Alessa has the future of her people hanging on her shoulders. She should be preparing to take on the scourge that is coming for them all. Instead she has been unable to control her powers and has caused three funerals. Everyone is turning on her and she no longer knows who she can trust causing her to hire street-fighter Dante as her personal bodyguard. He may be a surly marked killer but he is the only person who seems intent on seeing her survive.

I was pretty enraptured by this book in the beginning. I have been a little burnt out on YA fantasy and it sounded different enough to warrant my interest, I was intrigued by Alessa's situation and enjoyed her chemistry with Dante but then things got more and more predictable and the world building showed some cracks. I was still firmly invested enough to be riveted by the final battle but as the set up for the sequel started being laid out I had to admit that I would likely not be returning for book two.


I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic book! The unique mixes of magic, slow-burn romance, and dynamic charactes keep you engaged throughout the whole book. The world-building is detailed and allows for more inclusive experience for the reader.

I am absolutely obsessed with blessed by the gods magic and demonic enemies-turned-lovers. The slow burn romance stole me away from the mystery and political aspects of the story. Their banter was so amazing and the tension burned me alive from the inside. The world building was a tad bit of an information dump for me and could have been more showing than telling. But the writing was absolutely gorgeous. It kept to the mood of the story and kept me invested.

This was a really unique story in the YA fantasy sphere. I loved the romance between Dante and Alessa & the multi cast of characters. The book lost me a bit in the end, but I still think it will appeal to young adults and adults alike who are in the mood for a rom com style fantasy.

DNF around 20%

Having just finished Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, the thought of returning to this book is loathsome. I want to read books that will impact me in a positive way. Sorry, but this book isn’t going to meet that criteria.

I was immediately wrapped up in this story. I couldn’t wait to meet all the characters, explore the world and find out all the goings on. I think the writing was excellent and the pacing perfect. I will definitely look out for more to read by Thiede!

I know "don't judge a book by it's cover" is a very popular saying, and I understand why, but that is 100% what you should be doing with This Vicious Grace. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm so happy that I loved the story itself just as much. This is probably one of the best debuts I've read, once I started I couldn't put it down, and fell in love with all of the characters so quickly. I loved that the characters all had a certain realness to them, and their flaws just made them more believable. The romance between Alessa and Dante was exactly what I love in my fictional ships, and the whole being unable to touch one another just added to the tension between them.

The story does tend to lean a bit more the romance side than straight up fantasy, which made it all that more perfect for me. It did feel a little info dump-y at times, but it wasn't too noticable, and I'd rather have that than getting thrown into a fantasy world without any context, one of my biggest pet peeves. If you're a fan of fantasies with a side of romance definitely try picking This Vicious Grace up! Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself until the sequel comes out.

This Vicious Grace is a book about creating space for yourself, opening yourself up for others, and the importance of community. There’s a lot to enjoy here, with Dante being an easily lovable and grumpy addition. Not to mention the surprise when the Fonti grew on me, too.

Some parts of the story felt a little hollow, and perhaps even superficial. However, I believe that exploring more of the world in the next book will greatly help give this one further meaning.

This book was enjoyable with some of my favorite tropes, it just has a few plot issues and characterization aspects that keep it from being an immediate favorite. All in all, a pretty impressive debut!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC because this book was AMAZING!

The book took me by surprise. It's utterly unique and imaginative. Alessa has magical powers, she can draw upon (Fontes) magic and amplify it. Only one of her is "active" at a time and is destined to fight off this hoard of insect/demons because of the Gods. However, she keeps killing every Fonte she is paired with because her power is so great. This causes people on the island to revolt and results in multiple assassination attempts thanks to some religious zealot/fervor that claims she's cursed and fake. Many Fontes have left the island, afraid of her.

She decides to hire her own bodyguard because the guards in her fortress are also trying to kill her. She also decides to train with all of the remaining Fontes hoping that building a connection and going slowly into touching them (how she takes their magic) will help her not kill her next partner. But she slowly realizes she is so powerful (and so unlike the ones before her) she needs multiple Fortes touching her in order to not kill them. So they concoct a plan.

at the same time she finds out that her bodyguard Dante is a ghiotte (spelling?) essentially a being of greed that stole one of the goddesses gifts (healing fountain) but for some reason she can touch him and he can heal her. Alessa has been so lonely and scared because she was isolated as soon as her power manifested and people were prevented from being her friends and from touching her (she isn't even allowed to have contact with her family). This is psychologically damaging so when she forms a connection with Dante and craves his touch honestly, having that connection helps her not be so deadly with her powers.

They battle the insect demons and win, inhabitants of another island arrive because their Finestra is dead. Dante dies saving Alessa but she brings him back with his own power but he's not the same. He had some vision of the Goddess who was trying to tell him that the God who sent the insect things isn't done that he's going to attack again in the near future (unheard of) and that Dante must find the others of his kind to bring back the gift they stole.

It's a wild book, absolutely crazy! But it is also a lot of fun. Alessa's isolation is painful and emotional to read about. You feel for her and that makes the book. Can't wait to read the second one!

I think most of are suckers for the bodyguard trope and THIS VICIOUS GRACE delivers on that trope in the most delectable of ways.

Alessa is the Finestra of her island – essentially a savior charged with protecting her island and people from religious calamity. Her powers are meant to be amplified by a counterpart called a Fonte…except her powers are so great and so unpredictable that she has, accidentally, killed three Fonti. Her people, even the Captain of her own Guard have begun thinking she’s demonic in nature and there are attempts being made on her life. Determined to survive on her own terms, Alessa hires the mysterious Dante to protect her and the two develop a close friendship that blossoms into more. But with a battle looming ahead, will Alessa be able to control her powers to be the savior her people need?

Beyond just the bodyguard trope, this story also explores a side of the Chosen One arc that we don’t normally see: the crushing loneliness that comes with all this newfound responsibility and trauma from being ripped out of everything you’ve ever known and love. Dante is haunted by his past as well and the two connect over that crushing loneliness and struggle for acceptance in a world that reviles them.

At its core this book explored love – in all its forms.

On the romantic front, we get the relationship between Alessa and Dante which is so tantalizing and delicious in its slowburn. Their relationship was so cute, from when Dante was teasing Alessa about her romance novels to their training sequences to Alessa building the confidence to assert herself and fight for him. I love them together. I love the aching, yearning feeling that the author elicits when she writes about them. I love that Dante is the grumpy love interest to Alessa’s (outward) sunshine personality. Beyond that, these two communicate in healthily (no miscommunication trope here) and trust each other on a deep level in a way that, to the reader, doesn’t feel forced or contrived.

The theme of acceptance, of course, leads us to the found family trope. Without divulging too many details, just know that the friendship that comes out of the distrust and betrayals is absolutely heartening and the banter between the Fonti (Saida, Kamaria, Kaleb, Josef and Nina) made me wish I had a group of friends just like that. They each had such distinct personalities and it was so much fun reading about them.

While the world is obviously Italian inspired, I loved that the author included diverse characters in this world in a way that felt organic and not token. One of the Fonti, Saida, is very clearly Bengali (she makes roshogulla, the BEST Bengali dessert) and when I realized she was Bengali, I was so thrilled because this is probably the first time I’ve read a Bengali coded character in a YA fantasy. I did, however, feel that the some of the worldbuilding was a little lacking and I hope that in book 2 we will get a lot more of that because I’m so intrigued by the mythos, the history and the other neighboring islands.

THIS VICIOUS GRACE is out on June 28th so definitely add this fun story to your summer TBRs! Do look up content warnings as there are multiple instances of suicidal/self-harm themes that pop up.

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions. I cannot wait for the second installment in this duology.

I will probably never stop talking about this book. It’s hard to think of the last time I felt this excited about making everyone I know read something.

Three weddings.
Three funerals.

And so begins This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede, a stunning debut that hooks readers in and doesn’t let go.

Alessa is an incredibly strong narrator. Her voice is distinct, relatable and easy to follow. The struggles she faces in the book have a gentle touch of humanity that I think will allow readers to relate to her on a deeper level. All she wants is good, to do good, even if it means she hurts.

Dante is one of the best male love interests I’ve read in a while. He perfectly fits the tall, dark and brooding type, but there is so much depth to him - his own personal struggles, both in the past and present, his growing relationship with Alessa, and how she pushes him to be better. The depth the two have on their own only makes the chemistry between them even stronger.

