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Graced #1
Graced
Vampires suck.
Well, that's the nicest thing city guard Elle Brown can say about them. Her opinions of shifters aren't much better, either. And her second full time job – keeping her special little sister safe from either race – has just gotten harder, now that the vampire Dante Kipling, has taken an interest in Elle’s life.
Dante is a scientist fascinated by human anatomy. Despite his last two experiments failing, he is convinced that the answers to his questions lie within Elle Brown. Though he’s been told to stop his experiments, he’s convinced that humans with special eye colors are different, and he’s determined to find the proof – even if it means risking his and Elle’s lives.
The first full-length novel in the stunning Graced series is perfect for fans of Nalini Singh, Richelle Mead, and Anne Bishop.
Well, that's the nicest thing city guard Elle Brown can say about them. Her opinions of shifters aren't much better, either. And her second full time job – keeping her special little sister safe from either race – has just gotten harder, now that the vampire Dante Kipling, has taken an interest in Elle’s life.
Dante is a scientist fascinated by human anatomy. Despite his last two experiments failing, he is convinced that the answers to his questions lie within Elle Brown. Though he’s been told to stop his experiments, he’s convinced that humans with special eye colors are different, and he’s determined to find the proof – even if it means risking his and Elle’s lives.
The first full-length novel in the stunning Graced series is perfect for fans of Nalini Singh, Richelle Mead, and Anne Bishop.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 26, 2015
246 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Pillar
48 books153 followersAmanda Pillar is addicted to writing. Not in the fun kind of way, more in the has-to-get-her-fix kind of way. But that's a good thing, right? It means she's busy working on her next book and has plans for many more to come, all with lots of snark. Because snark.
Amanda has had almost a dozen books published, alongside a variety of short stories, as well as solo and co-editing over half a dozen anthologies. People say it's because she's an 'over-achiever' but, in reality, Amanda doesn't understand the concept of 'relaxation'. (Please feel free to explain it to her. Use small words.) Compounding this issue, Amanda has commenced work on a PhD. Because she's crazy.
Oh, and in her day job, she's an archaeologist. (And no, she doesn't get chased around site by rogue boulders, thank the flying spaghetti monster. She doesn't even want to imagine the OH&S paperwork THAT would cause).
Amanda has had almost a dozen books published, alongside a variety of short stories, as well as solo and co-editing over half a dozen anthologies. People say it's because she's an 'over-achiever' but, in reality, Amanda doesn't understand the concept of 'relaxation'. (Please feel free to explain it to her. Use small words.) Compounding this issue, Amanda has commenced work on a PhD. Because she's crazy.
Oh, and in her day job, she's an archaeologist. (And no, she doesn't get chased around site by rogue boulders, thank the flying spaghetti monster. She doesn't even want to imagine the OH&S paperwork THAT would cause).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
October 7, 2016
Wow! I devoured this book. I truly can't remember the last time I read something that hit all of my "happy" buttons with a unique world, amazing characters, and a story that kept surprising me. I love when I can be reading and come across things that were all, "Hmm, I didn't expect that! And, find myself smiling like a lunatic.
So, I don't know if the blurb does this book justice. It almost wouldn't catch me because of the eye color thing, but when you start to read the book and understand the world, the eye color is just an indication of the powers that some of the people have. So, here's the low-down:
Brown eyes - normal human
Green eyes - can read the thoughts of others
Blue eyes - are empaths
Grey eyes - have telekinesis
Did anyone else think that commercial was funny? Just me?
There are also vampires and werewolves in this world. Of course! The best worlds have vamps and weres! Duh!
Best movie ever.
The setting is in London in the future so far that it has almost gone backwards where there is no longer technology and there is a class system of sorts. The vampires are aristocrats for the most part and they keep human slaves. There are also aristocratic humans, and then just the average poor shlubs. The werewolves are not prevalent in the city, because they can't stand the stench of all the vamps. Apparently, they smell. I guess being undead can give off a slightly unattractive odor.
huh, vampires were in Star Wars? I missed that somehow...
But, one werewolf comes to town at the request of a rich woman who wants him to breed with her granddaughter. The granddaughter is 7 years old. Talk about planning ahead! Instead, Mr. Wolfy gets interested in the kid's older sister. She's 10. No, just kidding, she's 20-something.
Sorry, Pedobear! Not this time!
Unfortunately for Wolfy, there is a socially awkward vampire with no feelings of empathy who is also interested in the older sister, Elle. Of course, his interest in her is more akin to a child's interest in ants while holding a magnifying glass in the sun.... Not particularly a good thing..
Sheesh! How big was her magnifying glass?
Mr. Vampire-Sheldon-Cooper turns out to be easily one of my favorite characters. He is so clueless that it's hilarious. Also, he's a little bit of a psychopath, and you all know I have a soft spot for them.
So, the book has a lot going on with multiple complex characters and a lot of interesting situations. But, on top of all that, there is also a great handling of sexuality. In this world it is completely acceptable and normal for same-sex marriages, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and even asexuality. It's not focused on as something different. It just is. I really liked how it was written in the storyline seamlessly. It was just another example of how fresh and unique this book is.
I really can't wait to read more books set in this world.
So, I don't know if the blurb does this book justice. It almost wouldn't catch me because of the eye color thing, but when you start to read the book and understand the world, the eye color is just an indication of the powers that some of the people have. So, here's the low-down:
Brown eyes - normal human
Green eyes - can read the thoughts of others
Blue eyes - are empaths
Grey eyes - have telekinesis
Did anyone else think that commercial was funny? Just me?
There are also vampires and werewolves in this world. Of course! The best worlds have vamps and weres! Duh!
Best movie ever.
The setting is in London in the future so far that it has almost gone backwards where there is no longer technology and there is a class system of sorts. The vampires are aristocrats for the most part and they keep human slaves. There are also aristocratic humans, and then just the average poor shlubs. The werewolves are not prevalent in the city, because they can't stand the stench of all the vamps. Apparently, they smell. I guess being undead can give off a slightly unattractive odor.
huh, vampires were in Star Wars? I missed that somehow...
But, one werewolf comes to town at the request of a rich woman who wants him to breed with her granddaughter. The granddaughter is 7 years old. Talk about planning ahead! Instead, Mr. Wolfy gets interested in the kid's older sister. She's 10. No, just kidding, she's 20-something.
Sorry, Pedobear! Not this time!
Unfortunately for Wolfy, there is a socially awkward vampire with no feelings of empathy who is also interested in the older sister, Elle. Of course, his interest in her is more akin to a child's interest in ants while holding a magnifying glass in the sun.... Not particularly a good thing..
Sheesh! How big was her magnifying glass?
Mr. Vampire-Sheldon-Cooper turns out to be easily one of my favorite characters. He is so clueless that it's hilarious. Also, he's a little bit of a psychopath, and you all know I have a soft spot for them.
So, the book has a lot going on with multiple complex characters and a lot of interesting situations. But, on top of all that, there is also a great handling of sexuality. In this world it is completely acceptable and normal for same-sex marriages, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and even asexuality. It's not focused on as something different. It just is. I really liked how it was written in the storyline seamlessly. It was just another example of how fresh and unique this book is.
I really can't wait to read more books set in this world.
November 2, 2016
Her world was filled with magic, the paranormal and evil at every turn. When they say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, the color of those “windows” had better be brown, because any other would signal someone unique and different. In Pinton, different was dangerous. Elle Brown was a City Guard, a protector from things that go bump in the night, her life seemed pretty well mapped out for her, to live free, be strong and protect her young and very special sister from harm. She had no room I her life for love, but when it came prowling into her life, how could she stop herself from falling for Clay, a werewolf shifter?
Amanda Pillar’s debut novel, Graced, takes a different and fresh look at a world filled with vampires, werewolves and the “graced,” individuals feared for the powers they may possess.
