A review by sarainfantasyland
This Vicious Grace (Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Edition) by Emily Thiede

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a delightful surprise.

In the middle of publishing industry littered with mediocre YA books, this shines forth as one of the best ones I've read this year. The world has wonderful roots in Italian culture with a ticking time bomb to doomsday that repeats every five years and a girl whose sole job is to save them all. Expect she can't and everyone thinks she's cursed by the devil. I loved the plot and the commentary its takes on about women in power and human misinterpretation of religion.

But what gives this book its life and soul are Alessa and Dante. I don't usually go for the bodyguard trope but Dante has one of the best love interest personalities I've read in a long time. He's super witty and sarcastic with a tragic backstory to steal your heart and he couldn't turn down a person in need if he tried. The chemistry between the two of them is palpable and this is the perfect amount of spice and sexual tension for someone who wants something more mature than average YA but not the explicit nature of true NA.

Alessa herself is an excellent heroine with plenty of flaws and a great emotional journey. She's mature but competent enough to seem realistic and not overpowered. It really bothers me when a heroine is hyper excellent at every skill (apart from communication) and can master abilities in a few hours. But Alessa learns like ever human and fails like us too.

The ending sets up a really promising next book and I'm excited to get my hands on it.