I would say this book is 50% action/fantasy and 50% romance. The tension building between the two had me taking a second to breathe while reading. Their growing relationship felt so natural and real that I eagerly awaited every scene they shared together.

The secondary characters in the novel were also fun to get to know. While they were truly secondary characters and could have used a little more depth, the found family aspect they brought later in the novel has me excited for their roles to hopefully grow in the sequel.

The world building and magic system in This Viscous Grace was extremely well done. Sometimes fantasy novels, especially the first installments in series, are often weighed down by explanations. Thiede however manages to expertly expand the world and magic progressively as the story develops. This lends to perfecting pacing that keeps the reader both intrigued and entertained from beginning to end.

I do wish the battle scene was a little more fleshed out with some further details and description, but the rest of the book was so great that I can over look that. I have already recommended this book to whoever I can and can’t wait for others to get to enjoy it the way that I did.

TROPES THAT MADE ME LOSE MY MIND:

FOUND FAMILY.
WOUND TENDING.

FORBIDDEN TOUCH.
RELUCTANT HERO.
TRAINING SCENES.
FORBIDDEN ROMANCE.
BODYGUARD LOVE INTEREST.

Why does Dante keep trying to make me straight again and why is it working -

Kidding, I’m too questioning and queer for that. But also, Dante.

Moving on. This book was so good. It was rich, the story and setting actually made sense, and the romance? Yes. I did not expect to get into it that much.

The plot follows Alessa, the Chosen Finestra of Saverio. As Finestra, she has the ability to grasp and magnify the gifts of a Fonte - a person blessed by the goddess Dea with a supernatural Gift. Alessa is expected to marry and train with her chosen Fonte in order to protect the island of Saverio from Divorando - Doomsday, initiated by the gods - when a horde of demons will attack.

The thing is, Alessa has already married three Fontes. And each one has died upon her touch.

Divorando is drawing closer, and Alessa’s life is in danger as word starts to spread about her deadly touch. She still hasn’t found a Fonte. So she hires Dante, an outlaw, to protect her.

“”

The world-building was actually a lot now that I think about it, but it was actually so easy to understand? That literally never happened, but somehow I managed to grasp the terms and concept of the world almost immediately. I loved the Italian-inspired aesthetic and culture, and the settings and terms made a lot of sense.

I had to laugh at the beginning - why would the savior of the island be called a “window”? And why would her partner be called a “fountain”? But then there were some explanations and I understood.

The political atmosphere was included really well. It played into the plot with a lot of importance and I thought it was an extra immersive aspect to the storyline.

“In a city full of people who feared or plotted against her, ambivalence might be the best she could hope for.”

I liked the writing style of this book - it matched the atmosphere and the setting beautifully. It added a lot of richness to the mood and the emotions, and that’s what really brought things to life for me.

“She wanted to rip down the sky and shred it with her fingernails, to pluck every start from the fabric of the heavens until the fathomless darkness matched the void inside her.”

Alessa was a very interesting protagonist, and I loved the way she developed over the course of the book. She began as an unsure, confused girl who only knew the rules that had been forced on her. She felt restricted and alone. But as she grew, she became more independent, more confident, and much more entertaining.

Not to say she wasn’t at the beginning, but she just got a lot more excitement as the plot grew more exciting. I liked how strong and stubborn she became, and her personality was never dull or uninteresting.

“But even ordained by the gods, she disappointed everyone. Sure, she was determined, always trying to please. She meant to complete her chores, ro remember the shopping list or check on the bread, and now she meant to control her gods-given power. Her failures didn’t mean an extra trip to the market anymore, but dead Fontes and dried blood crackling on her skin.”

I loved her mental struggle and the way her perspective was made so relatable. There was a lot of detail and strength in her characterization that made her so much more realistic. I liked that even though she had the power to kill people by touching them, she wasn’t portrayed as a dangerous character. In fact, the opposite.

“Despite being a stranger, an interloper, and a marked man, he didn’t think twice about asserting himself and taking up space. Now that she thought about it, most men didn’t. Some people stepped aside, and others stood their ground, as if they had every right to exist.
Maybe she deserved to claim her small patch of space too, not because of her title, or even because she’d earned it. Just because.”

