Review of Give Me Grace by Bethany A. Perry

Wow! This was way better than I expected. I mean, I always go into a book hoping I will love it, but dark fantasy can be hit or miss for me. Luckily, this was a big ole hit. This was the final read on my “I should have read/reviewed it earlier” list. I’m not too late on this book, but late enough and I have no excuse except for just being busy and also worrying that I wasn’t in the right headspace to read dark fantasy. Fantasy, especially if you include urban fantasy, is my favorite genre to read, but dark fantasy can be, well, a bit dark. I don’t like any book if it is too depressing and that is something that I often complain about in this genre. While there were some tough parts in this book, this is much more of what I want a dark fantasy book to be like.

While this is dark fantasy, this is definitely urban fantasy too. In case you are not too familiar with the terms, urban fantasy means that it takes place in a populated part of the world we think we know, but supernatural beings are running around -you could also call it magical realism, but that is such a lame term-. So don’t think knights and dragons, instead think of current Earth but in this case imagine nuns that run around fighting demons. There is magic and more going on, but it would be very easy to spoil the story if I gave too much away. And while this does have demon-fighting nuns, the book doesn’t have an overly religious feel. There are all different sides and you really have to decide for yourself who is good, bad, or anything in between.

This author is not new, but completely new to me. I don’t know if this is her first book staring an LGBTQ main character or what but she can sure write. This book is really well written and for the second night in a row, I was up until almost 3 am because I had to finish this book. I’m going to be a zombie at work tomorrow from these late nights but this book was so worth it. Once I read the short prologue, that was it and I was hooked. It did take me a chapter or two to feel like I understood the main character, she feels too scattered in the beginning, but Perry soon finds her writing groove and everything just really clicks after that.

This does have a WLW romance which I was happy about. It is pretty slow-burn, and not the biggest storyline, but I thought it fit the story well. This book is action-packed, Perry just filled every second with something it seems, so I was impressed with how much romance she wove into it. The characters make an interesting couple, which worked for me, and I enjoyed their sweeter moments.

This book absolutely screams for a sequel. There is a bit of a cliffy, but I can’t tell if that was just an ending choice, to let us the readers decide what we think, or if a book 2 is coming. Either way works for me but I really, really, want another book. In the end, this book was so much better than I expected and is in the running for the biggest surprise of ’21 for me. If you like dark urban fantasy, especially stories with demons, read this! This book is way under the radar right now and I hope more people give it a chance. 4.50 Stars.

P.S. If you sign-up to NineStar Press’ newsletter they give out coupon codes for book discounts almost every month.

A copy was given to me for a review.