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Struggling to come to terms with her father's death and her mother's emotional distance, Grey is already unraveling when an unrelated tragedy strikes in the small town of Marblehead. She can't stop picturing it—the murder of Beatrice, a young girl she knew who was left dead and mutilated in the woods. Grey becomes increasingly isolated when she finds out about her mother's secret love affair. It emerges that she is also estranged from her boyfriend and best friend—betrayed again by clandestine romance. She floats through a half-life as she grieves and rages, and strange abilities begin to blossom. Unable to sleep or eat, she struggles to understand why these terrible things happened and to accept the truth of her own involvement. When a mysterious faction begins to hunt her, she realizes she is more powerful than she could have imagined.
Through vivid metaphor and highly original use of language, the author's twisting sentences convey an intimate sense of what it is like inside nineteen-year-old Grey's mind. The narrative twists and turns as well, weaving a non-linear web of despair and revelation as the story unfolds. It is easy to be swept along in the tide of emotion just like Grey, the lyrical flow occasionally punctured with sharp wit or the sting of violence. The story may be overwhelmed by the style for some readers, and a second pass for grammar and spelling mistakes would be useful. However, gothic and supernatural fiction fans will likely enjoy this intriguing tale.