Title: GRACE AND FURY
Author: Tracy Banghart
Pub. Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 320
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD
In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.
Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace–someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.
Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.
I quickly have to thank HBG for sending me a arc copy of Grace & Fury a little while ago and to Jaime at Rockstar Book Tour for allowing me to take part in the blog tour for the book.
When I first heard about Grace & Fury I knew this would be a book I would have to read in 2018 preferably as soon as it came out because something about the synopsis intrigued me about it. I mean when it starts out “In a world where women have no rights,” doesn’t that peek your interest?
I have to say I enjoyed the beginning of the book but as I got to the half way point I was instantly sucked into the book and had a hard time to put it down. There was a night or two that I stayed up longer then I should have to read the book and its all good because it was well worth it in the end especially with the action happening towards the very end. Can we say cliff hanger? I need to second book asap!
Grace & Fury is about two sisters Serina and Nomi. Serina is the older sister who has been groomed her whole life to be a Grace (exactly like Royality) and well Nomi is the head strong, rebellious girl who is going to end up in trouble but has been trained to be Serina’s handmaid.
Things are going according to plan as Serina has been picked as one of the three girls who will represent their village to the Heir in hopes of being selected. Serina is excited to be leaving her dingy grey village of Lanos with Nomi but Nomi doesn’t feel the same way and would rather stay home but in the end goes with her sister. Serina is hoping she will be selected because she knows this could be the change her family needs to a better life.
In this world women have no rights, they can’t read books (this is what intrigued me about the book, Why can’t women read books and what happens if they do?) or go to school. The only thing they are allowed to do is become servants, work in factories and marry. Girls are taught to obey the men and basically do what they tell them to do (submissive) and this is where Nomi is different she doesn’t want that kind of life and rebels as much as she can and she does push the limit.
Back to the review… The night the Graces are to meet the Heir for final selection, Nomi wanders off to find the bathroom but stumbles upon the beautiful library a place that is forbidden for women. One the way out she grabs a book but quickly has to hid it before she is caught with it. As she is slipping out of the room she meets the Heir and his brother, Asa, being Nomi she isn’t very polite to them. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing for her.
As the evening progresses Serina soon finds out that she is not selected but Nomi. Both sisters are shocked but decide to make the best of it for their family. Once this was discovered you knew this was the first of many twist and turns in the book. I have to say I actually liked this twist and was curious to read where this was going. Could Nomi follow the rules and behave or would her wild street be the death of her? Plus why was she selected as a Grace instead of her sister?
Without going to further into the book you can tell even though both girls are completely different they are there for each other and will do anything to protect them and no matter how hurt Seina was when not selected she took the fall for her sister and I think this says a lot about the girls and how far they will go for each other. Even to the end both sisters were doing things for the better of them.
Grace & Fury is told in dual points of view from Serina and Nomi which I love because you get both perspectives of the story and a chance to get to know both girls.
This is Tracy’s debut novel and I am really excited to read her future books. Not sure if there is anything in the works right now but from the way this ended I am sure there will be a book 2 in this hopefully series, I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled.