Hello, friends! I’m back with a blog tour review for A Prayer for Vengeance by Leanne Schwartz. Special thanks to the TBR & Beyond Tours team for organising the tour and including me in it!

Thanks to Page Street YA for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

TL;DR: A Prayer for Vengeance was a historical fantasy that had an interesting premise that delivered on some of it and fell short on some of it. The world was interesting and the characters had great moments that had me rooting for their success in overthrowing this “first saint” megalomaniac. I also really appreciated the representation of Gia’s and Milo’s characters! Ultimately, while I liked enough of it to want to keep reading, I also wished that the writing had been stronger and we had more character development.

The world-building was interesting and it’s easy to see the influences from ancient times although I will say that aside from the very surface-level societal aspects of dress to food, the author doesn’t delve into much depth. This mainly focused on the religious/political aspect of society and the role of the three goddesses of this ancient world, one in particular, played a significant role in the plot. This story throws us headfirst into the conflict and I’m glad that we do get to see what happened at the very beginning—from the moment that started this “war” and what drove our MC’s desire for vengeance—but I have to be honest and say that I wanted more time to digest the situation and particularly the role each goddess plays and their influence in society. Although technically the religious aspect wasn’t very complex, it did feel a little confusing at times because of how we’re introduced to the religious aspect and how quickly the story jumps from point to point.

I think the areas where I struggled the most were with the plot/writing and the characters. This plot should have been fast-paced (and in a way it was) and it was also action-packed with many tense and high-stakes scenes, but unfortunately, it didn’t translate for me. I didn’t feel the emotional connection and that made it difficult to really care for what was happening. I think this was driven in part because it felt like a slog to get through the story but also because while I think the characters had their moments, I didn’t feel a great sense of connection to any of them either. There were also many moments where the plot felt forced and character decisions came about so suddenly that it gave me whiplash wondering how a character so quickly decided to ditch everything they’d been raised to believe for a person who they seemingly don’t even like all that much and who hasn’t treated them that well. I wanted to see the characters really process the new information and revelations, especially since there was so much of it!

When it came to the characters I absolutely loved their representation. Gia is a plus-sized bad-ass warrior woman who is hell-bent on getting revenge on the person who took advantage of her by preying on her fear and rage. She was immature and bratty at times but I loved her thirst for vengeance and how she was initially pretty ruthless in achieving this goal— there were great moments that made me empathise with her situation but also root for her. Sadly, as the story progresses I found her lack of growth frustrating and she became more one-dimensional, being solely defined by her rage, fear and guilt, and it was disappointing because I wanted more from her! In slight contrast was Milo, who did experience more growth than Gia. He’s an orphan who was raised by the temple and a bit of a bookworm who was passionate about telling stories. He’s desperate to find his place in this temple and to finally feel like he belongs since he has always been so different. I appreciated the neurodiverse representation and translated his experience of having to mask his autism throughout his life—it felt realistic and handled well. Milo was very easy to empathise with and root for and I loved seeing him find confidence in himself and his actions the more he spent time around Gia and their friendship grew.

Unsurprisingly, there is a romance but surprisingly, I wished that things had been kept platonic because the romance not only felt rushed but slightly forced. I think I was more invested in the potential romance between two of the main side characters compared to their romance! I just felt like they were at the friends stage more so than the romance stage when their relationship transformed. That said, although their romantic feelings end up driving their motivations in the end, it didn’t become annoyingly “instalove” that it was unbearable.

Overall, this was an interesting read that I’m glad that I picked up. I did expect to feel a lot more connected to it than I did so that was a bit disappointing but I’m glad I gave it a try!

Do you plan to read A Prayer for Vengeance or is it already on your TBR?

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