There are even darker secrets than Mary Grace, the sheriff of Repentance, knew. She grew up there- a miserable youth- and now she's raising her daughter there are well. And there's a bad guy, lots of bad guys. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good debut.

Mary Grace is the kind of character we all love to root for. She has history....good and bad.....that has made her who she is today. Wife, Mother, sheriff, each piece of her heart has been influenced by the many differing experiences that we see her surviving. While she sees each of her flaws, her actions speak so much louder as she works tirelessly to protect her family and her community. There are many unique segments to this story, Debbie Babitt insures that we see the circumstances that put Mary Grace in the way of a killer who is endanfering the children of her town.

Saving Grace by Debbie Babitt is set in the Deep South, bible country. Mary Grace Dobbs is an orphan, she goes to live with her uncle, a Bible salesman, her wheel-chair bound aunt, and her older cousin who kills small animals for fun. She was bullied at school, and finally finds an unlikely friendship with a new girl in town. Until tragedy strikes, and two classmates go missing. Mary Grace finds comfort in her teacher, and confides in her a secret she has held since the day her parents died.

After years of running from that town she grew up in, she finds herself back there, with her daughter, as a single mother, and the new sheriff in town. The first female sheriff, much to the dislike of most of the locals. As she tries to deal with her job, her daughter and her nightmares of the past, a drifter from her past returns to town. When another child goes missing, it seems as though the past is coming back to haunt Mary Grace and all the other residents affected by the disappearance twenty four years before. As secrets start to spill out, Mary Grace must confront ghosts she thought she left behind, and face a decision no mother should ever have to make.

The chapters in this book are told in the present, and in the past. There are a lot of characters to follow, and I did find it difficult to keep up with who was who. The fist half of the book is a little flat, it seems to drag, although you know something big is happening, it takes some time to get there. Once you do, the last half of the book really explodes with plot twists you won’t see coming. It made the first half of the book worth it! It’s dark, evil, gothic...but really quite intriguing. The unspeakable truths meant to stay buried will chill you to the bone.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Penzler Publishers, and Debbie Babitt for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This thriller started slow, with dual timelines of past and present switching back and forth to build up the suspense. Our main character is Mary Grace, who lives in a small town called Repentance, where people are very religious/superstitious/self-righteous. She lost her parents in a tragic accident so she lived with her relatives since 11 years old. Although a star-athlete, she wasn’t immune to being bullied. Grief and peer-pressure were taking their toll on her until a new girl came into their town and became her best friend. Soon 2 girls went missing and the town was thrust into a nightmare. Fast forward to present time, Mary Grace is now the sheriff and a single mom to Felicity. The town is still the same, with most of Mary Grace’s classmates now adults with kids of their own. Felicity’s a star athlete and is one of the popular girls. And then, like 2 decades ago, girls started missing. Is history repeating itself? Are they being punished by God? Is karma finally getting her payback? What is the connection between the missing girls and Mary Grace?

What I love about the book:
🙏🏻 Chapters are short with cliffhanger endings — will definitely make you read until the end!
🙏🏻The events in the past parallels those of the present. The similarities and contrasts were gratifying to read.
🙏🏻 Mary Grace is such a complex character so her transformation from guilt-ridden child to a responsible mother/sheriff is the highlight of the story for me. She wasn’t perfect nor very likable, especially with her frequent bouts of low self-esteem and guilt trip. But I found myself rooting for her nonetheless!
🙏🏻 The finale was mindblowing. Totally didn’t see that coming! It was dark, disturbing, and intense, but befitting the culmination of the story.
🙏🏻 The final chapter’s message was particularly a good one. It sent out a message of hope and redemption!

What I didn’t like about the book:
🙏🏻 I didn’t agree with adult Mary Grace’s decision in the finale. I think there could be a better way to handle the “situation”, especially her being a sheriff.
🙏🏻 Some plot twists were quite unbelievable and far-fetched IMHO so they removed a bookmark from my rating.

Still, Saving Grace is a good book to read. There are plenty of issues that can be discussed so it makes a great bookclub book as well. I gained lots of insights from the buddyread chat on this (thanks again Berit and Erica!) After much reflection and consideration, my final rating for this book is 🔖🔖🔖🔖/5.

