Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: December 5, 2023
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Romance
The highly-anticipated sequel to the epic romance hailed as one of the best fantasies of the year!
When the gods make the rules, the players must choose: Sacrifice their love to save the world, or choose love and let it burn?
Six
months after saving their island from destruction and almost losing
Dante, Alessa is ready to live happily ever after with her former
bodyguard. But Dante can't rest, haunted by a conviction that the gods
aren't finished with them yet. And without his powers, the next kiss
from Alessa could kill him.
Desperate for answers, Dante enlists
Alessa and their friends to find the exiled ghiotte in hopes of
restoring his powers and combining forces with them to create the only
army powerful enough to save them all. But Alessa is hiding a deadly
consequence of their last fight--a growing darkness that's consuming her
mind--and their destination holds more dangers than anyone bargained
for. In the mysterious city of the banished, Dante will uncover secrets,
lies, and ghosts from his past that force him to ask himself: Which
side is he on?
When the gods reveal their final test, Dante and
Alessa will be the world's last defense. But if they are the keys to
saving the world, will their love be the price of victory?
In This Cursed Light,
Dante and Alessa face their most daunting challenge yet when the Gods
demand they prove their worth by choosing the ultimate sacrifice to save
humanity, once and for all.
This Cursed Light, by Emily Thiede, is the second and final installment in the authors The Last Finestra series. While the first installment was mostly through Alessa's perspective, Dante gets his fair share of the story this time around. Six
months after saving their island from destruction and almost losing
Dante, Alessa is ready to live happily ever after with her former
bodyguard. But Dante can't rest, haunted by a conviction that the gods
aren't finished with them yet. Brought back to life by Alessa, Dante's powers are missing. And without his powers, the next kiss
from Alessa could kill him.
Desperate for answers, Dante enlists Alessa and their friends to find the exiled ghiotte in hopes of restoring his powers and combining forces with them to create the only army powerful enough to save them all. But Alessa is hiding a deadly consequence of their last fight--a growing darkness that's consuming her mind--and their destination holds more dangers than anyone bargained for. They and our motley crew of fonti (and Adrick), strike out for the continent to see if they can find the missing Ghiotte, cure Dante and help prevent another impending apocalypse.
Desperate for answers, Dante enlists Alessa and their friends to find the exiled ghiotte in hopes of restoring his powers and combining forces with them to create the only army powerful enough to save them all. But Alessa is hiding a deadly consequence of their last fight--a growing darkness that's consuming her mind--and their destination holds more dangers than anyone bargained for. They and our motley crew of fonti (and Adrick), strike out for the continent to see if they can find the missing Ghiotte, cure Dante and help prevent another impending apocalypse.
In the mysterious city of the banished, Dante will uncover secrets,
lies, and ghosts from his past that force him to ask himself: Which
side is he on? When the gods reveal their final test, Dante and
Alessa will be the world's last defense. But if they are the keys to
saving the world, will their love be the price of victory? In This Cursed Light,
Dante and Alessa face their most daunting challenge yet when the Gods
demand they prove their worth by choosing the ultimate sacrifice to save
humanity, once and for all.
*Thoughts* I have few complaints about this book, except the ending. So much tension and effort is put toward
preparing for an inevitable battle with Crollo, that I was more than a little disappointed the
fighting scenes weren’t longer. Alessa was clearly having issues in the
beginning and middle of the book, but instead of trying to understand
them and manage them, she just hid everything or brushed it off as
nothing. After finding a people who were lost, and Dante reuniting with people he thought he has lost, they had to face a life or death choice thanks to two petulant Gods, Dea & Crollo who make Alessa choose her path. While there is a brief choice one of the characters has to make in order to save another, it was nice to see all of the character play a part in what happens, which includes Adrick and Kaleb who play games with each other throughout the book.
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One
Every day, Dante’s body betrayed him.
So he punished it.
Sweat stung his eyes, blurring the ruddy-faced dockworker across from him and the crowd boxing them into the narrow alley.
Dante beckoned with a flick of his fingers, and his opponent raised two meaty fists.
The guy’s opening swing was hesitant. Weak. Not worth dodging.
No one hit as hard as they used to.
A quick jab, a few more insults, and the brawler responded with more energy.
Finally.
Jab. Parry. Land a hit. Dodge. Swing again.
Dante ducked a blow to his face, allowed one to his ribs. Took a few, landed more. He could have knocked the guy flat in minutes, but then it would’ve been over. No fun in that.
“Referee’s here!” The cook swung ten-year-old Addie onto his shoulders for a better view, but she didn’t have much to do. The other guy bowed out a few minutes later, waving off the crowd’s friendly ribbing, and the dockers resumed their work, rolling barrels and hefting crates in better spirits for the brief distraction.
“The Wolf wins again!” Addie crowed.
Dante held out his hand, pretending to wince when she slapped his palm. Not much of a victory when your opponent refused to fight.
“The ship’s getting closer, signor.”
He squatted to look her in the eye. “I told you to call me Dante.”
“And my uncle told me to respect my elders.”
“Elders?” Dante grimaced. “Could you see anyone on the deck?”
