Review: The Graces by Laure Eve

River and her mother have just moved to a new city and are starting over. Her mother is mostly an absentee. River is often left to her own devices. This gives her the freedom to concentrate on what she really wants.

Many teenagers want to fit in and belong with a group of their peers. River wants this too, but to an extreme. It's actually kind of creepy how much she wants to fit in with the Grace family.

In their community, the Graces are both liked and a little feared. There are rumors that they are witches. Everyone seems to want to be friends with them and there is an elite sort of group that is. There are 3 children in the family. Fenrin and Thalia are a set of twins and a little older than River. Their younger sister, Summer, is the same age as River. They are all teenagers.

River sets out to befriend the Graces, but as I said, she is kind of creepy about it. It makes her into a kind of anti-hero. She doesn't let herself be herself. Instead, she is constantly trying to act in ways that will endear her to Summer and the other Graces. It isn't until late in the book that she acts differently and even then, you're not sure you can trust what you see.

Magic is a topic in the book. Summer, River, Thalia, and Fenrin all try and do spells at different points. The results are mixed. Is it real or just coincidences?

The plot advances at a sort of slow and steady rate for most of the book. Towards the end things suddenly pick up. The ending itself is an unexpected twist. I expected it to end several pages before it did. This is listed as The Graces #1. I'm not sure what direction a follow-up book would go.

Still, I liked the book despite its slow action. I read on to see what River would do in her efforts to fit in. And I wanted to know if she ever got what she really wanted. I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars.

The Graces is due out September 6th 2016 from Amulet Books.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.