This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

A beautifully refreshing debut, with a gorgeous cinematic & Italian inspired setting. I thoroughly enjoyed Thiede’s lush & atmospheric prose, and her ability to balance the story with humor & darkness.

The characters are layered and well developed, I connected with so many of them in different ways. And the romance… ah, the romance. A delicious slow burn of forbidden love with a grumpy love interest is always a favorite of mine. The romcom style banter had me hooked from their first scene. I would follow Dante anywhere—skip book boyfriend & go straight to book husband.

I can't wait for book two!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this amazing ARC! This Vicious Grace comes out on June 28th 2022. If you haven’t already preordered this beautiful book, I highly recommend you do!

I thought about DNFing this book in the first 25% and now I regret finishing it. There's nothing really BAD about it; it was just painfully average. There's no real character development and while there is a lot going on, it's all presented in such a superficial way, I just didn't care.

I will not be continuing the series.

A great story about a different kind of loneliness. Alessa is a Finestra and she must find her partner, the Fonte, to give her power to save the world. Her island is relying on her to save them from the demons about to attack. Yet she has had 3 weddings and 3 funerals and remains alone. The island is in imminent danger and someone is out to kill Alessa. When she finds Dante, a beautiful and dangerous young man to keep her safe while on her search, she also finds a different kind of love.

This was a fun and lovely romantic story with a bit of adventure. I enjoyed the world building Emily Thiede wove into this story, demons, magic and folklore. It will be a perfect summer read for those fans of fantasy, romance and adventure. And I'll admit the great start to a series I will follow.


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

It started off really good and I was very interested in the plot, but it seemed like when the love interest entered, everything else fell back to support the romance. And frankly, I didn't find the romance to be anything special or even that cute, and I was disappointed at the lack of progress in the main storyline where the end of the world was supposed to happen while the main characters were bickering and having a sexual tension. Maybe if I expected to read a fantasy novel I wouldn't have been disappointed. The side characters unfortunately weren't fleshed out enough for me to care about them. The writing itself was pretty good, even if the story was unremarkable.

I really enjoyed this story and am eager for the second to be released. It felt similar to a Hunger Games theme but a totally different storyline / plot. I really enjoyed the characters and the development of the plot itself. I highly recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. This Vicious Grace has an excellent storyline that is elevated by top notch dialogue and a truly swoonworthy romance. The story follows Alessa, a young girl that is chosen by the gods and given the gift of magnifying a partner’s magic to save her people from demons. However, Alessa’s powers cause her to kill anyone she touches, including her past three partners. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that the only way to survive is to kill Alessa, her own soldiers turn on her. She seeks help from an outcast with a dark past and convinces him to be her bodyguard. His secrets may be the key to Alessa mastering her gifts or they may destroy her.

Gah. This was amazing. The world building was so perfect and I loved Alessa’s commentary on her world and her role as “savior”. She was an excellent main character and made me laugh out loud many times. Dante is that “if they make a movies out of this, I will hate whoever they cast as him because they will never compare” level of perfect. Alessa and Dante together are basically a grumpxsunshine romcom dropped into a fantasy novel. I. Loved. It. I am desperate for the sequel.

Fans of Zodiac Academy, Serpent & Dove, and From Blood and Ash will love this book. All the stars.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alessa is the chosen one – the Finestra – and each Finestra needs a Fonte – a person blessed by the goddess Dea with a unique gift – to work in tandem to protect their home island from the inevitable attack that comes every so often.

There can only be one Finestra at a time, but there are many Fonte, lucky for Alessa, she can choose her partner – except she’s killed the last three she chose just by touching them.

This story goes with your typical “chosen one” troupe and switches it up, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. It was something familiar with something new.

The world building in this book is incredible, but it never felt too complex to grasp and understand. It’s set in an Italy-inspired world with Italian words dispersed throughout the book but again, it never felt forced. I felt like I understood and could picture this world easily.

