Kat's Books

I first looked at this book and thought it would be a 'warring princess book', or something similar. I was so wrong. Books that challenge the way in which females are brought up to think of themselves, and encourage them to see the different sides of their true nature are brave, and necessary, and even if you read this and see none of that, 'Grace and Fury' is still an amazing book. Women can be graceful, and at the same time, be emboldened with fury, and I'm grateful for all the writers out there right now giving us readers so many strong female characters. 

Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours for having me on this book tour, because Tracy has written a book with some inspiring 'ladies'; this one caught me by surprise, big time!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, TRACY BANGHART

Tracy Banghart grew up in rural Maryland and spent her summers on a remote island in northern Ontario. All of that isolation and lovely scenery gave her the time to read voraciously and the inspiration to write her own stories. Always a bit of a nomad, Tracy now travels the world Army-wife style with her husband, son, cat, and sweet pupper Scrabble. She wrote Grace and Fury while living in Hawaii.

Tracy's beautiful website and links to all her other social media is *HERE*

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: GRACE AND FURY

Author: Tracy Banghart

Pub. Date: July 31, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 320

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.

My Review (previously posted): 

I usually have a ‘thing’ about books with images of people on the cover (is that strange?), so when I first saw ‘Grace and Fury’ with the striking, and beautiful, photo of the two girls, who are the two main characters in the book - Serina (Grace) and Nomi (Fury) - I was a bit flummoxed. I’d heard good things, PLUS the caveat is that we only see half of their faces. I could continue!

‘Grace and Fury’ also turned out to not be your usual ‘princess’ tale, even though YA fantasy is inundated with them, and that was my worry going in. Quite quickly, the story of Serina and Nomi was turned upside down. Serina and Nomi live in a world where women basically have no rights, and they have few choices as to what they are going to do with their lives. Serina has spent her short life being groomed to become a ‘Grace’, basically a submissive concubine for the Heir to the throne. Nomi, her sister, smarter and more rebellious, is Serina’s handmaiden, and makes the mistake one day of being caught ‘reading’ while they’re at the royal palace, but Serina takes the fall for this, and is exiled to Mount Ruin as punishment, and Nomi remains as one of the chosen Graces; they’re both suddenly severely out of their element.

What Serina finds though, is that the women on Mount Ruin are used for, is basically entertainment for the guards there, fighting to their deaths like gladiators. And Nomi is trapped inside a life she didn’t want, inside the palace, where although she may not have to fight for her food, instead she’s ‘competing’ for a place at the side of the Heir, something she never wanted in the first place. She is in an environment where there are few people around her, and deception by those close to her feels likely in every conversation she has. They are both life sentences that they see no immediate way out of.

Both sisters try and hatch plans to escape and get to each other, and they don’t know who to trust, and what’s fascinating about this novel is seeing their individual growth and self-discovery, particularly Serina’s, as they are locked inside their individual new inescapable (and very lonely) hells. The world that is created by author Tracy Banghart is particularly brutal and some of the scenes that are written on the island of Mount Ruin are especially bloody and violent; the fighting that occurs between the women is at-once survivalist but forced by the guards, and the descriptions of it are very detailed. This book certainly isn’t your usual ‘princess in the palace fairytale’.

We are left with a grand cliffhanger and I’m fascinated to know what happens next, especially since the ‘supporting’ characters played a big part in creating a lot of intrigue and interesting storylines. ‘Grace and Fury’ surprised me and gave me a new ferocious, if not bloody, wake-up call to the princess fairytale; these two sisters are saying a big fat ‘NO’ to the patriarchy in this one and I hope it has as strong a voice in the sequel. 

AND GUESS WHAT? There's a GIVEAWAY!!!!

3 winners will receive a finished copy of GRACE AND FURY, US Only.

Just head to the GIVEAWAY LINK by ENTERING  *HERE*

And to follow the entire Grace & Fury Book Blog Tour here is the TOUR SCHEDULE

And you MUST BUY it! Some links: Amazon, B&N.com, iBooks, and Book Depository

I hope you love it as much as I did; tell me if you have read it and if you plan to order it!! And I'll tell you how lovely Tracy is; my friend told her my birthday was coming up, when she was at a book signing, and Tracy surprised me by mailing a signed bookplate and card! How awesome is that? (I sooo want the pin next!)

Anyway, good luck with the giveaway, and HAPPY READING!

x ~ K