Hang on for great world building, feel the tension that runs through the air, the electricity of fear and the strength of a determined young woman who will stop at nothing to keep her younger sister safe from harm, including risking her own life everyday. When her cold, yet powerful Grandmother sends Ella undercover in a vampire’s employ to discover what secrets he may be hiding, get ready for chaos and madness as Ella proves she is good at her job and better at sniffing out what was to remain hidden. Will she discover more than she bargained for? Will it put her young sister in danger? Is her grandmother more than a nasty and overbearing woman?
You’ll be amazed at the twists Amanda Pillar has in store for her readers in this engaging and often dark read! Ms. Pillar focuses on her characters and the tale they have to tell, letting the atmosphere rise up through their actions and thoughts like tendrils of smoke from a growing fire. A wonderfully magnetic read that may not end up where you might think!
Publisher: Momentum (February 26, 2015)
Publication Date: February 26, 2015
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Print Length: 332 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Amanda Pillar’s debut novel, Graced, takes a different and fresh look at a world filled with vampires, werewolves and the “graced,” individuals feared for the powers they may possess.
Hang on for great world building, feel the tension that runs through the air, the electricity of fear and the strength of a determined young woman who will stop at nothing to keep her younger sister safe from harm, including risking her own life everyday. When her cold, yet powerful Grandmother sends Ella undercover in a vampire’s employ to discover what secrets he may be hiding, get ready for chaos and madness as Ella proves she is good at her job and better at sniffing out what was to remain hidden. Will she discover more than she bargained for? Will it put her young sister in danger? Is her grandmother more than a nasty and overbearing woman?
You’ll be amazed at the twists Amanda Pillar has in store for her readers in this engaging and often dark read! Ms. Pillar focuses on her characters and the tale they have to tell, letting the atmosphere rise up through their actions and thoughts like tendrils of smoke from a growing fire. A wonderfully magnetic read that may not end up where you might think!
Publisher: Momentum (February 26, 2015)
Publication Date: February 26, 2015
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Print Length: 332 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
November 7, 2020
💀 DNF at: who-the-fish-knows-who-the-shrimp-cares%.
Read
July 31, 2022I'm the author, so I'm a little biased I think...
February 23, 2015
I was confused by this book. This book definitely grabbed my attention immediately, although not in the intriguing way, more in the horrified, can't look away from a car wreck, way. Although the writing and characters were decent enough, the world building left much to be desired.
Although there were a good amount of characters and differing points of view, I had no trouble distinguishing who was who. Mostly because each character had signature quirks to remind you who they were, not so much that they were all that vivid on their own. I did have trouble remembering the main character's name was Elle and not Emmie. Elle and Emmie appeared together so much it may have been nice to give them names that weren't *quite* so similar.
I got so frustrated not knowing when or where this was supposed to be taking place. Everything seemed arbitrary and created strictly for convenience to the plot. It seemed they were in a historic type setting, the women were expected to wear dresses, Clay dresses like he's from the old west, they often used words so antiquated I had to look them up. And yet, no one seems to care that Elle wears pants and is a city guard or whatever she was. (Not a good one, but still.) And Elle cussed like every five words in her sections. Which was odd, and distracting, especially because none of the other characters spoke like that. It also made her seem as though she was from modern day and the other characters were not. As far as the town they lived in, all I could picture was a tiny, old west style town with horses and buggies and nothing else around it. I didn't understand the aristos. At first I thought that just referred to the rich, ruling class. But then it seemed to refer to just the rich humans, then a chapter later it referred to the rich vampires. And there's a King Johan who someone refers to casually as King Jo. Basically this book is all over the place and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't focus on the story happening between the characters because I was so distracted by the odd setting and background.
When Clay first came on the scene I really thought I knew where things were headed and that I would like him. Then it turned out that he's like a thousand years old (not really, but a few hundred years), and the girls' grandmother wants him to mate with Emmie when she gets older. The ick factor was off the charts for me on that one, I have to say.
I was also annoyed by the fact that Dante was so weird and clueless. They all kept acting like the whole graced/eye color thing was this huge secret. But if it's common knowledge for half the population, how do you even keep it a secret? And why bother? I was frustrated that supposedly no one who wasn't supposed to know about the graces didn't even though it was super obvious.
This might be a good, light beach read for someone who's into paranormal fiction, but just is looking for some romance and not anything spectacular. I was not impressed.
*I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Although there were a good amount of characters and differing points of view, I had no trouble distinguishing who was who. Mostly because each character had signature quirks to remind you who they were, not so much that they were all that vivid on their own. I did have trouble remembering the main character's name was Elle and not Emmie. Elle and Emmie appeared together so much it may have been nice to give them names that weren't *quite* so similar.
I got so frustrated not knowing when or where this was supposed to be taking place. Everything seemed arbitrary and created strictly for convenience to the plot. It seemed they were in a historic type setting, the women were expected to wear dresses, Clay dresses like he's from the old west, they often used words so antiquated I had to look them up. And yet, no one seems to care that Elle wears pants and is a city guard or whatever she was. (Not a good one, but still.) And Elle cussed like every five words in her sections. Which was odd, and distracting, especially because none of the other characters spoke like that. It also made her seem as though she was from modern day and the other characters were not. As far as the town they lived in, all I could picture was a tiny, old west style town with horses and buggies and nothing else around it. I didn't understand the aristos. At first I thought that just referred to the rich, ruling class. But then it seemed to refer to just the rich humans, then a chapter later it referred to the rich vampires. And there's a King Johan who someone refers to casually as King Jo. Basically this book is all over the place and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't focus on the story happening between the characters because I was so distracted by the odd setting and background.
When Clay first came on the scene I really thought I knew where things were headed and that I would like him. Then it turned out that he's like a thousand years old (not really, but a few hundred years), and the girls' grandmother wants him to mate with Emmie when she gets older. The ick factor was off the charts for me on that one, I have to say.
I was also annoyed by the fact that Dante was so weird and clueless. They all kept acting like the whole graced/eye color thing was this huge secret. But if it's common knowledge for half the population, how do you even keep it a secret? And why bother? I was frustrated that supposedly no one who wasn't supposed to know about the graces didn't even though it was super obvious.
This might be a good, light beach read for someone who's into paranormal fiction, but just is looking for some romance and not anything spectacular. I was not impressed.
*I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2017
I’ll give credit to Amanda Pillar. I’ve read a lot of PNR books and this definitely has its own feel. Maybe it’s not exactly PNR, but I wouldn’t call it Urban Fantasy either. It’s set thousands of years in the future in a world that humans share with Gifted, weres, and vampires. The Gifted are special humans (like our heroine’s family) who have gifts like telekinesis, telepathy, or empathy, and they are marked by the color of their eyes.
Elle is not exactly Gifted herself, but she is a little more than human. She works in law enforcement. She is a disappointment to her highly gifted grandmother. And the most important thing in the world to her is protecting her young teal-eyed sister from the notice of the vampires. You see, vamps like to collect interesting humans and there is very to stop them.
I don’t want to spoil too much, because one of the things the book has going for it is an unpredictable plot. I will say there is a sexy werewolf love interest and a sociopathic asexual vampire who throws a wrench in Elle’s entire life. I liked the were, Clay, though their romance bordered on insta-love. And I always struggle with characters who are older than old. (Think 30,000 years.) It’s beyond reconciling in my head.
The vampire was… odd. I’m glad all parts of the sexual spectrum have an acknowledgement in this world. (Really. The fluidity was refreshing.) However, it was hard for me to get emotionally invested in man who cared nothing for others and did not want to have sex with anyone. (Two totally different issues with the same result on my reading experience.) I assume the physical changes in him brought on by the events of the book are responsible for changing his emotional/ sexual ones to a degree, but though they were welcome, those changes felt jarring and underexplained/explored. It was also strange how overt and out there the sexual elements of the world were with very little actually happening on page.
Also, there are parts of the book that flowed really well, but others that felt choppy. And I wasn’t always sure of how much time had passed. And the pacing really sped up (almost too much) in the last third, making the book feel uneven.