Alessa never asked to be the chosen one, and she hates that she has killed three of her partners – she’s an easy to like person. She wants to do her duty to protect the island she calls home but she doesn’t know how when she can’t harness or work with a Fonte without killing them. Alessa grows over the course of this story and I appreciate when protagonists actually learn along the way.

When she discovers those sworn to protect her are trying to kill her, thinking if she dies another Finestra will rise and perhaps be better, Alessa takes matters into her own hands and hires her own personal bodyguard, Dante.

I loved Dante from the minute we met him. He isn’t just a fighting brute and Alessa realized that, which is why she wanted him to protect her. We learn a lot about him throughout the story too and how despite being a fighter, he’s also a thinker.

The romance in this is the slowest of slow burns but its so delicious and wonderful, trust me when I say its worth the burn.

When a Finestra choses a Fonte, they are typically both a fighting team and romantic pair. Some possible Fonte choices for Alessa were other girls so this world doesn’t seem to be against queer relationships – even though we don’t see any queer relationships on page. One thought I had while reading this was what a great opportunity for a polyamorous relationship this story would have been with the Finestra and her Fonte and in this situation, her bodyguard. But alas, that is not this type of story. (And I mean nothing against the author, she didn’t want to write that, so she didn’t have to. I simply think this world would accept a poly relationship and it would have been interesting.)

This is scheduled to be a duology but I’m pleased to say while the ending is a slight cliffhanger, its not the worst kind of cliffhanger. Its more like, “We solved some of the problems but theres still more to be done” kind of ending. So you will feel satisfied at the end, but left wanting more.

Overall, I’m excited for this book to be released and see what everyone else thinks of it, I enjoyed it a lot more than expected and can’t wait to discuss it with others!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of THIS VICIOUS GRACE by Emily Thiede. It took me a minute to get into this book, mostly because it took a minute for the romantic interest to be introduced—but once he was, that was the end. The romance really made this book for me. The epic fantasy battle was honestly something I felt very little tension about—I knew they'd win, I even had a pretty good idea of how they'd win, and I wasn't worried about it. Dante and Alessa, however—I was STRESSED for them. Their imminent separation brought me so much pain, and their banter was literally laugh-out-loud hilarious—"Did I hurt you?" "That's my line." They had the best tension going on between them. Alessa's feelings of failure as the chosen one were also so real and unique. Toward the end, everything just started to feel to light-hearted and predictable, but that's okay because I heart Dante and Alessa forever.

If you like
🌙 Sailor Moon
🍳Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert
🛏️ Only one room
🗯️Excellent banter
🍋 Food
✨ Magic
❌ X-Men

You'll love This Vicious Grace!
I read it in 2 days! Epic battles. Friendship. Rogue and Gambit style love.
ALSO IT'S GAY.

First off, huge thanks to Emily Thiede, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book was so good!!

The Shadows Between Us meets Serpent & Dove in this magical story. Alessa is tasked with finding the perfect partner to win their upcoming battle against the evil army, but after three dead partners she’s losing hope and so are her people she’s supposed to protect.

In comes Dante.

I loved this bodyguard, enemies to lovers romance and I’m so glad I was able to read it. The banter between these two is incredible, and I loved watching their relationship grow as they stretched each other and became better versions of themselves.

I also really enjoyed the found family aspect of this book. It was really interesting how this started as enemies to family as well, and I loved seeing everyone’s relationships to each other by the end.

Overall, this book was great and a super fun read. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next one.

Witty banter, fun side characters AND a new book boyfriend—- yes please!

This Vicious Grace threw you into Alessa’s world head first. I was cheering, laughing, and crying for her. This was a great debut and I need book two ASAP.

