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foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
4.5/5
Oh my god I loved this!!! This Vicious Grace follows Alessa, who is the Finestra of her island. Being the Finestra is a life changing and powerful position. You are both a celebrity, and a savior. Finestra's are responsible for saving their islands from Divorandos, some type of calamity. Alessa has been the Finestra for several years and while she's been training since her powers awoke, she hasn't learned how to work them completely. When this book opens, Alessa has attended the funeral of her third Fonte, a person with magic whose gifts she should be able to amplify as Finestra. Instead, Alessa has killed three Fontes. Now she only has days to come up with a plan before her Consiglio either kills her or sentences a new Fonte to almost certain death.
I really loved Alessa's character. She was so easy to relate to and I almost immediately wanted her to succeed and learn the secrets of her magic. I truly love the storylines of characters who are touched with dangerous magic and then isolated because they are dangerous. Seeing these characters find ways to control their powers and break out of that isolation is so compelling to read about. Plus they usually melt someone's heart along the way.
This book was equal parts romance and equals parts friendship. Alessa hires a bodyguard and expects nothing from him, but Dante surprises her and the two grow close. He challenges her to think outside the box and do things differently since the only thing she knows for sure is what doesn't work. I loved watching these two grow close, their banter was so fun and then they got drunk together. Oh my god that made me laugh so much.
At the same time, Alessa is also working on her power, training her body and trying to find a way to work with at least one Fonte. I loved seeing her work with the Fontes and see them go from being terrified of her to steadfast friends. It was so empowering to see them all cement such close friendships.
The worldbuilding of this book was really cool too. We get a peak into some of the answers about the mythology of the world, but I think there is only more to come in the sequel and I am really exciting to see where the series takes me.
Rep: Italian inspired world and cast. Female MC (possibly bi), white cishet male love interest, cishet male side character with a heart condition, supporting cast of BIPOC characters and queer characters.
CWs: Suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, violence, blood, death, gore, injury/injury detail, war, abandonment, attempted murder, religious bigotry.
4.5/5
Oh my god I loved this!!! This Vicious Grace follows Alessa, who is the Finestra of her island. Being the Finestra is a life changing and powerful position. You are both a celebrity, and a savior. Finestra's are responsible for saving their islands from Divorandos, some type of calamity. Alessa has been the Finestra for several years and while she's been training since her powers awoke, she hasn't learned how to work them completely. When this book opens, Alessa has attended the funeral of her third Fonte, a person with magic whose gifts she should be able to amplify as Finestra. Instead, Alessa has killed three Fontes. Now she only has days to come up with a plan before her Consiglio either kills her or sentences a new Fonte to almost certain death.
I really loved Alessa's character. She was so easy to relate to and I almost immediately wanted her to succeed and learn the secrets of her magic. I truly love the storylines of characters who are touched with dangerous magic and then isolated because they are dangerous. Seeing these characters find ways to control their powers and break out of that isolation is so compelling to read about. Plus they usually melt someone's heart along the way.
This book was equal parts romance and equals parts friendship. Alessa hires a bodyguard and expects nothing from him, but Dante surprises her and the two grow close. He challenges her to think outside the box and do things differently since the only thing she knows for sure is what doesn't work. I loved watching these two grow close, their banter was so fun and then they got drunk together. Oh my god that made me laugh so much.
At the same time, Alessa is also working on her power, training her body and trying to find a way to work with at least one Fonte. I loved seeing her work with the Fontes and see them go from being terrified of her to steadfast friends. It was so empowering to see them all cement such close friendships.
The worldbuilding of this book was really cool too. We get a peak into some of the answers about the mythology of the world, but I think there is only more to come in the sequel and I am really exciting to see where the series takes me.
Rep: Italian inspired world and cast. Female MC (possibly bi), white cishet male love interest, cishet male side character with a heart condition, supporting cast of BIPOC characters and queer characters.
CWs: Suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, violence, blood, death, gore, injury/injury detail, war, abandonment, attempted murder, religious bigotry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bookstarbri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WHERE DO I BEGIN?
Wow. This was so cool. As soon as the book started, we're immediately thrown into this immersive fantasy world. This book requires a good bit of world building in its early pages in order for everything to make sense. That being said, it does mean a lot of info dumping early on. I didn't mind it in this case because it was really interesting and in depth but still concise enough to keep the story going. I was initially a little confused on everything, but it started to click pretty easily and then by chapter 10, I think, it was really rolling and the story's momentum truly picked up. And, when it did, it was pure perfection. I love Alessa so very much. She's SUCH a good MC. She has so many great qualities, but is also flawed. I think my favorite thing about her was how often she surprised me while still feeling like a true character with clear motivations. She and the love interest were a wonderful match. A new favorite book couple for sure. Their chemistry was evident early on and the banter was top tier! The side characters were also fun. They were pretty mild at first but then really developed right along with Alessa, making them a wonderful found family all fighting for a common goal. The friendship between Kaleb and Kamaria and Kaleb and Dante especially were big highlights for me. Kaleb might be my favorite side character ever tbh.
