As an Italian, I LOVED the influences mentioned throughout this book. An amazing magic system, enemies that are demons, slow-burn romance, and a kick-ass main character has the recipe for a truly enjoyable book.

This Vicious Grace delves into an Italian influence to bring to life a slow-burn fantasy romance leaving readers hooked.

Storytelling
This Vicious Grace follows Alessa, the latest Finestra gifted with the power of the gods to magnify her partners. However, her ability takes too much, her mind eager for touch and companionship.

Thiede did a great job building the world, but the initial take of the story is slow. Connecting to the characters at the beginning is difficult because the story’s pacing is so slow. Also, there is a lot of world-building right at the beginning taking the attention from the characters. It is a hard story to get into because of that.

Yes, the world-building, history, and mythology are all fascinating. However, the reader does not need all that information early on. Instead, this information can be trickled throughout the story so the reader can be drawn in instead of overwhelmed.

Nevertheless, once the reader gets past that, the story begins to pick up the pace, and the tension, direction, and slow-burning romance allow the reader to be more engaged with the story.

Characterization
Alessa and Dante follow the trope of enemies-to-lovers. As cliché as it sounds, it works here because of their dynamic. It is a little reminiscent of The Bodyguard, but the trope works by delving into the characters’ internal struggles.

Alessa is forbidden to touch anyone except her partner. Her magic is supposed to amplify that of her partners. Still, she aches for that companionship, for touch so internally that her power takes too much magic too quickly, resulting in the death of her partner.

She was taken from her family at a young age. She was stripped of her identity, her family, and isolated to train in ways of combat and use her power. It has left her with an ache in her heart that gives her a measure of sympathy.

Her connection with Dante forms through this need for connection. Haunted by his past and secrets, these two characters form a friendship that blossoms into a compelling romance. This is coming from someone who doesn’t much care for romance. Yet, it works, creating a solid dynamic and allowing the characters to grow as the plot thickens.

Final Thoughts
Overall, This Vicious Grace may start slow, but the tension and storytelling build upon each other to give readers a thrilling fantasy debut.

Loved the Italian vibes. It was a very interesting book and I loved the main characters! Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I went into this book blind, but it ended up being one of my favorite reads of 2022! The writing and world building was just beautiful, but Dante and Alessa's chemistry is what kept me up until 1 am flipping pages. The slow burn tension in this book is *chefs kiss* and the payoff when you see them finally give into their attraction to one another was worth the wait. I loved their banter and emotional depth. The magic system did take me a while to wrap my head around, but needless to say I will be preordering book two!

Creepy and interesting story! Definitely would recommend this to those enjoy fantasty. This is a great start to a new series that I will definitely continue to read.

(9/11/2022) 4 stars. You name a character Dante and I will be in love with them no matter what (thank you Dante from the devil may cry series). That being said, This Vicious Grace is a magical story with a great slow burn romance, beautiful atmosphere and setting, and a wonderful main character.

I really enjoyed this novel, personally I would highly recommend it. It was interesting and entertaining. It kept me wanting more throughout the entire book!

This Vicious Grace is the story of what happens when the chosen one isn't fulfilling the prophecy set for them and problems are arising. I didn't expect to adore the characters as much as I do but the author manages to balance the character development with an approaching doom of a world. Alessa and Dante have such fun banter and seeing them open up each other vulnerabilities and become each other's strength, my heart couldn't take it all.

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🍋 I highly recommend this YA Fantasy for readers who love found family, mythology and slow burn romance with heavy banter. Emily did an amazing job with her characters and the world building. Alessa and Dante story ends with a plot twist that sets book two perfectly, and I can’t wait to see how far their stories will go.

🍋 Thank you @netgalley for the chance to read an early Ebook.

#thisviciousgrace

4.5 stars

When I say I want to read ✨that type✨ of fantasy book- THIS is what I mean

The classic enemies to lovers, secrets, evil doom, intense magic that kills, mysterious prophecies, etc etc BUT make it a bodyguard romance, inclusive, mention lots of yummy desserts, and add all the little additives that make it This Vicious Grace and it’s a solid winner.

