he calls her on her BS. In return, Alosa gives him everything she has in her Vault of Sarcasm and Snark (I have one of these, but hers is MUCH better). She loves to rile him up and get into his head – cue some serious sexual tension. It’s a pretty easy back and forth in the beginning as the plot is being laid out, but it becomes more prevalent and obvious as it continues. During the main CONFLICT part at the end, they become much closer in order to set it up for the next book.

I gave this one a 4.5/5 stars because it hit the spot for me. I’ve seen some reviews where people hated it, and come on now we are never all going to agree on a book. I liked it for the same reasons that people hate it. If you’re looking for an in-depth, high/epic fantasy novel that will keep you entertained for hours and salivating for more, maybe pick up a different book. If you want something more on the light and breezy side, try this one on for size.

I did knock it down by .5 stars for a few reasons, but one major one. TRIGGER WARNING –

There is a scene in the book where Alosa is on the brink of being sexually assaulted. She is grappling with another pirate and it does NOT go very far, however it is traumatic for her a bit and can be triggering for readers. Riden is present while this is happening but chooses to stay out of it. In his words, he thought she could handle herself and wouldn’t appreciate him stepping in to take care of something she was fully capable of. OKAY YES Riden, Alosa doesn’t exactly give off “damsel in distress” vibes (I mean, she’s a trained killer come on?) but friend, let’s help my girl out. Honestly, he mostly just wanted her to kill the other pirate so he didn’t have to and get in trouble with the Captain, aka his brother.

So, this scene was a major draw back for me for that reason, so I couldn’t give it a full five stars. However, still worth the read and I will be picking up Daughter of the Siren Queen on my next library trip.

Happy reading!