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sqeeker's review against another edition
5.0
- This book was fantastic! I loved it! It was the perfect ending to this trilogy!
- In the beginning there was so much pain and sadness. It was quite depressing, but then Grace realizes what she is meant to do, and the everything starts getting hopeful and happy!
- I love how Grace reconciles her relationships and how she became so loving and compassionate. I want to be her friend!
- There were some epic Buffy fights! I loved all the action and battle scenes! It was thrilling! Paranormal action is so much fun! All the characters were pushed to the limits, and the danger and fear was so tangible! More books need action like this!
- I really love how everything was resolved. I feel like this ending was appropriate. It was hopeful yet solemn. There is one thing I still wonder about though. I'm sure there will be epic battles in the future for Grace and Daniel, but I'm happy with how everything ended.
- There was a bit towards the end that happened to be VERY similar to a Bible story. It is the one about an ear getting chopped off and a certain divine individual heals the ear. Ya, I noticed that!
- The character development from the first book to the end of this one was brilliant! I loved how Grace and Daniel's characters evolved. I loved the change that came over each character as they faced their own individual challenges. Jude's character was especially complicated, and I admit I cried for him.
- I really like the Divine family and the struggles they went through. I respect this family very much, and I can't even begin to understand how hard everything was for Grace's parents. It would be awful to see your children go through so many hardships. I think Grace's parents played their roles very well. They were there for their children, but ultimately let them do what they had to do regardless of the danger.
- I still saw and felt the Twilightish elements, but I've accepted it. I just tell myself this is like Twilight but good.
- I think what I loved most about the series was that it wasn't just about a boy and girl in love. I wasn't just about werewolves. It was about people! It was about relationships, growing, challenges, forgiveness, heartache, redemption, and so much more! I loved all the morals and lessons! They way that Christianity is mixed into the story is well done and so uplifting. I felt good after reading each book.
- In the beginning there was so much pain and sadness. It was quite depressing, but then Grace realizes what she is meant to do, and the everything starts getting hopeful and happy!
- I love how Grace reconciles her relationships and how she became so loving and compassionate. I want to be her friend!
- There were some epic Buffy fights! I loved all the action and battle scenes! It was thrilling! Paranormal action is so much fun! All the characters were pushed to the limits, and the danger and fear was so tangible! More books need action like this!
- I really love how everything was resolved. I feel like this ending was appropriate. It was hopeful yet solemn. There is one thing I still wonder about though. I'm sure there will be epic battles in the future for Grace and Daniel, but I'm happy with how everything ended.
- There was a bit towards the end that happened to be VERY similar to a Bible story. It is the one about an ear getting chopped off and a certain divine individual heals the ear. Ya, I noticed that!
- The character development from the first book to the end of this one was brilliant! I loved how Grace and Daniel's characters evolved. I loved the change that came over each character as they faced their own individual challenges. Jude's character was especially complicated, and I admit I cried for him.
- I really like the Divine family and the struggles they went through. I respect this family very much, and I can't even begin to understand how hard everything was for Grace's parents. It would be awful to see your children go through so many hardships. I think Grace's parents played their roles very well. They were there for their children, but ultimately let them do what they had to do regardless of the danger.
- I still saw and felt the Twilightish elements, but I've accepted it. I just tell myself this is like Twilight but good.
- I think what I loved most about the series was that it wasn't just about a boy and girl in love. I wasn't just about werewolves. It was about people! It was about relationships, growing, challenges, forgiveness, heartache, redemption, and so much more! I loved all the morals and lessons! They way that Christianity is mixed into the story is well done and so uplifting. I felt good after reading each book.
asma_aj's review against another edition
2.0
Grace Divine thought that getting her brother back is the first step to victory. What she didn't expect is her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf mode, or that her parents would face the hardest hurdle of their lives. The last thing she needed is to be in the middle of chaos, especially when a pack of rogue wolves and demons are bidding their time to take over one of the strongest pack in the area. The only chance her town has is Daniel. Grace has to find a way to bring Daniel back, even if it means facing the wolf's anger.