Thanks to @letstalkbooks for hosting the buddyread and @penzlerpub for providing the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in Repentance, Arkansas, a rural town in the South’s Bible Belt, ‘Grace’ is Mary Grace, the first female sheriff of Repentance. A single mother of a 12 year old girl, when one of her daughter’s friends goes missing, Mary Grace can’t help remembering what happened more than two decades before… when two girls she knew well were murdered. Is history repeating itself? Will there be another victim? Can Mary Grace find the missing girl before it’s too late… or is this Mary Grace’s own sins coming back to haunt her?

I really didn’t see the twists coming here, but I have to admit that I was feeling pretty impatient by that time to know what Mary Grace’s own internalized guilt and conviction she was evil was all about, since she kept harping on about it in her internal monologue. And, without actually revealing any spoilers, I was definitely left with the sense of ‘is that it?’ when we found out the truth.

The overly religious evangelising by some characters here turned out to be something of a red herring and I wondered why it was necessary, before realising that it’s actually just part of setting the scenery of the novel. I’ve never lived in a small town in the Bible Belt, but I could almost feel the stifling judgement, the fervor of the true believers as they searched for a scapegoat, for sinners to point their fingers at. That aspect of the writing is truly well done, as are the twists at the end of the story, but my frustration with Mary Grace’s own character and the fact that the pace was slow enough to drag at times mean I’m not entirely sold on this. I’ll give it four stars.

Saving Grace is a recently released thriller that I am recommending to everyone. It is dark and atmospheric with a strong sense of place. It is set in a small Baptist town in Arkansas and is great addition to the South Gothic genre. Not surprisingly, it is heavy on religious themes.

The first half is a little slow as there are lots of characters to introduce with many ties between them. However, after the halfway point, I just couldn’t put it down! And the ending is one that I definitely did not see coming!
4/5 stars- bravo to @debbiebabitt !

Thank you to @scarletsuspense @penzlerpub and @letstalkbookspromo for including me in this campaign.

Saving Grace

This is Debbie Babitt’s debut novel set in a small southern town. She introduces the reader to Mary Grace as a sixth grader and now as the town Sheriff. Following dual timelines from the 1990s to current time. However, it feels more like 1950s in the story. Lots of backward thinking is present- everyone is a sinner, homophobic and racism is very present in the story. The religious aspect was to the very strong almost cultish extreme. Two children disappeared years prior and now the town fears it is happening again. There are secrets everywhere. It starts as a slow build and then has many twists at the end. It was a roller coaster read for sure!

Thank you @scarletsuspense @penzlerpub @debbiebabit @netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

When Mary Grace was in sixth grade, she lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousin Noah, a cruel teenager, trying to deal with her parents’ sudden death in a car accident a year before. She was the target of bullies, called “Little Orphan Mary” and had no hope of joining the clique of popular girls. However, the arrival of Nadia, a new rebellious student from California who befriends Mary, finally gives her a sense of belonging. But soon, Mary’s classmates start to go missing destabilizing her world even further.

Now an adult, Mary is the first female sheriff of her hometown, Repentance, Arkansas, and she herself is the mother of a sixth grader. Unlike Mary, Felicity is not only a straight-A softball star, she is one of the popular girls. But Felicity has something else in common with Mary—her classmates start disappearing, too.

The first half of the book has dual timelines, one from Mary’s childhood and one from the present day. At midpoint, one girls start disappearing with Mary as sheriff, the past timeline concludes. With a number of subplots and a plethora of characters, the first half didn’t have the same energy as the last, and at times I thought the way Mary’s past was presented could be confusing. Once the book concentrated on the present day, the narrative quickened, and the ending left me gobsmacked.

The novel excels at creating a stifling, bleak small town atmosphere ruled by conformity to religious doctrine. Multiple characters wrestle with the nature of evil and divine punishment in a way not usually addressed in thrillers.

TW: animal abuse, bullying, racism, child deaths

This story follows Mary Grace from childhood into adulthood in her small mountain town of Repentance. I have heard such great things about this book and that the ending is crazy, unfortunately I struggled with the content as well as the writing style. This book has a lot of religious aspects to the plot and I just didn't like how it was done, this a very much me thing and don't enjoy this in my reading. I also struggled with the writing in that there are multiple time lines and I didn't feel like they were separated well and wasn't sure what time line I was reading. Thank you to Penzler Publishers and Netgalley for my gifted copy for review.

