#emily thiede

[stargirlbryce]

Every book I read in 2024: This Cursed Light by Emily Thiede

"She clutched at him, his name on her lips a plea for salvation. He'd kneel at her altar and pray for their lives."

[thefaerielights]

BEST OF 2023 » Books

this vicious grace by emily thiede

“she wanted to rip down the sky and shred it with her fingernails, to pluck every star from the fabric of heavens until fathomless darkness matched the void inside her.”

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases! (December 5th, 2023)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Standalones/First in a Series:

Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson

Make Me A Liar by Melissa Landers

Caught in a Bad Fauxmance by Elle Gonzalez Rose

New Sequels:

This Cursed Light (The Last Finestra #2) by Emily Thiede

Dark Heir (Dark Rise #2) by C.S. Pacat

The Ruined (The Beautiful #4) by Renée Ahdieh

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Happy reading!

[jwitless]

Photo by Instagram @helga.books

Book cover illustration I've made for Eksmo edition of This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

[gabrielleragusi]

The endpapers and foil design I did for FairyLoot’s exclusive edition of This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede! 

Instagram  - ArtStation - Website - Inprnt - Etsy - TikTok

[bookishlyvintage]

this vicious grace [thoughts]

[emilywritesfics]

This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede (The Last Finestra #1)

“We have a bad habit of locking up people who scare us, and the thing that scares men with power most is a woman with more of it.”

[elliepassmore]

This Cursed Light review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, magic, grumpy x sunshine, prophecies, found family

This Vicious Grace review

Big thanks to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to receive this and dive back into Alessa and Dante's world! This book picks up several months after the ending of TVG. The Duo Divina, Alessa and Kaleb, made their trip to the other sanctuary island once things had calmed down on Saverio and Dante had healed somewhat. But despite the seeming calmness that has returned post-Divorando, things are not all sunshine and lemon trees. Both Dante and Alessa have a sense of something being...off, and while Dante is convinced something bigger is coming, Alessa is hoping things will settle down and she can just be normal.

The people of Saverio seem to have totally forgotten they wanted to kill Alessa before the Divorando because everyone seems to be thrilled to be invited to the Finestra's celebrations and interested in at least knowing her on a surface level. The control and understanding of her abilities that Alessa found by the end of the last book means that she's really able to come out of her shell in this one, though the ingrained sense of obedience and 'everyone over me' mentality still peeks through at times. But! Alessa is able to hug her brother and her grandparents! Adrick and Alessa do have some bridges to mend in their relationship (and by 'they' I mean 'Adrick', lol). It was actually kind of surprising to see how OK Alessa was with Adrick throughout this book, even if Kaleb and Dante weren't quite there yet (and speaking of Adrick and Kaleb, a novella about their misadventures would be wonderful). I'm pleased to say we do meet Nonna in this book, which I was hoping for.

Alessa does get a chance to be more of a normal girl in this one. She finally has friends in the form of her Fontes, and that group is just as tight-knit and humorous as in the first book. I absolutely love seeing the group together, or at least mostly together, and we get some good scenes with them interacting and having each other's backs. I'm also pleased to say that the Kaleb-Dante friendship is still alive and well, lol. Alessa still struggles with the whole 'not touching' thing, though that's largely in the past, and is clearly still scarred from her isolated adolescence. She's still the funny and clumsy girl we know and love from book 1, but her struggles have matured with her and there's a new sense of confidence in her.

Alessa and Dante are still going strong in this one, though they have moments where things are a little shaky. Both are dealing with issues of self-worth, Alessa's brought on by her past and Dante's by the side-effects of the ending of TVG.

Where the first book focused on the Finestra and Fontes, this book focuses more on the ghiotte, which means traveling away from Saverio. The first book was Alessa's story and journey, and while she is still a main character in this one and has her own things going on, this book is about Dante's journey and him coming into himself. It was definitely interesting to see how the ghiotte culture and customs were different from those on Saverio. Since the group was persecuted, they're very tight-knit and wary of outsiders, especially the 'blessed.' A lot of the ghiotte are fairly young and, since they're essentially invincible, they engage in a lot of the kind of behaviors you would expect of invincible teens and 20-somethings.

Dante, as mentioned, is struggling with the side-effects from the end of TVG. They've abated a little bit, but he's not back to where he was before, and it's kind of looking like he won't ever be there. When it's just him and Alessa it's hard enough, but when faced with the other ghiotte, Dante's feelings of inadequacy are multiplied. I enjoyed getting to see more of Dante in the role of a trainer, and was pleased to see him in more of a leadership role this time as well. He's definitely someone that people listen to and respect, even if he doesn't always see it, and he's good at uniting two sides.

