The Graces
Laure Eve
River is obsessed with the Graces. The Graces are supposed to be witches, mainly because they are rich and exclusive. After someone was injured at an earlier birthday party of theirs, no one in the township is allowed to even glimpse their house. River might be the first – if she plays her cards right.
This book had me hooked, right up until the last three chapters. I couldn’t fathom what might happen next, but it wasn’t what eventually came out as the truth! For me, the truth didn’t hold through what had happened in the rest of the book, despite the hints that would have supported this outcome.
This was a decidedly well thought out novel that could have easily descended into a typical modern witch-hunt novel, but instead created compelling characters that I enjoyed reading about, even just from River’s perspective. The Graces were quite predictable, but the supporting characters wanted me to hate them anyway.
The most noticeable 2-dimensional character you spot here is River’s mother. Very little is known about her, apart from the fact that she drinks and gambles and appears to have no control over River at all. She’s most notable in her absence. I know that this has to have been a deliberate move by the author, but I wonder what else could have been on offer if I had known more about her. This probably would have helped out with the obscure hints to how River’s dad left as well.
Hmm, interesting. GoodReads tells me that this is a duology. Maybe that would help me sort out the problems I had with the ending. Because this novel was deserving of 4 stars from me, right up until that ending, I’d be willing to give the sequel a try. In fact, I think I’d really like to get my hands on a copy!
Allen & Unwin | 26th October 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback
