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.

“This Vicious Grace” synopsis pretty much describes the plot to the T. Alessa, the main character, has gone through three weddings and three funerals to find the right suitor who does not die from her touch. With only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything, Alessa, who becomes desperate to survive, hires the “Wolf”, the cringey nickname for Dante, an outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard after a priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island’s only hope, pushing her own soldiers to try to assassinate her in her sleep.

Que in fantasy, dark secrets, betrayal, and romance (I could have done without) and we’re all left with “This Vicious Grace”. Based on the initial plot and characters, this YA fantasy had potential, but I had trouble wrapping my head around the curse. Barely any details were provided throughout the story and it left me wanting more.

In general, this novel left much to be desired. Besides what was mentioned above—the worldbuilding was MIA, the storyline was mediocre and far too predictable (and dare I say convenient?!), the god-divine magic system was vague AF, the dialogue was piss poor and the characters with their non-believable romance—blah. I can’t fail to mention the anticlimactic battle scenes. Ha. In all honesty, does the author really expect readers to enjoy this when we were left with the bare minimum? Probably.

All in all, this ‘high-stakes’ fantasy did absolutely nothing for me and reading the sequel isn’t even a possibility. But if you are looking for a cheesy YA fantasy romance smother with the overused grumpy bodyguard trope, give this a go. I’m sure you’ll love it.

I really don’t know how to rate this. I have really mixed feelings.

On one hand, I really enjoyed my time while I was listening to the audiobook. I found it easy to pick it back up again to continue the story. On the other hand, I found some of the tropes used in this novel to be really irritating.

So, I’m a conflicted mess. I still at my core love Alessa and Dante, but I don’t know if I love them enough to compensate for the things that aggravated me about the book

This book is so much about the power of connection and the power and comfort of touch. I’m not someone who truly connects with other people, but I still can understand the human desire to be cared for in some capacity. When Alessa becomes Finestra, she has her whole identity basically stripped from her, but little by little, she finds herself, and this time she’s so much stronger than the Alessa from before.
I think where this book lost points with me was the beginning felt a bit slow, I definitely struggled to get into the story. I also felt like Alessa wasn’t interesting on her own, she only became interesting when Dante came around. But that could potentially be because he was the one to truly open her up and push her to be more than what society says she is.
Boy oh boy did I love Dante! I definitely feel like he appeared a lot older than 20. He was extremely mature, intelligent, dedicated and just a lot more that most 20 year old boys are. But aside from his age not seeming correct, he was by far my favorite character. My man was funny, he was kind and gentle and caring, but also homie could wield a sword and daggers???? Please I am too old to be this smitten with this 20 year old man.
Alessa was genuinely how an 18 year old girl who has been by herself for 5(?) years would be. She was emotional, messy, awkward but still confident in her awkwardness, and full of wonder. Her growth was so wonderful to watch progress and I think each connection she made with another person caused another part of her to open up.
Our Fontes, I hated them all at first and by the end, I loved them. Not only did I love them, but Kaleb was my favorite in the end?????!!!!!! Each had their own small personalities and that made each stand on their own. It was always such a fun scene whenever any of them were present and they were definitely a bit of a relief to the drama (mostly).
All in all, I heavily enjoyed this read and would like the next book to be out asap cause I need more!!

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting! I've noticed YA fantasy becoming quite repetitive and while this book didn't reinvent the wheel, it was entertaining and engaging. I found the characters easy to connect with and the twists were interesting. I especially loved the italian culture element to the world building because it really added a cool historical-feeling element to the story. All in all, I will most likely pick up the second book when it comes out!

This Vicious Grace is a fun and delicious read. Alessa is a determined, shunned heroine and Dante is the bodyguard of our dreams. The witty banter between the two really add the spark to the story. This book has forbidden love, bodyguard, chosen one, close proximity, and secret identities. I will say that it did become foreseeable and was an easier read than some fantasy but it is still good and a treat to read.

It started off a bit meh for me, I was expecting someone who killed three people to be colder and harder and the book to have an overall darker vibe. This book was not that, but it immensely got better for me, The blind following of religion and gods is always hard for me to take, but the defiances were good. I thought the ending with the Padre was a but anticlimactic. Alessa was a bit poor me, but I did enjoy her and Dante’s interactions. I liked the Fontes and their different personalities. I wished they were in it more. Ifeel like the Dante/Alessa time could have been divided more evenly with the Fontes, I think they have a lot to offer. I like the mystery Dante’s character brings, and I like the direction the plot is going in the end.