Most of the new characters are ghiotte, including some people from Dante's past. It was interesting seeing him balance his love and loyalty of Alessa + friendship with the Fontes with his sense of loyalty toward the ghiotte, particularly when Dante not only has been the only one for so long but also when he needs their help to stop the coming Big Bad. I wasn't really a fan of one ghiotte character in particular, but she sorted herself out after the 60-65% mark and by the end I liked her.

There were a couple twists at the end relating to the event that Dante kept seeing. One of the twists was one I saw coming pretty much from the beginning, but it ended up being a pretty minor one, so it didn't take away from the rest of the reveals or my enjoyment of the book. The gods definitely played dirty this time around, and imo, I feel as if this book shows Dea and Crollo aren't actually quite as opposite as everyone seems to think. I do get their frustration with how Divorando had played out for the past couple centuries, but, like, their solution is just kind of mean, lol.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought the ending did service to the characters. Pretty much everything/everyone I wanted to see after the end of TVG happens/appears in this one, so that was pretty satisfying. The threat in this book is new without feeling contrived, and I loved where it took the characters. After reading this book, I 100% think Kaleb deserves his own novella, I think it would be hilarious.

[wideeyedreader]

Recently Read: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

Five stars! This is a great read!

[bookcoversonly]

Title: This Vicious Grace | Author: Emily Thiede | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (2022)

[brightbeautifulthings]

'Didn't you take this job because I cried?' 'That makes me a sucker, not a saint.'

Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace

[stargirlbryce]

Moodboard: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

"She might be but one stitch in the tapestry, but every stitch had a purpose, and threads couldn't become art without them."

[oatmlks]

[themoonlightarchive]

My Rating: 5/5 ⭐

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Published: 28 June 2022 | Wednesday Books

Content Warnings: death, gore, violence, murder, abandonment, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, child abuse, religious bigotry, war, alcohol consumption, physical injury, strangulation, isolation

Goodreads | Storygraph

          This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede follows Alessa, a girl meant to be the savior of her island home, Saverio. As a Finestra, her duty is to protect her people from a swarm of demons that comes every couple of decades by amplifying the powers of people with magical abilities called Fontes. Unfortunately, Alessa keeps killing her Fontes when she touches them. There have been three weddings and three funerals in her time as Finestra and time is running out. 

          The people of Saverio are beginning to doubt her ability to protect them and she no longer trusts the guards who are meant to protect her. Alessa hires a brooding street fighter with a few secrets up his sleeve as her bodyguard and begins to train with the Fontes that remain on the island, the few that didn’t leave in fear, hoping to build a connection that will stop her from killing them. But will this be enough to stop the demons when they come?

          With beautiful, engaging and atmospheric writing, This Vicious Grace was a compelling debut with so many things that I adored, like the italian-inspired worldbuilding and mythology, the found family trope, a grumpy but sweet bodyguard, and endless batter. Thiede pairs divine magic and religious tension in the best way and crafts characters who grow with each page, who are deeply fascinating and loveable. If you love books with all of this, several scenes that will have you sobbing into the pages and more, This Vicious Grace is perfect for you.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Review: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede.

Three weddings. Three funerals. Alessa's gift from the gods is supposed to magnify a partner's magic, not kill every suitor she touches.

Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island's only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.

Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante's dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?

Listening to this audiobook is alot of fun, it’s like being the third person watching two people go on an adventure and you’re there for the ride with them.

The story of Alessa as she tries to survive with her bodyguard Dante after her soldiers believe a powerful priest she’s better off dead, the two work together to ensure she can survive and save herself and the future of her country.

The characters have such a great chemistry in this book, and the audiobook really does bring that chemistry to the fore as they banter, bicker and learn about one another throughout the book. Alessa is a fierce and quick-witted character that really pushes herself and Dante is a tough and honest companion that really antagonises with the main character so well throughout - I love these two I really do, and can’t wait for more.

The plot is quick-paced and never stops for a second, entangled with the romance, this book keeps you hooked for every second you’re reading, with as she develops these characters perfectly and delivers a story that makes you need the sequel as soon as you put it down. I really appreciate how the writer brings the character to life, for sure however the world building, I can’t even remember it, I’ll be honest, the romance really does take centre stage here and you just get flooded with information at points that I hope in the next installment gets fixed.

I really loved reading this, it was a great romance and I want more from this author as they grow in their craft, if this is their first, I wanna see what they do in the future.

4*

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

Review: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

Series: The Last Finestra #1Author: Emily ThiedePublisher: Wednesday BooksReleased: June 28, 2022Received: NetGalleyWarnings: Attempted suicide This Vicious Grace is the first novel in Emily Thiede’s The Last Finestra series. If you love fantasy with a bit of romance and high stakes, this is worth checking out. Alessa was given a gift from the gods – her powers were always meant to magnify the…