“Like a lady in a fancy dress?” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Maybe, but extra information costs extra.”
“So much for respecting your elders.”
“Only suckers work for free.”
“Fair enough.” He made a show of counting out four shiny coins and handed them over.
Addie recounted, just to be sure, before answering. “It was still too far away to see anyone, but I sensed there was a lady, and she was pining.”
“You sensed, huh?”
“Yup. And Signor Adrick said I’ll get a whole cake if I tell the bakers next.”
“A whole cake?” Dante feigned shock. “You better hustle.”
The kid skipped away to inform Alessa’s parents of her imminent arrival, leaving Dante alone in the late-morning chill.
He pulled up his shirt to check the damage: A few bruises. A shallow scrape. Nothing he couldn’t hide. Some of the bruises might even have been healing a bit faster than usual. Maybe.
No one knew for sure if his powers were gone forever. People weren’t supposed to come back from the dead, but he had. Maybe the rest of him could, too.
He shook out his arms, grimacing at a twinge in one shoulder. It had been easier to appreciate the burn of a good workout when it hadn’t lasted so long.
Pain, he didn’t mind. He could handle pain. Pain had been his only companion for years while he took dangerous work and brutal punishments to survive, relying on his healing powers to get him through it. It wasn’t pain that bothered him. No, it was the constant reminder that ever since Alessa had brought him back from the dead, he was alive but not whole. That was the itch beneath his skin.
Towlines snagged in his chest, pulling in opposite directions. She’d be back soon, and he missed her with an alarmingly fierce ache, but he could feel the Cittadella walls closing in already, trapping him inside a labyrinth of memories—the scent of astringent, the bone-scraping sounds of suffering during the months the building had served as a makeshift hospital after Divorando—and people everywhere, watching him all the time.
At the docks, he could breathe. Sometimes even sleep. The memories and nightmarish visions sent by Dea still chased him, but they had a harder time catching up.
Every day, Dante’s body betrayed him.
So he punished it.
Sweat stung his eyes, blurring the ruddy-faced dockworker across from him and the crowd boxing them into the narrow alley.
Dante beckoned with a flick of his fingers, and his opponent raised two meaty fists.
The guy’s opening swing was hesitant. Weak. Not worth dodging.
No one hit as hard as they used to.
A quick jab, a few more insults, and the brawler responded with more energy.
Finally.
Jab. Parry. Land a hit. Dodge. Swing again.
Dante ducked a blow to his face, allowed one to his ribs. Took a few, landed more. He could have knocked the guy flat in minutes, but then it would’ve been over. No fun in that.
“Referee’s here!” The cook swung ten-year-old Addie onto his shoulders for a better view, but she didn’t have much to do. The other guy bowed out a few minutes later, waving off the crowd’s friendly ribbing, and the dockers resumed their work, rolling barrels and hefting crates in better spirits for the brief distraction.
“The Wolf wins again!” Addie crowed.
Dante held out his hand, pretending to wince when she slapped his palm. Not much of a victory when your opponent refused to fight.
“The ship’s getting closer, signor.”
He squatted to look her in the eye. “I told you to call me Dante.”
“And my uncle told me to respect my elders.”
“Elders?” Dante grimaced. “Could you see anyone on the deck?”
“Like a lady in a fancy dress?” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Maybe, but extra information costs extra.”
“So much for respecting your elders.”
“Only suckers work for free.”
“Fair enough.” He made a show of counting out four shiny coins and handed them over.
Addie recounted, just to be sure, before answering. “It was still too far away to see anyone, but I sensed there was a lady, and she was pining.”
“You sensed, huh?”
“Yup. And Signor Adrick said I’ll get a whole cake if I tell the bakers next.”
“A whole cake?” Dante feigned shock. “You better hustle.”
The kid skipped away to inform Alessa’s parents of her imminent arrival, leaving Dante alone in the late-morning chill.
He pulled up his shirt to check the damage: A few bruises. A shallow scrape. Nothing he couldn’t hide. Some of the bruises might even have been healing a bit faster than usual. Maybe.
No one knew for sure if his powers were gone forever. People weren’t supposed to come back from the dead, but he had. Maybe the rest of him could, too.
He shook out his arms, grimacing at a twinge in one shoulder. It had been easier to appreciate the burn of a good workout when it hadn’t lasted so long.
Pain, he didn’t mind. He could handle pain. Pain had been his only companion for years while he took dangerous work and brutal punishments to survive, relying on his healing powers to get him through it. It wasn’t pain that bothered him. No, it was the constant reminder that ever since Alessa had brought him back from the dead, he was alive but not whole. That was the itch beneath his skin.
Towlines snagged in his chest, pulling in opposite directions. She’d be back soon, and he missed her with an alarmingly fierce ache, but he could feel the Cittadella walls closing in already, trapping him inside a labyrinth of memories—the scent of astringent, the bone-scraping sounds of suffering during the months the building had served as a makeshift hospital after Divorando—and people everywhere, watching him all the time.
At the docks, he could breathe. Sometimes even sleep. The memories and nightmarish visions sent by Dea still chased him, but they had a harder time catching up.
