Wednesday 21 March 2018

Graced 1943 (The Grace Family Chronicles) by Courtney Williamson Milford


Graced 1943 can be read as a standalone novel, but will lead into a further story. It tells the tale of family and friendship with a large paranormal theme running through it.

Set against the backdrop of WW2, the Grace family uses their powers to keep the family safe and maintain their fortune. A child who has one of the most rare powers is kidnapped, and many secrets about the family’s history are about to be uncovered in the bid to rescue him. The story chronicles the love (whether old or new), the arguments, the ideas, and the schemes the family endures. There is an element of time-travel, shape-shifting, healing, and a multitude of gifts that seem centred around an exclusive group of people.

I can’t say that I enjoyed this book. Apart from the many editing errors and a plethora of characters, the story was very convoluted and unrealistic. Whilst no stranger to fantasy or paranormal elements, it felt as though the author had taken all her ideas for the series and crammed them into one book. Gifts of knowing and seeing etc are fine, but when a character has several gifts and should in essence be in charge of the Justice League, I draw the line. With some of the talents floating around they should have been invincible. While I know that the book portrayed people in the 1940s, the women came across as simpletons and it was implausible that so many of them fell pregnant at the same time, and that so many characters were having affairs was beyond me. I found myself skipping over parts that had too much of an info dump and being confused when other scenes were not explained well enough. There was also an issue of child abandonment which didn’t sit well with me.

I finished the book but wouldn’t really recommend it.

No comments:

Post a Comment