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    Strange Grace
    Strange Grace
    Strange Grace
    Audiobook10 hours

    Strange Grace

    Written by Tessa Gratton

    Narrated by Amy McFadden

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Once, a witch made a pact with a devil. The legend says they loved each other, but can the story be trusted at all? Find out in this lush, atmospheric fantasy novel that entwines love, lies, and sacrifice.

    Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil's Forest.

    Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early.

    Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town-and their hearts-inside out.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 18, 2018
    ISBN9781541449756
    Author

    Tessa Gratton

    Tessa Gratton is genderfluid and hangry. She is the author of The Queens of Innis Lear and Lady Hotspur, as well as several YA series and short stories which have been translated into twenty-two languages. Her most recent YA novels are Strange Grace, Night Shine, and Moon Dark Smile. Though she has traveled all over the world, she currently lives alongside the Kansas prairie with her wife. Visit her at TessaGratton.com.

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    Reviews for Strange Grace

    3.5/5

    53 ratings5 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Narration is quite well delivered and characterized. The story itself focused on a romantic relationship between three teenagers. That was the majority of the book. It was pretty frustrating. Nothing really happens.
    • 5/5
      Really lovely! The story was interesting, the setting was beatiful, and the narrator was awesome!
    • 4/5
      To be honest, in the beginning this story feels like an M. Night Shyamalan movie -- isolated, idyllic village, where they keep to the old ways and there's danger in the woods -- sound familiar? Anyway, that's where the similarities end, and I enjoyed the story and the contemplation of sacrifice and bargains. I also enjoyed the non-traditional love triangle very much, and the ways that questions about identity echo around each of the characters in different ways. I do think that the agonizing over what to do stretches out a little longer than it needs to, but on the whole, lots of delicious visuals (really, I kept wondering if Tessa Gratton is also a painter) and a well-paced story full of transformations.

      Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.
    • 3/5
      Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton is a tale of two halves. The first half starts well with its intriguing storyline of a village that essentially sacrifices one son every seven years to protect its overall wealth and wellbeing. Then we find out what happens during the sacrifice and all sense flies out the window. Add to that a romantic triangle that left me more than a little confused as well as uncomfortable, and you have a novel that I would rather forget.Mairwen, Rhun, and Arthur. Mair is the daughter of the resident witch, heir to the Grace witches who created the spell that established the Slaughter Moon rituals. Rhun is the chosen one, born to lead and born to become the next saint. Arthur is Rhun’s opposite but equally determined to become a Saint at the next Slaughter Moon and prove himself to the entire town. Together they make up the next generation of leaders for the small village of Three Graces.Mair loves Rhun. Arthur loves Mair. Rhun loves Arthur. The three trade kisses and talk about marrying each other. There is even one passage in which Mair jokes that no one would know who the father of her children would be. To call theirs a nonconformist relationship is an understatement. All I can say is that it confused me and made me more than a little uncomfortable.The drama starts when the Slaughter Moon comes four years early, and Mair must lose Rhun to sainthood. She fights against tradition. Arthur wants to stand in Rhun’s stead. So naturally, all three end up in the mysterious woods during the night of the ritual. Of course, all three also make it out of those woods with a better understanding of the ritual and bargain established all those years ago. This is the point where I feel the story loses all credence.For one thing, the triumvirate exits the woods with a former saint who first entered the woods ten years prior. Except, he has antlers growing out of his head, veins wrapped around his limbs, talons instead of nails, fangs in place of his eyeteeth, horns, and other growths that mark him as more otherworldly than human. And the townspeople accept him. His mother comes over immediately and tries to hug him. Their acceptance, while laudable, is completely unnatural. To me, that is more an element of fantasy than any of the physical changes.The story only gets worse from there, in my opinion. There is much confronting of the past as well as a determination to right the wrongs inflicted on the village boys. Strange Grace becomes predictable in its charge towards righteousness and the actions of the characters. The ending is mystical and weird, and I just did not have the patience for any of it.Strange Grace is, to me, an odd story. Rhun is too good, Arthur too angry, and Mair too indignant and desperate to save the boy she loves. There is no depth to their characters to make them interesting. I struggle to recognize the villagers as human beings because their reactions and interactions don’t feel authentic or realistic. Plus, while the story’s basic shell is interesting, its resolution bothers me more than it should for a story I really didn’t enjoy. Strange Grace is just a little too strange for even me.
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to like this book; the premise was 100% my brand, and Arthur is just a Good Character. But the plot had major pacing issues (the beginning was slow, and telling the night in the forest in splintered flashbacks was a Bad Move) and the worldbuilding around gender and sexuality was inconsistent; homophobia seemed to appear when it caused Relationship Angst and disappear when it was inconvenient. Still, I hope I see more polyamorous fairytales like this in literature.