4.5/5

Wow Debbie Babitt, look at this amazing debut novel you wrote!! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Saving Grace. This book is heavy on religion which I didn't have any issues with, and I thought it was very interesting how it tied into every thread of the story. The first half of the book is more of a slow burn, but once you get to the second half things really start to ramp up and this one ends with a BANG. It made me think, made me mad, made me laugh at times, and overall, just really made me wonder why the people were making the choices they did.

I don't know if I really loved Mary Grace, but I felt awful for her and was happy to see a woman in a position of power in a novel. Being as she's a sheriff, there is a bit of a procedural feel as well as mystery elements while being a thriller at its core. I loved the way Babitt wrote Saving Grace which is broken into parts as well as two time periods. There are a lot of characters which will probably confuse some readers, but somehow, I managed to keep them all straight and didn't have any issues. The biggest thing for me was how almost every chapter would end on a cliffhanger and that kept me saying 'one more chapter' pretty dang near the entire book. It was a very quick read and I am excited to see what this author is going to write next!

Thank you to the publisher and Let's Talk Books Promo for my free copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I definitely had NO idea what I was in for with this book. I was drawn in by the cover and tag line, and then totally blown out of the water. It was slow to start for me, but the second half was a compulsive read. And then...mind blown.

I feel like this one is definitely best enjoyed blind, and you won’t be disappointed!

I was an 11 year old sixth grader in 1995 just like Mary Grace in the first timeline of the story and the differences in our small(ish) town upbringings were so incredible to me. New England seems like a world away from the town of Repentance, AK and my experiences with small community, local social justice and religion are so wildly different. I think, as a result, I was a little overwhelmed and confused by all of the characters and their connections, and I think that I would have had an entirely different reading experience if I had more familiarity with that place and mindset - not necessarily better or worse, just different. And that being said, the information definitely helped put the town, and mindsets of the residents, into a clearer picture. I enjoyed the dual timelines - following the same main character - and seeing the connections within her and around her over the passing of time. There’s a lot to unpack in this one - an incredible debut! - and it would be a great book club discussion.

Thank you to @netgalley @scarletsuspence @penzlerpub and @letstalkbookpromo - and the author! - for including me in the buddy read and book share :)

“I’m the only one who knows what happened to those girls…”

Saving Grace is a southern gothic thriller that was creepy, dark, suspenseful and full of secrets.
I started a little slow for me and had a hard time at first keeping track of all the characters, but I couldn’t stop reading and find out what happened to the girls.
And that ending blew my mind completely, I didn’t see that coming at all.
A great and solid debut from this author.

Thank you LetsTalkBooksPromo, NetGalley, Scarlet Suspense and Penzler Publishers for this ARC.

http://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeepleasemx

This was a thriller that took me a while to get into (about 50-60% in) but once I passed that mark, it flew by! The ending was heart pumping and suspenseful and I did not expect the ending at all. It definitely had a lot of twists and turns and I loved the unpredictability of the story. I struggled initially with a large cast of characters that I couldn't quite keep straight in my mind. It also changes time period and I did read it as an dARC so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, but I sometimes didn't know we were changing time periods again. Despite the pacing struggles I had, this was a case of why it is sometimes worth it to hang on till the end for me - the payoff was worth it in the end!

Is forgiveness the first step to salvation and eternal grace?"

Mary Grace Dobbs, the first female sheriff of her rural hometown, has been waiting for salvation for twenty-four years. After her parent’s deaths when she was eleven-year-old, she went to live with her aunt and uncle and cousin, Noah who had a fondness for killing small animals. Everything changed for her when Nadia moved to town. She finally had a best friend! But things changed when Nadia then another classmate went missing never to be seen again.

"Wickedness never goes unpunished. Sooner or later, the piper must be paid."

Macy being the won sheriff did not go over so well with the locals. Small towns have long memories. Then a man returns to town and another sixth grader goes missing. Coincidence? Hmm, one thing is for sure - prejudice and secrets are all around. For a religious, church going town, they have forgotten their bible verses - John 15:12 ““This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (English Standard Version of the Bible).

