The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

This book was provided by Hardie Grant Egmont's Australian publicist, Jennifer Kean! So, I would like to say another big thank you to her for sending me a brand new finished copy of this very awesome sequel book!

Release Day: March 7th, 2011

Publisher: Egmont Books

Pages: 404pgs

The Story

A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what to do. She must become a Hound of Heaven.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot - a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her to be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel is put in danger - in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her - not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

The Review

This was freaking awesome! I loved The Dark Divine when it first came out, but clearly Bree Despain's sequel, THE LOST SAINT, topped it over the first book in the series! Sometimes sequels lack the action-packed adventures that you'd experienced in the first book, and it happens quite a lot in the young adult book world. But no. THE LOST SAINT was even better than I originally anticipated - Despain took it to the extreme - and I'm lost for words here. It's even hard to write a brilliant book review that will do the book justice, one that it definitely deserves!

In THE LOST SAINT, Grace finds herself fighting the inner wolf growing inside of her. The last time we saw her in The Dark Divine, she sacrificed herself to cure Daniel from his werewolf curse and now . . . she has to suffer the consequences for her heroic actions. At the beginning of the novel, we find Grace and Daniel happily dating but Grace's family is slowly falling apart. Her father is away in search for his son. Her mother is lost in grief of her son's disappearance. And most importantly . . . Grace is missing her brother and wants him to return!

With her disappearing brother Jude out on the loose and with her fighting to stay in control of her inner wolf, Grace's relationship also starts to fall apart as soon as she meets the mysterious, almost charming newcomer boy named Talbot. I loved him instantly because you wanted to trust him - like he wanted Grace to trust him - until the ending unfolds (which I definitely saw coming), but nonetheless . . . he was a very intriguing character to be introduced to. Of course, when Talbot suddenly becomes interested in Grace alone and visa versa , the more Grace is drifting away from Daniel. Why exactly? Well, Daniel is keeping secrets of his own and she feels as if he doesn't trust her, let alone believe she's strong enough to handle her inner wolf, and just as the story develops turn-by-turn, Grace and Talbot - whom ends up telling her that he too is an Urbat like her - they soon train in secret, in hope to make Grace become the Hound of Heaven. Or . . . so it seems.

While readers may find themselves annoyed at the mistrust in Grace and Daniel's relationship, but they both had their own reasons and in the end - GOD what an ending it was to say the least - everything fell into place and I just loved every moment throughout the book. There are some awwwwww moments, there are some actions scenes that Grace herself actually kicked total butt in, and there are some scenes that make you laugh and cry . . . it was amazing! The whole world was opened of the Dark Divine series and it was so addictive with each page I turned! Demons . . . death . . . love . . . betrayal . . . let's put another WOW word into the mix shall we? WOW!

As for the ending, well you'll have to find out for yourself because it's one hell of a cliffhanger and I don't want to ruin it for you guys! It's fantastic and yet so cruel of Bree Despain too! Overall, if you loved The Dark Divine, definitely expect a whole bundle of surprises in THE LOST SAINT because it's one hell of an adventure and one that will take you to a whole new level of awesomeness! I can't wait to get my hands on the third installment of the series! If only it was NOW!

The Rating

5/5 stars