Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibañez
Historical Fantasy
January 13, 2026 by Saturday Books
ARC

Review by Angela

This is a hard book to review. The beautiful cover drew me in, and then the blurb sealed the deal. I asked for a review copy and dug in when it hit my Kindle. I loved the setting, the characters, and that so much of the worldbuilding is steeped in Renaissance Italian history. I even enjoyed the magic system, with jewels that represent different abilities, and witches and wizards who practice their craft across Italy in secret.

The book opens with a daring introduction to the main protagonist, Ravenna Maffei, as she seeks a way to rescue her brother who is confined in a cage, who will most assuredly be put to death soon for recklessly rising up against the forces that are terrorizing their town. The sculptress is willing to put it all on the line, even revealing a long-held secret in order to save her sibling. Of course, this captures the attention of nefarious individuals, and she finds herself the “guest” of the immortal Luni family, who want her for some secret purpose. This is when the reader realizes there are several forces at play here, the Luni family, the Pope, and the Medici. Ravenna is caught in the middle just trying to save her family.

I will tell you that after reading the first several chapters I was all in, I found Ravenna to be courageous and compelling. I was definitely intrigued by this magical world. Then she gets to the Luni castle, and this is where my attention waned. After the exciting beginning, the pacing slowed down quite a bit. I kept picking it up and putting it back down again. At times I felt like all the different players pulling at Ravenna’s strings where too much. The focus kept shifting. There is also an enemies to lovers romance between Ravenna and Saturnino dei Luni intertwined with all the intrigue and to be honest I was a little doubtful about how this would play out. Their relationship was the only part of the book that felt rushed.

The second half of the book does pick up the pacing, and all of the dangling plot lines begin to come together with an exciting finish. I’m glad I pushed through. Isabel Ibañez’s prose is lyrical, and you can tell she lovingly researched the time period and made some bold choices in her worldbuilding and plot. I will probably be picking up the next book in this series. Graceless Heart did have some issues with pacing and focus, but I enjoy this author’s voice so much that I really want to give her another try.

Final grade- C+