So. The first 50% or so will feel a bit repetitive. But I promise it is worth it; once Alessa starts to think for herself and use what (and who) is around her for her full potential, the book takes shape in interesting ways. The interplay of religion here is actually well done; the
book acknowledges the Divine but also the errs and strength of humanity. Particularly notable for me is the way people misinterpret text and create all these misconceptions based on their own reading of something.
Btw I actually cried at the (almost) end so that's something.Thatt, along with some language lessons, sets up a great cliffhanger to hinge the series on. I very much liked the growth in the characters, and a new set of deities and landscapes to learn about. 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
This Vicious Grace is a fun romantic fantasy debut. I was immediately drawn to the Italian influences, from the worldbuilding to the language. The mythology and magic, and how it informs the protagonist Alyssa and her relationships with the others around her, are well-conveyed, and complex without bogging the narrative down. The central role of religion is so interesting, and I’m loving when fantasies like this one unpack that.
I really liked Alessa and was intrigued by her backstory and how that shaped her present circumstances. She’s been married three times before, and her touch has proved deadly in all those cases. And with Divorando—Doomsday—approaching, she is expected to do find another partner, a Fonte, and she’s also in danger due to the dark reputation her powers have given her. I love how, with these circumstances, she started off somewhat unsure of herself. Throughout the book, she becomes more confident in herself and her ability to find a way out of this.
Dante is kind of your standard grumpy, cynical, world-wary love interest, and while that’s not really my thing, I liked how it was executed here. And his interplay with Alessa is charming and endearing, with a focus on their mutual support of one another.
I really liked this, and am excited for what’s to come in the next book. If you enjoy fantasy with a heavy romance focus, as well as imaginative world building and magic with an emphasis on religion, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

This Vicious Grace was a lush and fast-paced YA Fantasy, that I enjoyed from start to finish! Being part Italian myself I really love the Italian influence and language! I really adored Alessa and Dante’s romance throughout the story, and Dante is one of my new favorite book boyfriends! I also enjoyed her progressing relationships with the other Fontes. It was so heart warming to see them all friends (even Kaleb) working together by the end of the book! I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next in this series, but that was definitely a great start!

3.5
This, to me, is a perfect read for any ya fantasy romance reader. Especially those that prefer romance to plot. I think this story about a touch starved, chosen one heroine finding someone she can safely touch is an enticing premise, but not necessarily one that’s very easy to successfully pulled off. I think that this one is very well-done and easy to be sucked into. The downside was that the rest of the story wasn’t quite as engaging as the romance was. I would absolutely still recommend this one though because I think it’s perfect for its targeted audience. I’d definitely recommend this to readers that enjoyed Serpent & Dove or Elizabeth Lim’s series’.

3.5 stars. The idea was good….. I enjoyed the characters, the concept, the mythology... The pacing was off to me though. There were whole sections that I felt were rather slow and then others that moved faster. Overall I enjoyed the characters and their development.

An attempt was made.

Sadly, this book was outrageously horrible. I went into it with such high expectations because the premise sounded really promising, but every page was just unbelievably worse than the one that came before it.

Everything felt pretty shallow from the world building, the characters, and even the storyline, itself. For a book with such high stakes, it didn't feel like that at all. As a reader, it didn't seem as if everyone's lives were at stake. If Alessa didn't mention it every five minutes all throughout the book, I would have forgotten that everyone on the island was facing impending doom. Then, the characters felt very one dimensional. I didn't find any depth nor did I connect with any of them, at all.

I do have a lot of other qualms and issues about this book so let me mention some of them:
- Like I said, it didn't feel like there was any urgency in the entirety of the story despite everyone's lives at stake.
- Alessa didn't feel too concerned for her safety even though she's "the chosen one," and everyone is relying on her to save them
- Almost spit my water when I got to this part but ... you're telling me that her own BROTHER told her to off herself and proceeded to act like it wasn't That big of a deal, like you canNOT be serious right now.
- Don't even get me started on the awkward lines between Alessa and Dante.
- Then, there were the religious parents that we saw Once--and they practically threw her out of the bakery, then suddenly--SUDDENLY--had a change of heart and went against the things they believed in out of nowhere.
- I don't even remember any of the side characters. In some books, whenever the MC's came off as annoying, I would turn my attention to the side characters, instead. But in this book none of them were remarkable enough to notice.

