[Review] Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

Series: Grace and Fury #1

Rating: 4 stars 

Published: July 31st 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

Grace and Fury was a fast-paced read! It certainly was a page turner.

Serina and Nomi Tessaro are sisters in the kingdom of Viridia. Their land is one where women are considered second-class and have no rights whatsoever. In order to have some say in their lives, Serina trains to become a Grace, one of the concubines of the next ruler, the Heir, Malachi. Nomi refuses to subjugate herself to this, but untimely ends up becoming one of the Graces in her sister's stead. Serina is instead sent to Mount Ruin as punishment, keeping her sister's secret with her to the end.


Their story is told in alternating POVs, with Serina in Mount Fury fighting for her life, and Nomi in the palace, learning how to adapt to being one of the Heir's Graces. I enjoyed both POVs, and maybe Nomi's a little bit more, because there's so much defiance in her as she unravels the secrets of the Heir and his family. I also really liked that there was only one Grace who really wanted Malachi? Maris was my favorite of the Graces and I wanted to see more of her - hopefully she gets a bigger role in the sequel!

But Serina's POV was just as interesting as well, watching her use her talents learned for being a Grace used to being a nimble fighter. She definitely transitioned over the course of the novel -

"We are not flowers," she said firmly. "Like you said, Oracle, we are concrete and barbed wire. We are iron." 

There was also a tad bit of angst in the Malachi/Nomi romance that pulled my heartstrings.

Speaking of romance, I was somewhat put down by the fact that there was any! Even though I did enjoy reading it, it seemed that having both girls have romantic interests was just for the purpose of moving the plot along and for developing each of their characters (mainly Serina with Val). We need headstrong girls without any guys!

And, eventually, the romance does lead to an ending that was predictable (and reminiscent of Red Queen).

There were also some instances were the story felt rushed - for instance, Serina tells Val to wait for her before making an escape and he gives her three hours. In a few sentences, three hours have already passed and he may have left.

All in all, Grace and Fury was an enjoyable read in most instances - however, I hope that there's more focus on Serina and Nomi's sisterhood in coming books. I would love to read the sequel!