Review: The Lost Saint

The Lost Saint

By Bree Despain

Publication date: December 28, 2010

*Note: Spoilers ahead for those who have not read The Dark Divine*

My review:

In this sequel to The Dark Divine, the Divine family is reeling from Jude's desertion. Grace's mom is a shell of a person who watches the news hour after hour looking for Jude's face and is otherwise unresponsive. Her dad keeps traveling to different places where Mrs. Divine believes Jude might be and Grace is left to keep things running. Grace's relationship with Daniel is the bright spot in her life but then Grace gets a surprise phone call from Jude with a cryptic message and Daniel starts to keep secrets. Grace decides to search for answers about Jude herself and when she meets Talbot, she believes she has found someone who will help her. Is Jude lost forever or can he be saved?

While I liked The Dark Divine, I have to say that I enjoyed The Lost Saint even more because of the character development and the direction the story took. Another strength of the book was the discussion of concepts like redemption, faith, and personal responsibility without being preachy in any way. The discussion of these themes sets this book above a typical paranormal romance.

The stakes were raised this time around and I liked that Grace is a more assertive person even if she doesn't always make the wisest choices. I admired her determination to find her brother and to help others even though it put her at risk. I was a little disappointed by Daniel's decisions in this book but in the end I still liked him and I can't wait to see what is in store for him in the next book. Talbot is an intriguing new character. I am still on the fence about him but he did add a nice contrast to Daniel. I also liked finding out more about the Urbat and Gabriel's past. I was happy to see more of him in the book although I did not agree with his extreme pacifism.

There are a few things that I did not like. In addition to my disappointment with characters' decisions at times, I was also a little annoyed with Grace's constant use of the term "superpowers". It was cute at first but then it got on my nerves. These are just minor complaints. If  readers were always happy with characters and their decisions, it would reduce the tension and suspense of the reading experience. Overall I would say this is a strong sequel and I definitely plan to read the next book.

Readalikes: The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater, The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, 13 to Life by Shannon Delany, Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin, Need by Carrie Jones