I realize what a shotty summary that was. Honestly, I had so much hope that this series would redeem itself in the end, mostly because it ended with a promising note. But I was beyond disappointed with it. To read the rest of the review, visit A Reading Kabocha: http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
I realize what a shotty summary that was. Honestly, I had so much hope that this series would redeem itself in the end, mostly because it ended with a promising note. But I was beyond disappointed with it. To read the rest of the review, visit A Reading Kabocha: http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
poorashleu's review against another edition
2.0
Originally posted at yAdult Review
Are you shocked that I’m still reading this series? Yes, I am, too. After the two books, I had to continue on. It’s like the Twilight series. I didn’t care about Breaking Dawn but I came that far. I had to know how it ended. This book picks up very quickly after the end of the second book, which is nice for continuation, but the more I think about it the more it makes me realize how much Despain packed into three books.
In the third and final book, Grace is dealing with the fact that her brother is running wild, her boyfriend is now a wolf, and that her mother is in the psych ward. Then around 100 pages into the novel, her father ends up almost on his deathbed in the hospital. It’s hard to be Grace, isn’t it? I’m not even being snarky; I would not want to trade spots with her at this moment in the novel, plus characters are always reminding her she is Grace Divine, daughter of a preacher, she must stay strong.
Along with the weight of being perfect on her shoulders, the fact that she is trying to save her boyfriend and her brother, she is also dealing with Talbot. Talbot, who in the second novel showed hints of liking her, openly betrays her trust in this novel because he now loves her. He even states that he made choices hoping that she would fall in love with him. I see why Despain did it, to show how loyal Grace is, but by this part of the novel she has everything going against her and the last thing that she needs to hear is that her friend is in love with her. She has no time for that shit. Or maybe this reviewer just has no time for that shit.
By this point we’re only about 27% the way through the novel. Again, Despain packs a lot of punch in a small amount of space. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, just a lot to process and think about. That being said, she overused certain YA tropes: the guy friend who doesn’t listen to the main character and keeps coming back because he doesn’t ever listen to her when she says no. Or the girl continuously making it clear who she chose. GIRL, WE GET IT. LETS MOVE ON IN THE PLOT.
I spent most of this book hate emailing Tina. Mostly because Tina taught me to read YA differently than I used to and because of this I complain to her. (She’s fine with it. Promise.) I wanted to really like this book. I did. The series started off on a good note, and then progressively just got worse and worse. That being said, I would read future work from Despain. Her writing held me in and made it so I couldn’t put the book down. The characters just made poor life choices that made me want to throw my book across the room. Which I would have done assuming it wasn’t a library book, which in this case it was.
Am I happy with the ending? That is debatable. Although there were a few twists and turns throughout the series, to get to the end point I saw most of it coming.
Also, a personal pet peeve of mine throughout this series was this font. It bothered me throughout the series. To be fair I listened to the first book on my iPod, but the next two I read in book form and I couldn’t read them for long periods of time because the font started to hurt my eyes. That almost never happens to me. If anything, I get yelled at because I inhale books to the point I read them too fast without stopping. So to have to put a book down because of the font was not something I’m used to, or something I like for that matter.
Are you shocked that I’m still reading this series? Yes, I am, too. After the two books, I had to continue on. It’s like the Twilight series. I didn’t care about Breaking Dawn but I came that far. I had to know how it ended. This book picks up very quickly after the end of the second book, which is nice for continuation, but the more I think about it the more it makes me realize how much Despain packed into three books.
In the third and final book, Grace is dealing with the fact that her brother is running wild, her boyfriend is now a wolf, and that her mother is in the psych ward. Then around 100 pages into the novel, her father ends up almost on his deathbed in the hospital. It’s hard to be Grace, isn’t it? I’m not even being snarky; I would not want to trade spots with her at this moment in the novel, plus characters are always reminding her she is Grace Divine, daughter of a preacher, she must stay strong.
Along with the weight of being perfect on her shoulders, the fact that she is trying to save her boyfriend and her brother, she is also dealing with Talbot. Talbot, who in the second novel showed hints of liking her, openly betrays her trust in this novel because he now loves her. He even states that he made choices hoping that she would fall in love with him. I see why Despain did it, to show how loyal Grace is, but by this part of the novel she has everything going against her and the last thing that she needs to hear is that her friend is in love with her. She has no time for that shit. Or maybe this reviewer just has no time for that shit.
By this point we’re only about 27% the way through the novel. Again, Despain packs a lot of punch in a small amount of space. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, just a lot to process and think about. That being said, she overused certain YA tropes: the guy friend who doesn’t listen to the main character and keeps coming back because he doesn’t ever listen to her when she says no. Or the girl continuously making it clear who she chose. GIRL, WE GET IT. LETS MOVE ON IN THE PLOT.
I spent most of this book hate emailing Tina. Mostly because Tina taught me to read YA differently than I used to and because of this I complain to her. (She’s fine with it. Promise.) I wanted to really like this book. I did. The series started off on a good note, and then progressively just got worse and worse. That being said, I would read future work from Despain. Her writing held me in and made it so I couldn’t put the book down. The characters just made poor life choices that made me want to throw my book across the room. Which I would have done assuming it wasn’t a library book, which in this case it was.
Am I happy with the ending? That is debatable. Although there were a few twists and turns throughout the series, to get to the end point I saw most of it coming.
Also, a personal pet peeve of mine throughout this series was this font. It bothered me throughout the series. To be fair I listened to the first book on my iPod, but the next two I read in book form and I couldn’t read them for long periods of time because the font started to hurt my eyes. That almost never happens to me. If anything, I get yelled at because I inhale books to the point I read them too fast without stopping. So to have to put a book down because of the font was not something I’m used to, or something I like for that matter.
lissajean7's review against another edition
5.0
This is a review of the entire series, not just this third book.
First, I have a confession to make: I'm not much of a reader of paranormal romance. There. I've said it. Phew! But perhaps I should take another look...
Okay. Short Review. Here it goes: I LOVED all three of the books! There, now that you know my bias, here's my reasoning.
Faith: It was refreshing to see a Christian protagonist and family in an honest light. While there were a couple of odd moments for me in the first book - mostly wanting a little more internal motivation from Grace (main character) along these lines because it feels sometimes like she's just a good girl who grew up in a religious family, but hasn't really made it her own - I really thought she did an excellent job honestly portraying some of the struggles and failures a person of faith encounters in life. I loved the imagery of her battling the 'monster within and without' with love and forgiveness - and how hard that can be. Now, this being paranormal, her 'monster' was a very literal werewolf, but the themes can so easily translate to the real world. The story of the Prodigal Son is such a poignant base for the series, and it is wonderfully explored.
Characters: There are so many! Each wonderfully crafted and believable. Grace, Daniel, Jude, Pastor Divine, and Gabriel would probably be considered main characters throughout the series. I want to include April and Talbot in that list, along with Katie and Pete and the Lost Boys, but they're not really main characters - they're just developed with such depth that they feel like they should be! Even Charity gets some spunk in the third book (her sister). Anyway, I love the characters. I felt they had depth and honesty. They weren't stereotypical. They had strengths and weaknesses. She gave enough information for me to understand their motivations and make their actions believable (which is not easy to do in first-person). So, yeah, I want to meet her characters - well, most of them anyway! :)
Plot: So Interesting! The first book followed mostly Grace, Daniel, and Jude. Daniel comes back to town. He used to be Jude's best friend and Grace's crush, but something happened three years ago that no one will talk about. I love the themes of growth and change - both good and bad - that the characters have undergone in the last three years and throughout the book. Why did they make the choices they did? What really happened? Why does it matter? Yeah, great questions to find out! The second book is the hardest - which is completely normal. Grace makes some frustrating choices and we have to yell at the book about how totally stupid (but extremely believable) she's being. When she finally figures some things out, she still has a stupid moment, but then she's back to being Grace and we love that! The third book is literally action-packed the entire time. Things happen so fast and furious Grace can't get everything under control. She has a difficult first part of the book before she has her strength moment and starts to make everything right. Wow. That was awesome. Bittersweet ending...so good.
Possible Spoilers (I don't think I gave anything vital away - the last one is the most questionable):
My favorite scene: This may be an odd scene to pick. I would think many would pick the basement warehouse scene near the end of the second book, or maybe the fight scene later that day... Or maybe they would pick the scene on the parish roof and afterwards in the first book...that was awesome too! Or the many other high-intensity action scenes... Or maybe some of the sweet, tender moments between Grace and Daniel. Yeah, they're all good and it's hard to choose, but I have one. It comes in the last book (The Savage Grace) after a pretty physically intense moment between Daniel and Grace, Daniel rolls away from her and puts his feet on the floor and his head down - putting distance between the two of them. He calms himself down and says that he doesn't want to do anything that would go against what they decided about staying abstinent until marriage. She, of course, loves him so much more for that statement at the same time that she wants to ignore what they decided before (very believable - great job Bree!). She moves to him and begins to kiss him again, and he stands up and walks away! THAT is love people! THAT is sacrifice! The book's themes cover so many 'I'd give up my life/soul/etc for you/yours' that this scene might fall under the radar. There are really so few times in our lives that we get the opportunity to sacrifice ourselves for another in a huge, tangible way like Grace and several others get to do somewhat often in the series, but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for sacrifice. That scene between Grace and Daniel happens so frequently to so many people every day except they let their passion for the moment make them forget who they are and what they want. And neither one stands up for the other and walks away. Neither one thinks much past the desires of the moment. They don't think about what the other person wants - really wants, not just physically craves in the moment - what that person decided before their mind became clouded and confused by physical intimacy. I love Daniel. He was such a good character in the series. His growth and actions and secrets and motivations and everything was so well done (and filtered through Grace's perception), but this is the scene that made me love him. This is the scene where I knew what kind of man he was. Perfect.
My favorite character: Yeah, not gonna happen. I loved so many of them! I thought I could come down definitively on this one, but no. Daniel is awesome. He really is (as per favorite scene), but as we see him through the eyes of someone who loves him, it's hard not to - so I'm going to ignore him as a candidate. I also love Jude. Again, she loves him, so how can I not? His character is fascinating in its complexity and I want to know more. If Bree had her fan fic contest now rather than a couple weeks ago, I may have had to write about him. But no, unfortunately I hadn't read any of her books two weeks ago! :) Ah well. Gabriel is another one of my favorites. He's got a whole shaolin monk thing going on that I love. However, I have to pull my favorite characters from the third book: Brent and Slade, two of the lost boys. I loved them. I loved how extremely deep she made them even though they were very side characters and didn't even enter until the last book. Perhaps I'm a little biased because I have trouble making my side characters this believable - and I'm jealous. I need to take lessons from her! - Honestly, I was going to come down with Brent as my favorite as I started writing this paragraph, just fyi.
My favorite surprise/tension: Talbot. Hands down. No contest. Bree was brilliant in her treatment of his character. I don't know how many times I went back and forth on his character, thinking I had all the information I needed this time, but then she's toss another scrap and I'd think 'wait, maybe...' and I'd go in circles that way throughout the second and third books. I was mostly right a lot of the time, but she definitely threw some surprises at me. I still have to wonder (and it might be fun to write an alternate story about this) if Grace had handled things differently, how much difference would that have made in the end? I think a lot. The further along in book three I got, the more tension I felt because of her choices concerning him. He would be another interesting character to write...so many motivations! Again, great job, Bree! :)
Hehehe, I tried to keep that as un-spoilery as I could.