Dante was exactly my type, and I didn’t even realize I had a type. But if I ever had the realization that I was attracted to men (possible, but any attraction right now up in the air) and that I wanted to get married (highly dubious but also up in the air) I would want someone like Dante. He is the epitome of why men written by women are superior.

He was so caring and sassy and understanding under his very cynical exterior. I loved that he acted tough without thinking he had to be emotionless or violent to do so - the opposite, in fact. He acted tough but still enabled his thoughts and emotions. He was protective and strong but listened to Alessa when she told him to back down.

“Oh, I’m sure they had reasons. People always have reasons. People can justify anything if they want to enough.”

Those two were really the only main characters, but even the side characters held a lot of weight and carried the plot in their own ways. Kamaria was an icon and I want to be her when I grow up. Kaleb was an asshole but I like how he was portrayed. Saida was interesting, though she didn’t get much page time. Renata and Tomo were annoying at first, but I grew to like them.

Adrick could have died in a hole for all I would have cared.

“Sympathy, kindness, love, and friendship - all those precious human experiences that made for a full life - those were for other people, not her.”

The romance between Alessa and Dante was one of the main aspects of the book, but it managed to be that without taking away from the story. In fact, it added a lot more to the story in terms of intrigue.

I loved the banter they had and how their relationship was established. The chemistry was beautiful.

“She didn’t know much about bodyguard duties aside from stand outside the door and look grumpy” which he seemed perfectly suited for, so Alessa bit her tongue as Dante examined everything she owned.”

“Smells like a damned orchard in here.”
“What do you have against lemons?” Alessa retorted.
His only response was to radiate curmudgeonly gloom through the wall.”

“She gave him a scolding look. “Be nice.”
“I’m not nice.”
“I think you might be, actually.”
Dante looked mortally offended.”

“I supposed I’ll let you put your clothes on now.”
He snorted. “Like you could stop me.”
“I could kill you with my pinky.”
“I’m shaking.”

But then there was a very emotional side to their relationship and I loved how they connected. There were tender, vulnerable moments and moments of angst - which I lived for. The relationship felt solid and I really loved both of them together.

“How cruel, that sharing someone else's grief did nothing to alleviate it for them. In physics, there were rules and forces, equal and opposite reactions, a balance. But emotions didn’t obey rules, and though sympathy settled over her like a blanket, it did nothing to help him. … Even her hands, which stole power, strength, and life itself. Were powerless to siphon off any of his suffering.”

I also loved the underlying narratives of this book. The political tension and the individual emotions of each character added so much to what it expressed, and I loved the way it addressed prejudice and power.

I thought it was interesting that there wasn’t a lot of emphasis placed on those things - usually, those kinds of messages are given a lot more page time, to the point that the book is overwhelmingly presenting the same narrative. But this book didn’t do that. The messages were present, but they kind of remained under the plot, and I liked that.

“Keep your gods and goddesses on their pedestals if you want, but the rituals, the rules, the isolation? You know that isn’t really from them, right? That’s written by mortals. Men, mostly. We have a bad habit of locking up people who scare us, and the thing that scares men with power most is a woman with more of it.”

“Justice. There was no justice in putting someone on trial for what they were, not what they’d done.”

Overall, I did not expect to be so drawn into this book the way I was. It was described as a lush romance combined with a fantasy, and for some reason I didn’t realize what that meant until I finished.

The only reason I didn’t give it a full five stars is because it just didn’t have the same feel as my five-star books. It was good, but not quite on that level for me to scream and rave about it.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my gosh, I did not expect to become so obsessed with this book! The magic system, the inspiration pulled from the Amalfi Coast, the romance. This is the upper YA fantasy I really needed right now, and I am craving more.

This Vicious Grace follows The Last Finestra, Alessa as she searches for her magical partner. After three of them have died from her touch, no one wanted to volunteer. She hires a new bodyguard, Dante, after an assassination attempt, and as she fights to overcome her deadly touch, she uncovers some dark secrets.

