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In Gray
Daisy Carmichael's life is forever changed after a devastating car crash. Nobody remembers the boy who pulled her from the wreckage, the boy who saved her life. She believed she was crazy. That is, until the dreams started. The dreams the force Daisy into a role she never asked for.
254 pages, Paperback
Published July 17, 2024
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18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 14, 2018
Okay, alright, I'll be frank here: I hate giving negative reviews. I despise the devil out of crushing dreams and pulling apart a craft that I hold near and dear to my heart. It tears me in half to have to do this, but it would be incorrect to give a false review that glorified something that I despised (and not for the content type, either. I am a lover of fantasy: high, urban or otherwise).
In Gray is set up about the premise of a woman surviving a car crash to find that she is monochromatic colorblind and that her newfound premonitions can aid her in saving lives of those soon to be subjected to mortal peril. I was fine with this and was intrigued to see what the author could do with such a concept.
But, from the beginning, I was turned off by a number of things. First off: sentence variety. Every sentence reads in a monotonous, textbook-style voice. I read it aloud to a friend to ensure it wasn't just me being tired or unfair in my determination of such a fact; she, unfortunately, agreed with me. Fantasy should not read like a "how to" technical book; I must say, this one was far more tiresome to read than a variety of the books that I've read throughout my educational career. And I study economics and find pleasure in reading case law. These supposedly boring fields with their even more "boring" language are more gripping to me and easy to immerse myself in than this book. Never you mind that the publisher opted to keep the font in Arial. I thought the first rule of novel formatting was to use a serif font--like Times New Roman or something to the effect. Whatever the actual standard, the font and sentence structure alone made for a painful read.
That doesn't even begin to cover my issues with this book. From the beginning, you have plot point after plot point thrown at you without proper context. I don't mind first-person narratives (in fact, I often prefer them, depending on the style of novel), but this book also lacks any verifiable character motivation or proper contextual set up required to become invested in a character. There is only one real relationship of value in the beginning, and while I don't think relationships are vital to a story plot, this story needed something to make it substantive beyond some woman/author's stream of conscious review of what could have been a wonderful story.
And, don't get me wrong, there is a good story beyond the awful coat of poor developmental, line or even copy editing. It's true--I found numerous grammatical and formatting issues everywhere, beyond total plot chaos. Stray apostrophes, periods, excess quotations, and errors of the like were completely missed by the author and editors in the case of this novel.
Paired with the multiple plot points not being given proper introduction, the world-building was significantly lacking in this work. Now, granted, this would be urban fantasy so it's not quite as crucial to world build as in high fantasy; yet, giving the reader some idea of what the town the character lives in is like beyond "small" and "where everyone knows each other" is necessary. We only really get exposition about surroundings in a few scenes. In some places it's rushed and in other places, the book lags on and often over things that aren't important. It's review of emotional contexts and how they should be approached in response to tragedy are mediocre at best.
Now, this isn't to say that this person who wrote this is a bad author. I don't want this review to shine negatively on the quality of their person or future works; in fact, this work (despite what the awful cover may denote) is traditionally published. The editors and formatters in this equation clearly gave no cares in the world as to the quality of the work they put out, nor the author's reputation.
This book had a logical procession, but it really needed to be more than one book or fleshed out in a lot of places. Like, a lot a lot. I found myself tearing up with fear at what it might be if I were to be left in the hands of a publisher like this who did not give a darn about my work, but rather if they could put anything and everything on the market at all. This book needs a serious overhaul. The story is redeemable for many qualities and I feel I would have enjoyed it under different circumstances. I really do.
But, when your book reads like a stream of conscious textbook with no emotional connection, it makes it very hard to continue or validate reading a work of this nature. Very, very hard. And I say that with much dismay. I don't think I ever want to open this book again, let alone dare to venture into a second book, as apparently, this is the first in a series.
