'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 realise 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... '
Deck of Omens returns readers to the town of Four Paths for the conclusion to Christine Lynn Herman's creepy Devouring Grey series. I was a little surprised when reading this book that it was to be the last one, as it seems that more and more often Young Adult books that get a sequel tend to go on for several books at least. Not only is that not the case here, but thanks to Deck of Omens picking up almost exactly where the first book left off, it feels like this is the second half to one singular story that was spread across two books.
This feeling is helped by the fact that there's a much bigger sense of pace in Deck of Omens. The first book felt like a slow burn story, one where Christine Lynn Herman not only slowly introduced readers to the principal characters, but teased out the nature of Four Paths, the Grey, and the Beast, in order to build tension. With all of this already being put into place for the sequel the author was able to hit the ground running, and things happen much quicker. When read in conjunction with the first book it does seem like The Devouring Grey was merely the introduction, whilst Deck of Omens is the real story that was being built up to.
Despite only taking place a few weeks after the events of the first book the characters have undergone some big changes for Deck of Omens. Violet has gone from someone on the back foot, not knowing what's going on and being forced to react, to a confident and outgoing young woman. She's come into her powers and actually seems to enjoy her new abilities and new role in the world, even if it came during a dark period in her life. She's fought through her grief and her loss and emerged as a very strong person. This is something that not only makes her a much more useful and competent fighter but someone with a level of emotional maturity that not all of the teens have.
Isaac also makes some big changes over the course of this book, becoming someone completely different to who he was in the first book. In The Devouring Grey he was presented as an angry young man, someone with a past that haunts them. Yes, he has a deeper, caring side that rarely comes out, but he's very much presented as something of a 'bad boy'. In Deck of Omens we get to learn so much more about him and his past, and especially the traumatic events that led to him being such a damaged person. Thanks to some help from Violet, however, and the return of his older brother, Isaac gets the chance to grow and evolve into one of the more interesting and complex characters in the whole book. He goes from being something of a 'side-kick' tagging along behind Justin to a more interesting and engaging character, one who outshines the 'golden boy' of Four Paths.
Violet and Isaac definitely stand out amongst the cast of characters as the most interesting, and the ones with the most growth, but the rest of the cast also improve over their introduction in the first book, perhaps with the exception of Justin. Despite some heroic moments towards the end of the book Justin doesn't really seem to do much or add anything to the story, and I don't think the book would have lost much without his inclusion.
The plot of Deck of Omens was greatly improved over the first book, and went in some interesting directions that I wasn't expecting. There are some things that happen right towards the end that I doubt anyone could have predicted. Shifting the narrative from an evil demon trying to break free from its prison into a story about a corruption, a disease like presence, makes it more interesting. It's not a stereotypical 'bad guy' who wants to do evil because they're bad, but a force of nature that can't be predicted or anticipated, something that can't be bargained with. It seems to elevate the stakes and makes the threat feel more real and impactful. The fact that they're having to battle some kind of infection whilst the world is struggling with a global pandemic might have added something to the book too, as suddenly a strange and deadly disease feels like a much more believable threat.
Deck of Omens proved to be a marked improvement over The Devouring Grey. Whilst there was nothing wrong with the first book, the sequel builds upon the world in new and interesting ways. The characters evolve and become more interesting. And Christine Lynn Herman explores the past of Four Paths in unpredicatable and interesting ways. The book will challenge the expectations you have from the first book, it'll make you think certain things but then pull the rug out from under you. An engaging and exciting conclusion to a great story.
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