This Vicious Grace is a YA fantasy that gives us:
- a heroine with a touch that kills
- Italy-inspired setting
- bodyguard romance
- slow-burn
- the power of friendship (?)

The only reason I finished this book is so I could roast it. Here we go.

The premise of this book is a lot. Let's get into it: Demons overrun the island of Saverio every couple of years. The only one who can save the population from the demons is the Finestra, a powerful magic-user chosen by the Goddess Dea. Problem is, the only way the Finestra can access her powers is by harnessing the powers of a partner, her Fonte. Enter Alessa, the main character. Alessa is an 18-year-old girl who has been training to be the Finestra for four years. To become more powerful, she had to leave her family behind and kept isolated in a palace. So far, so good. But when the time comes for her to choose a Fonte, she kills them instead of absorbing their magic. And she also kills the next Fonte. And the one after that.

After she killed three Fontes on accident, the public loses trust in their savior and the religious leaders send assassins after Alessa. Fearing for her life, Alessa hires a bodyguard who bears a killer's mark. However, her new bodyguard might just hold the key to save the island and Alessa's life.

Whew. As you can tell, the premise is high stakes. There's a lot of lore and information. All the worldbuilding was given to us in - you guessed it - info dumps. Oh, the info dumps. In fact, the first 10% of the book consists of large paragraphs of worldbuilding interspersed by little action. The plot only takes off (somewhat) after Alessa hires her bodyguard, Dante.

After the exposition, the plot focuses on Alessa's character arc and her relationship with Dante. While the premise of the book might make you believe it's YA epic fantasy, it is not. It’s a fantasy bodyguard romance. Or rather, bodyguard romance with fantasy sprinkled in. If the stakes hadn’t been so high, that story could have worked. We're talking literal Doomsday here. The demons are coming, yet the characters still find the time to have their portrait done or play cards. Very odd.

Looking past that, I enjoyed Alessa and Dante's relationship. Some of their banter was hilarious and the slow-burn developed well. Their connection made sense for their characters and I liked that the relationship impacted Alessa's character arc as well.

Thiede conveyed Alessa's struggles quite well. Alessa carries the crushing weight of having to save her island with little to no support system. She had to break off contact with her family and the city's leaders are plotting to kill her. On top of that, she deals with the waning trust of the public and the fact that she killed her first three Fontes. It's a lot. Especially for an 18-year-old. As a consequence, she has anxiety and insomnia as well as crippling guilt. While Alessa comes off as a typical YA heroine at first (chosen one with unpredictable powers), she grew on me immensely. the pressure and loneliness of her position really took a toll on her and she starts out quite insecure. Seeing her come into her own more was great. She really comes a long way in the book, which is why I can forgive the weak worldbuilding and meandering plot.

The side characters were fun enough, but one-dimensional. I would have liked their friendship with Alessa to be more fleshed out as it would have had more of an emotional impact, especially towards the end of the book.

The worldbuilding was inspired by Italy, which Thiede showed through food and descriptions of the Island. As a European, that aspect made me smile. There was a summery vibe to it, but since we're awaiting a demon horde, it didn't do much to add to the story. I couldn't tell which time period of Italy the book took inspiration from. Some of the descriptions of clothing reminded me of the Renaissance, maybe, but it was inconsistent. The use of anachronistic dialogue added to the confusion. A lot of YA fantasy books include anachronistic dialogue. It's fine. But I draw the line at a fantasy character saying "nope" and "to-do list". It was so jarring, the dialogue took me out of the story.

The final battle was lackluster and predictable. It left me feeling mostly cold until the end of the battle. There was a plot twist I was surprised, but impressed by. I thought 'Wow, this author has balls!' Only for it to be fixed in a Deus ex machina. I hated it. So much. I still get mad when I think of it. Now, whenever something big happens in the plot in the sequel, I will not be able to take it seriously. Because why demonstrate consequences when you can have a magic fix-it.

The set-up for the sequel didn't sell me 100% on it, but I'll probably still pick it up for Alessa. All in all, if you enjoy fantasy romance and character-driven plots, do pick up This Vicious Grace. I gave the book 3/5 stars.

What a great debut! The romance between Alessa and Dante was beautifully written and I loved Alessa's character development throughout as she grew into her power and became a leader. I hadn't realised this would be a duology when I started so I'm very excited for the sequel!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I LOVED reading this YA fantasy novel by Emily Thiede! Was it a bit predictable and cheesy at times? Yes, but it's the tropes I love so I am not complaining. It kind of reminded me a bit of Kingdom of the Wicked, so if you enjoyed that book you will surely love this one. It has enemies to lovers, found family, grumpy vs sunshine, and bodyguard trope to name a few.

The story follows Alessa, who is chosen by the gods to be the Finestra (a sort of saviour) and can only access her powers through a partner she has to choose: her Fonte. However, her first three Fonte's die right after the wedding because of her touch. Nobody trusts Alessa anymore, some even go as far to say that she is cursed and after an assassination attempt, she hires Dante to protect her from future assassinations. Dante makes his living in a dark fighting den and bears the mark of a killer. Now, Alessa is left to quickly find a Fonte that can withstand her touch before the end of days (Diverando).

I adored this debut novel from Emily Thiede. A couple of standouts is the incredible world building and the magic system. I loved how all the characters were relatable in different ways. I will definitely be picking up the next book and any other books Emily Thiede writes.

Alessa is destined to save her island and her people. But has no idea how to use her power properly, because up to now, it only killed the ones who touched her.
Dante, streetfighter with a good heart and a dark secret, ends up as her bodyguard and helps her coming to terms with her power.
Also, hello romance. Of course between Alessa and Dante. So far, so obvious.

The general idea of the story was nice enough to catch my interest. With the power given to Alessa by a goddess to fight and defeat the darkness and the fact that she cannot be touched by others is a good start to build upon, I thought. And it was good, and nice, but that's it.

There is a lot of focus on the romance side of the storyline - but that is ok if you like this kind of thing, it's not exactly bad - but my, why all the standard situations to get the romance going? I mean, how often does a book has to drop and the heroine ends up between the shelf and her love interest until it is overused? Those little snippets made me sigh.

I wish there would have been a deeper exploration of the other characters as well as the world building and the lore behind Alessa's powers, but that fell a little flat because the romance obviously was the main plot point. Yes, there is a battle in the end, but even that couldn't make up for the way the story went until it reached that point.

In general, the book isn't bad if you like romance-driven plots with a bit of fantasy elements. The writing was alright, as well. I just wished the fantasy setting would have gotten a bit more attention, as well as the side characters around Alessa.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this book had me as soon as I found out the fantasy world was Italian-inspired; I was a goner.

I adored every moment reading this book and it gives me great pleasure to detail what I absolutely loved about it:
- The exemplary execution of some of my fave tropes (see below for details). Whilst I'm not overly fanatic about The Chosen One trope, Thiede really breathed new life into it and I am all about a refreshing take.
- A brilliant cast of secondary characters who I hope we get to explore more of in the 2nd instalment! I would also adore something that looks back at Renata and Tomo!
- The lore surrounding the Finestra and Fonte is simply magical. The usage of Italian as the 'old language' is a nice touch, also.
- The book covers a multitude of themes; family, community and duty, and grief. The handling of the latter by MC Alessa is at the forefront as she grieves her most recently deceased Fonte but there's also a long-term grief at play, for her familial ties and ultimately her identity.
- Please add Dante to your list of prospective book-boyfriends, that's all I'll say on the matter.

Read if you love:
- Watching - Buffy The Vampire Slayer; Charmed; Warrior Nun; The Vampire Diaries
- Reading - Kingdom of The Wicked; The Prison Healer; Only a Monster
- Bodyguard trope
- Grumpy V Sunshine
- Enemies to lovers
- Found family
- Chosen one trope

If marketed right, this book could really be it.
This Vicious Grace is an incredibly fun YA fantasy story that I had such a great time reading. There were many moments where I genuinely laughed out loud, and others where I just wanted to squeal in happiness.

If you're ever looking for a fantasy book that is just cosy and funny and just a good time in-between epic fantasies or emotional literary fiction, this would be a good fit.

The book follows the story of showing girl who has a magical power that can amplify other people's magic. She is called the Fenestra, and she is supposed to marry someone with whom she can fight off this doomsday-like attack from these creatures that their kingdom has to face over and over after a period of time.

I loved relationships between the friend groups as well. A hint of found family right there.
The romance is silly, and cute and wholesome. It also is a sorta grumpy x sunshine trope relationship, plus obviously the bodyguard trope. The whole vibe of this book is just comfort fun.

Even though there are quite high stakes in the story (theres sort of a doomsday coming where they will be attacked by monsters and our MCs job is to fight them), there's still a lighter tone to it. Like there would be some very serious moments and emotions running high, but it would end in a cute scene or a joke and the story would revert back to its original tone. It's very self-aware.

The setting was also a really interesting, Italian inspired world.

I was a little hesitant on this one as I wasn't sure I'd like it, I found it a bit slow at times but overall I really liked it, I really got into it about a third of the way through in which then I was able to really fly through the rest of the book,.

The premises of the book really intrigued me and I was interested to see how it would play out about Alessa's gift, I liked all of the characters they all bought something to the table and I'm definitely excited for book two to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Hodder and Stoughton for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

"This Vicious Grace" is an absolutely gorgeous Italian-inspired fantasy about a group of islands facing the apocalypse. Only one woman- Alessa- can save them, as long as she masters her powers and stops killing her partners. After three deaths and doomsday coming within the month, Alessa soon discovers that her people's faith has run dry and they're on the verge of killing her too. She turns to Dante, a street fighter she finds in the city's depths, to protect her while she tries to figure out why her power kills everyone she touches.

I absolutely adored this book, and I can't wait to see where it might go in the future. Alessa is a wonderful main character, even with the burdens of saving the world and constantly killing her partners, with a desperate need for connection that follows her throughout. Her relationship with Dante is one of the most important parts (this is a gorgeous slow-burn romance that I immediately fell in love with) but her friendships with her new potential partners are just as brilliant. I can't wait to read more and I'm so glad I read this!

A romantic and lushly written story. I loved and related to every character and their inner struggles. However, I found the pacing uneven, sometimes too rushed and sometimes too slow, but overall the book was engaging and beautifully written.

I loved this story! It had a unique magic system, and interesting premise. It's not the usual kind of SFF I pick up but thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Fantasy, action, adventure and romance - is there anything NOT to love about this book? This was a title that snuck up on me bit I can definitely say it was worth the hype!

Believe me when I say I am obsessed with this book! I’m so sad it’s over. Major book hangover.

From the beginning I was completely enamoured with Alessa’s story, the world she lives in, the life she was thrust into. Seeing her grow and learn was amazing.

The world building was so luscious and the imagery was so strong. I felt like I could see everything as I read.

And the romance? Damn. I loved it. I loved everything!

To begin with I found this slightly complicated but as I continued I began to enjoy this. It is a good debut with some lovely world building and character development. There were a few unanswered questions but I am hoping they will be resolved in the next book.
I loved the concept around this land that needed protecting and the count down to the invasion of the creatures but who are these creatures and where do they come from?
A nice easy read with a suitable amount of romance.

This Vicous Grace's synopsis sounded promising, which was why I requested an ARC. After reading the book, I was disappointed that it didn't live up to my expectations. The setting was laid down well in the first quarter of the book. It was atmospheric and introduced us to the chosen one, Alessa (addressed as Finestra in her world). She was with powers that would kill her partner( aka Fonte) with a touch, which was worrisome. A Finestra was complete only with a Fonte to use their magic that can fight the demons of the world, hence she had to stay married to a Fonte. But the girl's deadly touch only drove any potential Fonte away, so she had to find one fast.
On top of this, she had to deal with death threats and escape from a murderer trying to kill her. So She hires the broody dock fighter to keep her safe, only to learn more truths about him that complicate her life.

To be honest, I never cared about the characters or the plot of the book, which was my problem. I care about the characters I read in a book. I want to know them and hear their story. But I was least bothered with what was happening because everything fell easily into place here. The whole plot prepares you for the Divorando (the cyclic apocalypse only the Finestra can fight and win) with so many chapters spent on training and anticipation only to end in a predictable outcome.
However, I liked that Dante was a reader. There’s something about a grumpy character with a book that gets me every time. Besides that, this book wasn't for me.
I wasn't curious to know what was happening next because I could predict the twists. But to someone who wants a light fantasy with romance, they can check out this book.

(Thanks to the publisher for providing me an ecopy of the book in exchange for an honest review!)

It doesn’t happen often that I start reading a book in the morning and I finish it on that same day, especially since I spent eight hours of that day at work (working, not reading 😉), but that’s what happened with This Vicious Grace. I was hooked from the first page and I stayed up late at night to finish reading it.

Alessa is the Finestra. Chosen by the goddess, she has a gift that will magnify the power of her chosen partner, the Fonte, so they can protect the island of Saverio from the attack that it’s coming. The only problem is that everytime she touches them they instantly die. After the death of three partners, a few assassination attempts instigated by a priest, and the escape of Fonte candidates from the island, Alessa asks for the help of Dante, a fighter marked as a killer, to protect her.

I loved the characters of Alessa and Dante. Their chemistry is off the charts and their easy and witty banter made me often laugh. Alessa is a fantastic and interesting protagonist that you can’t help but like and feel for her. When she became the island’s Finestra she had to give up any relationship with her family. Also, since her touch kills, all the Fontes are afraid of her and stay away. She longs for friendship and contact and the only one who is not scared of her is Dante, but he has his own demons and secrets to face.

The writing is addictive and the world-building is incredible and compelling. It is based on Italy and the Italian language, used as an old language, is often used for proverbs and swear words.

This Vicious Grace has romance, friendship, action, and twists and it kept me hooked from the first to the last page. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out!

Alessa has been chosen, by the gods, to be the next Finestra to save the world from an apocalyptic invasion. To do so, she needs to partner up with a Fonte so that she can harness their power - the magical ying to her yang, if you like ☯️
The only problem - her touch has killed the last 3 Fonti (I got you, Dante 😘) she’s partnered up with! With her people’s faith, the number of eligible Fonti and time quickly running out, she needs to find a solution. To make matters worse, a powerful priest has convinced everyone that the gods have turned against Alessa and the only way to survive is to kill her so that a new Finestra can rise. With danger everywhere, including inside her own walls, Alessa goes in search of a bodyguard. She manages to convince Dante, a cynical loner, to protect her whilst she tries one last time to find a suitable Fonte. But Dante is not quite what he seems. Will he be the answer to her problem or the cause of her downfall?

This Vicious Grace was a fantasy debut set in a version of Italy, that was familiar in lots of ways but also unfamiliar in others. There were plenty of Italian influences and I loved the inclusion of Italian phrases and language throughout.

I adored the slow build romance between Alessa and Dante. Their forbidden chemistry was delicious, especially when mixed with the deadly touch aspect. This did feel like more of a romance than a fantasy though, as the fantasy/magical elements seemed to take a bit of a back seat to the relationship growing between Alessa and Dante. Not that I minded that but something to be aware of if you would prefer it to be the other way around.

I certainly would have liked to understand the magical system more and get a better feeling for the history behind the Finestra and Fonte relationship. I also feel like the supporting characters needed work. Kamaria and Kaleb had promise but we never got to see enough of them to give them any real depth and the rest were pretty bland.

The first half of the book was fairly slow paced and Alessa’s misery and loneliness was very evident. I felt bad for her, forced into the role of Finestra with all the expectations of saving the world whilst isolated from everyone accept the previous Finestra and her Fonte. Her craving for human touch and a connection was clear to see but they were so concerned with finding her a suitable Fonte that they failed to see all the other ways in which she needed them. The book really picked up once Dante was introduced and continued to build until the end which perfectly set up book two.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and will definitely read the next book but then again I’m a huge sucker for romance and the bodyguard/forbidden element to this was right up my street.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up)

A romantic fantasy set in in an Italian like setting. I loved Alessia and Dante and couldn't stop reading.
Excellent storytelling and plot/character development. A compelling and entertaining story that kept me hooked.
I can't wait to read the next book in this series
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

You know I love YA fantasy (I’m trying to get one published, after all), but for me to be gripped it has to be paced, unique and either not reliant on old tropes, or able to do them better than they’ve been done before. This Vicious Grace is the debut with whispers of old Italy (hello Kingdom of the Wicked) which was everything I’d wanted From Blood And Ash to be before I gave up on the frankly terrible writing.

Two very stark facts rule Alessa’s life: that her inherited magic means that her touch can kill, and that when swarms of angry demons come to devour everything and everyone on her island home, she has to be the saviour her people need. It all sounds very simple, she’s just one of a long line of ‘chosen ones’, but she seems to fail at her duty at every turn. When rebelion stirs down in the town, it seems that hiring a marked killer as her bodyguard may be the only way that they can all survive - making sure she stays alive long enough to prove her gift has not been twisted to doom them all.

This Vicious Grace is unique yet familiar, exciting and not predictable, and if you’re looking for something to hunker down with ahead of the upcoming heatwave, make it this. Also: I can’t wait to see where the series goes next, because we’ve not been set up for what you’d call your typical sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Plot: 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. 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...

Review: I enjoyed reading This Vicious Grace because I really like the bodyguard trope. I thought it was a unique concept with the Italian influence and the characters were likeable. I also liked the conversations about the impact of loneliness and the importance of friendship.

I was quickly immersed in the novel, so I read it very quickly. However, the ending felt a bit rushed and I think it was all tied together a bit too neatly. I‘m also not sure whether a second novel is necessary but I would be interested in reading it. Overall, it’s an easy-to-read fantasy novel and I recommend it to fantasy fans.