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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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.
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, Deportation
This was a really good ending to the duology, but I didn't enjoy it was much as the first. I don't like it when characters won't talk to each other. I just want to shake them and yell, "You are sleeping with each other! Open your mouths and talk!" It's frustrating to say the least. And when half the drama of a book rests on this lack of communication it's really frustrating. So, I think the story could've been much better. But I still loved the characters, and the writing was very well done.
'What would you sacrifice for love?'
I absolutely loved This Vicious Grace so grabbed This Cursed Light with grabby hands! If you haven't read it, you need to!
We're back with Alessa, Dante and the rest of the gang off on an adventure to find the ghiotte, yo get Dante back his powers and keep the Gods at bay.
Dante and Alessa are so cute together but they have their trials and tribulations. This book is filled with secrets and I love that Dante found out more about his roots.
What I absolutely loved though were the side characters and I would love to see more from them!
I absolutely loved This Vicious Grace so grabbed This Cursed Light with grabby hands! If you haven't read it, you need to!
We're back with Alessa, Dante and the rest of the gang off on an adventure to find the ghiotte, yo get Dante back his powers and keep the Gods at bay.
Dante and Alessa are so cute together but they have their trials and tribulations. This book is filled with secrets and I love that Dante found out more about his roots.
What I absolutely loved though were the side characters and I would love to see more from them!
Not as good as the first one. Weirdly I’m sad we didn’t get the sad ending it seemed like we would. I thought it was a nice story line to end that way.
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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.
While I thought this sequel was better than the first book, it suffers from the same problem—I found it really difficult to buy into the actual plot. The gods are testing them in what is ultimately a nonsensical plot to finally settle a bet. The book doesn’t set up the new threat nor convey the gravity of the situation well. They discover a one-month deadline, but the characters seem to just be taking their sweet time having fun and flirting. I just didn’t really feel any stakes or urgency. I also had problems with the army they were building/training because it didn’t really make any logical sense on how it was being prepared and built.
Once again, the book is simply saved by the character interactions. All the characters were just a whole lot of fun to follow around. I enjoyed the banter, the flirting, and the teasing. I still enjoyed the romance between Alessa and Dante even though it does stall quite a bit. I liked the growing sibling bond between Alessa and her twin brother (who gets a very cutesy Achillean romance). While most of these character moments were fairly juvenile, I liked that about it but may be off-putting for others. It’s an easy and breezy read.
While I liked it better than the first book, This Cursed Light remains mostly at the same level and doesn’t offer much new.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes