Leanne Olson

by Emily Thiede

Published December 5, 2023 by Wednesday Books

This Cursed Light is book 2 in the Last Finestra duology.  The first book, This Vicious Grace, was one of my top young adult fantasy picks of 2022, so I was excited and nervous to read this one.

(Read my review of This Vicious Grace here)

Six months after saving the world in This Vicious Grace, Alessa and Dante want to settle down and relax.  But Dante is dealing with the loss of his powers and with a vision that tells him the gods have a new challenge in store — and to survive it, he’ll have to find his exiled people, the ghiotte.

I really enjoyed This Cursed Light.  It’s very different in tone from the first book, and feels much lighter and funnier.  At first, that bothered me — I wanted the feel of higher stakes from the potential world-ending apocalypse.  But I quickly settled in and enjoyed revisiting these characters.

This one is more focused on the character relationships and emotional journeys.  Dante’s story is prominent. He wrestles with fear that he’s not good enough for Alessa, his past abandonment by his family, and the potential loss of powers that make him special.

I really appreciated the way Thiede kept Dante a strong, romantic hero while letting us see him hurting and insecure. Both Dante and Alessa are incredibly well-written characters with so much depth.  It’s such a pleasure seeing how Thiede challenges them and keeps their relationship fresh, funny, and passionate.

There are some action scenes that rival book one, and a suspense-filled ending.  I’m not totally sure how I feel about the ending…but I won’t spoil it in this review.

Definitely read This Vicious Grace before picking up this one.  It jumps straight in and you need to know the lore and characters from the first book.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.