Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Scorched Grace

I'm torn between recommending this or not. I'm not fully sure if it's just, I'm not a regular to the crime fiction genre or if there is just something amiss about this one. I liked the characters well enough, story was ok even if fairly predictable.. It just left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. Maybe it's because I'm not religious at all so the ending (which got very religious, even compared to the rest of the book) just didn't interest me whatsoever?

The characters where not the worst, the detective was very cliche and 2d feeling, the other cops where kinda feeling like cardboard stand-ins that did not much at all. Sister Holiday first started as a "not like other girls" kinda vibe but I grew to actually kinda like her. The rest of the sisters where ok, but I did absolutely keep confusing who was who even at the end aha.. The kids where fun though, Prince was cliche but not the worst character at all, the other kids didn't appear enough to feel like they where actually important which was weird as their storylines felt very important overall? I think there was just way too many characters and the author only wanted to mainly write about Sister Holiday and Riveaux and what they did together.

The story felt pretty standard and predictable, the reveal at the end wasn't shocking at all to me. The "mysterious" events that happen throughout either have throwaway answers or uh, don't really get answered at all? How on earth did no one realise who the shadow was going through the school in the first fire? Like genuinely, they got spotted multiple times. But it also meant it was a very easy read that didn't take much thinking or brain power so I did kinda like that.

Idk, maybe this book just caught me on a good mood where I just wanted something to zone out to but it wasn't the worst book I've read. The writing was pretty good, and the way the dialogue was written also wasn't that bad. I don't know if I agree with the "cozy" tag this keeps getting, there's a hell of a lot of heavy topics discussed and it's not exactly what I'd call "cozy" (especially with the animal death part.... would have been nice if storygraph had that as a content warning on graphic or like... at all🙃).

Content Warnings

chemeducator's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny mysterious medium-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

3.75

I don’t usually read crime/mystery books, but I really enjoyed this! Sister Holiday is a compelling character and I really liked being in her head throughout the investigation.
At times, the story felt like it meandered with flashbacks, but I think they were helpful in setting up the investigation narrative.
I will absolutely be picking up the next one!

Content Warnings

yulia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really liked the premise and author's style. There are some really hard hitting emotional parts that I loved.

However it just felt all over the place, especially closer to the end. There were some scenes that just lead nowhere.

Like Holiday's ex girlfriend appearing for a chapter out of nowhere and without particular significance to the plot/character development.

I had mixed feeling on the main character, but there were barely any likeable characters in the book so by comparison she wasn't so bad.

I also felt that her attitude to cops was very inconsistent considering her history. Especially her betraying John's secret to the cops without any solid reason

Not a hard read, but if you like any joy in your stories, I would pass on this one.

Content Warnings

More...