[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
This Cursed Light releases December 5, 2023

3.5

Following the events of the latest Divorando, Alessa, Dante, & Co. journey to find the exiled ghiotte after they receive warning of a time-sensitive attack coinciding with the eclipse.

I really enjoyed the change of setting and the built up tension between Alessa and Dante.
The dual perspectives and sense of found family with the other ghiotte and Fonti made for a strong second installment.

I hope this isn’t the last we see of these characters! I’d love a queer spin-off series focusing on Adrick/Kaleb and Talia/Kamaria.

I thought I would forget everything since it's been so long since I read This Vicious Grace - I read an arc back in 2021! I picked this up as my commute ebook and I don't know why it took me so long to pick up this sequel finally.
This was so funny exactly my type of humour, I was giggling out loud a few times. Alessa and Dante's banter was great!
I was a little confused about the world but was mainly here for the vibes.
I probably should have reread book 1 before diving into this one... I thought this was a satisfying conclusion to this world, but felt kind of long...
3.5 ~ 4 stars
arc provided by Netgalley

I had so much fun with this one! I enjoyed This Vicious Grace and enjoyed seeing this conclusion to our characters!

Was halfway through reading but ran out of time to finish it last year! What I read was amazing though

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. Review previously withheld in support of the pro-Palestine St. Martin’s Press reviewer boycott. All opinions are my own. 

This Cursed Light is a great conclusion to Emily Thiede’s debut duology, The Last Finestra, with an equal balance of wider political stakes and swoony romance. There’s a lot going on, with the story picking up six months after the end of the last book, and the story revolving around Alessa and Dante helping to assemble an army to take on the gods. The politics and strategizing in particular was a lot of fun, and it made for a fast-paced read, even with its high page count. 

The character work was also pretty great. Alessa has changed due to what she’s been through, with her mental health taking a massive hit. Dante also intrigued me a lot more, due to him being a POV character, and being more fleshed out as a result. Their relationship also felt more complex, with them not being able to touch due to him having lost his powers, but that translated into solid romantic tension. There’s definitely some miscommunication issues here, which can be irritating to have introduced with a dual-POV romance, but there was enough going on and high enough stakes for them, that I wasn’t as annoyed as I sometimes might be. 

 I enjoyed this book and series overall, and would recommend it to readers looking for YA fantasy romance.

This Cursed Light is the sequel to This Vicious Grace and concludes the Italian-inspired YA fantasy duology The Last Finestra. Alessa and Dante have saved their island and its people, but not without consequences. Instead of getting their happy ever after, Dante has lost his power and is plagued by nightmares of another final apocalypse sent by their gods while Alessa senses a growing darkness within herself. Believing he must locate the exiled ghiotte to form a complete army, Dante enlists Alessa and the other Fonti and Finestra on a mission to recruit his long lost people before it’s too late.

Emily Thiede is amazing at creating authentic relationships in romance and just like the first book, I was so obsessed with this world. The way the main couple navigates their trials in this book is truly refreshing. Despite facing apocalyptic threats and constant external chaos, they manage to maintain open, honest communication. This stands in sharp contrast to many contemporary romances where even thirty-year-olds struggle with basic conversations. Watching these teenagers handle their relationship with such maturity is a poignant reminder of what genuine communication looks like.

I deeply connected with Alessa and her internal struggles, however, as the book illustrates, sometimes letting go of those we love is the best choice. While the romance at the heart of the novel is exceptional, the world-building felt somewhat lacking. I might not have recalled all the details from the first book, but I struggled to grasp the significance of the final battle and the stakes for Alessa until the very end. This left me feeling that the plot was more of an in-depth look at the couple's relationship dynamics than a gripping narrative. I also found the secret-keeping between Alessa and Dante a bit challenging to follow.

On a lighter note, the book’s humor was a delightful surprise. Even amidst the intense and serious themes, there were moments of levity that made me laugh, giggle, or even gasp in surprise. As someone who enjoys a good pun, I particularly appreciated the witty banter between characters. Their conversations, whether about their feelings or playful jokes about pirate ships, added a charming layer to the story and made the characters feel genuinely relatable. This book was an absolute joy to read and solidifies Emily Thiede as one of my new favorite authors.

I wasn’t ready to bid farewell to Alessa and her world. I resonated so deeply with her journey that I found it hard to let go.

*Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved the first book, and the second was just as good! The romance in these books is amazing, and you can't help but love Dante and Alessa 🩵 The fantasy/world building is so fun, and there is a lot of action to keep you Interested! The side characters are some of my favorites and they all have trauma they need to deal with.

Read if you enjoy:
• fantasy / folklore
• found families
• strong female lead
• intense magic
• forbidden love
• great side characters

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book.

Thoughts: I want to preface this review by saying I absolutely loved This Vicious Grace. I read that book and I did not stop talking about it for almost a month after I read it. Needless to say, I was very excited about this book and my expectations were very high.

I was truly ambivalent about the first 50% of this book. I think that I struggled with the secret-keeping that was going on between Alessia and Dante. In the first book, you see them come together and collaborate on how to win a war. Now that they have won the battle for some reason I am supposed to believe that Alessia isn't as sure as Dante that things are unfinished and that they need to keep secrets from the other in the guise of keeping the other safe. It was a lot of emotional withholding and given the investment I already had in the characters from the first book a little frustrating.