There were good things about this story. I liked the premise and parts were engaging, but overall, it ended up a mixed bag for me.
Rating: B-
*Book provided by author for review
Elle is not exactly Gifted herself, but she is a little more than human. She works in law enforcement. She is a disappointment to her highly gifted grandmother. And the most important thing in the world to her is protecting her young teal-eyed sister from the notice of the vampires. You see, vamps like to collect interesting humans and there is very to stop them.
I don’t want to spoil too much, because one of the things the book has going for it is an unpredictable plot. I will say there is a sexy werewolf love interest and a sociopathic asexual vampire who throws a wrench in Elle’s entire life. I liked the were, Clay, though their romance bordered on insta-love. And I always struggle with characters who are older than old. (Think 30,000 years.) It’s beyond reconciling in my head.
The vampire was… odd. I’m glad all parts of the sexual spectrum have an acknowledgement in this world. (Really. The fluidity was refreshing.) However, it was hard for me to get emotionally invested in man who cared nothing for others and did not want to have sex with anyone. (Two totally different issues with the same result on my reading experience.) I assume the physical changes in him brought on by the events of the book are responsible for changing his emotional/ sexual ones to a degree, but though they were welcome, those changes felt jarring and underexplained/explored. It was also strange how overt and out there the sexual elements of the world were with very little actually happening on page.
Also, there are parts of the book that flowed really well, but others that felt choppy. And I wasn’t always sure of how much time had passed. And the pacing really sped up (almost too much) in the last third, making the book feel uneven.
There were good things about this story. I liked the premise and parts were engaging, but overall, it ended up a mixed bag for me.
Rating: B-
*Book provided by author for review
February 9, 2017
*Review copied received from author in exchange for an honest review.*
Graced and I had a rocky start. The transition of changing POVs felt off and really frequent. With multiple points of views from first person that can happen, and at times I thought the timeline was just a smidge off. It didn't help that when I finally started to really sink into the story Elle and Clay were laying heavy on the paranormal romance tropes. Like Clay was in lust and her smell was soooooo good, but a girl with that bad ass of an attitude is too much work! Blah-blah, instalove/lust. It was silly. Thankfully the real meat of the story doesn't solely depend on them as a couple, though it does enough development later that it didn't bother me too much and I could actually see them become a reluctant item towards the end.
No. The real awesome-tacular thing about Graced was the other characters telling the story. Namely Dante!!! Oh my gosh! Dante. He's clearly evil at the beginning. He's the bad guy, but soon we realize that mentally he's a little off. An eccentric? Maybe. Or maybe he's just had evil parents and he just needed real people to make him more “human”. Dante was the perfect intro into why vampires are evil. Soon though he entered the realm of “grey”. More importantly an anti-hero. He does bad shit, but I love him. He's complex.
Even more complex is his romance in the book! Which made up for the other character's instalove. No really. The build up and humor of Dante developing emotions and feelings is epic.
In fact, the character development and story was so engaging as Graced continued on. Pillar really found her footing as the story kept going and I haven't been this engaged in a new Urban Fantasy book in ages. The true part is that all the grey areas have the characters meeting their “enemies” and finding a common ground. Some of the dialogue is hilarious! Especially as Dante does something despicable to Elle, but she totally ends up liking him. (Don't worry Elle, he's like Lokey. You should hate him, but you just can't.) I could go over each character, but I won't.
I also loved the idea of how Elle is protecting her kid sister. That she would do anything for her. The real villain actually ended up being Elle's grandmother. Who on occasion gave me goosebumps. It's also an intriguing concept of the Graced being hidden and that some of their powers are mentally intrusive. Those are scary powers, scarier to me then vampires or werewolves. At least they're up front monsters.
Oh, and the world! It's dystopian if you want to get down to it, or High Fantasy-ish. Basically there was a peak in technology, a great war among the races, and then boom they lost things. There's some technology, but most of it was lost. I like the prejudices and the minor details that Pillar has put in to make her world stand out. Very refreshing and I loved the history and look forward to seeing more of it outside of the current city that most of the story takes place in.
The truth is that Graced only missed being on my Shera's Top 10 Books of 2016 by a hair. Let me tell you I debated and debated. The anticipation of book 2 though, made it onto my Top 10 Anticipated Adult Books of 2017 list though! The characters are totally awesome! The nuances to them as Graced built up was brilliant! At times the dialogue was so clever I felt like I needed to give author Amanda Pillar a gold star of achievement! Even with a rough start it's hard to resist the addictiveness of Graced, and then it gets so good you forget everything else. If you've been looking for a new Urban Fantasy series—and are leery about self pub/indie pub—Graced is a pretty safe bet. It's been well edited. Besides a great story and I can't spam—err, recommend—it enough!
Content Warning: Homosexual themes, some sex scenes (not too crazy), and of course sexual humor! Murder and some human right issues. Some of the leads do bad things.
4/5 - A true obsession!
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
Graced and I had a rocky start. The transition of changing POVs felt off and really frequent. With multiple points of views from first person that can happen, and at times I thought the timeline was just a smidge off. It didn't help that when I finally started to really sink into the story Elle and Clay were laying heavy on the paranormal romance tropes. Like Clay was in lust and her smell was soooooo good, but a girl with that bad ass of an attitude is too much work! Blah-blah, instalove/lust. It was silly. Thankfully the real meat of the story doesn't solely depend on them as a couple, though it does enough development later that it didn't bother me too much and I could actually see them become a reluctant item towards the end.
No. The real awesome-tacular thing about Graced was the other characters telling the story. Namely Dante!!! Oh my gosh! Dante. He's clearly evil at the beginning. He's the bad guy, but soon we realize that mentally he's a little off. An eccentric? Maybe. Or maybe he's just had evil parents and he just needed real people to make him more “human”. Dante was the perfect intro into why vampires are evil. Soon though he entered the realm of “grey”. More importantly an anti-hero. He does bad shit, but I love him. He's complex.
Even more complex is his romance in the book! Which made up for the other character's instalove. No really. The build up and humor of Dante developing emotions and feelings is epic.
In fact, the character development and story was so engaging as Graced continued on. Pillar really found her footing as the story kept going and I haven't been this engaged in a new Urban Fantasy book in ages. The true part is that all the grey areas have the characters meeting their “enemies” and finding a common ground. Some of the dialogue is hilarious! Especially as Dante does something despicable to Elle, but she totally ends up liking him. (Don't worry Elle, he's like Lokey. You should hate him, but you just can't.) I could go over each character, but I won't.
I also loved the idea of how Elle is protecting her kid sister. That she would do anything for her. The real villain actually ended up being Elle's grandmother. Who on occasion gave me goosebumps. It's also an intriguing concept of the Graced being hidden and that some of their powers are mentally intrusive. Those are scary powers, scarier to me then vampires or werewolves. At least they're up front monsters.
Oh, and the world! It's dystopian if you want to get down to it, or High Fantasy-ish. Basically there was a peak in technology, a great war among the races, and then boom they lost things. There's some technology, but most of it was lost. I like the prejudices and the minor details that Pillar has put in to make her world stand out. Very refreshing and I loved the history and look forward to seeing more of it outside of the current city that most of the story takes place in.
The truth is that Graced only missed being on my Shera's Top 10 Books of 2016 by a hair. Let me tell you I debated and debated. The anticipation of book 2 though, made it onto my Top 10 Anticipated Adult Books of 2017 list though! The characters are totally awesome! The nuances to them as Graced built up was brilliant! At times the dialogue was so clever I felt like I needed to give author Amanda Pillar a gold star of achievement! Even with a rough start it's hard to resist the addictiveness of Graced, and then it gets so good you forget everything else. If you've been looking for a new Urban Fantasy series—and are leery about self pub/indie pub—Graced is a pretty safe bet. It's been well edited. Besides a great story and I can't spam—err, recommend—it enough!
Content Warning: Homosexual themes, some sex scenes (not too crazy), and of course sexual humor! Murder and some human right issues. Some of the leads do bad things.
