Darkness and Demon Song (Marius Grey #2)
M. R. Fournet
Feiwel & Friends
Published June 18, 2024

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About Darkness and Demon Song

A cemetery-boy-turned-monster-hunter must race against time to save his recently-resurrected mother in Darkness and Demon Song, M.R. Fournet’s eerie middle grade follow up to Brick Dust and Bones.

Marius Grey’s mom is back from the dead. After hunting monsters and performing forbidden spells, Marius is just happy she’s there, helping him to take care of their Louisiana cemetery again.

But it soon becomes clear that something has gone wrong. Marius’s mother is growing more distant and strange things start happening around her. Worse yet, sometimes it feels like she’s a completely different person–one who definitely isn’t his mom.

If Marius wants to save her, he’s going to need help. Serious help. Good thing he has a flesh-eating mermaid for a best friend and a classmate with extra strong magic. Add in mysterious clues for new hunts, graveyard hopping from Louisiana to Texas, and a tough ex-hunter he doesn’t know if he can trust, and it’s clear that Marius has his work cut out for him.

My Review

The first book in this series took me completely by surprise last year. I received a copy from the publisher and really didn’t know anything about the book itself before opening it up. I’m not a big horror reader, so that also gave me pause. I couldn’t figure out how horror would work in middle grade.

Once I started reading the book, though, I totally got how it could work. It’s definitely not something I would have been able to read in elementary school myself. I have always been something of a sensitive reader. But now, reading the book, I felt like I couldn’t put it down.

Marius is such a compelling character. He’s doing everything he can do to make the world a safer place and take care of the people counting on him, from his mom to the ghosts in the cemetery in their care.

In the first book, Marius does a lot on his own or with only the help of his best friend, Rhiannon, the flesh-eating mermaid. In this second installment in the series, a community develops around Marius. Partly, this happens because his mom is back, and people try to reconnect with her as well. Partly, it happens because things go sideways, and Marius needs help.

The book focuses on some really cool relationships. Of course, we learn more about the friendship between Marius and Rhiannon. But Marius also makes a new friend his age who harbors her own secrets. He also learns to take risks by trusting a few adults in his life who have helped him in the past.

All in all, I enjoyed this second adventure into the dark, scary world of New Orleans, complete with fishing in the swamp, a Texas entrance to Hell, and an exploration of what truly makes someone a monster. I’ll be eager to see what M.R. Fournet writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Marius is described as being basically shades of gray rather than a member of a specific race. Minor characters are POC.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
A magic book captures monsters through a recited spell. Marius visits various magical shops and encounters other magical creatures and people who possess magic, like witches. His family is responsible for the care of the ghosts in the graveyard where he lives. Some humans open themselves up to possession by a demon through bargains gone wrong or other circumstances.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and scary imagery, such as monsters trying to attack a child. One character relives another’s memories in Hell. Characters fight demons and other monsters.

Drug Content
None.

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