Grace And Fury- Tracy Banghart

Little, Brown Books

Review By Gemma E McLaughlin

For this week’s book review I have chosen possibly the most beautiful book that I have ever seen. The cover is haunting and the title bold, almost menacing, the perfect depiction of what is to come. This one, unlike many of my other books was one I hadn’t heard of prior to picking up and was met with a delightful surprise I hope to share with all of you. I have since found out more about Tracy Banghart’s work and after reading Grace And Fury I can’t wait to pick up another of her pieces.

Our story begins with Serina Tessaro a young girl born and raised to be perfect, an outstanding example of beauty and elegance, perfect to compete to stand by the side of the prince. This title is known as a Grace and Serina is the perfect candidate, she finds herself swooped up in the world of the royals but all of the magic comes to a crashing halt when her younger sister Nomi gets involved. Nomi has always been headstrong and rebellious, traits undesirable of women in this world, despite this she catches the eye of the prince, throwing her and her sister into chaos.

Nomi and Serina are the perfect main characters in this perfectly crafted dark novel with a fabulous twist of romance. The two are sisters, a relationship not explored nearly enough in books of this kind or young adult books at all, something underrated and empowering I had no idea I was looking for. Serina appears quiet and obedient at first and Nomi quite the opposite, but as they are thrown into marvellous plot twist after plot twist we witness incredible character growth and development in both of the sisters.

The story tells of many things true to real life; of fear, a desire to break free and of course love, represented in all of its strange and amazing forms. The themes are well written and easily relatable, something I adore finding in a good novel. I’m impressed by the author’s use of switching perspective to tell a sorry that deserved to be told and all aspects of the imagery. Every character is fascinating to read about and I’m glad that we get the chance, I often feel like I want to know more about the characters and they’re motivation but the style of this writing leaves me wanting for just enough.

Tracy Banghart has fulfilled all the potential for this story an given me the book I didn’t know I was looking for until I found it. Grace And Fury is a classic in the making and I assure you that if you pick up a copy you absolutely won’t regret it.