4/5 - A true obsession!
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
March 4, 2015
An eARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley. I subsequently purchased my own copy as well. I was an early beta reader of this novel, and have worked with Amanda Pillar professionally, as well as consider her a friend. None of these things have influenced my review of this work.
*****
Graced is writer and editor Amanda Pillar’s debut novel, and is published by Momentum Books.
At first. the world of Graced looks much like many other urban fantasy/paranormal romance worlds. There are vampires who live in an aristocratic society, there are werewolves, and there are humans. But here is where Pillar brings something new to the genre: within the humans are a subset of magically talented people known as the Graced, identifiable by their coloured eyes (Non-Graced humans have brown eyes). The Graced believe that their powers are secret, and want to keep it that way.
Elle Brown is a City Guard working in the primarily vampire-occupied Pinton. Her primary concern in life, other than keeping the peace, is the wellbeing and happiness of her much younger sister, Emmie. Their Grandmother, Olive, a strong Green (a Graced with green eyes, and strong powers), believes both of her granddaughters to be useless. Elle has hazel eyes and no powers, and Emmie has unusual Teal eyes, but appears to only have latent powers. Olive has far-reaching schemes for the Graced, and invites the werewolf Clay Lovett to Pinton. Elle and Clay meet, and there is instant chemistry between them.
Meanwhile, the vampire Dante Kipling is growing curious about humans with coloured eyes – he suspects that the colours must mean something, but he doesn’t know what. His experiments result in the deaths of two Graced, and Olive sends Elle to spy on the Kipling family in disguise as a servant.
And, quite simply, all hell breaks loose.
At first, I wasn’t quite sold on the idea of the Graced – special eye colours are a well-worn trope, and I feared that I would be seeing the same-old same-old here. I shouldn’t have feared, because Pillar adds so much originality and meaning to an old trope – and there are hints that there are deeper threads again to the Graced (and I hope very much that Pillar revisits this world to explore them).
All of the characters are amazing. Elle is a fabulous strong (in the literal meaning of strong) female character, and her love and protective instincts for Emmie make her very relatable. Clay is charming from the moment he steps onto the page, and the chemistry between he and Elle is palpable.
There has to be a mention about the diversity of sexualities in this book. There is little shame in sexuality, and we see characters who are bisexual (and use the word to describe themselves, which happens far too little) as well as asexual.
The setting of this world feels a little nebulous at first – very much like any alternate earth. But as the story progresses, there are hints and clues that this is not just an alternate earth, but in fact something else.
There is much that could easily have become problematic in this book. The implication that a young girl could possibly be bred with an older character is there, but strongly objected to by many characters (so many that you know as a reader that it’s never going to happen). There’s also a good portrayal of a character with a physical disability, who is never maligned for it (except by himself).
This is a fast-paced, fun read that will likely appeal to fans of work such as Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books (without their problematic issues). Pillar brings a new voice to urban fantasy and has introduced readers to a fabulous new world that I truly hope she returns to. Highly recommended.
*****
Graced is writer and editor Amanda Pillar’s debut novel, and is published by Momentum Books.
At first. the world of Graced looks much like many other urban fantasy/paranormal romance worlds. There are vampires who live in an aristocratic society, there are werewolves, and there are humans. But here is where Pillar brings something new to the genre: within the humans are a subset of magically talented people known as the Graced, identifiable by their coloured eyes (Non-Graced humans have brown eyes). The Graced believe that their powers are secret, and want to keep it that way.
Elle Brown is a City Guard working in the primarily vampire-occupied Pinton. Her primary concern in life, other than keeping the peace, is the wellbeing and happiness of her much younger sister, Emmie. Their Grandmother, Olive, a strong Green (a Graced with green eyes, and strong powers), believes both of her granddaughters to be useless. Elle has hazel eyes and no powers, and Emmie has unusual Teal eyes, but appears to only have latent powers. Olive has far-reaching schemes for the Graced, and invites the werewolf Clay Lovett to Pinton. Elle and Clay meet, and there is instant chemistry between them.
Meanwhile, the vampire Dante Kipling is growing curious about humans with coloured eyes – he suspects that the colours must mean something, but he doesn’t know what. His experiments result in the deaths of two Graced, and Olive sends Elle to spy on the Kipling family in disguise as a servant.
And, quite simply, all hell breaks loose.
At first, I wasn’t quite sold on the idea of the Graced – special eye colours are a well-worn trope, and I feared that I would be seeing the same-old same-old here. I shouldn’t have feared, because Pillar adds so much originality and meaning to an old trope – and there are hints that there are deeper threads again to the Graced (and I hope very much that Pillar revisits this world to explore them).
All of the characters are amazing. Elle is a fabulous strong (in the literal meaning of strong) female character, and her love and protective instincts for Emmie make her very relatable. Clay is charming from the moment he steps onto the page, and the chemistry between he and Elle is palpable.
There has to be a mention about the diversity of sexualities in this book. There is little shame in sexuality, and we see characters who are bisexual (and use the word to describe themselves, which happens far too little) as well as asexual.
The setting of this world feels a little nebulous at first – very much like any alternate earth. But as the story progresses, there are hints and clues that this is not just an alternate earth, but in fact something else.
There is much that could easily have become problematic in this book. The implication that a young girl could possibly be bred with an older character is there, but strongly objected to by many characters (so many that you know as a reader that it’s never going to happen). There’s also a good portrayal of a character with a physical disability, who is never maligned for it (except by himself).
This is a fast-paced, fun read that will likely appeal to fans of work such as Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books (without their problematic issues). Pillar brings a new voice to urban fantasy and has introduced readers to a fabulous new world that I truly hope she returns to. Highly recommended.
March 22, 2015
I received a copy of this book to review via Netgalley and Momentum books.
This book was quite the adventure. It had some original concepts for a vampire/werewolf book and some pretty good world building. I would say that my expectations were exceeded, yet I wasn't blown away. I really liked that you got many different point of views, giving you a 360 degree view of the world that was created. The concepts of "graced" humans in a world of vampires and werewolves was a really good idea.
The aristocratic society was another good concept, but it could have been executed better. There was not much description of the time period, the clothes or the atmosphere. You were aware that there used to be better technology, but society had reverted back to the old ways, but there is no explanation of why. The climax of the book wasn't as exciting as it should have been, I actually didn't know that it was the climax until it was almost over. I also don't think that the character development was that good. Events in the book didn't evoke emotion in me, but they did captivate me. Overall I would say it was full of great ideas, but it could have been done better.
This book was quite the adventure. It had some original concepts for a vampire/werewolf book and some pretty good world building. I would say that my expectations were exceeded, yet I wasn't blown away. I really liked that you got many different point of views, giving you a 360 degree view of the world that was created. The concepts of "graced" humans in a world of vampires and werewolves was a really good idea.
The aristocratic society was another good concept, but it could have been executed better. There was not much description of the time period, the clothes or the atmosphere. You were aware that there used to be better technology, but society had reverted back to the old ways, but there is no explanation of why. The climax of the book wasn't as exciting as it should have been, I actually didn't know that it was the climax until it was almost over. I also don't think that the character development was that good. Events in the book didn't evoke emotion in me, but they did captivate me. Overall I would say it was full of great ideas, but it could have been done better.
March 1, 2022
I'll be honest, I almost DNFed this early on. The beginning was very rough for me. I thought the plot and world chaotic and underdeveloped, and the characters unlikable. But past the halfway mark, once the four characters came together, I thought the whole thing hilarious and enjoyed the heck out of it.
I'm not entirely sure I was meant to find everything I found funny, funny. And maybe I should feel a little bad about laughing at some of it. But I enjoyed it enough to consider buying book two, and would have if it followed the same group. I wanted more of the sarcastic, family-bickering dynamic the group formed by the end. But I also think that's one of the book biggest weaknesses (other than the rough start)—just as the book finally gives you what you've wanted all along, it ends and the next book is about someone else entirely.
