ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IHAD THE IDEA FOR this book when I was a college student abroad. I’d traveled to Europe hoping to find inspiration, only to realize that I needed to write about the upstate New York woods I’d left behind. I didn’t know then that it would change my life. I didn’t even know if I could write it. I just knew that I had fallen in love with Violet, Harper, Justin, Isaac, and May, and I had to tell their story.

I’m so glad I did.

But no book is ever created alone, and without all of the following people, The Devouring Gray would not be what it is today. To my agent, Kelly Sonnack, thank you for your tireless guidance and wisdom, your thoughtfulness, and your impeccable editorial insight. From the very beginning, you’ve understood The Devouring Gray on a level I’d only dreamed of—and you’ve understood me, too. I’m so lucky to have you in my corner, and so grateful for all you’ve done for me and my woods book.

To my editors, Hannah Allaman and Emily Meehan—thank you for reading my book an uncountable number of times, and for understanding my vision for this duology from the very beginning. You are a total dream team, and I’ll forever be honored that you chose to go into the Gray with me. Hannah—thank you for loving these characters just as much as I do, for the Hamilton references, the mutual lack of chill, and the impressively fast e-mail responses.

Thank you as well to the entire team at Hyperion, who’ve been so supportive through this whole process, especially Mary Ann Naples, Dina Sherman, Holly Nagel, Elke Villa, Andrew Sansone, Guy Cunningham, Patrice Caldwell, Cassie McGinty, Jody Corbett, Meredith Jones, and Tyler Nevins.

Amanda Foody—you came into my life when I was ready to give up on this book and showed me how to save it. You’re my first line of defense, the other half of my brain, my greatest champion, and my most honest critic, and sometimes I truly believe you can read my mind. Thank you for always knowing exactly how to help me, for being one of the few people this introvert never needs a break from, for countless late-night epiphanies and brainstorming sessions and eternal inside jokes. I’m in awe of your talent, your work ethic, and your impeccable sense of style, and there’s no one else I’d rather have by my side during every step of my publication journey. I don’t have words for how much you mean to me, so “best friend” will have to do.

I wouldn’t be writing these acknowledgments at all without my incredible critique group, whose feedback, encouragement, and friendship mean the world to me. Thank you to Kat Cho, Katy Rose Pool, Claribel Ortega, and Joan He, 2019 debuts extraordinaire—I’m honored to have my first book releasing the same year as all of yours. Thank you to Amanda Haas for being the world’s best listener and my honorary big sister, Ella Dyson, Janella Angeles, and Erin Bay for your early beta reads, Meg Kohlmann for demanding more romance, Mara Fitzgerald, my dead sea buddy, Axie Oh, Akshaya Raman, Tara Sim, Melody Simpson, Maddy Colis, Ashley Burdin, and Alexis Castellanos. I’ve learned so much from every single one of you, and I’m so proud to be in the presence of all your collective talent. Best. Cult. Ever.

Rory Power, my tree sister, thanks for the groundbreaking realization that publishing is just Dance Moms for grown-ups. Emily Duncan, my goth queen, thanks for the hours-long character talks and sequel solidarity. Thank you both for letting me burst into your lives like the Kool-Aid Man, for writing two of my favorite books, for seeing the best and worst of me and loving me anyway, for embracing my sharp edges even when I couldn’t, and, of course, for dealing with all the possum GIFs. Your writing has changed me for the better—and so has your friendship.

Thank you to Claire Wenzel, undisputed empress of graphic design and out-of-context-quote humor, to Swati Teerdhala and Isabel Sterling, debut sisters and givers of excellent advice, to Deeba Zargarpur and the 6:00 a.m. bus ride that changed my life, to Paige Cober, my fellow murder girl, and to Nicole Deal—your art never fails to make my day. Thank you to Claire Legrand for being a friend and a role model, and never judging me for long, emotional texts. Kati Gardner, I am so grateful for your insight and feedback.

Laura Lashley, Anna Birch, Emily Neal, and Rachel Griffin, thank you for being my lifelines from Pitch Wars 2016 onward. Thank you to Sierra Elmore for all the midnight cat pictures, and for reminding me no book is complete without accompanying memes.

Shelby, Ian, and Sam, thanks for being the kind of friends who are worth coming out of my writer cave for.

Brigid, you’re the Kelly to my Holly, and don’t you forget it. Thank you for understanding me both on and off the page.

Thank you to my parents, who encouraged me to be a storyteller, who moved all forty boxes of my childhood books around the world for eighteen years. I am so grateful for all of your support. Thank you, Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Mark, who always listened to my stories. Thank you, Nanny and Poppy, who let me write most of the second draft of this book in your dining room while feeding me world-class Italian food.

Nova, you are a cat and therefore you cannot read (as far as I know), but I’m putting you in my acknowledgments anyway. Thanks for walking across my keyboard, biting my toes at 4:00 a.m., and keeping me humble.

Lastly, Trevor—thank you for loving me exactly as I am, for reading many years of first drafts, and for listening to me talk about fictional teenagers for hours on end. You are far too good of a person to ever become one of my book characters.