Paladin's Grace

It had potential but I don't think I felt excitement even once the entire time I read this...

I loved the self effacing and humble knight. He wasn’t an alpha asshole, and he had a redeeming plot.

Unsurprisingly, T Kingfisher has delivered another amazing story about love and found family. The mystery of this book was interesting enough to drive the story, but the little romancy parts made me smile and giggle. I loved all of it.

Imagine a cute romance between two awkward grown adults who both have been through a lot in life. Throw into the mix a fantasy setting, hilarious secondary characters and a pinch of murder and mystery et voilà! You have Paladin's Grace. I loved it, I laughed out loud several times reading it, as well as shed a tear or two at some points. This book was something I didn't realize I needed and I loved every second of it.

4.5 ⭐️ A fluffy romance with mystery, severed heads and rotting corpse golems. Not huge fun of spice and wanted a bit more of plot but still enjoyable fall read

I enjoyed the start of this new trilogy! I’m disappointed it’s not a Swordheart continuation but this is charming as well! I think a perfumer and a paladin make for a great team.

This one leans heavier on the romance aspect than Swordheart though. I also highly disliked the repetition of so many many traits but that’s just a grievance I have with all Kingfisher books. I don’t care that Stephen smells like gingerbread after the fifth time its mentioned.

T. Kingfisher has such a refreshing and unique writing voice—I genuinely believe that all fantasy readers should pick up one of her books whenever they need a mental palate cleanser between intense fantasy epics.

My first taste of T's writing was through Swordheart, which followed the main characters Halla and Sarkis, both nuanced and likable characters. They set a pretty high bar for any future protagonists, and I am happy to say that Stephen and Grace lived up to the standard set by the previous story! I liked Stephen a bit better than Sarkis, and Halla a bit more than Grace, but overall, they evened out to a perfectly paired couple.

The concept of Stephen's character absolutely fascinates me, and I can only hope we see more of it explored in future books! The idea of a holy paladin with no god to follow is interesting, but T put such inrecible character work into the ripple effects of the loss that it became an irresistible pull to the reader. I MUST see more, and get some kind of explanation for the Saint's death!

I have very complicated and mixed feelings about this book. Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the book, and there were many moments that worked perfectly for me. On the other hand, when I put it down, I didn't feel any eagerness to pick it back up. Yes, since starting this book, I've read several others. Although I still feel like I enjoyed this story.

Or at least, I should have enjoyed it because there were many elements that I typically like in my stories. Not long ago, I read another story by this author in a similar style, and that one seemed to appeal to me more. I can't quite put my finger on why. In

Paladin's Grace, I liked both the main characters and the plot, and even the author's specific narrative style. Everything seemed well thought out and interesting.

I genuinely don't know why it didn't click for me. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood at the time. However, when I started the book, it felt like exactly what I was looking for. I'm a bit disappointed, but I feel like it may have been more about me than the book itself. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood after all.

I understand that this is only the first book in a whole series by this author. I'm somewhat curious about the other books, but now I'm a bit hesitant to start the next one. It might turn out to be my personal issue with this whole series rather than a one-time thing. I would be a bit saddened by that because this series genuinely seems like something that should work well for me. Someday I'll give it another shot.