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sarahbythebook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio arc of Scorched Grace.
I wanted to like Scorched Grace so badly. I highly tattooed, lesbian, smoking nun sounds like a character I could get behind, but it wasn't meant to be. In fact, I almost DNF'd this book at 45%. We'll get to that in a bit.
Summary:
Scorched Grace is told from the perspective of Sister Holiday, a new member of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood puts her sleuthing skills to the test when it appears an arsonist and murderer is targeting the order's school. While she tries to unravel the mystery, she walks us through her life at the convent as well as what lead her to taking holy orders in the first place. With a lack of face in the police, a questionably stable fire investigator, and her own intuition, Sister Holiday does what she must to protect her school and the new life she's created for herself.
What I Liked:
The first quarter of this book, I thought I was going to have a new favorite. The first chapter reads like a love letter to the city of New Orleans, and the main character, Sister Holiday seems to be truly interesting. I was excited to see her backstory unfold over the course of the mystery. The general dislike of the Catholic diocese leaders was entertaining since I have my own dislike of them, and this might be the first book I've read in a long time that paints Christianity in a generally positive light.... sort of anyway. Unfortunately, that's about all the positives I have for this book.
What I Didn't Like:
I wanted to like Scorched Grace so badly. I highly tattooed, lesbian, smoking nun sounds like a character I could get behind, but it wasn't meant to be. In fact, I almost DNF'd this book at 45%. We'll get to that in a bit.
Summary:
Scorched Grace is told from the perspective of Sister Holiday, a new member of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood puts her sleuthing skills to the test when it appears an arsonist and murderer is targeting the order's school. While she tries to unravel the mystery, she walks us through her life at the convent as well as what lead her to taking holy orders in the first place. With a lack of face in the police, a questionably stable fire investigator, and her own intuition, Sister Holiday does what she must to protect her school and the new life she's created for herself.
What I Liked:
The first quarter of this book, I thought I was going to have a new favorite. The first chapter reads like a love letter to the city of New Orleans, and the main character, Sister Holiday seems to be truly interesting. I was excited to see her backstory unfold over the course of the mystery. The general dislike of the Catholic diocese leaders was entertaining since I have my own dislike of them, and this might be the first book I've read in a long time that paints Christianity in a generally positive light.... sort of anyway. Unfortunately, that's about all the positives I have for this book.
What I Didn't Like:
- It didn't take long for me to find the main character grating and arrogant. She claims to be the school sleuth but then does virtually no sleuthing on the case? She stumbles across the answer on accident.
- Teacher uses violence against a student. Details:
I don't care how much a kid mouths off. As a teacher and as a religious figure, you don't lay hands on one of your students, 18 or otherwise. And to beat him with a ruler? Absolutely not. And then no consequences! This was what caused me to almost DNF at 45%. - The author doesn't appear to really know anything about Catholic schools in New Orleans. I have no idea why she'd say schools are closing down given that this is set in what seems to be our time, post Hurricane Katrina. At the time of this review, there are still 23 Catholic schools open, at least half of them being high schools. This doesn't even count the Catholic schools located across the bridge in Metairie, Mandeville, Covington, and other cities within an hour drive of New Orleans.
- The one that bugged me the most: the author appears to have no understanding of how diabetes works and didn't bother to research it? Details:
One of the students, the same one Sister Holiday beats as a matter of fact, is a Type 1 Diabetic. The arsonist says that they underdosed him on his insulin, and yet he had a low blood sugar episode. Underdoing it on insulin would lead to a high blood sugar and wouldn't cause the drunk-like symptoms the character experiences. On top of this, Sister Holiday grabs his emergency supplies and injects the kid having a low blood sugar episode with INSULIN. This would more than likely have sent him into seizures or a coma, potentially even killing him. I get that the author might not know a diabetic, but this is easy research. - I'm very concerned that Nina's character plays into the predatory bisexual stereotype, and it made me very uncomfortable to read about her and Holiday's relationship throughout the book.
Other Thoughts:
I don't feel like the brother's story was really relevant. I don't understand why Nina
I left this book feeling let down and frustrated. I'm sure there's an audience out there for this book, but not someone who has a knowledge of diabetes or Catholic schools in Louisiana.
CW: religion, child abuse, rape, police brutality, homophobia, incest, fire injury, arson
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia and Incest
dennytherestaurant's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book was really not for me. The character’s motivations made no sense despite the book being stream of consciousness. The mystery was predictable and I disliked the character from start to finish. Her actions never made sense, the flashbacks seemed to be nothing more than trauma porn, and her motivation to save herself by becoming a nun and the moment that cements her decision was just poor writing imo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
Minor: Sexual assault
bookishbutch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
northernzephyr's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Incest and Rape
katiewhocanread's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Police brutality
gothbaby's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. From the cover to the blurb, I was immediately intrigued and could not wait to pick this up. While this review comes late (after its publication), I am still equally thrilled to have been trusted to read it before hitting the shelves.
As someone who grew up as a non-practicing Catholic, I was very drawn to Sister Holiday. I cannot praise Douaihy enough for writing about someone who is often seen as faithless with so much care and grace. Sister Holiday’s faith felt so real and gentle as opposed to overbearing. Her faith, connection, and understanding of God were her own and she cherished it as it was, as opposed to “preaching” it. The book was very much that way and I often forgot the main character was a nun.
I would be lying if I said Sister Holiday and Nina’s past, as well as Sister Holiday’s growing interest in Rosemary, didn’t intrigue me more than the crime/plot itself. However, I was still thoroughly intrigued and invested.
Margot Douaihy’s writing was lovely! I highlighted so many bits and pieces and will definitely pick up any and all of her future books!
As someone who grew up as a non-practicing Catholic, I was very drawn to Sister Holiday. I cannot praise Douaihy enough for writing about someone who is often seen as faithless with so much care and grace. Sister Holiday’s faith felt so real and gentle as opposed to overbearing. Her faith, connection, and understanding of God were her own and she cherished it as it was, as opposed to “preaching” it. The book was very much that way and I often forgot the main character was a nun.
I would be lying if I said Sister Holiday and Nina’s past, as well as Sister Holiday’s growing interest in Rosemary, didn’t intrigue me more than the crime/plot itself. However, I was still thoroughly intrigued and invested.
Margot Douaihy’s writing was lovely! I highlighted so many bits and pieces and will definitely pick up any and all of her future books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer and Transphobia
marareading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A punk, queer, tattooed, sleuthing nun who is trying to solve crime in her New Orleans convent. I HAD to read this. It was definitely a fun read. HEAVY on the triggers, so please read with care and awareness. It is a slow burn on the mystery. Some very interesting, and heavily traumatized characters. Certain characters felt like they relief heavily on some stereotypes, which felt a little disingenuous. However, it was the first book of this kind and was unique, and jarring. So, overall after checking TW, I'd recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
booksareoxygen's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This novel takes imagery we know, and the tropes we thought would be true, and turns them on their head. As the story unfolds you see the characters unfold unto their full humanity. While we see the narrative from Sister Holiday’s point of view this offers a rich and nuanced view of the other characters in the novel, and allows us a glimpse of the lives we may be passing everyday on the street. And as much as this is a murder mystery, it is also a mosaic of contemporary fiction, queer commentary, and the turmoil of an identity crisis. 4/5
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Hate crime, Rape, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol
geritisdale's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death