ARC Review--Grave Destiny by Kalayna Price

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, and that makes her a dangerous enemy for anyone with something to hide...

Alex is still trying to come to terms with her changing powers and her growing ties to Faerie when a case she'd rather avoid falls into her lap. A fae prince desperately needs Alex to investigate a politically sensitive murder. She reluctantly agrees to the case, taking FIB agent Falin Andrews along as her backup.

But as Alex begins to delve into the mystery, she realizes that the intricate web of alliances and intrigue in the Faerie courts is strained to its limits. War is about to break out, one that threatens to spill over into the mortal realm. This murder is tied right to the center of centuries-old arcane unrest, and if Alex isn't careful she may follow the twisting path ahead of her right into her grave end.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Diving back into Kalayna Price’s Alex Craft series was a lot easier than I expected after two years away. Grave Destiny picks up where we left things, which was kind of foggy for me, but the story is quick to move forward with new events and refresh us over the old ones that are important. All in all, it was a breeze getting back into this series.

Alex is approached by a member of the Shadow Court, but not just anyone, it’s her betrothed, Dugan. He wants Alex to raise the shade of a goblin that was murdered, one that was a friend to his who was found with a Winter Court faerie who was also murdered. It seems like it could be an easy case to solve, but nothing is ever easy where Faerie is concerned and Alex reluctantly agrees to it. Joining them is Falin who is the Winter Queen’s Knight and ex-lover, and there’s still some chemistry and feelings between them but Falin’s duty is to his queen.

Things move along at a sedate pace that’s typical for a mystery. Alex, Falin, and Dugan are looking into the crime, trying to find suspects to question and then trying to survive the everyday dangers of Faerie. Alex is still infected with basmoarte, a Faerie disease that will continue to slowly kill her unless she finds a cure for it. We do get to see Death again, though since their relationship has ended things are awkward, and sadly, he doesn’t stay around long even with their meeting.

Romance wise things were kind of complicated. Alex and Death are no longer a couple, she’s betrothed to another that she doesn’t know or love, and things with Falin are what they’ve been for ages now, even more complicated! True, there were a few stolen kisses, and there’s really no love triangle to speak of when it came to Dugan being in the picture. I’ll be curious to see how things will play out in the next installment!

It was fun being back with Alex and solving mysteries or trying to solve them anyway. There were quite a few shocking surprises that came along during the investigating and the solving. Then that ending! Whoa! I wasn’t expecting that to happen so soon, but then I remembered this is book 6, it just doesn’t feel like it’s been that long!

Grave Destiny was quite the page-turner! It’s one of those books you can easily sink back into between its releases. It’s got a nice pace to it, one that’s not too fast or too slow, it’s rather perfect! The world-building continues to be amazing as well. It’s refreshing to be in a world where people know about magic, but not all the dangers and darkness that is attached to it.

There were a few new developments along the side that happened to Alex that are sure to be around for future books and future problems. It will be interesting to see where these developments will take us. And the ending itself was nothing short of mind-blowing!

In the end, Grave Destiny was just the kind of read I was looking for! It once again reminded me why I love paranormal books. These are the stories that I live for! Kalayna once again continues to amaze and delight me with her words and stories. I cannot wait to see what will happen next in this series. If you’re a fan of Urban Fantasy, this is a series you will not want to miss out on!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars


Grave Destiny releases April 2, 2019