Anyway, final thoughts: I really enjoyed the series. I basically read it like one book - back to back to back - so I would think it would be difficult to keep them separate, but she made each one distinct that it's surprisingly easy. That means a lot to me - especially since it's a trilogy. It seems that so many authors just stop the story instead of completing something in each book. She did an excellent job. At first I was annoyed at the ending of the second book because it seemed to come very abruptly, but that part of the story was completed...she just threw in something totally crazy (and new) at the end that I had to know that story too. Thankfully the last book is out now and that tension never needs to exist for you! (I had to wait two whole days...it was torture!) So, I recommend this series. Read it. It's good. :)
First, I have a confession to make: I'm not much of a reader of paranormal romance. There. I've said it. Phew! But perhaps I should take another look...
Okay. Short Review. Here it goes: I LOVED all three of the books! There, now that you know my bias, here's my reasoning.
Faith: It was refreshing to see a Christian protagonist and family in an honest light. While there were a couple of odd moments for me in the first book - mostly wanting a little more internal motivation from Grace (main character) along these lines because it feels sometimes like she's just a good girl who grew up in a religious family, but hasn't really made it her own - I really thought she did an excellent job honestly portraying some of the struggles and failures a person of faith encounters in life. I loved the imagery of her battling the 'monster within and without' with love and forgiveness - and how hard that can be. Now, this being paranormal, her 'monster' was a very literal werewolf, but the themes can so easily translate to the real world. The story of the Prodigal Son is such a poignant base for the series, and it is wonderfully explored.
Characters: There are so many! Each wonderfully crafted and believable. Grace, Daniel, Jude, Pastor Divine, and Gabriel would probably be considered main characters throughout the series. I want to include April and Talbot in that list, along with Katie and Pete and the Lost Boys, but they're not really main characters - they're just developed with such depth that they feel like they should be! Even Charity gets some spunk in the third book (her sister). Anyway, I love the characters. I felt they had depth and honesty. They weren't stereotypical. They had strengths and weaknesses. She gave enough information for me to understand their motivations and make their actions believable (which is not easy to do in first-person). So, yeah, I want to meet her characters - well, most of them anyway! :)
Plot: So Interesting! The first book followed mostly Grace, Daniel, and Jude. Daniel comes back to town. He used to be Jude's best friend and Grace's crush, but something happened three years ago that no one will talk about. I love the themes of growth and change - both good and bad - that the characters have undergone in the last three years and throughout the book. Why did they make the choices they did? What really happened? Why does it matter? Yeah, great questions to find out! The second book is the hardest - which is completely normal. Grace makes some frustrating choices and we have to yell at the book about how totally stupid (but extremely believable) she's being. When she finally figures some things out, she still has a stupid moment, but then she's back to being Grace and we love that! The third book is literally action-packed the entire time. Things happen so fast and furious Grace can't get everything under control. She has a difficult first part of the book before she has her strength moment and starts to make everything right. Wow. That was awesome. Bittersweet ending...so good.
Possible Spoilers (I don't think I gave anything vital away - the last one is the most questionable):
My favorite scene: This may be an odd scene to pick. I would think many would pick the basement warehouse scene near the end of the second book, or maybe the fight scene later that day... Or maybe they would pick the scene on the parish roof and afterwards in the first book...that was awesome too! Or the many other high-intensity action scenes... Or maybe some of the sweet, tender moments between Grace and Daniel. Yeah, they're all good and it's hard to choose, but I have one. It comes in the last book (The Savage Grace) after a pretty physically intense moment between Daniel and Grace, Daniel rolls away from her and puts his feet on the floor and his head down - putting distance between the two of them. He calms himself down and says that he doesn't want to do anything that would go against what they decided about staying abstinent until marriage. She, of course, loves him so much more for that statement at the same time that she wants to ignore what they decided before (very believable - great job Bree!). She moves to him and begins to kiss him again, and he stands up and walks away! THAT is love people! THAT is sacrifice! The book's themes cover so many 'I'd give up my life/soul/etc for you/yours' that this scene might fall under the radar. There are really so few times in our lives that we get the opportunity to sacrifice ourselves for another in a huge, tangible way like Grace and several others get to do somewhat often in the series, but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for sacrifice. That scene between Grace and Daniel happens so frequently to so many people every day except they let their passion for the moment make them forget who they are and what they want. And neither one stands up for the other and walks away. Neither one thinks much past the desires of the moment. They don't think about what the other person wants - really wants, not just physically craves in the moment - what that person decided before their mind became clouded and confused by physical intimacy. I love Daniel. He was such a good character in the series. His growth and actions and secrets and motivations and everything was so well done (and filtered through Grace's perception), but this is the scene that made me love him. This is the scene where I knew what kind of man he was. Perfect.
