I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the St. Martin's Press boycott. I am deeply upset that SMP still has not addressed anything and has made no movement towards rectifying their actions.

I read book one of this series and fell in love with it. The romance! **sigh** Dante and Alessa were adorable and they’re finally going to get their chance to be together, but it’s not going to be easy. The world building was great and lots of page turning moments.
I love the way the author writes and I especially like how she handles the difficult things about the romance. It’s realistic and there wasn’t any over exaggerated drama. That is so important to me. I swooned every time I get near Dante and I loved ALL the side characters. This was a very happy satisfying read for me and I recommend it.
Thanks St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Such a satisfying ending to a great duology! We follow Alessa and Dante and they get pulled into yet another adventure. The story was done so thoughtfully and wrapped up really cleverly; it felt like the perfect ending for the book, and specifically for Alessa, especially considering all she craved at the beginning of book 1 was touch and closeness with people. It was just such a nice character arc for her to have, to end the book with all those people helping her. The angst we got between Alessa and Dante in This Vicious Grace continues in This Cursed Light, as Dante's loss of powers makes it impossible for them to get close without Dante feeling pain. So lots of angst and tension continues between them! We see more of Dante's personality in this book and see some of the self-doubt and insecurities he harbors, and how he and Alessa overcome them together. The side characters were done SO WELL, I loved reading about all of them and I honestly felt way more invested in the budding, angsty romance between Adrick and Kaleb and would love a little spin off about them! Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Just like the previous book I loved this one. The book pretty much picks up where they left off and I had such a hard time putting it down. Definitely suggest others check it out! The characters and the pace made it hard not to love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc.

Thank you St. Martins Press/Wednesday and Netgalley for the ARC!

I was absolutely thrilled to get an ARC of This Cursed Light! The way TVG ended had me shaking and dying for book two. This is such a fun and exciting world that Thiede created and I just can’t get enough of it! If you’re looking for a creative magic system, complex character dynamics and a ton of heart, then this is IT.

What an incredible conclusion to an amazing duology! Again I was sobbing and laughing and screaming. This entire series has given me all of the feels and I never wanted it to end. I asked Emily to write more fluffy post chaos chapters because I love love them so so much!

I thought that this book would be possibly better than the first however I couldn't get into it and ended up not completing the book.

After finishing This Vicious Grace, I needed the second book. To say I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to read and review This Cursed Light would be a colossal understatement. I enjoy Emily Thiede’s writing style and couldn’t wait to tear into this book. There were definitely aspects of this story that resonated with me, but overall the journey was a bit of a rollercoaster.

Things I loved:
- The continuation of the fonte found family - Kaleb and Kamaria often had me laughing out loud. I adore them individually and together, they’re just the best. Can they get a novella or something?
- Adrick - He grew on me in this and got his redemption as far as I’m concerned.
- The last several chapters had me all up in my feelings.
- The Italian-inspired elements: the world, the use of Italian as the “old language” - Did I try to imagine myself in some variation of Venice during this? Yes, yes I did.

While I really enjoyed the first book and didn’t have any complications with its pacing, I found myself struggling with it quite a bit in this one. Scenes moved from one to the next rather quickly instead of being built up and fleshed out, so I felt like I didn’t get the opportunity to fully connect to much of what was happening. For instance, there were some big moments/revelations, but when I got to them, I kind of just went “huh, alright.” I craved more of a connection to the MMC/FMC, and I longed to have that same feeling that I got from TVG. The writing itself was well-crafted and easy to follow, but I missed that spark I felt previously.

** Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. **

Emily Thiede posted to her IG that NetGalley arcs were going out and when I tell you I RAN to request a copy! A few weeks later my dreams were answered.

We’re following Alessa and Dante six months after the events of the last book. Dante has lost his powers and thus a part of his identity, and is also suffering from one helluva case of PTSD. Alessa wants to pretend like everything is rosy despite hiding a dark secret from everyone, including Dante. We join our lovers and their ragtag group of friends in a search of the lost ghiotte who will hopefully help Dante restore his lost powers - and help them against an ever growing threat to be set upon them by the gods.

I loved this book despite its flaws (maybe I’m being hyper critical). I found Alessa a lot more immature through the first start of this book, while Dante - hell I just love him despite some instances of toxic masculinity and non communication. Some of the more modern dialogue took me out of the story at times. I felt like the ending could have been a bit more fleshed out.

Over all I loved this conclusion. I love the dynamics with their friend group, especially an unexpected secondary romance plot line 😏. The banter and humour had me laugh out loud, the romance had me grinning from ear to ear and the end had me on the edge of my seat.

Loved this, can’t wait to see more Emily Thiede!

This was one of my most anticipated releases this year as I absolutely love This Vicious Grace when I read it last year. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t end up loving this one. The story takes place a couple months after the first one ends and we are in the aftermath stages of what to do after the big conflict. There were a couple things I didn’t like in this story, mainly it being very similar to book one with the war and training and certain characters not being able to touch, just with a different setting. I will say that I did enjoy Dante’s perspective in this one as we get to see his thoughts and I loved Kaleb being more present in this book as well. I will say though that I was pretty bored with some aspects of this one and that I hate the trope of killing off a character for the shock factor just to bring them back again a chapter later and this author already did that in book one. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this sequel and felt that the first story could have been left a standalone with a little bit of tweaking at the end.

Although I was a big fan of the previous book, I found that this sequel was heavily driven by the romance which diminished my enjoyment following their journey. I loved the found family aspect of the books, but this time around it felt like an afterthought that supporting characters existed.

Because my biggest complaint centers around the romance, the introduction of the love interest's childhood best friend felt comical in the way she was so aggressive towards the main character. I understand it was to keep the tensions of forbidden love a secret, but the execution was unpleasant.