That being said, I did enjoy that this book focused more on Dante and his history and perspective. It was a nice reflection of Alessia's story in the first book and it helped to endear me to the character further. Although I did expect that the search for his group of people would take a bit longer than it did in the plot it was nice to see a new cast of characters that were supportive of Dante, whereas, in the first book, he was very much an outsider. I also did think that a few of the instances with his family were a bit cliche, but Theide did convey their mutual love for one another.

The final 50% of this book really captured my attention and reminded me of all the things that I loved about the first book. The interplay between characters, the danger, the hope of survival. I cried at certain parts of the ending. Certain Godly aspects of the ending were a bit zany, but within the context of the world that Theide constructed did make sense to the plot.

I did not enjoy this book as much as the first one in the series, but I do think that this book did justice to the characters and the overall story. I would recommend this book. It's got adventure, romance, danger, political intrigue, and a cat.

Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Classism, and Deportation

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I was hopeful for this sequel, but it really fell flat. Some series need to be standalones.

Plot- felt very weak
Characters- Same cast as before, but with different issues,

This was such a fantastic sequel! I really enjoyed the first book and how original was, and I loved spending more time with these characters, as they dealt with the aftermath of what happened, and the threat that they're now facing!

This Cursed Light was really fantastic, to get both Alessa and Dante's perspective as they go on this adventure! Because Dante died at the end of the last book, he doesn't have his powers, which in and of itself is awful, but it also means that they can't touch. The only idea that might help him is finding a group of ghiotte and seeing if he can regain them. I loved getting both of their perspectives!

Once with the ghiotte, it was interesting, to have the opposite dynamics, Alessa and her friends are despised, mainly because how the ghiotte were treated, and that Dante is welcomed, is wanted, that he's being treated pretty great while they're making a rundown house habitable. It was a really great roles reversal!

That offensive that the gods chose for this confrontation, that was diabolical. But at least now, having overcome that challenge (which was much more twisty then usual) they can have peace, after so many generations of Finestra fighting, they don't have to face the demons any longer.

Utterly loved reading this book and I'd love to read more by Emily Thiede!

I loved the first book so much, and this one was just as good! I loved being back in this world with the characters. I loved the drama and the journey the characters went on. So good. Such a good ending to this duology.

I don’t know if this book 2 was 100% necessary. I think book 1 could have wrapped up the story really well. I did really enjoy returning to this world. I didn’t remember all of the characters but just kept reading. This did add more context and background.

Made me feel the feels.

More to the romance now that they could touch some more. lol. Nothing graphic but more than closed door.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I was so excited for this book and immediately started trying to read it when I received it on Netgalley. But for some reason this story didn't hold my attention the same. I loved the orginial story and how there was the bodyguard trope and was interesting in exploring his lack of powers in the next book. I don't know if its because there was so many new characters with their own storylines that the main characters lost part of their charm. I was excited to explore the community Dante grew up in and how he fits in to both worlds. But it just felt very choppy and jumbled storyline. I could be bias because the first book could have been an amazing standalone that didn't need a sequel. I felt like Aleesa just whined constantly and was not who she was in the first books. She wouldn't listen to what anyone was saying, even when it was obvious for her health. I really wanted to love this story but it took me finally sitting down and forcing myself to finish it. In fact, I forgot at one point the entire ending and had to go back to read the last chapter to write this review.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an e-arc of This Cursed Light in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved This Vicious Grace when I read it in 2022, and it ended up being one of my top five reads of that year. So I had really high expectations for This Cursed Light, and it was one of my most anticipated books of 2023. Nothing pains me more to admit that this book let me down. I just couldn't fully get into the story, and it felt dragged out and boring for a good portion of it. I wanted more from this sequel, and it just wasn't on par with the first book, which is disappointing. I still love the overall story of Alessia and Dante, but I just wish this sequel had done their story justice.

I loved this first book and was looking forward to the sequel but for some reason it just could not keep my attention and I ended up DNF :(

This book was SO much better than the first book in the series! I enjoyed it much more and I felt the characters were more likeable.

I was so disappointed in this follow-up to a very solid YA debut in This Vicious Grace. The plot didn't really exist; beats were centered around when Dante and Alessa could have sex. I am totally fine with sex positivity in YA! However! This was not it! I also don't understand why Alessa's innuendos were such a talking point. I feel like such a prude writing this review (which is also a fine way to be!) but if the goal is to stop doomsday in book 1, what are we doing in book 2? I liked all of the other side characters in the second book because they actually had valid problems going on rather than trying to figure out when they're going to jump your partner. If you want proper can't touch each other/yearning go watch Pushing Daisies.

I requested this one thinking I would love the first book. The premise, plot, and romance all seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, I DNFd the first book, so I will not be continuing the series. I hate that this one flopped for me... but I know a lot of others enjoyed it.

So This Vicious Grace was one of my favorite reads of 2022. I seriously LOVED it and this was one of my most anticipated books. I unfortunately was a little let down by it 😢

It started off strong right where the last book left off. Dante isn’t the same and Alessa isn’t the same. They started on this journey to save the world and thennnnn it felt like nothing happened. The rest of the book was newcomer Talia (sp?) being terrible to Alessa and it was all so catty.

I so wanted to love this but even the ending was just eh for me. The saving the world was done in 2 chapters after so much build up and it was just a whirlwind. I’m giving it 3⭐️ because I still love Dante and Alessa so this was their story but the plot just felt scattered and bland.

Spice: 🌶️/5

Read this if you like:
🍋 Learning to Cope
🍋 Finding out who you are
🍋 HEA