I loved Dante s character and all of the character arcs. Even the secondary characters all grew in one way or another. Just a truly fantastic book and a wonderful start to a series!

Cw: death, violence, and a steamy scene that makes me categorize this as upper YA

I received this ARC through NetGalley, and this does not influence my review. READ IT. The male lead was swoooon worthy, the romance was great, I loved the banter. I also love when authors have a great writing style. This book has made it to my favs.

An absolutely heart wrenching story that will have you on the edge of your seat. I can not imagine never being able to physically touch another person. Not receiving a hug when you are sad, never holding the hands of a friend, never experiencing a kiss…

Alessa is a completely loveable main character that you really can not help but feel terrible for. Ostracized for her failure to keep a suitor alive while trying to magnify their powers, Alessa is also given the burden of having to fight off a horde of demons that will make anyone’s skin crawl.

Dante is thrown into this mess by unwittingly becoming Alessa’s bodyguard after an assassination attempt sanctioned by her own guards. He has his own secrets to protect, but drops his guard when emotions start to get in the way of his own plans

I absolutely loved how their relationship develops. The author does an amazing job of making this book come to live around you. It was unique, thrilling, and I can not wait for the second installment..

This may just be my favorite book of the year.

As soon as I opened this book, I knew I was trapped. I couldn’t put it down until the words ran out and there were no more pages to flip through. Even still, it lingers in the back of my mind…

What wasn’t to love about this book? The plot was so interesting. A girl destined to be the savior of her entire continent, but whose powers kill those she is supposed to support. Assassins and danger around every corner, even from those closest to her, until she feels forced to hire a bodyguard.

I loved Dante. He was such a good character. Badass and unafraid to do what needs to be done, but also caring, even when he doesn’t want to be.

I also loved the fonti, who had to put up with Alessa accidentally killing the other members of their group over and over again. They were reluctant, but they were still there, ready to help out no matter what.

And the found family trope??? To die for.

I would say that its kind of obvious who Alessa chooses in the end to be her official fonte simply because of the vibes. As nice as it is to have a bisexual main character who doesn’t need to choose to marry someone for romantic reasons (and can instead choose platonic marriage if she wishes), her ultimate choice just seemed like it would be the crowd’s favorite of the bunch.

That ending hurts, though. This book isn’t even out yet and I’m already screaming for the sequel. I need more of these characters in my life.

I need a reread every day until I live, breathe, and eat This Vicious Grace.

Swoony, lush, high-stakes fantasy? CHECK CHECK CHECK.

I've heard lots of buzz about THIS VICIOUS GRACE, so I was thrilled by the opportunity to check it out! And oh, Emily Thiede did not disappoint.

We follow Alessa, who has recently been divinely selected to protect her island home (which is inspired by Mediterranean Italy) from an incoming horde of demonic insects. Alessa is a "finestra," which means she can magnify the powers of her partner or "fonte." The only problem? She's had three fontes already. And she's killed all of them with a touch.

Enter plots and trials and desperation, as Alessa and those around her try to understand the implications of this situation. And, of course, enter Dante: the hardass bodyguard chosen to protect Alessa from fanatics who believe the only way to save their island is to kill her so a new, less lethal finestra can rise.

TBH this is not a perfect book. (What book IS?) Dante frequently felt like a physically-flawless-and-brooding stereotype I'd read about in countless other novels, and imo the pace sagged in the middle. I never stopped enjoying myself, but I didn't feel that heart-pounding compulsion to keep reading at any point. The ending was nice, but safe and inevitable.

But for a debut, Thiede's writing is confident and evocative and I LOVE LOVE LOVED the innuendo-heavy banter scenes between Alessa and Dante. If the sequel is nothing but thinly-veiled sex jokes, I will read it gleefully. I also really enjoyed Alessa as a protagonist; she faced *so much pressure* and also had a refreshingly open attitude toward her wants & desires. I'm super excited to see where her story goes next.

Overall: a solid, romantic YA fantasy with a deceptively complex magic system, THIS VICIOUS GRACE is as lethally elegant as its title suggests.

5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: fantasy, magic, found family, assassinations, end of the world, fantasy!Italy, messy protagonists, LGBTQ+ characters

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 2/11 and has been posted to Instagram my book review blog as of 3/2.