My favorite character: Yeah, not gonna happen. I loved so many of them! I thought I could come down definitively on this one, but no. Daniel is awesome. He really is (as per favorite scene), but as we see him through the eyes of someone who loves him, it's hard not to - so I'm going to ignore him as a candidate. I also love Jude. Again, she loves him, so how can I not? His character is fascinating in its complexity and I want to know more. If Bree had her fan fic contest now rather than a couple weeks ago, I may have had to write about him. But no, unfortunately I hadn't read any of her books two weeks ago! :) Ah well. Gabriel is another one of my favorites. He's got a whole shaolin monk thing going on that I love. However, I have to pull my favorite characters from the third book: Brent and Slade, two of the lost boys. I loved them. I loved how extremely deep she made them even though they were very side characters and didn't even enter until the last book. Perhaps I'm a little biased because I have trouble making my side characters this believable - and I'm jealous. I need to take lessons from her! - Honestly, I was going to come down with Brent as my favorite as I started writing this paragraph, just fyi.
My favorite surprise/tension: Talbot. Hands down. No contest. Bree was brilliant in her treatment of his character. I don't know how many times I went back and forth on his character, thinking I had all the information I needed this time, but then she's toss another scrap and I'd think 'wait, maybe...' and I'd go in circles that way throughout the second and third books. I was mostly right a lot of the time, but she definitely threw some surprises at me. I still have to wonder (and it might be fun to write an alternate story about this) if Grace had handled things differently, how much difference would that have made in the end? I think a lot. The further along in book three I got, the more tension I felt because of her choices concerning him. He would be another interesting character to write...so many motivations! Again, great job, Bree! :)
Hehehe, I tried to keep that as un-spoilery as I could.
Anyway, final thoughts: I really enjoyed the series. I basically read it like one book - back to back to back - so I would think it would be difficult to keep them separate, but she made each one distinct that it's surprisingly easy. That means a lot to me - especially since it's a trilogy. It seems that so many authors just stop the story instead of completing something in each book. She did an excellent job. At first I was annoyed at the ending of the second book because it seemed to come very abruptly, but that part of the story was completed...she just threw in something totally crazy (and new) at the end that I had to know that story too. Thankfully the last book is out now and that tension never needs to exist for you! (I had to wait two whole days...it was torture!) So, I recommend this series. Read it. It's good. :)
michaela95c's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing and sad. I really want another one!
fearoflung's review against another edition
4.0
**May contain spoilers!**
The Savage Grace by Bree Despain is the final chapter of The Dark Divine series, which follows the spiritual and paranormal journey of Grace Divine and her family and friends.
What drew me to this series initially was the Christian element in the books. It is very, very rare that you find a young adult book that deals with the subject in a way that is not poking fun or being flat out disrespectful. I remember reading through half of the first book and immediately texting a friend of mine and exclaiming, “This is actually a Christian book about something paranormal!” Paranormal books are my favorite to read most of the time, and too many lately have been poking fun at Christianity like having really stupid, clueless Christian characters that make us all look like idiots. This is not to say that I do not read books that do not have a Christian element. In fact, I would say that most of the books I read do not. But there is no call to be disrespectful about it.