This book was the most amazing book I've read in 2022. I cannot fully describe how much i loved this book and would give it a million stars. It had tropes I loved that were beautifully written, a plot that's NEVER been done before and a world unlike anything else I've ever read. Emily Thiede has become an instant buy author after reading this book and I cannot wait to see Alessa and Dante in the sequel!

4.5

This book really took me by surprise! I loved the way Thiede built this Italian-inspired fantasy world. The world was a little hard to get used to at first, but I was completely hooked within the first few chapters.

What shines in this book, for me, are the characters. Alessa is such a strong protagonist and I found her story heartbreaking, and I adored the slow burn romance between her and her bodyguard, Dante. They are an excellent take on the grumpy/sunshine trope and I love them. I also loved the eventual found family group dynamic that Alessa formed, though I did find the shift from Alessa being an outsider to being "one of the gang" a little jarring. I feel like I needed one or two more scenes to make it feel like a more natural progression.

I also found the ending a smidge underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I definitely teared up a little but some things felt sort of rushed so despite the emotion I was left slightly unsatisfied. That being said, I think this is a really strong debut and look forward to reading the conclusion of the duology, hopefully soon!

A luscious fantasy set in an Italian-inspired land, Alessa is the girl who's been foretold to save her people (a Finestra) with the help of someone she's paired with (a Fonte) to channel their magical powers against monsters. Unfortunately, Alessa is also cursed with killing everyone she touches, so she's left with trying to find a Fonte among reluctant recruits, while falling in love with a cursed being who she's recruited to be her bodyguard. This story has it all - found family, a swoony romance, action and high stakes, betrayal, and love. Highly recommended!

I was very excited when I got approved for this title. The cover and title has completely hooked me, and then the premise was enough to make me desperate to read this one. It started off really well, and I loved the pacing of the novel. Then I hit about the half way point, and my reading pace came to a complete stop. The mystery of this novel was so intriguing, but then the plot just failed to deliver. I wanted so much more, and the direction this book went just really dragged the pacing down. I am invested enough to read the sequel, but this ended up being a bit of a letdown. I really hope the story takes off in the next book!

I tried to really love this one, because the premise was so unique. But I felt myself getting lost, unfortunately. I think it's a case of it's me, not the book.

I loved how this story intertwined Italian life, fantasy, and magic.

I loved how Alessa learned to use her gifts with Dante. Especially after 3 failed attempts with proper chooses Fontes, her personal bodyguard, Dante may just hold the key to save everyone.

There is a lot happening in this book, but I love how the story evolved and intertwined romance, fantasy, humor, intrigue, and magic.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. This is my honest voluntary review.

I LOVE a strong female main character and This Vicious Grace did not disappoint. Now I will say, in the beginning I was sure that Alessa, the MC in question, was going to let me down… but the author just had to establish her “before” so her “after” could shine. That’s code for “just keep reading” in your best “Dory” voice.

SO ABOUT ALESSA…

Not one but three Fonte funerals…
Alessa was chosen by Dea to be a savior, a Finestra. She was given a power that magnifies the power of a Fonte. It is the divine pairing of the Finestra and Fonte that allows her army and island to survive the Divorando, an attack by Crollo. Now Crollo gives me two horns and red suit-evil vibes and Dea gives halo-all things light vibes. Insert the age old good versus evil theme here. The thing is the Finestra and Fonte were only two of three gifts that Dea bestowed on the land to help fight off Crollo’s attack. Insert problem number one, they don’t have gift three. The next harrowing issue is our dear Finestra is having trouble controlling her gift.

Imagine… your wedding night comes. You have chosen your Fonte. You finally get to literally take your gloves off and embrace. THEN BAM…wedding dress to funeral shroud.

Not just once either. My heart hurt for Alessa. At eighteen, she’d encountered three Fonte funerals at her hand. Insert song lyrics she was a stone cold killer. As Finestra, she was to become no one’s relation except her Fonte. Her pious parents were to yield their daughter to Dea and sever ties. To add to the despair, Alessa had a twin brother – who is not one of my favorite characters. It was dangerous for the Finestra to touch anyone outside of her Fonte, so she was always covered head to toe. The girl wore tights under dresses to keep her bare skin covered. She tried so hard to “get it right” in the beginning. This made the repeated disappointment that much more harrowing.

HOW MANY HURDLES ARE THERE?

