Ava > Recent Status Updates

She woke up from being poisoned by the Chalice Her dad gave her the Well Card so she can give it to Ravyn for marriage They take it so now they only need Twin Alders The Destreirs are all sent to patrol While every1 is gone Hauth traps her&tries to use her to pin Ravyn Elspeth lets the nightmare take over which consumes her He maimed Orithe & Hauth B4 she goes Elspeth makes him promise to help Ravyn & the Yews

I’ve made it to Part 3:TheBlood&they still only have 1/3 cards they set out for They are looking for the card in SpindleHouse but Hauth ambushed them&used the Chalice Card to get the truth bc he suspects them from the highway attack Luckily he didn’t find out but Ravyn used the nightmare card on Elspeth even tho he said he wouldn’t bc he thrift he was helping her thru the game He heard the nightmare in her mind

She is losing herself to the nightmare that is her form of degeneration from the infection Sometimes when ppl look at her her eyes flash yellow&Elm is sus bc she was able to attack her father&scratch Hauth She realizes she needs to rid herself of nightmare b4 she loses herself Ravyn & her are falling for each other
Ravyn’s degeneration is that he can’t use all the cards besides nightmare mirror&maybe twin alders

They learn a lord has an Iron Gate so they ambush his carriage Destreirs & Hauth & her dad are also traveling so they get into a big fight Elspeth has to use the nightmare’s pwr to fight dad&Hauth They return to CastleYew Ravyn shows her the ruin w the one dark window&stone holding their deck of cards The room is the one she dreamt & she realized the nightmare is the Shepherd Kind

Just finished Part 1: The Cards. The details of the cards and the background info is intricate but very well explained! I’m excited for Elspeth to search for the remaining 3 cards w the Yews but I feel like something is going to happen with the crown prince & potentially her cousin Ione
Loving Ravyn & this fake courting situation😎
Also love the court/kingdom vibe w the different houses named after trees

Thea is able to get Hector up from his depression bed They r mad @ each other bc Thea left4an arranged marriage that never even happened&spent 4yrs@ThalorianCourt meanwhile Hector wanted to marry her Esperida was the vamp queen&now that she dead Hector becomes the next ruler Humans cannot be present 4 the ceremony but Thea wants to stay so she convinces Hector 2 pretend they got married so she can be there for him

I’m having mixed feelings about this like uncomfortable feelings because they were childhoods best friends and that just feels weird to me ew

So far I know the castle is magical floating structure that only opened its doors2Esperida, a pwrful vampire who united humans&vamps She fell madly in luv w human Eron & they have son Hector Thea from last book was child friends w Hector&spent a lot of time@the castle They were her 2nd fam
Now, Esperida & Eron have been killed, Hector & Thea have a complicated past & Thea is back @ the castle to be there for Hector

Isa reveals that she was the witch who took his heart & hid it in Nepheli’s butterfly necklace She tries to kill Apollo & Nepheli but first she puts his heart back into him so he can watch N die he ends up shielding N w his body from blades & he’s bleeding a lot & dying right after getting his heart back Guards come & Apollo is alive enough to tell them Isa did it they take her Nepheli cradles Apollo has he dies

Wow they meet his cousin Isa who prompts him to tell Nepheli abt the curse He tells her how he agreed to have a witch steal his heart from him after his fiancé cheated on him They make it to The North She meets his parents & they throw a ball Apollo invites her to stay more They get it on

Apollo is searching for his heart and Nepheli is trying to find herself because she lives a very closed off life running her shop. Apollo is a combo of jerk but considerate leaving Nepheli confused
Also Nepheli ate stardust when she was little & I think it gave her some type of magic that she’s unaware of

This book started off not as I expected. It is frilly like OUABH but more mature, which I think is something a lot of people wanted from that series. The pacing is fast but in a good way. Apollo the Prince of Broken Hearts brought danger to Nepheli’s curiousity shop. Next think they fell thru the sky to the Magical North’s Dragonfly Forest they pass fairyland to make it to Walder’s cottage.

“buddy” 🫩

They found the man who created the smooth men He explained he created a bust of the first man fell in love with it & it could talk so it convinced him to make more heads Eventually it kept demanding more but the creator did it bc he loved the smooth man even tho he knew it was wrong They stole his hands thinking they could use them to sculpt but it didn’t work so they give him clay hands Istvhan & Clara horrified

Istvhan & Clara have been traveling with Doc Mason & his granddaughter Tolly to Morstone

Ok Clara can shape shift into a bear & the group knows it bc they witnessed it
They stopped into a town & learned that the smooth faced man and the men who stole the sisters both stopped thru there and are going to a town called Morstone
Clara & Istvhan separate from the group bc Clara is worried she is going to make the group a target w the bear & Istvhan won’t let her leave alone

A few hours ago I DNF-ed this but I am going to give it another chance because I thought it over and I think it may get better. Also, I don’t have anything else that I really want to read right now

They destroy the clay heads Grace goes back to her shop She learns the Marguerite was not her friends real name&she left leaving a note behind saying they’ll meet again Stephen&Grace agree to make their lives work for their relationship!! More perfumes & knitting!
All done. This was pretty good. I think there was a series that came out previously&was set in the same world so maybe I should check that out!

Istvhan&all paladins find them in the chapel the next day bc the bloodhounds led them there suddenly every1 knows&is there Ppl are ordering the head guard to arrest Stephen&Grace It’s back&forth DuValier joins in saying the prince is dead BUT the prince pulls up&is like hey DuValier ik you are the once behind all this I’m not dead yet Stephen&Grace are let free They find a kiln where some1 was making clay heads

Stephen witnesses some1 get beheaded&finds out it’s a vampire monster thing Grace’s trial starts The Motherhood&CrownPrince ppl are twisting it to make her look v guilty Marguerite never shows up They bring her ex hubby Phillip in to testify against her Stephen is so angered by his presence he goes beserk&gets arrested Stephen goes beserk in jail&fights his way to break out Grace They go2 an abandoned chapel ;D

Stephen&Grace are both conflicted bc they want each other but feel like they can’t In the night some1 breaks in2 Grace’s shop&steals her notes Next day the messenger stops by HMMM Stephen wants 2apologize2 Grace abt how he reacted after the kiss He finds out the Grace was arrested4poisoning the CrownPrince He gets the Bishop2take on her case Messenger visits her&says the prince is blue like the failed assassin

They go2a coroner who says theboy assassin was already poisoned b4 he took theglass pill which was strange TheCrownPrince orders more the scent thatGrace made him The3of them deliver it The messenger flirtswGrace which puts Stephen in a tizzy he doesn’t trust him Grace&Stephen go to a forest to collect moss for her They kiss butStephen messes it up bc he’s afraid to hurt her She smells smthg&steps on severed head

Marguerite tells them that the papers blatantly frame Anuket City for placing the order of assasination so they’re trying to figure out if it’s true or if it’s supposed to confuse whoever finds it Stephen tells his bishop abt the meeting&she assigns him to get more info from the girls Stephen knits Grace a pair of socks aww
I just realized the meaning of the title being Paladin’s (Stephen) Grace (the FMC)