And while I thought the four people clearly forming a found-family was fun, I didn't understand the purpose of there being two couples (and it was two separate couples, not a poly group). According to the blurb, Elle is very clearly the main characters and her romantic partner is Clay. Which leaves Dante and Anton's romance feeling like extra and the plot feeling stretched and diluted.
Speaking of Dante, I super resent that I spent most of the book appreciating the asexual rep, only to have the suggestion sneaked in, at the end, that he might like sex after all, now that he found His Person. Outside of side-eyeing that, there were characters of multiple races, ages, and orientations and no obvious -isms involved, which I was able to appreciate all the way until the end.
All in all, like I said, I wanted more by the end. So, I finished this happy enough to forget about how it started.
I'm not entirely sure I was meant to find everything I found funny, funny. And maybe I should feel a little bad about laughing at some of it. But I enjoyed it enough to consider buying book two, and would have if it followed the same group. I wanted more of the sarcastic, family-bickering dynamic the group formed by the end. But I also think that's one of the book biggest weaknesses (other than the rough start)—just as the book finally gives you what you've wanted all along, it ends and the next book is about someone else entirely.
And while I thought the four people clearly forming a found-family was fun, I didn't understand the purpose of there being two couples (and it was two separate couples, not a poly group). According to the blurb, Elle is very clearly the main characters and her romantic partner is Clay. Which leaves Dante and Anton's romance feeling like extra and the plot feeling stretched and diluted.
Speaking of Dante, I super resent that I spent most of the book appreciating the asexual rep, only to have the suggestion sneaked in, at the end, that he might like sex after all, now that he found His Person. Outside of side-eyeing that, there were characters of multiple races, ages, and orientations and no obvious -isms involved, which I was able to appreciate all the way until the end.
All in all, like I said, I wanted more by the end. So, I finished this happy enough to forget about how it started.
December 8, 2021
Elle Brown is fine having not been born with any powers in her twisted family of psychics known as Graced. Her little sister Emmie seems safe from that drama, except their cruel grandmother has other plans for them. When a vampire Chooses Elle for his own strange purposes, everything is thrown on its head and new layers of the supernatural world are uncovered. Elle only wants to keep Emmie safe, but even with the help of a gorgeous wolf shifter, the odds are stacked against them.
This is a fascinating paranormal forbidden romance. The Graced aren't supposed to have anything to do with shifters and vampires, and the later two aren't even supposed to know about the rare and powerful psychics. Elle is a Graced with no power, but even then, she should be flirting with the hot werewolf, Clay. Clay, himself, is a lot more than he appears. He has as much mystery as the plot itself. There is a lot of world building and interesting takes on the traditional legends. It wasn't what I expected from the cover, but in a good way. Elle is a lot tougher having started as a city guard. She is never a damsel in distress. There are a lot of hilarious moments with the various characters, and a lot of interlinking plot threads. I truly did loathe the villain of this story. I do like it when a villain believes they are doing what's best for their kind. It's a great start to the series, and I'm the most curious to know where Emmie goes from here.
This is a fascinating paranormal forbidden romance. The Graced aren't supposed to have anything to do with shifters and vampires, and the later two aren't even supposed to know about the rare and powerful psychics. Elle is a Graced with no power, but even then, she should be flirting with the hot werewolf, Clay. Clay, himself, is a lot more than he appears. He has as much mystery as the plot itself. There is a lot of world building and interesting takes on the traditional legends. It wasn't what I expected from the cover, but in a good way. Elle is a lot tougher having started as a city guard. She is never a damsel in distress. There are a lot of hilarious moments with the various characters, and a lot of interlinking plot threads. I truly did loathe the villain of this story. I do like it when a villain believes they are doing what's best for their kind. It's a great start to the series, and I'm the most curious to know where Emmie goes from here.
July 5, 2018
This was a very unique take on the common human/vampire/were worlds that many PNR readers find themselves in. I really liked the world our author set up and different branches of humans based on their eye color.
Unfortunately while I liked the world itself I had a difficult time liking the characters and even more trouble following the plot. It was unpredictable to say the least and I did not feel like the characters decisions were smart or logical in anyway.
This is especially true with our romance between Clay and Elle as well as almost any interaction that Dante has with another character. There were too many characters without enough character building to really get me invested in all of the changing POVS.
Unfortunately while I liked the world itself I had a difficult time liking the characters and even more trouble following the plot. It was unpredictable to say the least and I did not feel like the characters decisions were smart or logical in anyway.
This is especially true with our romance between Clay and Elle as well as almost any interaction that Dante has with another character. There were too many characters without enough character building to really get me invested in all of the changing POVS.
April 12, 2015
3.5 stars. This book is a curious beast, because it really isn’t anything like I expected – especially not from that cover. Wow, does that white-clad, winsome maiden do Elle a disservice. She’s a City Guard who wears trousers unless forced to do otherwise. There’s also no sign of the suggested love-triangle, thankfully. Instead this is a tale of a curious vampire with sociopathic tendencies, a woman doing all she can to protect her baby sister and a werewolf with too many secrets and a habit of climbing uninvited through windows.
There’s actually quite a lot to like here. Clay the werewolf is fun, and though he has stalker tendencies they’re born more of curiosity than possessive lust-crazed idiocy. Elle is straight forward, sarcastic and not afraid to stick up for herself, while Dante is by turns intriguing, awful and just not the average genre vampire.
However, there are problems. The biggest one I had was the idea that this all takes place thirty-thousand years after a world very much like the one we live in now. Thirty-thousand years?! And they’re living in a pseudo-Victorian tech era? What? Thirty thousand years ago humanity was painting in caves in France, Neanderthals were on the brink of extinction and there was an ice age going on. We’ve come a long way since then, because humans are the ultimate survivors who adapt and innovate as necessary – or as boredom dictates – so forgive me for being skeptical that after genetically engineering vampires, werewolves (and other weres, though we don’t see any in the book) and magically-enhanced humans, everything devolves into civil war and we somehow regress one hundred years and stagnate there. Added to that, the city of Pinton itself isn’t particularly well developed, seeming a bit Regency, a bit Victorian, a bit pioneer with an awful lot missing.
Away from the world-building issues, I wasn’t particularly keen on a few other things. Elle has a nasty habit of judging other women she comes into contact with by aspects of their appearance, from there she’s either jealous or declares the other woman is a worthless bitch. She gets better as the book progresses, but it still left a sour taste for me. I also wish there had been more Emmie. She’s cute and clever and quickly drops out of the story when she’s not immediately required – only to return at the most convenient moment. Then there was Dante, who started off as a sociopath, then sort of morphed into just being socially awkward. The bit the most annoyed me about him, actually, was how he went from a clearly asexual character (yay!) to a man who wanted so badly to please his spouse that he happily had sex with him… well, I think that’s what happened. I wasn’t sure. Either way, it made it seem like people are only asexual until they meet the right partner. Which, just, urgh.
So it’s a book of ups and downs. It certainly twisted in ways I didn’t predict (and left me pretty unimpressed with Clay and very sorry for Emmie), and I thought the third section was probably the most enjoyable of the lot. There’s also a half-decent romance, that might have been better off without the cliché I almost lost you, therefore I love you, I love you moment, but at least it wasn’t predestined or a love triangle, or down to the romance of being stalked. It’s an interesting twist on the usual genre fodder and I’d definitely be interesting in seeing what happens next. Especially with how things went in the final chapter.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
There’s actually quite a lot to like here. Clay the werewolf is fun, and though he has stalker tendencies they’re born more of curiosity than possessive lust-crazed idiocy. Elle is straight forward, sarcastic and not afraid to stick up for herself, while Dante is by turns intriguing, awful and just not the average genre vampire.