Saverio is on the brink of rebellion. Not one of governments, though, one of religion. After accidentally killing her third Fonte, the people of Saverio have by and large lost their faith in Alessa. It doesn't help that Ivini is spreading awful rumors around, but even without him the people are having a crisis of faith. It's an interesting backdrop for things, because no one is running and hiding from the guards/soldiers, no one is truly meeting in back alleys (at least not for long), and there's not wave after wave of arrests. I liked the take on rebellion that's shown here because it's less about rebellion and more about a quiet slipping away of belief and confidence. I thought it was very very interesting the way Thiede showed how faith can be manipulated until it's wrong but the people still believe it's right.

Alessa is stuck in a bad position, harming or killing anyone she touches and lauded as the next savior of the world...but she just wants to be able to hug her brother (and other people) without hurting them. She seems to manage quite well with gallows humor and making herself as small as possible, but just because it helps her cope doesn't mean it takes away the sting of people fearing her. Alessa was interesting to read because in some instances she really did act like someone who is supposed to be the next savior, but then other times she acted like a girl thrust into power and responsibility too soon. I think Thiede did a good job capturing how the weight of that responsibility can weigh on someone and alter who they are. Of course, Alessa is still someone who loves romance books and is a bit clumsy at times, but I think the mix of those two things makes her feel more real.

Dante is quite obviously the love interest from the beginning, but that's fine, no one else really wants to contend. He's surly and moody, but he has a soft spot for people in need and those who have had injustice done to them. I liked that Thiede made it so that he desperately wants to be seen as this horrible person but just...isn't. In terms of guilt, he and Alessa make a pretty good pair. I thought Dante was pretty funny, and he does end up being a good friend to Alessa when she needs it. His secret was not at all what I was expecting it to be, though it still kind of worked out the way I was expecting.

This book really takes the idea 'no man is an island' seriously. The isolation that Alessa faces is obviously not good for her, but there's this mentality that every other Finestra did it so she should be fine. The distance between her and others only means that Alessa is starved for human contact (and conversation), and that she never really learned how to control her powers around other people. I think there's something to be said for Adrick still coming to see her, but the whole thing with the rest of her family being cut off is still obviously harmful (though I do want to meet Alessa adn Adrick's Nonna, she sounds amazing). The world this book takes place in seems to have at least some of the same knowledge that this one does in terms of medicine and psychology, so I'd be curious to hear their justification for the isolation other than 'tradition.'

The Fontes (Fonti) are the magic suitors Alessa is supposed to choose from. Except, they're all terrified of her because she killed the last three. Their reservations are understandable, and for the most part they're still polite to Alessa. It grew easier to like them as the book went on and, by the end, I liked all of them (even Kaleb). I enjoyed the way they all worked together and joked and think they made a good friend group. Kaleb and Dante's unexpected friendship is also something I enjoyed and honestly found to be kind of funny.

I really liked how the characters (Alessa) resolved things. It really fit perfectly and was one of those solutions that was just so subtly foreshadowed that it worked great. The other...solution? mystery? was another one of those that I think worked out so well and it was just right there the entire time but no one really took the time to look.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one. I hope Alessa and the Fontes keep their friendship going because that was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book. Kamaria and Kaleb are probably my two favorite side characters, so I'm also hoping to get more of them. I'm also eager to see how everyone goes about solving the next problem that arises (especially since I can see exactly how Ivini might use it as an excuse to cause even more problems).

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.

I read this in one sitting with bated breath, and as someone who is a) always busy and b) has the attention span of a goldfish and needs to take frequent breaks, that almost never happens. This book thrives on characters and character development - from tenacious and feisty Alessa to charming and rugged Dante, to the wonderful supporting cast full of vibrant personalities.

The plot takes a back seat for most of the book, but the real conflict lies in Alessa's personal journey of learning confidence and self-acceptance, and the pay off is BEAUTIFUL. The setting is unique, the conflict is engaging, and the banter.... the BANTER! Not just between Alessa and her love interest but between her entire friend group. I loved every second of dialogue, even the exposition. Long story short, it's absolutely criminal that I have to wait for the sequel.

5/5*, crops watered, skin cleared, I am thriving.