The one thing I will say I felt was lacking was logistics about the world. There was the overall idea + conflict present but I found myself sort of trying to grasp an invisible string that would lead me to more specifics of the hows and whys of this world and not finding the end of it in a sense. I’m assuming the point of the first book was an introduction and then the sequel will lead more into it (at least that’s what I’m hoping for).

Regardless this was a fantastic first book intro and as someone who definitely likes their fantasies to be heavy on the romance side I couldn’t put this one down!

Alessa and Dante stole my heart and this world completed enraptured it. I can’t wait for what’s to come in this series!!

I really liked the concept and writing. The main character was a little too passive when people are trying to kill her or get her to kill herself, but she did get better. I also liked how the relationship and the friendships developed. It did get a little slow at points and I didn't care that much about the fight at the end, but overall I really liked this book.

This book was beautiful. One of the better YA fantasies I've read in awhile. The story was interesting and the characters were adorable. The only flaw I have with this one was the world building. Sometimes the world building was a little hard to follow and I wished for a little more explanation as to the magic system, how powers were handed down, etc. Overall though I loved everything else and I definitely need the sequel.

Alessa is her city's Finestra, a god-chosen person meant to channel the powers of a Fonte and to work together with said Fonte to help protect her people from the coming apocalypse. However, Alessa is starting to doubt in her own powers when the last three Fontes chosen for her were killed by her touch. With the apocalypse slowly approaching, Alessa has to learn to channel her own powers and pick another Fonte without killing him, and her answer might be found in a criminal named Dante.

Despite the complexities of this Italian-inspired world, I was pleasantly surprised with how seamless the worldbuilding was. I love the whole concept of humans being gifted powers from the gods only for everything to go horribly wrong. It's such a unique dynamic we don't see often in stories and it was really well done. The mythology was also pretty subtle yet still ever present, although I do wish we got a bit more on Dea and Crollo, aka the two main deities in this world. Are there more than just these two gods? I know it's mentioned that there are other areas on a main continent, and I really hope we get to explore that in a future sequel.

The first half of this book I will admit had me a bit hesitant about pacing and plot. It seemed a bit predictable to me about how the book was hinting at leading, like with Dante being the one person she can maybe touch. This book also starts off pretty dark, so I was really worried that the heavy topics and storytelling would eventually overtake everything. However, I love how wonderful and seamless the foreshadowing is to the real revelation that Alessa has about her powers. You can also really see how much of an impact the lack of control of her powers has on not only her, but the rest of the island.

When it comes to characters, this book absolutely makes them shine! I loved Alessa and Dante as a power duo. Their scenes together were so delicately crafted and I went from not liking them both to absolutely falling in love with them. I cried at the end of the book because of them, which doesn't happen often enough these days. Their romance is super subtle at first, but then it builds into such an inferno that I was screaming at my kindle that they needed to kiss.

One thing I think Emily Thiede does extremely well is not only character development but also dialogue and banter. Each character, even the Fontes, have their own moments to shine in powerful moments of dialogue and even when the stakes aren't as high. I was laughing along with these characters, and even the ones that weren't extremely likeable became likeable just because of their speech and how it changed over the course of the story. The dialogue also felt extremely natural to me, except maybe for one or two specific scenes about innuendos.

This Vicious Grace is by far one of my favorite reads this year and if you want a change in pace for a fantasy book still rooted in some familiarity, this book is for you!

I received a copy of this story as an ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a did-not-finish for me. I had high hopes but something just didn't click. I found the characters, including the protagonist and love interest, to be a bit lifeless and uninteresting. The Italian/Catholic worldbuilding references were pretty heavy-handed (I must like my analogue worlds more subtle I guess) and honestly demons as the big scary villain just didn't do it for me. The slow burn romance was so so slow but that could have been because I wasn't invested.

I'm glad to see so many good reviews here so I hope that my review here won't stop anyone from checking it out if the blurb sounds good to them. Never let a single review talk you out of reading a book!

Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Read 10% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping and ultimately forgot about it. Figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

I'm going to keep my review short and to the point. Thank you so much for coming into my life The Vicious Grace. Just so I will not ruin the story for anyone, I'll speak to the highs of this book. It is the perfect blend of sci-fi and literary fiction. The plot is what hooks you but the story is what keeps you. Usually with a story like this and a plot not very complex or original the story becomes predictable but this book kept me invested all the way until the end.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins.