The second thing that I found really refreshing is that there was no love triangle. I did notice that there was an obvious Talbot/Daniel/Grace thing going on, but what made it different from a lot of books nowadays is that Grace did not lead Talbot on like some character in some popular book series that I will not name. It was very clear to me at least in The Savage Grace where Grace stood on the subject. Despite everything, she was devoted to Daniel even while he was trapped in his wolf form.
Which brings up something else that I really liked about the book, the main character Grace. You know how rare it is to see a unicorn running around on the interstate with a leprechaun on its back wearing a pink tutu and singing Beatles songs? Well, that’s about how rare it is for me to actually -like- the female lead in any book. I can’t even number all of the times I have complained to my friends about how I love a book but cannot stand the female lead. Grace Divine is not perfect and even though she turns out to be this great ‘Divine One’ (which I have to admit, the fact that she is the Divine One and her last name does Divine irk me just a little), she does not suddenly have all of the answers nor is she immediately able to control all of the abilities that come with being the Divine One. She has problems, she has temptations, and she fails. At one point in the book she tries to use her new healing power to heal her father after he is severely injured in an accident. While I was reading this, I was groaning inside, thinking that she was going to be able to immediately heal him and everything would be all happy, but I was wrong. Because she has kept all of her anger bottled up and has refused to forgive people that have wronged her in the past, she is unable to channel her powers. It is only after she prays and learns to forgive that she is able to harness her abilities and save her father. And while Daniel is trapped in his wolf form, she does not curl up in a fetal position in the middle of a forest and cry her eyes out, she moves on with her life. She gets things done, she plans, and she keeps searching until she finds a solution. And last but most certainly not least in my book, she does not have sex with Daniel before they are married. She is tempted several times, but she resists. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to find a young adult book where there is a meaningful relationship WITHOUT SEX. Does this mean that there are no steamy scenes of our happy couple? Certainly not. While they do not have sex, they are not hands off either. There are plenty of nice kissing and cuddling scenes. Despain has found that nice balance between having the characters want to wait about sex, but not making them so strict that they can’t even kiss. I applaud her for that.
I was also pleased with all of the fight scenes in the book. They were not Saw level gory but at the same time they did not shy away from blood. It was a nice medium ground. At the final battle, I was concerned that I would not get to see any wolf action since one of the main points of the series is to not give in to the wolf and transform, but I was pleasantly surprised. While the main characters did not give into the temptation to become wolves to fight, others did, and the battle was a nice mixture of wolves, humans, and demons.
The Savage Grace is a book about the power of love and forgiveness. It shows that hoarding feelings of anger and hatred can be destructive and that the power of love can bring healing and life. During the story, Grace learns to forgive others and while she forgives most of the people she was holding anger against, she does not completely forgive everyone. At first I was annoyed that she was getting away with holding out her grudges against one of the characters, until I reached the end and saw that this grudge was addressed and had major consequences for her. If she had learned to forgive completely, the story might have turned out differently. But I liked the fact that she did not, because it made her more real. She wasn’t a perfect heroine.
The only thing that I do not like about this series is something that has nothing to do with the writing or the story. It is the font. In all of the books, the font is bolded the entire time, which for me is very distracting. I would have preferred that the book be in a more normal font, but aside from that minor annoyance, this is definitely a book series that I am going to be recommending to my friends who want something with a good story, good values, and lots of love and action mixed in.
I can’t wait to read more by Despain!
The Savage Grace by Bree Despain is the final chapter of The Dark Divine series, which follows the spiritual and paranormal journey of Grace Divine and her family and friends.
What drew me to this series initially was the Christian element in the books. It is very, very rare that you find a young adult book that deals with the subject in a way that is not poking fun or being flat out disrespectful. I remember reading through half of the first book and immediately texting a friend of mine and exclaiming, “This is actually a Christian book about something paranormal!” Paranormal books are my favorite to read most of the time, and too many lately have been poking fun at Christianity like having really stupid, clueless Christian characters that make us all look like idiots. This is not to say that I do not read books that do not have a Christian element. In fact, I would say that most of the books I read do not. But there is no call to be disrespectful about it.
The second thing that I found really refreshing is that there was no love triangle. I did notice that there was an obvious Talbot/Daniel/Grace thing going on, but what made it different from a lot of books nowadays is that Grace did not lead Talbot on like some character in some popular book series that I will not name. It was very clear to me at least in The Savage Grace where Grace stood on the subject. Despite everything, she was devoted to Daniel even while he was trapped in his wolf form.
Which brings up something else that I really liked about the book, the main character Grace. You know how rare it is to see a unicorn running around on the interstate with a leprechaun on its back wearing a pink tutu and singing Beatles songs? Well, that’s about how rare it is for me to actually -like- the female lead in any book. I can’t even number all of the times I have complained to my friends about how I love a book but cannot stand the female lead. Grace Divine is not perfect and even though she turns out to be this great ‘Divine One’ (which I have to admit, the fact that she is the Divine One and her last name does Divine irk me just a little), she does not suddenly have all of the answers nor is she immediately able to control all of the abilities that come with being the Divine One. She has problems, she has temptations, and she fails. At one point in the book she tries to use her new healing power to heal her father after he is severely injured in an accident. While I was reading this, I was groaning inside, thinking that she was going to be able to immediately heal him and everything would be all happy, but I was wrong. Because she has kept all of her anger bottled up and has refused to forgive people that have wronged her in the past, she is unable to channel her powers. It is only after she prays and learns to forgive that she is able to harness her abilities and save her father. And while Daniel is trapped in his wolf form, she does not curl up in a fetal position in the middle of a forest and cry her eyes out, she moves on with her life. She gets things done, she plans, and she keeps searching until she finds a solution. And last but most certainly not least in my book, she does not have sex with Daniel before they are married. She is tempted several times, but she resists. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to find a young adult book where there is a meaningful relationship WITHOUT SEX. Does this mean that there are no steamy scenes of our happy couple? Certainly not. While they do not have sex, they are not hands off either. There are plenty of nice kissing and cuddling scenes. Despain has found that nice balance between having the characters want to wait about sex, but not making them so strict that they can’t even kiss. I applaud her for that.
I was also pleased with all of the fight scenes in the book. They were not Saw level gory but at the same time they did not shy away from blood. It was a nice medium ground. At the final battle, I was concerned that I would not get to see any wolf action since one of the main points of the series is to not give in to the wolf and transform, but I was pleasantly surprised. While the main characters did not give into the temptation to become wolves to fight, others did, and the battle was a nice mixture of wolves, humans, and demons.
The Savage Grace is a book about the power of love and forgiveness. It shows that hoarding feelings of anger and hatred can be destructive and that the power of love can bring healing and life. During the story, Grace learns to forgive others and while she forgives most of the people she was holding anger against, she does not completely forgive everyone. At first I was annoyed that she was getting away with holding out her grudges against one of the characters, until I reached the end and saw that this grudge was addressed and had major consequences for her. If she had learned to forgive completely, the story might have turned out differently. But I liked the fact that she did not, because it made her more real. She wasn’t a perfect heroine.
The only thing that I do not like about this series is something that has nothing to do with the writing or the story. It is the font. In all of the books, the font is bolded the entire time, which for me is very distracting. I would have preferred that the book be in a more normal font, but aside from that minor annoyance, this is definitely a book series that I am going to be recommending to my friends who want something with a good story, good values, and lots of love and action mixed in.
I can’t wait to read more by Despain!
kaylameaux's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, it is a good series. I struggled through the middle for some reason but the third book was really good. I'd give the trilogy as a whole- 3.5 stars.
randomly_kait's review against another edition
4.0
Ohh, crap crap crap! I liked it but I also wanna throw the book up against the wall!!
bibliophile_booklover's review against another edition
5.0
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Thats all i have to say