I did still really enjoy the apocalypse portion of the story, but I would have liked it more if the plot moved a bit quicker along. The second half of the book did move quicker once we got closer to the end date, but I suspect that it was due to the tension releasing from the main characters finally having sex. Not particularly my favorite resolution to enemies-to-lovers or forbidden love, so this didn't resonate with me.

Even though I had a number of complaints, overall the story and character development felt like a standard young adult novel that wrapped up well by the end.

This book was amazing. No trace of second book syndrome AT ALL. It picked up right after This Vicious Grace ended with Dante and Alessa together but things are not perfect in their world. Dante’s vision haunts him in nightmares and he feels lost without his ghiotte healing power. Alessa is also experiencing nightmares and unusual episodes.

As they try to find the missing ghiottes, they get closer and closer to each other and their found family stands with them to face whatever is coming.

This book was a perfect blend of fantasy and romance. Everyone should have someone love them like Dante loves Alessa. I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys fantasy romance with found family, high stakes battles and warring gods.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This cursed light- 3.75⭐️ 2🌶️

New Adult
Fantasy Romance
Dual POV
🏳️‍🌈 Side characters
Found family
Journey
Savior Storyline
Self Discovery
God/goddess Magic System
Closed door spice


This was such a great duology! It is set 6 months after the end of the first book and gives a new POV! Both the MC’s were unique and separate. I never felt like they were blending into the same character, the way some book couples do.

The angst from book 1 was so good, this book wasn’t quite to the same level of intensity, but still had a slow burn vibe. It was interesting to have the main POV from book one state that she has to let the MMC be the savior so specifically. It was a little bit of a 4th wall break. The FMC was so well emotionally developed in the first book, I was a little disappointed that the MMC didn’t get the same amount of emotional focus… while at the same time being disappointed that the FMC just took a solid step back, causing the whole book to seem a little unfocused.

When it came to the big bad… I feel that the premise of the battle was really interesting, but concluded way too quickly. There was so much nuance that could have been explored, and instead it was glanced over… the first book had some of this issue with execution.

I loved getting to know the old characters better, but the new characters were very surface level and seemed like they were just full of hot air. They didn’t seem to have much of their own character arcs, which made them feel more irrational, erratic and unmoored.

Man, we’re there a lot of dirty jokes and innuendos. It was interesting to see this book go more conservative, in the spice department, having fully closed door romance scenes. Generally, a second book goes in the opposite direction. This book was more solidly “Young Adult” than the first.

It wasn’t as strong of an ending as I hoped, but it was a very good duology!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an Advanced eReader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh, I adored this duology! I am sad that it is over, frankly, but I did love every minute I was immersed in this world with these characters. Just as in the first book, I adored the people who Alessa is surrounded by. I loved all the humor despite the darker tone of the story, and I loved the adventures and high stakes. Admittedly, perhaps the stakes felt a tiny bit less high, but it doesn't matter. It was still a very satisfying conclusion to the series and that is what I am here for at the end of the day! That's it; that's the review.

Bottom Line: I could keep talking, but if you are looking for very cool world building, amazing characters, found families, a very swoony romance, and a lot of dark humor, this is the duology for you!

Always a classic with Emily. I love me some Dante too!! I think it was very interesting and intriguing. This book kept me hooked all through

This Cursed Light wrapped up the story that started in This Vicious Grace. I enjoyed my time back with the characters and the world, dealing with the fallout of book one and learning more about Dante's people. I was hampered by the fact that I didn't reread book 1 beforehand, and so had to reach back and really recall what happened in the first book. All in all this was a fine book, but as I recalled more about book 1, I think that a lot of the drama, the tension of the romance, and the driving action was not super present here. Still a fun read for those who like the characters and want to learn more, but acted as more of a coda, rather than a new and fresh adventure. 3.5 stars

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as This Vicious Grace. The writing is still very surface level. This was one of my critiques from the first book. I wanted more details and more development into the world building and with the characters but everything was just brushed over and scenes were ended abruptly.

What I loved the most in the first book, was Alessa and Dante’s relationship and their witty banter but sadly I felt that was lacking in this book.

I still recommend the first book though.

ARC review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️ for This Cursed Light by Emily Thiede.
Alessa, Dante, and the gang go on a mission to find the hidden Ghiotte. They need to join forces and end the battle of the gods once and for all.
While I enjoyed this book, it unfortunately wasn’t as good as the first one. It was lacking the banter and spark between Dante and Alessa. Dante was very much caught up in his past and trauma, which was great to see his growth, but the romance definitely took a back seat. I loved getting a better look into all the side characters this go around. Ultimately I’m glad for the opportunity to read it and wrap up this world.
Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read this arc.

While I enjoyed this book I will not be publicly reviewing it until SMP addresses the boycott in response to their employee.

Honestly i’m quite surprised. I must be honest I didn’t remember a lot from book 1 diving into book 2 and I still don’t remember a lot so I thought it was going to be hard reading it. Also the second book is always tricky because most of the time i find them quite boring or lacking BUT surprise surprise I was actually really into it.

I read it pretty quickly and was really interested in the story but mainly the romance that I absolutely adored. I hate whenever the couple is actually a couple because it becomes boring but because there were some “complications” in this relationship it was really entertaining and I loved knowing how they were going to overcome those.

The plot was still nice but maybe a bit lacking. What I mean is that sometimes things were happening outside of the narration and then characters would talk about it as if we knew and it was obvious when it wasn’t ? For instance the way the darkness spreads through Alessa, we know it but we don’t really get to know the depth of it on the pages but then she says how deep it is as if it was a well known fact from the beginning. I don’t know but it felt off sometimes.

It’s still a really good book especially if you love vibes over plot even though there’s still a good plot and battle going on.