That's the gist of it, i guess. I believe that the author had a really great idea in mind, but struggled a lot when it came to the execution. Nevertheless, I would not recommend.

Alessa is supposed to have a gift to amplify a partner's powers, but the three men she married all died. A hungry swarm of demons plans to invade her island home, and a priest convinces the people that killing her will appease them. Alessa hires a bodyguard, but he has his own secrets that just might destroy her.

This is the first book of the Finestra series, and it's very well done. In this world, where language and names are a mix of cultures we recognize but primarily Italian, the goddess Dea saved people with three gifts, one of which was stolen. The Finestra will amplify the power that her Fonte has in order to fight off the scarabeo, creatures who arrive each Divorando to devour any or all living things left behind. The Finestra is kept isolated from those outside of the Citadella, the better to cherish the relationship with her mentors and Fonte. Unfortunately for Alessa, this made her crave companionship and ultimately fear her power when her two male and one female consorts all die with her touch. The people of her island nation of Saverio are relying on her to live beyond the day. The deaths of the Fontes have made the people (and Alessa herself) doubt her, to the point that people feel she should be killed so a new Finestra could be found. This leads her to find Dante, a surly fighter who reluctantly agrees to protect her from would be assassins.

I really enjoyed getting to know Alessa and the Fontes, who she brings into the Citadella to train with prior to choosing which one she would ritually marry. They each have their own personalities and fear the death they're sure will come if they get too close. At the same time, Dante upholds his end of the bargain to keep Alessa safe. She's so desperate for companionship, and he figures out part of the problem that led to her Fontes' death. They grow closer, but she also becomes friends with the Fontes. It's a fantasy setting, with an otherworldly enemy that knows nothing about families, love or trust, all of which drive Alessa.

This is the first of a series, so of course, there's something of a cliffhanger for future books to hook into. This is a fascinating world, one that feels like ours but is distant enough that we can accept their rules, religion, and traditions. I loved reading this and look forward to future books in this series.

4.5⭐️This story was so well done. The unique magic system was so well done and I loved the character arc of Alessa was spectacular. I bawled my eyes out, I laughed, and I swooned. All things that make me love a book!

This story just missed the mark for me. I think what it came down to was me wanting a story that focused more on the fantasy elements, but what I got instead was a romance that I didn't care to read about.

Because it just wasn't what I expected it to be, I was going to give this a middle rating but decided to lower it a bit because I still didn't particularly enjoy myself.

Let's get into the details.


WRITING:

I don't have many things to say about the writing, as it was decent enough for me to get through this with no issues. The one issue I had in terms of the format of the book though was that it started to follow a countdown of 30 days. Now, this is an issue because, while it is nice to have a specific passage of time, it makes the reader more aware of the pacing and how much quality content we are getting.

The only other comment I do want to make is that I found there wasn't much need to put the proverbs at the beginning of each chapter.

One thing I did appreciate is that there are trigger warnings at the start. It is also nice to see those just so that the reader can know what they are getting themselves into.


PLOT:

This story follows Alessa, who is a Finestra, a person of great importance who has to partner with a Fonte in order to stop an incoming wave of demons. The only issue here is that Alessa is unable to bond with a Fonte she hasn't accidently killed yet, and time is running out. With the increase in frustration in the people, many start to turn against her, causing her to hire Dante, a mysterious criminal, to be her bodyguard.

This is the kind of story that sounded better in hindsight because once I started to delve into it, I realized it was just too simple for me, and it didn't focus on the things I wanted it to. It also just took a long while for the story to get anywhere. Because the only goal of the story was for Alessa to successfully bond with a Fonte without killing them, that leaves very little room for content. The only other thing that was happening, which took precedence, was the development between Alessa and Dante.

