The Savage Grace (A Dark Divine Novel)

Image of The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel
Author(s): 
Release Date: 
March 13, 2012
Publisher/Imprint: 
Egmont USA
Pages: 
496
Reviewed by: 

“Ms. Despain knows how to keep the action flowing. . . . The Savage Grace is a paranormal romance, but the love story takes a back seat to the action. This is not a bad thing, simply creating a more plot driven story as opposed to a character driven one. Indeed, this may make the book more appealing to boys who are often reluctant readers, particularly as they reach adolescence.”

The Savage Grace is the third and final book of The Dark Divine series. It picks up precisely where the second book, The Lost Saint left off: Daniel, Grace’s boyfriend is trapped in wolf form and finding a way to transform him back to the boy she loves is no easy nor certain task.

This is just one battle Grace must fight. She and her brother Jude have both been infected with the curse of the werewolf. She’s found her brother after a long and difficult search, but he may not be the boy she remembers, and Grace hopes it is not too late to save him. Adding to the conflict, Grace must fiercely struggle with containing the wolf inside her. And it’s not only Jude who needs saving. Grace, her family, and the entire town are at risk as a horde of werewolves and their demon helpers battle for bragging rights and ultimate control of the wolf pack.

Grace has to decide whether she’ll give in to the power of the wolf within to turbo-charge her abilities and save those dear to her—but risk being utterly destroyed in the process.

Ms. Despain knows how to keep the action flowing. Her style is crisp, sharp, and direct. You’ll find no flowery language here. There’s a lot going on and a number of characters both revisited and newly introduced. This keeps the story exciting and interesting—but readers have to pay close attention to the names and who is doing what or they may find themselves forgetting who a character is and what their connection is to whom in the story.

The Savage Grace is a paranormal romance, but the love story takes a back seat to the action. This is not a bad thing, simply creating a more plot driven story as opposed to a character driven one. Indeed, this may make the book more appealing to boys who are often reluctant readers, particularly as they reach adolescence.

The author has spun a unique rendering of the werewolf mythology, and it will be interesting to see where her writing leads her.