"It's not the Devil they should fear. It's something worse. God's wrath."

This book had an interesting ebb and flow to it for me. The book started strong and then my attention waivered and then the book grabbed me again. An interesting part of this book for me was the perceptions, snap judgements, secrets and guilt of a young girl and how these things continue to affect (and shape) her life. The small town, itself is a character with its secrets, it's gossip, its prejudice, it's judgement and it's memory.

There is a sense of tension and heaviness to this book. The weight of secrets, silence and guilt. There are beautiful passages and apt title. There is a darkness to this book. It's heavy and you can feel the emotion seeping through the pages.

A winning debut which is both thought provoking and atmospheric.


"Repentance never looked more beautiful."


Thank you to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Wickedness never goes unpunished. Sooner or later, the piper must be paid."

The Story: Set in the Bible Belt Arkansas, in a small town called Repentance, Mary Grace's best friend Nadia and another classmate vanished without a trace twenty-four years ago. She is now the town's first female sheriff and when Darryl Stokes, a Black drifter who was the suspect in her friends disappearance returns, another girl vanishes. Is history repeating itself?

My thoughts: Oh boy, what a suspenseful, twisty and complex story! I liked both the dual timelines equally - 1995 and now - which I think was quite well done. This story is full of red herrings which kept my interest till the end. I liked how it encompasses topics like racism, bullying and good vs. evil.

To be honest, there are a lot of characters to keep up with from both the timelines. It was pretty overwhelming for me at times which left me confused as to who is who. I liked the subplots which added more suspense to the story although it could feel like a lot is happening at the same time.

Overall, this was a pretty impressive debut and I look forward to reading more of this author's books!


Pub. date: March 16th 2021

***Thank you Penzler Publishers, Scarlet, author Debbie Babitt, Let's Talk Book Promo and NetGalley for this review copy to read and review.***

Mary Grace is a police sheriff in the town of Redemption which I found to be interesting because I didn't really get any redemption vibes from the book. The book is all about her messed up past, and how the past comes back in her adulthood when there is a murder of more girls. The book bounces from present day to past tense and is extremely confusing. The gothic thriller aspect just didn't work for me and ultimately, the ending did not redeem the book for me. The book covers present day issues such as race and sexual orientation, but I found it to be overdone and just all in all confusing.

Mary Grace was a messed up child and is still a messed up adult. Religion has a huge part in it and this book perfectly illustrates how letting religion raise your children without parent explanation or understanding will really create some pretty bad people. Almost everyone in this book was pretty bad, pretty violent, and completely confused. There were two exceptions but they were mostly talked about and rarely seen.

I was confused myself during the flashback scenes. It seemed like they were flashing back to a little girl fro the 50s. Total fear of black people, calling them “dark as sin”, calling unmarried teachers by their first name (what the what was that?); judging anyone who didn’t attend your church....on and on. Seriously you, especially the teacher thing. This was supposed to take place in 1995. Granted, I didn’t start teaching until 1997 but come on. I know people refer to the south as backward, but this was insulting to everyone in a small southern town.

The underlying mystery wasn’t compelling because the author refused to say exactly what it was until the very end. Just constantly saying, and then it happened, without any real context is a cheap tactic to try to pull the reader along. The character and story should do that. All in all, this book did not live up to my expectations.

Mary Grace was fantastic! Loved her character and the way the author wrote you actually really get a feel fro Alabama! Great little story, glows backs wards n forwards from past to present but easy to keep track, thought it was fast paced and held my attention until the end; 4 solid stars from me, a really good book!

Told in multiple timelines, you get an in-depth view of what zealotry and hatred can do in a small town. The beginning was fairly slow and it was a little hard to get into but the back half of the novel more than made up for it. In a “what the hell just happened” type of finish, Babbitt really delivered a solid debut.

I really tried to like this, but I felt like it just fell flat. I couldn't relate to the characters, the plot didn't grab me, and the writing felt amateurish and two dimensional. It needed a lot of polishing, more nuance, less telling and more showing.

I appreciated the opportunity to read it, and I wish I had a better review to leave!