So if you are keeping tally, we have the missing third gift and a Finestra with a hiccup in her powers. Both things could pack the story to the brim with doom and gloom, but there were a few other hurdles that Thiede set up for Alessa. I will only share one more, because I need you to read the story. As if all of that weren’t enough, the pious community now has a cult of dissenters. A mysterious Padre leads the people of Saverio to believe that Alessa is a ploy from Crollo. Their theory is if you kill the Finestra, another will rise up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need that kind of energy around when I am trying to get my life under control. Do you? Cue “You won’t break my soul” by Beyonce.

Why do I say Alessa so much in my review? I say it because for most of the book no one else does. When Alessa’s original bodyguard allows a would-be-assassin to make an attempt on her life, she then takes matters into her own hands (THAT is what I’m talking about!) Insert *BIG MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY* ! She went snooping, er read that as investigating, the cult that was spewing vitriol about her and encountered a man who stood up for a child. She then followed this man into the “sketchy” part of town. He was in a cage fight. You know the kind, where people take bets on who’s going to win. Well he not only won, she chose to hire him as her personal bodyguard. The Finestra needed to feel secure. Insert DANTE. Yess honey. Bronze bodied Dante. Insert whatever is “hot” to you and that’s him.

DANTE…

Hey Dante. Can you say favorite character?
Dante is the character this book needed. Heck Dante is who we all need, ladies am I right? I know Alessa is the main character, but Dante steals the show. He takes his job seriously, he loves to read, and did I mention that he was fine? He speaks the old language, which I have confirmed is Italian. Time to grab Rosetta Stone and brush up on your other language skills. His use, pronunciation, and later translation of the old language ends up being a real asset to our Finestra. He is a gift all his own. He helps Alessa and she finally gets that warm body embrace she’s been waiting for. But the people, um, they don’t like people like Dante. It almost gets them both killed. When gifts are fickle like people, everyone is in danger.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?
Of course I recommend this book! You’ve got good vs. evil, magic, romance, war, and a MC who learns how to assert herself for herself. This is a beautifully written debut. Alessa has Katniss vibes. Let me know what you think. Let’s grab a lemonade (or Limoncello) and chat about This Vicious Grace, shall we?

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'll just say O.M.G. This book is so good. I love Fantasy but haven't had one grab me for quite awhile now. I was cautiously optimistic about "This Vicious Grace" but I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did. Here is a quick summary: Alessa is a Finestra which means she has been blessed by a goodess to have magical powers and is tasked with saving the word when it is under attack by daemons. Their scriptures require the Finestra to abandon their families to focus only on her task at hand. She also has to choose and marry a Fonte...another person who has powers that can work with her powers and magnify them. This is said to be necessary in order to save their world from attack. But Alessa is not having much luck managing or using her powers and three of her Fontes have passed away. The book begins with time running out and the attack looming ahead. She is really in a time crunch to find her next (Last?) Fonte. I will admit I was not sold in the first couple of chapters. I was pretty confused by the world and rules of the land and the Finestra and Fontes. All of it eventually sorts itself out and I felt more and more comfortable in that world. Two things in particular led to my love of this book. The first is the story of Alessa's search for the next Fonte. I enjoyed learning about the people who were up for the position to marry Alessa and join her in battle. They made for an enjoyable and diverse group of characters. The second was maybe more important to me. It was the romance....and I absolutely do not need romance in any of my fantasy books. Realizing someone is trying to killer her from inside her walled fortress, Alessa ventures out into the city and finds a man she asks to be her bodyguard. Dante has a mark on his arm that notes him as being "Marked"- meaning someone who did something terrible and must not be allowed into the protections of the fortress during battles. Still no one will question the Finestra. Alessa and Dante are amazing. Even though Alessa is literally a "chosen one", she is so average and so consumed with anxiety and fear and grief that she is very relatable. Dante is this strong, distant guy who has been through it but he is believable as he gets to know Alessa and shows his true self little by little. They have absolutely amazing banter- maybe the best I've seen in a YA Fantasy ever. I shocked myself as I was reading as I realized how excited I was for the next scene of the two together. The book's conclusion was also well done and the climax had a good payoff. It is left open enough for a sequel and I wasn't surprised to check and find one listed on Goodreads. I will be pre-ordering that one. I can't wait for you to read this book. If you see this review, this is your sign to buy it. I am stingy with five star reviews. I also had a struggle in the first few chapters with the book and think the world set up was presented in a more muddied way than it should have been. With that I'd love to say this is a 4.5 star read for me.