I am saddened while I write this. This was a book I wanted to hurl across several rooms. It left me hanging in places where it should have given more (quite often, and not in the good sense at all) and dying for the reprieve of a later chapter in several other places. It's not to say that others won't enjoy this novel; I'm sure many will. Its reviews on Amazon indicate that many did. But, like, I can't help but feel that those few reviews might be overshadowed by a cacophony of bad ones if the author or publisher doesn't take steps to do some serious edits to make this book better. Like, seriously. It makes me so sad writing this and I feel so bad. I don't like ragging on a book; I often like many books that others don't--even the ones that sound boring. I found Charles Dickens to be enthralling when many of my book-loving friends despised him. Other "boring" authors of the like have enticed me as well, both from a classical and modern sense. But, this book here was utterly disappointing. I could not immerse myself in it for the myriad errors and poor editing (all types in question) and that's saying something.
And I hope the author won't take this the wrong way. Like I said, the story behind the massive confusion and formatting chaos was beautiful; had it been handled much differently this would have been a gushing review. The author's voice and prose, however, was completely drowned out by the fact that there was too much going on and then not enough. The worst part was that not even the appearance of the novel could make up for at least half of the mental torture I endured while trying and eventually succeeding at reading through this novel.
I sincerely hope that future small-published books don't disappoint me like this. Is it worth a read? Maybe. But don't go into it with high expectations of a piece of literature to remember or cherish. Then again, you might find something entirely different about this work and might feel differently; I hope that you do. I hope that my assessment is completely off in its regard of what is actually a good novel, but sharing it with friends and asking them their opinions of passages or plot points that confused or irritated me corroborated my now sorely given opinion.
I'm sorry I couldn't come back with a better review. Can the story be saved? Sure. But at this point, it is damned, in my mind, from the first sentence.
In Gray is set up about the premise of a woman surviving a car crash to find that she is monochromatic colorblind and that her newfound premonitions can aid her in saving lives of those soon to be subjected to mortal peril. I was fine with this and was intrigued to see what the author could do with such a concept.
But, from the beginning, I was turned off by a number of things. First off: sentence variety. Every sentence reads in a monotonous, textbook-style voice. I read it aloud to a friend to ensure it wasn't just me being tired or unfair in my determination of such a fact; she, unfortunately, agreed with me. Fantasy should not read like a "how to" technical book; I must say, this one was far more tiresome to read than a variety of the books that I've read throughout my educational career. And I study economics and find pleasure in reading case law. These supposedly boring fields with their even more "boring" language are more gripping to me and easy to immerse myself in than this book. Never you mind that the publisher opted to keep the font in Arial. I thought the first rule of novel formatting was to use a serif font--like Times New Roman or something to the effect. Whatever the actual standard, the font and sentence structure alone made for a painful read.
That doesn't even begin to cover my issues with this book. From the beginning, you have plot point after plot point thrown at you without proper context. I don't mind first-person narratives (in fact, I often prefer them, depending on the style of novel), but this book also lacks any verifiable character motivation or proper contextual set up required to become invested in a character. There is only one real relationship of value in the beginning, and while I don't think relationships are vital to a story plot, this story needed something to make it substantive beyond some woman/author's stream of conscious review of what could have been a wonderful story.
And, don't get me wrong, there is a good story beyond the awful coat of poor developmental, line or even copy editing. It's true--I found numerous grammatical and formatting issues everywhere, beyond total plot chaos. Stray apostrophes, periods, excess quotations, and errors of the like were completely missed by the author and editors in the case of this novel.
Paired with the multiple plot points not being given proper introduction, the world-building was significantly lacking in this work. Now, granted, this would be urban fantasy so it's not quite as crucial to world build as in high fantasy; yet, giving the reader some idea of what the town the character lives in is like beyond "small" and "where everyone knows each other" is necessary. We only really get exposition about surroundings in a few scenes. In some places it's rushed and in other places, the book lags on and often over things that aren't important. It's review of emotional contexts and how they should be approached in response to tragedy are mediocre at best.