However, there are problems. The biggest one I had was the idea that this all takes place thirty-thousand years after a world very much like the one we live in now. Thirty-thousand years?! And they’re living in a pseudo-Victorian tech era? What? Thirty thousand years ago humanity was painting in caves in France, Neanderthals were on the brink of extinction and there was an ice age going on. We’ve come a long way since then, because humans are the ultimate survivors who adapt and innovate as necessary – or as boredom dictates – so forgive me for being skeptical that after genetically engineering vampires, werewolves (and other weres, though we don’t see any in the book) and magically-enhanced humans, everything devolves into civil war and we somehow regress one hundred years and stagnate there. Added to that, the city of Pinton itself isn’t particularly well developed, seeming a bit Regency, a bit Victorian, a bit pioneer with an awful lot missing.
Away from the world-building issues, I wasn’t particularly keen on a few other things. Elle has a nasty habit of judging other women she comes into contact with by aspects of their appearance, from there she’s either jealous or declares the other woman is a worthless bitch. She gets better as the book progresses, but it still left a sour taste for me. I also wish there had been more Emmie. She’s cute and clever and quickly drops out of the story when she’s not immediately required – only to return at the most convenient moment. Then there was Dante, who started off as a sociopath, then sort of morphed into just being socially awkward. The bit the most annoyed me about him, actually, was how he went from a clearly asexual character (yay!) to a man who wanted so badly to please his spouse that he happily had sex with him… well, I think that’s what happened. I wasn’t sure. Either way, it made it seem like people are only asexual until they meet the right partner. Which, just, urgh.
So it’s a book of ups and downs. It certainly twisted in ways I didn’t predict (and left me pretty unimpressed with Clay and very sorry for Emmie), and I thought the third section was probably the most enjoyable of the lot. There’s also a half-decent romance, that might have been better off without the cliché I almost lost you, therefore I love you, I love you moment, but at least it wasn’t predestined or a love triangle, or down to the romance of being stalked. It’s an interesting twist on the usual genre fodder and I’d definitely be interesting in seeing what happens next. Especially with how things went in the final chapter.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
March 24, 2015
In their world, there are four kinds of people.. the graced, the nons, the vampires, and the werewolves.
For half-breed and City guard Elle Brown's will always protect her sister from all species, no matter what they cost.
It isn't until a sexy werewolf named Clay comes onto her radar and graced women come up dead, that Elle's life slowly unravels until there is nothing left. Can she still protect Emmie with her new identity? What if it means turning your back on the only family she has ever known, running to a new one?
I'm going to start my review by saying I almost quit reading this book. The beginning is soo slow.. But I have a policy to try and reach a certain point before I give up. So I moved on to another book before coming back.
Thank the heavens the book FINALLY pickup up then. I am glad I stuck with the book as it developed into a rather interesting read.
While I enjoyed this book, but it was a hot mess at times. (Which I believe is because it was novels strung together as a whole.) As a reader I found it difficult at times to keep up with who was the focus. This book is written by multiple (as it 4-5) points of view. Often scenes would change without some break in the paragraph, leaving me to go back and reread until I figured out what had happened.
Not sure about everyone else, but my copy was written in bold italics, which is not very easy on the eyes either.
For the characters.. I actually thought they were all great! I have a wolfie crush for sure and I was so surprised by the way Dante's character blossomed by the end of the book. Would like to see where his relationship goes.
Overall I believe the author has a lot of potential to make this into an awesome series. There are some good bones here.
I would like to see the character views and scene traditions be little less choppy, and maybe not repeat the same scene for each character.
I can see why the repeat view was necessary between multiple characters for the funeral scene, but I did feel it was necessary in others. It because confusing when it the same scene was repeated between three characters.
Disclosure: While this book does lack in the bedroom "action" department, there is talk about it and some of characters are bisexual.
** I received a digital copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.**
January 2, 2017
Book – Graced
Author – Amanda Pillar
Series – The Graced Series #1
Cliffhanger? - No
Publication Date – January 26, 2015
Genre – PNR
Type – Stand-Alone Series
Rating – 4.25 out of 5 Stars
Complimentary copy generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts - Story
So…I have been reading Epic/High Fantasy for many months now and the one thing I absolutely LOVE about this genre is the world building…I felt that I couldn’t really get that in any other genre. Most PNR books that I read in the past, didn’t do much of this but just concentrated on the sex.
Ms. Pillar broke the mold with this book in the PNR genre. Eye Color…who would have thought?? Unique is all I can say to describe this book. This book kinda breaks the line between Historical, Sci-Fi, and PNR --- Why? Yes, it has werewolves and vampires but it is also set in the future with all technology gone….UGH – this book is hard to explain but I think that is what captivated me!
It’s different – it’s amazing, complex and a must read!
Reason for Reading – Author Request
Story – 5 out of 5 Stars
Steam – 4 out of 5 Stars
Angst – 4 out of 5 Stars
Writing – 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Content Flow – 5 out of 5 Stars
Would Read More from Author? Yes
Recommend To – Lovers of something different and unique
For more Reviews, Free E-books and Giveaways
Author – Amanda Pillar
Series – The Graced Series #1
Cliffhanger? - No
Publication Date – January 26, 2015
Genre – PNR
Type – Stand-Alone Series
Rating – 4.25 out of 5 Stars
Complimentary copy generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts - Story
So…I have been reading Epic/High Fantasy for many months now and the one thing I absolutely LOVE about this genre is the world building…I felt that I couldn’t really get that in any other genre. Most PNR books that I read in the past, didn’t do much of this but just concentrated on the sex.
Ms. Pillar broke the mold with this book in the PNR genre. Eye Color…who would have thought?? Unique is all I can say to describe this book. This book kinda breaks the line between Historical, Sci-Fi, and PNR --- Why? Yes, it has werewolves and vampires but it is also set in the future with all technology gone….UGH – this book is hard to explain but I think that is what captivated me!
It’s different – it’s amazing, complex and a must read!
Reason for Reading – Author Request
Story – 5 out of 5 Stars
Steam – 4 out of 5 Stars
Angst – 4 out of 5 Stars
Writing – 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Content Flow – 5 out of 5 Stars
Would Read More from Author? Yes
Recommend To – Lovers of something different and unique
For more Reviews, Free E-books and Giveaways
December 30, 2016
It is not often that you get to read a paranormal romance with vampires and werewolves and have it be original, interesting , dark and fun all at the same time. The author has managed to make an asexual, emotionless monster who murders someone in the first few pages into a sympathetic character. Not many people can do that.
Graced is set many thousands of years in the future, so many that the world is unrecognisable as our own. it is populated by vampires, weres and humans. The humans are mostly brown eyed, but those that have green, or blue, or some other colour are known to themselves as Graced, as they have powers associated with those eye colours. Greens can read minds, blues emotions, grey are telekinetic and then we have Emmie, the young sister of our protagonist Elle, whose eyes are an unusual teal colour. Elle has dedicated herself to keeping Emmie from the notice of the vampires and weres, who might collect her like a precious object, or even worse.
The plot is complicated and there are several points of view characters, but I was fascinated the whole way through. The social structure was interesting as well, with no limits against who marries who, and inheritance was preferred through the female. I knew the first novel from this acclaimed short story writer would be beyond the norm, as she specialises in out there stories, but I was more than pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. There are elements of standard paranormal romances here but they aren't the main focus of this story, which to me was more about family love and loyalty.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
*An ARC was provided to me by Netgalley for an unbiased honest opinion*
Graced is set many thousands of years in the future, so many that the world is unrecognisable as our own. it is populated by vampires, weres and humans. The humans are mostly brown eyed, but those that have green, or blue, or some other colour are known to themselves as Graced, as they have powers associated with those eye colours. Greens can read minds, blues emotions, grey are telekinetic and then we have Emmie, the young sister of our protagonist Elle, whose eyes are an unusual teal colour. Elle has dedicated herself to keeping Emmie from the notice of the vampires and weres, who might collect her like a precious object, or even worse.
The plot is complicated and there are several points of view characters, but I was fascinated the whole way through. The social structure was interesting as well, with no limits against who marries who, and inheritance was preferred through the female. I knew the first novel from this acclaimed short story writer would be beyond the norm, as she specialises in out there stories, but I was more than pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. There are elements of standard paranormal romances here but they aren't the main focus of this story, which to me was more about family love and loyalty.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
*An ARC was provided to me by Netgalley for an unbiased honest opinion*
Read
August 11, 2015Disclaimer: I know the author personally and have published her short fiction.
I raced through reading this book, which put me a little in mind of later Anita Blake or Merry Gentry books in some ways (although GRACED is not NEARLY as sex-heavy as Laurell K Hamilton's work tends to be!). I thought the ideas underpinning the story were interesting and thoughtful, with vampires, weres and Graces all being genetically engineered species. However, I felt there was an awful lot going on in what is quite a short book, and would have liked to see the accelerator eased off a little to explore the concepts and character relationships in more depth. This probably wasn't helped by the multiple point of view characters in the story, which added to a bit of disconnect. I think there was probably the bones of at least two books in this novel, but the plot would have needed more strength to sustain such an idea. There was some interesting character work in the book that I would loved to have seen more of, and I would have liked to learn more about the world the characters inhabit, and why it exists the way it does.
The overall tone was fairly light, despite some of the more sinister activities of the story, and it was an easy, pacy read. As a debut novel, it has merit, and I'm sure Pillar will continue to grow in her craft as a novelist just as she has a short story writer.
I raced through reading this book, which put me a little in mind of later Anita Blake or Merry Gentry books in some ways (although GRACED is not NEARLY as sex-heavy as Laurell K Hamilton's work tends to be!). I thought the ideas underpinning the story were interesting and thoughtful, with vampires, weres and Graces all being genetically engineered species. However, I felt there was an awful lot going on in what is quite a short book, and would have liked to see the accelerator eased off a little to explore the concepts and character relationships in more depth. This probably wasn't helped by the multiple point of view characters in the story, which added to a bit of disconnect. I think there was probably the bones of at least two books in this novel, but the plot would have needed more strength to sustain such an idea. There was some interesting character work in the book that I would loved to have seen more of, and I would have liked to learn more about the world the characters inhabit, and why it exists the way it does.
The overall tone was fairly light, despite some of the more sinister activities of the story, and it was an easy, pacy read. As a debut novel, it has merit, and I'm sure Pillar will continue to grow in her craft as a novelist just as she has a short story writer.
February 4, 2017
Now a days it's hard to come up with something new and different regarding vampires and werewolves since it's all been done before but Amanda Pillar manages to find a new and interesting take on the genre. Vampires are the ruling class and some of the vampires have human slaves. There is only a smattering of werewolves in town since werewolves and vampires don't get along. And then there are the Graced humans. Graced because they have colored eyes (green, blue, hazel, gray) where most humans have brown. Graced people are psychic but each color eye has different abilities which is kinda neat and different.
My only real issue was the romance between Elle and Clay. While it was well paced, the author skipped over any sexual encounters. The reader could assume by the instant closeness of Elle and Clay that something happened behind the scenes but honestly the reader needs to feel the connection between the characters and "seeing" the encounter helps the reader do that.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and loved the ending so I will definitely be continuing the series.
On a side note: I absolutely love the cover!
Disclosure: This book was provided by the author for an honest review.
My only real issue was the romance between Elle and Clay. While it was well paced, the author skipped over any sexual encounters. The reader could assume by the instant closeness of Elle and Clay that something happened behind the scenes but honestly the reader needs to feel the connection between the characters and "seeing" the encounter helps the reader do that.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and loved the ending so I will definitely be continuing the series.
On a side note: I absolutely love the cover!
Disclosure: This book was provided by the author for an honest review.
April 13, 2015
Another book with an interesting concept that I had trouble on the follow through. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This world is filled with mostly brown-eyed humans, a few rare humans with other colors (hazel, gray, green, blue), vampires, and werewolves. The point of view switches between 5 or 6 people, which is one thing I personally wasn't crazy about. You get the point of view of Elle, who has Hazel eyes and is protecting her baby sister who has Teal eyes from becoming an object to a vampire who likes to collect humans with interesting eye colors. It's not general knowledge, but humans with any color other than brown are called Graced and have abilities ranging from psychic to teleknesis.
I thought the world was interesting, but it skipped over the juicy romance details and had sort of an insta love (well close, within a few encounters) which is a pet peeve of mine. That takes all the fun out of it if the heroine meets someone and is so in love. However, if this doesn't phase you, then it's worth reading in my humble opinion.
This world is filled with mostly brown-eyed humans, a few rare humans with other colors (hazel, gray, green, blue), vampires, and werewolves. The point of view switches between 5 or 6 people, which is one thing I personally wasn't crazy about. You get the point of view of Elle, who has Hazel eyes and is protecting her baby sister who has Teal eyes from becoming an object to a vampire who likes to collect humans with interesting eye colors. It's not general knowledge, but humans with any color other than brown are called Graced and have abilities ranging from psychic to teleknesis.
I thought the world was interesting, but it skipped over the juicy romance details and had sort of an insta love (well close, within a few encounters) which is a pet peeve of mine. That takes all the fun out of it if the heroine meets someone and is so in love. However, if this doesn't phase you, then it's worth reading in my humble opinion.
October 27, 2015
I quite enjoyed this book! When I first started reading I suspected I might be in for a Vampire-Human-Were love triangle but was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't. In fact that's what I loved most about this book - it wasn't predictable. I think Amanda Pillar has put a fresh twist on the genre (namely through fresh characters) and that's what kept me turning the pages. I liked that the focus was on the Graced species, living as humans alongside Vampires and Weres, and I was quite intrigued with the backstory regarding the clash of these cultures in times gone by, which I believe may be the focus of Pillar's next novel in the series. Overall, this book provided plenty of action, drama and romance, set among some rich world-building and infused with just the right amount of humour. 'Graced' is an enjoyable read that thinks outside the box.
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December 9, 2019
What a weird mashup of a historical/futuristic setting, romance/obsession, family/found family, supernatural/genetic engineering etc. It shouldn't have worked, but in the end, it did.
Elle is a city guard in a place where vampires are part of the ruling class. Werewolves also exist, but not where Elle is, until Clay comes to town. I don't want to say what Clay is doing there, I don't want to spoil it, but Elle and Clay meet, and a unromantic romance ensues. It was nice that many of the most annoying romance tropes were missing. And no love triangle! What happens instead is so much more interesting.
There are several different viewpoints, all of them distinct. Good characterization, especially for the villains. They weren't just labeled bad guys, they had clear reasons for doing the things they did.
The mashup wasn't always successful. The story takes place in a fantasy setting in the far future, yet there's a historical feel, sort of Regency/Victorian. There's little technology, which doesn't make sense since the story is 30,000 years in the future! It would take a huge amount of work to keep an entire world static for that long.
Other than that, the story had plenty of twists and turns, lots of manipulations and machinations, and some good action scenes, especially toward the ending. A fun start to a series.
Elle is a city guard in a place where vampires are part of the ruling class. Werewolves also exist, but not where Elle is, until Clay comes to town. I don't want to say what Clay is doing there, I don't want to spoil it, but Elle and Clay meet, and a unromantic romance ensues. It was nice that many of the most annoying romance tropes were missing. And no love triangle! What happens instead is so much more interesting.
There are several different viewpoints, all of them distinct. Good characterization, especially for the villains. They weren't just labeled bad guys, they had clear reasons for doing the things they did.
The mashup wasn't always successful. The story takes place in a fantasy setting in the far future, yet there's a historical feel, sort of Regency/Victorian. There's little technology, which doesn't make sense since the story is 30,000 years in the future! It would take a huge amount of work to keep an entire world static for that long.
Other than that, the story had plenty of twists and turns, lots of manipulations and machinations, and some good action scenes, especially toward the ending. A fun start to a series.
