Strange Grace

July 15, 2018
When the needs of the many require the deaths of a few, three friends defy tradition.Idyllic, isolated Three Graces has enjoyed good health and harvests...in exchange for sending their "best boy" into the Devil's Forest every 7 years. Few survive to return; all are venerated as saints. Now the sacrifice is coming due too early, and bighearted 17-year-old Rhun Sayer is favored as the saint while 17-year-old Arthur Couch (initially raised by his mother as a girl in an effort to protect him from being chosen) insists on proving his masculinity. But 16-year-old witch's daughter Mairwin Grace is determined to keep her friends alive. Rather than a tortured love triangle, Gratton (The Queens of Innis Lear, 2018, etc.) treats their evolving, polyamorous relationship sincerely and sensitively. The fantastical elements are described in gorgeous and grotesque detail, their vividness overcoming the generic setting--a vaguely medieval northern European enclave peopled primarily by white citizens (such as blond Arthur and brunette Mairwin), with some who are brown-skinned with curling black hair (Rhun and his mother, a refugee). Told in present tense with the hypnotic cadence of fairy tales and Norse sagas, muddled by amnesia, and illuminated by flashbacks, the elaborately nonlinear narrative obscures a relatively thin plot. Although action-packed, violent, and macabre, this is ultimately a love story.Horrifying, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, a lush fairy tale rooted in a moral quandary. (Fantasy. 14-adult)

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September 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Two hundred years ago, the townspeople of Three Graces made a bargain with the devil to sacrifice their best young man every seven years during the Slaughter Moon in exchange for a peaceful, disease-free existence. When a woman goes into labor prematurely and a farmer discovers blighted crops, everyone knows that the bargain has been compromised. Now Rhun, the next chosen saint, must sacrifice himself to the Devil's Forest four years early. His best friends Mair, the new Grace Witch, and Arthur, a gender-nonconforming outsider, follow Rhun into the forest to save him. This dark fantasy reads like a gothic fairy tale full of creepy rituals. Written in present tense, the narrative maintains a spooky intensity as it switches among the main characters' points of view. Although the three protagonists have well-developed story arcs, Rhun's saintly perfection makes his journey less compelling than Mair's mysterious connection to the forest and Arthur's refusal to conform to the town's strict gender roles. A complicated love triangle develops as they attempt to save their community from a deal with the devil that is rooted in secrets and lies. Gruesome descriptions of bloody charms, wicked forest creatures, and shape-shifting devils will attract horror enthusiasts. Hand this to fans of Anna-Marie McLemore and Kendare Blake. VERDICT Purchase where dark fantasy is in demand.-Amy Duffy, Chicago Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 In the town of Three Graces, death is a knowable thing. The crops do not fail, childbirth happens free of incident, and injuries heal quickly and without infection. And every seven years when the Slaughter Moon rises, a boy runs into Devil's Forest as a sacrifice. Local folklore says that this is part of a bargain, forged when the Devil fell in love with a witch. But the Slaughter Moon has risen four years early, and the bargain may be weakening. Rhun has always known he would be the anointed saint; he just thought he had more time. Mairwen, a witch, feels the pull of the forest as well, as does Arthur, a boy whose mother raised him as a girl so he would never be a saint. The three go into the forest, and neither they nor it will be the same. Gratton neatly sidesteps a love triangle by putting her trio on equal footing: this is a polyamorous love story as much as it is an eerie, consuming tale of sacrifice and faith. Haunting and unique.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)