Now, this isn't to say that this person who wrote this is a bad author. I don't want this review to shine negatively on the quality of their person or future works; in fact, this work (despite what the awful cover may denote) is traditionally published. The editors and formatters in this equation clearly gave no cares in the world as to the quality of the work they put out, nor the author's reputation.
This book had a logical procession, but it really needed to be more than one book or fleshed out in a lot of places. Like, a lot a lot. I found myself tearing up with fear at what it might be if I were to be left in the hands of a publisher like this who did not give a darn about my work, but rather if they could put anything and everything on the market at all. This book needs a serious overhaul. The story is redeemable for many qualities and I feel I would have enjoyed it under different circumstances. I really do.
But, when your book reads like a stream of conscious textbook with no emotional connection, it makes it very hard to continue or validate reading a work of this nature. Very, very hard. And I say that with much dismay. I don't think I ever want to open this book again, let alone dare to venture into a second book, as apparently, this is the first in a series.
I am saddened while I write this. This was a book I wanted to hurl across several rooms. It left me hanging in places where it should have given more (quite often, and not in the good sense at all) and dying for the reprieve of a later chapter in several other places. It's not to say that others won't enjoy this novel; I'm sure many will. Its reviews on Amazon indicate that many did. But, like, I can't help but feel that those few reviews might be overshadowed by a cacophony of bad ones if the author or publisher doesn't take steps to do some serious edits to make this book better. Like, seriously. It makes me so sad writing this and I feel so bad. I don't like ragging on a book; I often like many books that others don't--even the ones that sound boring. I found Charles Dickens to be enthralling when many of my book-loving friends despised him. Other "boring" authors of the like have enticed me as well, both from a classical and modern sense. But, this book here was utterly disappointing. I could not immerse myself in it for the myriad errors and poor editing (all types in question) and that's saying something.
And I hope the author won't take this the wrong way. Like I said, the story behind the massive confusion and formatting chaos was beautiful; had it been handled much differently this would have been a gushing review. The author's voice and prose, however, was completely drowned out by the fact that there was too much going on and then not enough. The worst part was that not even the appearance of the novel could make up for at least half of the mental torture I endured while trying and eventually succeeding at reading through this novel.
I sincerely hope that future small-published books don't disappoint me like this. Is it worth a read? Maybe. But don't go into it with high expectations of a piece of literature to remember or cherish. Then again, you might find something entirely different about this work and might feel differently; I hope that you do. I hope that my assessment is completely off in its regard of what is actually a good novel, but sharing it with friends and asking them their opinions of passages or plot points that confused or irritated me corroborated my now sorely given opinion.
I'm sorry I couldn't come back with a better review. Can the story be saved? Sure. But at this point, it is damned, in my mind, from the first sentence.
May 20, 2020
This was a fantastically unique urban fantasy story. It starts out with the main character, Daisy a seventeen-year-old girl, being rescued from a deadly car crash from a mystery boy. The damage from the accident does damage to her brain, and as a result, she is left colorblind. In her dreams though, she can still see color, and in those dreams, she sees things before they can happen. Confused and desperate for answers, she decides to seek out the mystery boy figuring he might be the answer to it all.
There is plenty of action and mystery to keep you turning pages. There are a lot of questions answered, and a lot that are left up for the reader to decide. The author has a very smooth writing style that makes it easy to connect with and emphasize Daisy. Daisy’s character was particularly well-written because of her honest approach to the situation around her. She was level-headed and kind though she was brave and confident when she needed to be.
Throughout the story, tension is built gradually, making you nearly want to scream for the truth. The world is described in a way that makes it easy to picture, the contrast of the gray world to her full color dreams especially.
One of the most unique stories I’ve read so far this year. I really hope the author decides to write a sequel.
There is plenty of action and mystery to keep you turning pages. There are a lot of questions answered, and a lot that are left up for the reader to decide. The author has a very smooth writing style that makes it easy to connect with and emphasize Daisy. Daisy’s character was particularly well-written because of her honest approach to the situation around her. She was level-headed and kind though she was brave and confident when she needed to be.