The first chapter by itself made for a bit of a rough start that didn't get any smoother as I read along. The concepts weren't fully explained and were a bit confusing, and it didn't go too much into what the book was actually about. Once I finally understood what was going on, which took a while, the plot just left me wanting more from it. The story also ends up taking a predictable route, which didn't do the book any favours. It went in a direction that was a bit cliché and melodramatic for me.

In terms of pacing, besides what I already mentioned in the writing section, there wasn't really any increase in tension. The characters are given 30 days to find a way to fix things and, as the days count down, the characters didn't particularly seem to get more and more nervous. So, the story was pretty stable throughout most of it, when instead it should have slowly ramped up the tension.


WORLD-BUILDING:

As I said in the previous section, the concept and magic system weren't explained enough for me. It took a while for anything to make sense, as the author was just throwing terms at you, and nothing was sinking in. The magic system was very standard, with certain people having certain abilities and that's it.

Even the catalyst for the book didn't make much sense to me. The Finestra and Fonte were supposed to protect their homeland, an island called Saverio, from demons that were sent by Crollo. The people think that this is the way things are because it is Dea, their equivalent of a goddess, reminding them of the importance of community, which makes no sense for two reasons.

First of all, it is just an odd scenario to back your story on. Second of all, it makes no sense to build a community when the fate of the island rests in only two people's hands, and not the community itself.

One thing I both liked and hated about the world in this was the bond between the Finestra and Fonte. I liked it only because it was a different way to go about creating a hierarchy. Instead of relying on heirs, the rulers would naturally be the next Finestra and Fonte. What I didn't like about it though, was that it somehow ended up creating drama that didn't need to be there.

The Finestra and Fonte are supposed to get married, but that doesn't mean the relationship has to be romantic. In my mind at least, it makes sense for the relationship to be platonic for appearances, but to have a private romantic relationship on the side with the person they actually want to be with. That, sadly, does not happen in this, and instead, we get relationship drama that I found unnecessary.


CHARACTERS:

One big issue I had with this book was the characters. Starting with Alessa, I wasn't very fond of her right off the bat. She pushed the wrong button for me when she started judging the potential Fontes appearance and personality, even though she just made it clear that they do not have to be your romantic partner.

She was also very clearly out of her depth and didn't realize the full severity of the situation she was in even while people were trying to assassinate her, which goes to show that she had zero self-preservation skills. She would go outside for a stroll by herself and thought it would be fine because she usually has her face covered so people wouldn't recognize her, but should you really take that risk?

She also made incredibly thoughtless moves in this, that I can't go into without spoilers, that made me lose all hope for her character. Sure, her recklessness and naivety advanced the plot, but that is not what I want to move the story along, because all it did was bother me. She also successfully pokes a trope that I hate. She hires Dante to protect her but then proceeds to complain and push him away.

As for Dante, well, his character was there but he wasn't there if you know what I mean. He was the deuteragonist and was very prevalent in the story, but he felt more like a plot device than an actual person. He is only really there to act as the love interest and to turn up the dramatics with predictable plot twists.

Speaking of love interests though, let's talk about Alessa and Dante. Instead of a complex fantasy story, this is what the book decided to focus on, a generic and uninteresting romance. While I wouldn't say it was horrible to read, I just didn't care about these two characters and their growing bond. The kind of romance they had has been done before so many times that this just fell straight into mediocrity.

In terms of the rest of the cast, consisting mainly of the other Fontes, they didn't really do much to stand out as they were just there in the background. The one character I did actually like though was Kaleb because he was not afraid to speak his mind no matter how blunt and cynical he was being.


CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

A big swing and a miss for me with this one. It was just too simple of a story, and even with a world and plot that wasn't complex, it managed to just be uninteresting.

This did end up reminding me of Girl, Serpent, Thorn though, as both stories have main characters that kill people with their touch. I did rather enjoy that story though, so I would recommend you try that one out (and it is a standalone).

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books, for giving me the opportunity to review this in advance. My review for this will be posted to my blog 2 weeks before the release date.