I also have to say that the dialogue and writing were fantastic. The fantasy of it all was super cool and I'd honestly love a little bit more in book 2, which I'm sure we'll get based on the ending. The gods system was super interesting to me. I love how often this book subverted my expectations. It's a YA, so I thought it would follow certain common tropes in the plot, and was relieved when it didn't. When I thought it was going to go a certain way, it intentionally didn't. It made reading this so much fun because every step of the way was refreshing and new. I'm tempted to do a reread already and it's not even out yet! I think this will for sure be a favorite for me this year! I'm anxiously awaiting book 2!!
This is technically YA, but it's definitely older. The MC is 18 and love interest is 19/20. The other characters are older teenagers as well.
Thank you to the author, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. This was so cool. As soon as the book started, we're immediately thrown into this immersive fantasy world. This book requires a good bit of world building in its early pages in order for everything to make sense. That being said, it does mean a lot of info dumping early on. I didn't mind it in this case because it was really interesting and in depth but still concise enough to keep the story going. I was initially a little confused on everything, but it started to click pretty easily and then by chapter 10, I think, it was really rolling and the story's momentum truly picked up. And, when it did, it was pure perfection. I love Alessa so very much. She's SUCH a good MC. She has so many great qualities, but is also flawed. I think my favorite thing about her was how often she surprised me while still feeling like a true character with clear motivations. She and the love interest were a wonderful match. A new favorite book couple for sure. Their chemistry was evident early on and the banter was top tier! The side characters were also fun. They were pretty mild at first but then really developed right along with Alessa, making them a wonderful found family all fighting for a common goal. The friendship between Kaleb and Kamaria and Kaleb and Dante especially were big highlights for me. Kaleb might be my favorite side character ever tbh.
I also have to say that the dialogue and writing were fantastic. The fantasy of it all was super cool and I'd honestly love a little bit more in book 2, which I'm sure we'll get based on the ending. The gods system was super interesting to me. I love how often this book subverted my expectations. It's a YA, so I thought it would follow certain common tropes in the plot, and was relieved when it didn't. When I thought it was going to go a certain way, it intentionally didn't. It made reading this so much fun because every step of the way was refreshing and new. I'm tempted to do a reread already and it's not even out yet! I think this will for sure be a favorite for me this year! I'm anxiously awaiting book 2!!
This is technically YA, but it's definitely older. The MC is 18 and love interest is 19/20. The other characters are older teenagers as well.
Thank you to the author, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and War
bottleblondebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Alessa is the Finestra, the divine weapon of the gods, chosen by Dea herself. As the Finestra, she is tasked with partnering with a Fonte, an individual with special gifts she will draw upon in order to defeat the scarabeo and protect her island. Unfortunately, Alessa has lost three of her chosen Fonte. Now, she needs to chose her final one, and learn to control her own power. After being attacked by those she should be able to trust, Alessa hires Dante, a streetfighter and outcast, to be her protector while she selects and trains her new Fonte.
It took me until around 25% to really start enjoying this book. I was intrigued from the start, the world building is well done and different enough to keep my attention, but I wasn’t completely sold until Dante and Alessa finally meet and the story starts to pick up. Their banter was so good! I had a smile on my face throughout any conversation the two of them had, and I loved their snarky wit and the back and forth between them. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of romance, but this is most definitely a romance. There is plenty of action, but I felt, at times, it took a back seat to the relationship between Dante and Alessa, which was totally fine with me! Aside from the romantic relationship, we get a good story of friendship and community. I ended up really falling in love with some of the secondary characters who, at the beginning of the book, I absolutely couldn’t stand. I wish the relationships with the secondary characters had been fleshed out a bit more, though. It did seem as if everyone just woke up one day and decided they all loved each other, and I’d have liked to have seen more interaction between everyone before that happened.
The book was a bit longer than it needed to be. There were a few points where I found myself skimming, anxious to get to the book’s climax and back into the action, but overall, it was paced well, and kept me engaged. While there is no major cliffhanger, the book ends with questions that will hopefully be answered in book two.
I received a free advanced copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Blood
Minor: Death and Suicidal thoughts