This Vicious Grace is the first installment in author Emily Thiede's The Last Finestra series and her fantasy debut. This is an Italian inspired story which you will quickly discover as each chapter has a different Italian quote. 18-year old Alessandra (Alessa) Paladino, the Chosen Finestra of Saverio, is blessed with a gift from a goddess named Dea in order to save the world from a demon invasion sent by an opposing god. Crollo will lead a horde of demons to attack her island on the day of Divorando. Alessa isn't supposed to touch anyone but her chosen Fonte.

Fonte's are blessed at birth with defensive magic like fire, wind, water, earth, and electrical. Fonte's are respected and revered and considered to be a precious resource. Their families receive a generous annual stipend and protection. Alessa's magic allows her to amplify a Fonte's gift. Over the last 5 years, Alessa has found a Fonte, and lost them. There have been 3 weddings, and 3 funerals, and if Alessa can't find a Fonte she can't kill, it is likely Savero will fall. Knowing their time is coming to an end, a priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island's only hope of survival after she kills three partners.

Alone and isolated by the Consiglio, without companionable or loving touch, our heroine is expected to fulfill her role as Finestra and save her people and island. When her life is endangered, Alessa realizes she can’t even trust the guards sworn to protect her. Between a rock and a hard place, she makes a rash decision and hires a big, strong man named Dante whom she'd seen fight in a local tavern. Dante is a marked killer who Alessa hires as her bodyguard from the priest's faithful subjects until she can control her powers and choose a partner.

With his help over time, she works to master her gift and gains the trust of other Fonte. But Dante also has a secret that if exposed, could ruin everything and leave Alessa's home vulnerable to attack. Alessa and Dante help each other become the best versions of themselves. She learns to stand up for herself and love herself, and she teaches him what it feels like to be loved and accepted. With time running quickly, Alessa decides to gather all of the potential Fonte's and work with each to try and determine who is best suited to help her. Now she just has to choose a Fonte, kill the demons, and hope that nobody discovers the truth about Dante.

Alessa is a character who is easy to like. She begins as an unsure, confused girl who only knew the rules that had been forced on her. She felt restricted and alone because she desired family, and to be touched and loved. As she grows, she became more independent, more confident, and much more entertaining. I am impressed that I remember enough Italian to enjoy the headings of each of the books chapters. I miss speaking Italian with my grandparents, and I miss Italy where I was stationed for a year in Naples in the 1980's.

The book does end on a cliffhanger. Ergo, if things are good in 2023, I will seek out the sequel to see what happens next with Alessa and Dante and the other Fonte's.

This debut YA fantasy was extremely engaging. Like an idiot, I started reading around 10pm and then I couldn't stop until I'd unspooled the whole story. I appreciated how thoroughly the author laid out the mythology/religion/rituals of the world without ever making the reader feel like they were being explained to, or made to sit through being *told* things. The machinations of the villain-- his manipulation of fearful and powerless citizens in order to solidify his own power--against Dante, Alessa, and her motley band of Fonte's, was resonant and timely without being heavy handed or pedantic and the plot easily supported Allessa's journey from desperate and adrift to confidently stepping into her ordained identity in a way that honored her obligations while also honoring her own intuition and values. The characters were likeable and complex and their relationships endearing. Good stuff. Looking forward to the next.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede. I've been getting a little bored with most YA fantasy, but @wednesdaybooks was kind enough to send me an ARC so I definitely wanted to give it a try. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Alessa keeps accidentally killing her spouses, demons are about to descend upon her island home, and she needs to figure out how to control her power so she doesn't kill her next suitor. I was hooked from the beginning! The pacing wasn't perfect and the love story felt pretty standard, but the unique setting and concept, found family aspect, and the urgency of the story all kept me riveted. I'm excited to see where the next book takes us!

I had some mixed on this one - I LOVED the first half of this book. I thought it was really well done and I loved the characters and how everything was going. Then something happened about halfway and it's something that I just really hate in books, and I found it so unnecessary here. It really changed the whole feel of the second half of the book for me, but I was able to enjoy it a bit again. I think some things were kind of predictable, although there were still a few twists and turns. Overall, not a bad YA fantasy read and I do still recommend it. I'm just bitter over what happened.