Book Review | Scorched Grace

In Margot Douaihy’s Scorched Grace, Sister Holiday is a tattooed, chain-smoking nun looking to redeem her past. However, when witnesses her school catch fire, she sets out to find the arsonist responsible.

At first glance, the story’s premise sounded amazing and I wanted to love this one so badly. However, what I got instead was poor character writing and an unconvincing crime procedure.

There were so many character motivations to choose from (like the eye for an eye motif was right there!), and the author went instead with the least compelling one. The main character is driven more so by the fact that she likes to amateur sleuth than to get revenge for losing half her vision or out of a desire to protect her students, and it feels so baffling shallow.

I also felt like it was such a missed opportunity for the narrative to not explore the fire’s physical impact on her. Like how does she cope with having reduced peripheral vision and depth perception?

On top of that, Sister Holiday berates and questions a potential suspect right in front of the cops. In cases where it’s a desperate parent trying to find their kidnapped child in a race against time I might understand, but her trying to show off is sheer stupidity. Like, ma'am, are you trying to incriminate yourself? Do you want to get charged with obstruction?

Overall, this book felt like such wasted potential, but, since this is the first in a series, I’m hoping that the writing might improve over time.

Thank you, NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : February 21, 2023

Publisher : Gillian Flynn Books

IBSN : 9781638930242

Pages : 320

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