Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart -- Review

Title: Grace and Fury 
Author: Tracy Banghart 
Publishing: July 31st 2018 by Little, Brown 
Pages : 314

Synopsis: 

In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace–someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

Review: 

I always have a difficult time starting a new book, mostly because I usually still have a hangover from the last book I read. It makes it kind of hard to break into a new story right away. I'll be totally honest here... I had a rough time with the first 10 pages because I was still thinking about my last novel, AND the very beginning of this novel made me feel like "I've read this book before". But then BAM, out of nowhere I totally spiraled and fell in love with this story and how totally different it was from everything else I've read! And let's be honest, 10 pages of fluff and story prep isn't really anything to complain about, especially when the rest of the novel is dynamite. 

So what made this story so incredible? To start, the world building took my breath away. I was in love with the Italian beach mood and it made me want to take off my work clothes, throw a towel over my shoulder and head to the beach. Second, it kept me guessing. Right when I thought I had this story figured out, it would jump to something totally different. And lastly, I loved how it went back and forth between the sister's experiences. It felt like two novels in one and it was non-stop action and excitement. 

I think there is also much to be said about the underlying message of girl power and strong female leads in this novel. I loved they ambition and strength that these characters showed time after time of being kicked down. Neither sister allowed themselfto stay down long and I think that is an incredible lesson to learn! No matter what life throws your way, you have to dust yourself off and get up to fight another day. I think it's pretty clear from my review, but this novel was one of my favorite reads so far this year and I can't wait to see what happens next in this series. I would HIGHLY recommend this novel to all readers! 

Rating 5/5

*Thank you so much to @The NOVL for providing this novel in exchange for an honest review!