Throughout the story, tension is built gradually, making you nearly want to scream for the truth. The world is described in a way that makes it easy to picture, the contrast of the gray world to her full color dreams especially.
One of the most unique stories I’ve read so far this year. I really hope the author decides to write a sequel.
March 16, 2020
This was a fantastically unique urban fantasy story. It starts out with the main character, Daisy a seventeen-year-old girl, being rescued from a deadly car crash from a mystery boy. The damage from the accident does damage to her brain, and as a result, she is left colorblind. In her dreams though, she can still see color, and in those dreams, she sees things before they can happen. Confused and desperate for answers, she decides to seek out the mystery boy figuring he might be the answer to it all.
There is plenty of action and mystery to keep you turning pages. There are a lot of questions answered, and a lot that are left up for the reader to decide. The author has a very smooth writing style that makes it easy to connect with and emphasize Daisy. Daisy’s character was particularly well-written because of her honest approach to the situation around her. She was level-headed and kind though she was brave and confident when she needed to be.
Throughout the story, tension is built gradually, making you nearly want to scream for the truth. The world is described in a way that makes it easy to picture, the contrast of the gray world to her full color dreams especially.
One of the most unique stories I’ve read so far this year. I really hope the author decides to write a sequel.
There is plenty of action and mystery to keep you turning pages. There are a lot of questions answered, and a lot that are left up for the reader to decide. The author has a very smooth writing style that makes it easy to connect with and emphasize Daisy. Daisy’s character was particularly well-written because of her honest approach to the situation around her. She was level-headed and kind though she was brave and confident when she needed to be.
Throughout the story, tension is built gradually, making you nearly want to scream for the truth. The world is described in a way that makes it easy to picture, the contrast of the gray world to her full color dreams especially.
One of the most unique stories I’ve read so far this year. I really hope the author decides to write a sequel.
July 26, 2020
When Daisy was in an accident the colour drained from her life, but in its place, she had something else, prophetic dreams. It was the only time she saw colour, the problem was, these dreams are about people about to die, people she has to save. Just like someone had saved her from the accident. The thing is, she was the only one who remembered the handsome boy pulling her from the wreckage, and her very memory of him puts her in danger. She should have died that day and now someone is seeking to balance the scales.
Sara J. Bernhardt' In Gray is a gripping paranormal romance complete with an engaging plot filled with danger, mystery, confusion, and the bonds of friendship and love. Witten in a first person perspective you are drawn straight into Daisy's grayscale world. I enjoyed how the author used dialogue and character interactions to drive the plot forward in a fluid motion as we uncover, piece by piece, the danger and mystery surrounding Daisy's life and the boy she remembers having saved her. A sweet romance and an enjoyable read.
Sara J. Bernhardt' In Gray is a gripping paranormal romance complete with an engaging plot filled with danger, mystery, confusion, and the bonds of friendship and love. Witten in a first person perspective you are drawn straight into Daisy's grayscale world. I enjoyed how the author used dialogue and character interactions to drive the plot forward in a fluid motion as we uncover, piece by piece, the danger and mystery surrounding Daisy's life and the boy she remembers having saved her. A sweet romance and an enjoyable read.
May 10, 2018
Shades of grey and vibrant colors.
I'm normally not much of a fan of paranormal. It has to be something with a touch of truth to be able to pull me in. Premonitions? Just enough possibility of truth to pull me in. I love the bond of love between Lucas and Daisey while the unbreakable bond of friendship between Daisey and Jess warmed my heart. And Kristoff? Just want to hug him! I gasped with astonishment and tears came to my eyes in parts.... Sorry, no spoilers here. This story pulled me in like no other in a very long time and I encourage you to take the time to read it. I can hardly wait for the next one!
I'm normally not much of a fan of paranormal. It has to be something with a touch of truth to be able to pull me in. Premonitions? Just enough possibility of truth to pull me in. I love the bond of love between Lucas and Daisey while the unbreakable bond of friendship between Daisey and Jess warmed my heart. And Kristoff? Just want to hug him! I gasped with astonishment and tears came to my eyes in parts.... Sorry, no spoilers here. This story pulled me in like no other in a very long time and I encourage you to take the time to read it. I can hardly wait for the next one!