February 20, 2017
Less bodice ripping, more paranormal madcap comedy
There's a bit of everything except steampunk in Graced. Elle, the strong female lead character who works as a city guard and isn't afraid to bust a head or two has a complicated family life in a very complicated city filled with vampire aristocrats, a hierarchy among the human population depending upon whether or not they possess certain "gifts" (Graced), and the occasional werewolf.
This could have been filled with trite tropes, but the humor that shines throughout, the utterly likable, or loathsome, or just plain naturalistic unnatural beings that fill the pages are a delight to get to know.
At the point where the story turns into a "madcap heiress" comedy of errors, it's pure magic. Deft handling of truly complicated verbal and psychic dialog along with action, plus it provided excellent character development. Really stellar stuff, this.
Can't wait to read the next one in the series.
There's a bit of everything except steampunk in Graced. Elle, the strong female lead character who works as a city guard and isn't afraid to bust a head or two has a complicated family life in a very complicated city filled with vampire aristocrats, a hierarchy among the human population depending upon whether or not they possess certain "gifts" (Graced), and the occasional werewolf.
This could have been filled with trite tropes, but the humor that shines throughout, the utterly likable, or loathsome, or just plain naturalistic unnatural beings that fill the pages are a delight to get to know.
At the point where the story turns into a "madcap heiress" comedy of errors, it's pure magic. Deft handling of truly complicated verbal and psychic dialog along with action, plus it provided excellent character development. Really stellar stuff, this.
Can't wait to read the next one in the series.
May 24, 2019
#Intriguing
This book grabbed me from page 1, but it took some time to make sense - and I am still not fully sure I “get” it. The cast of characters is diverse and often flamboyant, standing out in the story and on the page, including owning their own POV chapters, so much so that I questioned WHO the main characters were a time or two. All in all, it was an intriguing and fascinating ride, one that deftly crafted a new, brutal world filled with creatures of both nightmares and dreams.
Pros:
- World building. Even if it’s foggy a bit or stutters, the concepts behind the scenes are captivating.
- Characters who seem so human, even when they are not.
- Societal Norms are both modern and Medieval, a dichotomy that messes with the mind.
Cons:
- Sometimes it is TOO much.
- Frequent POV changes.
- Fade to black intimate scenes.... there was too much tension for that tease.
- Ending felt abrupt. There should be another book with THESE characters alone.
This book grabbed me from page 1, but it took some time to make sense - and I am still not fully sure I “get” it. The cast of characters is diverse and often flamboyant, standing out in the story and on the page, including owning their own POV chapters, so much so that I questioned WHO the main characters were a time or two. All in all, it was an intriguing and fascinating ride, one that deftly crafted a new, brutal world filled with creatures of both nightmares and dreams.
Pros:
- World building. Even if it’s foggy a bit or stutters, the concepts behind the scenes are captivating.
- Characters who seem so human, even when they are not.
- Societal Norms are both modern and Medieval, a dichotomy that messes with the mind.
Cons:
- Sometimes it is TOO much.
- Frequent POV changes.
- Fade to black intimate scenes.... there was too much tension for that tease.
- Ending felt abrupt. There should be another book with THESE characters alone.
May 7, 2021
Graced
The book has something for everyone within its pages. There are vampires, shifters, humans, slaves, servants, and a special hidden group of Graced. They hid in plain site and can be recognized by other Graced because of their eye color. Their origins have been lost in time due to a civil war that happened a long time ago.
One vampire, Dante, is trying to find out why only people with brown eyes can be Chosen to be turned into vampires. Unfortunately for him, he does some unusual things that go wrong.
Elle and Emmie are the granddaughters to a woman with green eyes who is very prominent in the Aristo Circle for the services she provides to the rich vampires in the city. She has a hidden agenda that ends up causing so many problems in the city.
You get caught up in the action in the book that you do not want to stop reading. You want to find out what is going to happen next.
The book has something for everyone within its pages. There are vampires, shifters, humans, slaves, servants, and a special hidden group of Graced. They hid in plain site and can be recognized by other Graced because of their eye color. Their origins have been lost in time due to a civil war that happened a long time ago.
One vampire, Dante, is trying to find out why only people with brown eyes can be Chosen to be turned into vampires. Unfortunately for him, he does some unusual things that go wrong.
Elle and Emmie are the granddaughters to a woman with green eyes who is very prominent in the Aristo Circle for the services she provides to the rich vampires in the city. She has a hidden agenda that ends up causing so many problems in the city.
You get caught up in the action in the book that you do not want to stop reading. You want to find out what is going to happen next.
February 16, 2018
So Graces are humans with special abilities and they are identified but having hazel, green, blue or grey eyes. Elle is a Hazel eyed grace with no powers who works to keep her younger "teal" eyed sister away from those who would use and abuse her. Of course, they have an evil grace grandmother who hates them. And then there's Clay, the werewolf cowboy.
This started as kind of an interesting horror/thriller type and then got weird and spiraled off the deep end. There were so many characters and so many storylines that you couldn't really focus...especially when things got ridiculous. There isn't much world building so it is really difficult to picture any of the scenes. I quit at about 50% when things just got silly in my opinion.
This started as kind of an interesting horror/thriller type and then got weird and spiraled off the deep end. There were so many characters and so many storylines that you couldn't really focus...especially when things got ridiculous. There isn't much world building so it is really difficult to picture any of the scenes. I quit at about 50% when things just got silly in my opinion.
October 19, 2022
This book was great fun. You definitely have to keep reading through the story that you expect before it turns into something completely wonderful and unexpected. I loved how hilariously the different stereotypes, tropes and story lines all blurred together to form the perfect dysfunctional family. The entire second half had me non-stop giggling, though I especially cracked up at the end because of the words Dante used when staking a claim on Elle. (Heh, staking, get it?) The main romance was just meh, but the rest of the relationships more than compensated for it. Also Emmie was definitely the MVP of this story, the little badass.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2019
Good PN read
This book was interesting to read. Liked the characters. Hated how often it changed POV. We got his book in like 7-8 different POVs and half the time I wasn't sure which was which until farther on. I did like all the banter and supernatural aspects of this read. I like the story in general. Definitely a read that happened in the old days with horse and carriage. So either the world went to shit and downgraded back to it or that's when the book was based on. I was a little confused with some of the facts in the book.
This book was interesting to read. Liked the characters. Hated how often it changed POV. We got his book in like 7-8 different POVs and half the time I wasn't sure which was which until farther on. I did like all the banter and supernatural aspects of this read. I like the story in general. Definitely a read that happened in the old days with horse and carriage. So either the world went to shit and downgraded back to it or that's when the book was based on. I was a little confused with some of the facts in the book.
September 4, 2019
Color is important
A different twist on a vampire novel. This one has emotionless Dante experimenting on humans to see if there is something unique about their different eye colors. All vampires eyes are shades of purple and weres are yellow. He comes across Elle who has hazel eyes and then things change. Literally! I got confused between Elle and her sister Emmie and had to go back a figure out which one was older and the protector of the other. There is some tastefully presented homosexuality and emotional awakening. I liked the story and the characters.
A different twist on a vampire novel. This one has emotionless Dante experimenting on humans to see if there is something unique about their different eye colors. All vampires eyes are shades of purple and weres are yellow. He comes across Elle who has hazel eyes and then things change. Literally! I got confused between Elle and her sister Emmie and had to go back a figure out which one was older and the protector of the other. There is some tastefully presented homosexuality and emotional awakening. I liked the story and the characters.
May 21, 2020
Absolutely loved it!
One of the better vampire and were books I've read recently. To br honest, I'd gotten tired of all vampire books. But this one was unique and fast paced and highly entertaining. Every character is a definite individual, some tough some strange and some just different. And preconceived prejudices get a serious wake up call. Another excellent read from Amanda Pillar!
One of the better vampire and were books I've read recently. To br honest, I'd gotten tired of all vampire books. But this one was unique and fast paced and highly entertaining. Every character is a definite individual, some tough some strange and some just different. And preconceived prejudices get a serious wake up call. Another excellent read from Amanda Pillar!
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