Review: The Graces

The Graces by Laure Eve
The Graces #1
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: September 6th, 2016
Source: Book Expo America
Date Read: 8/23/16 to 8/24/16
352 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰

In The Graces, the first rule of witchcraft states that if you want something badly enough, you can get it . . . no matter who has to pay.

Everyone loves the Graces. Fenrin, Thalia, and Summer Grace are captivating, wealthy, and glamorous. They’ve managed to cast a spell over not just their high school but also their entire town—and they’re rumored to have powerful connections all over the world. If you’re not in love with one of them, you want to be them. Especially River: the loner, new girl at school. She’s different from her peers, who both revere and fear the Grace family. She wants to be a Grace more than anything. And what the Graces don’t know is that River’s presence in town is no accident.

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I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

Have you ever got to the end of a book, put it down, and giggled at it questioningly, and wondered what the fuck you just read? Because that is me, right now, with The Graces.

Seriously, this very much reminded me of Wink Poppy Midnight, which if you remember, went completely over my head. Now The Graces didn't go over my head, I did get the point. But it was just so...what's the word, farfetched, excessive, I think even melodramatic fits here. Yet even so, I still didn't mind reading it, if that makes any sense. It was a quick read, and even though at times I was like "what", I was thoroughly pulled into the story.

The Graces tells a story of "River", who desperately wants to well, be a witch. Ever since "falling in love" with Fenrin, she's obsessed with being noticed by the Graces. This includes Summer, Thalia, and again, Fenrin. And although she does get in with them, the ways she does so seems slightly, stalkerish. For one, she acts completely unlike herself. Faking her friendship with Summer, pretending to act indifferent when around Fenrin. It's a huge act, and one she surprisingly pulls off.

Well a little. To the reader it's very obvious where her true thoughts lie. And that's where I slowly shy away from liking River. I mean, would you like it if your best friend was actually just trying to get to your brother? Who is only in your friend group because she wants to learn your "witchy ways" rather than actually being with you? Would you be friends with someone who is so obsessed with your family, but acts otherwise? It's a little off putting.

Every couple pages or so, I'm reminded of this fact. And I start to cringe. There really is no room for forgiveness once all of this comes in the open.

Though it turns out, there's more. From what seemed like a normal "end" escalated into a "what the fuck is happening" climax. That is really all I have to say about the end. (Yet even with that I want to read the second book because like...how?)

Look. I'm going to dedicate this next paragraph to ALL SPOILERS. Feel free to highlight at your own risk! Here we go. So first off, kidnapping. Why did it escalate to that? And more importantly. HOW did River manage to bring Wolf back to life? Was he actually human? How did you discover she could do this? It's just so unexplained, and honestly it just happened out of nowhere. The whole ending just happened out of nowhere really.

Overall, I don't regret reading The Graces. It was entertaining enough. But it definitely didn't go the way I thought it would go. And the ending came out of nowhere.

So do I recommend this? Well. I'm not sure.