March 13, 2021
"In Gray" is an imaginative supernatural tale unlike any other that I have read before. It's an easy-to-read page turner with compelling characters and an interesting storyline. I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to a sequel.
February 12, 2023
The writing is young and reads as repetitive. No one wants to communicate and it takes an effort for the characters to drag out truths since Daisy's accident. The book is dialogue-heavy, with descriptions for Daisy's dreams. Nonetheless, the interaction between Daisy and Jess is heartwarming and they discover the truths together.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 16, 2020
Received this book from the author from Voracious readers Only in exchange for a unbiased review.
Cute, quick teen read. Very interesting premise don’t want to give away spoilers but you have humans going about their business and a non human sect they is and interesting syfi mix. Humans are completely unaware of anything else existing let alone having a hand in their ultimate destiny date.
Cute, quick teen read. Very interesting premise don’t want to give away spoilers but you have humans going about their business and a non human sect they is and interesting syfi mix. Humans are completely unaware of anything else existing let alone having a hand in their ultimate destiny date.
May 17, 2020
I received this book via the author through Voracious Readers to give an honest review.
It's an interesting book I will say that, it took me a while to get my head around what has happened to the main character and what the book theme may be about.
I would love to read other books from this author
It's an interesting book I will say that, it took me a while to get my head around what has happened to the main character and what the book theme may be about.
I would love to read other books from this author
February 7, 2025
This author is amazing, she pulls you right into the mind of her characters. I highly recommend you read this book, secrets, loyalty, and love. Sara J Bernhardt shows and doesn't tell in her incredibly written book.
February 4, 2020
Great read! Quite a page turner that pulls you in making you wonder what is going to happen next. Now, what is going to happen next?
May 16, 2020
Definately not your typical supernatural shifter type of book. I started and could not put it down. Definately recommend reading.
May 29, 2020
I recieved a free copy from voracious readers. Very good read, wonderful characters
June 15, 2020
Received a copy from the author in exchange for a review.
I don't really read fantasy novels so went in pretty open minded about what this book was going to be like. The plot is interesting however at times it did get confusing as I didn't know what time of day it was as it just carried on the next line.
The writing style annoyed me at times as it just didn't flow very well.
Loved the relationship with Lucas and hope to read more about that.
Really hope there is going to be a sequel as I want to know what happens to the Order.
Good book if you can get past the writing style.
I don't really read fantasy novels so went in pretty open minded about what this book was going to be like. The plot is interesting however at times it did get confusing as I didn't know what time of day it was as it just carried on the next line.
The writing style annoyed me at times as it just didn't flow very well.
Loved the relationship with Lucas and hope to read more about that.
Really hope there is going to be a sequel as I want to know what happens to the Order.
Good book if you can get past the writing style.
December 19, 2017
The story was a bit repetitive, but nicely written.
The author wrote: Even though I didn't know why or how, it was like I had always known that I loved him too. An amazing sentence.
Keep on writing, Sara J. Bernhardt. We need to know what happens next.
The author wrote: Even though I didn't know why or how, it was like I had always known that I loved him too. An amazing sentence.
Keep on writing, Sara J. Bernhardt. We need to know what happens next.
June 4, 2020
Could not put this down...from the first paragraph...loved it
March 3, 2022
"In Gray", by Sara J. Bernhardt, has one of the most interesting premises I've seen in quite a while. The main character, Daisy Carmichael, a 17 1/2 year old girl, is rescued from a horrible car accident and sure death by a nameless boy. As a result of injuries suffered in the crash, Daisy can now only see things "in gray" - completely colorblind. She also begins to have dream-like visions (which are in full color) - seeing future events before they happen. She has nothing but questions with no end in sight. The key to finding any of the answers is to find the boy who rescued her from the car accident - a task easier said than done. So, she teams up with her best friend, Jess, to search him out and hopefully find the answer to the most elusive question of them all. Why?
This was a very unique take on YA urban fantasy, in a story overflowing with imagination. The author has put a lot of forethought and purpose into the telling of this story. It is told from the 1st person point of view, and since our protagonist is a teenager, it reads as if told from a teenager's mind. The expressions, mannerisms ... even the style of writing reflects that of a teenager. In this particular case, it works. There are a few overuses of some expressions (ie: "pulled my eyebrows together") and quite a few instances where one character will finish the sentence of another. There is also some redundancy at the end as you are afforded the opportunity to see previous events through a different character's eyes, giving you a little break from the 1st person and a different perspective. However, this allowed the author to answer some questions that might not have otherwise been answered.
This story has action, mystique, elements of urban fantasy, and a love interest. There are some questions that still need answers. Is all of this just exclusive to the town of Cayucos (cool name for a town), or is it worldwide? We don't know. What is the backstory or origin to what she finds? We don't know. Just how deep does all of this run? We don't know. We don't know, because Daisy doesn't even know. The book does end with most of the important questions (raised in this story) answered - but it does leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger, an obvious segue into a sequel. I am sure we will get some of the answers in the next book.
Overall, this was an "okay" read. It isn't anything special, but if you can get yourself invested, I think you might enjoy it.
This was a very unique take on YA urban fantasy, in a story overflowing with imagination. The author has put a lot of forethought and purpose into the telling of this story. It is told from the 1st person point of view, and since our protagonist is a teenager, it reads as if told from a teenager's mind. The expressions, mannerisms ... even the style of writing reflects that of a teenager. In this particular case, it works. There are a few overuses of some expressions (ie: "pulled my eyebrows together") and quite a few instances where one character will finish the sentence of another. There is also some redundancy at the end as you are afforded the opportunity to see previous events through a different character's eyes, giving you a little break from the 1st person and a different perspective. However, this allowed the author to answer some questions that might not have otherwise been answered.
This story has action, mystique, elements of urban fantasy, and a love interest. There are some questions that still need answers. Is all of this just exclusive to the town of Cayucos (cool name for a town), or is it worldwide? We don't know. What is the backstory or origin to what she finds? We don't know. Just how deep does all of this run? We don't know. We don't know, because Daisy doesn't even know. The book does end with most of the important questions (raised in this story) answered - but it does leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger, an obvious segue into a sequel. I am sure we will get some of the answers in the next book.
Overall, this was an "okay" read. It isn't anything special, but if you can get yourself invested, I think you might enjoy it.
January 5, 2024
Pros: I absolutely loved the premise of this story! Daisy, our MC, has a condition I've never seen written about before where she can only see in gray (thus the title) due to a car accident. This condition is what makes the plot so interesting: the abilities that it brings along with the questions, are absolutely intoxicating. I loved that I kept wanting to know more, as well as how the only time she sees in color, is when she dreams specific types of dreams. I won't spoil that for you, you'll just have to read to figure out what I mean!
I also loved Lucas, her love interest, who begins as a mystery and to a degree, remains as such throughout.
The character depth, development, and relationships are well defined and super easy to draw you into. Same for the plot.
Cons: I can't tell you my con without ruining it, but there is an event that absolutely crushed me. However, it's really important to the story line, so I GUESS I can forgive Bernhardt for it!
Conclusion: If you're in a rut and need a book that's got paranormal, romance, close relationships, and a new perspective, you really need to give this a read!
I also loved Lucas, her love interest, who begins as a mystery and to a degree, remains as such throughout.
The character depth, development, and relationships are well defined and super easy to draw you into. Same for the plot.
Cons: I can't tell you my con without ruining it, but there is an event that absolutely crushed me. However, it's really important to the story line, so I GUESS I can forgive Bernhardt for it!
Conclusion: If you're in a rut and need a book that's got paranormal, romance, close relationships, and a new perspective, you really need to give this a read!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews