The Graces | A YA Book Review

The Graces by Laure Eve

This book is different. If you know that going in I think that you’ll enjoy it a bit more. I did read several GoodReads reviews prior to reading it, so my reading was driven by looking for clues to the plot twist (which if you pay attention is fairly obvious but not the why nor the how). I also read that the protagonist was unreliable and kind of annoying. These factors drive this review.

First, some things I didn’t care much for: There was a lot of swearing, drinking and sexuality so I’d say this book is for upper high school. The protagonist, River, is really needy but I do see it as part of her drive and obsession with The Graces (a trio of siblings the town believes are witches and that is neither confirmed nor denied…in fact we still don’t know 100% at the end). She is basically hoping they will be the answer to all her questions about herself. All the characters are just a little bit psychotic it would seem.

Now, the things I liked: Witches! Magical realism! The writing style was really easy to read and I found myself reading huge chunks at a time driven by clues to figure out what was going on. The Graces are pretty damn intriguing. I also like blurred lines between good and bad because sometimes life isn’t so easily distinguishable.

In conclusion, this book wasn’t earth shattering for me. Parts bothered me, other parts intrigued me. The ending is cliff-hangery-ish, so I plan on reading the next one and I’m under the impression Summer Grace may be the narrator. Is the curse on The Graces real? What exactly is the nature of all this magic? Is there another curse or something else at play? For me, this book is 3.5/5 stars but not quite a 4, thus the 3 star rating here. GoodReads really needs the ability to do half stars. If you’re looking for a mysterious, magical, kind of raucous read with an unreliable protagonist, you should probably give this book a go.