Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
ISBN: 978-0-547-62834-9
Summary:
"Escaping from the brutality of an arranged marriage, seventeen-year-old Ismae finds sanctuary at the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts-and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must be willing to take the lives of others.
Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany, where she must pose as mistress to the darkly mysterious Gavriel Duval, who has fallen under a cloud of suspicion. Once there, she finds herself woefully unprepared-not only for the deadly games of love and intrigue, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death's vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?"
My Thoughts:
Okay, so first things first, though I found this book to be rather good, I'm only giving it a 4/5. There were a couple characters who were 10 and 13 years old but acted and spoke as if they were about a decade older. Yes, I get that this was a historical YA fiction story and so times and mannerisms were different there, but it just felt off to me.
Anyway, I really have to say that I love the main character's name, Ismae. That is really awesome and unique and I haven't exactly seen it in a story before. I liked the mythology brought in by having the gods of old in it, though in the story, they call them saints so as not to anger those who follow God. It's nice, even though this story mostly focuses on Mortain, the old god of Death. There is some mention of the others but considering this trilogy focuses on the handmaidens of Death, it is clear that Mortain is our focus.
The relationship between Ismae and Duval is a nice one and I think it does develop naturally. There is an interesting dynamic between Duval and his mother, which is completely opposite of Duval's relationship with his sisters. And I honestly think that even though Ismae had to pose as Duval's mistress, she really did develop an honest bond with Anne and Isabeau as well.
Oh, and I guess I should mention that last last line in the summary, because it doesn't feel as if it rings true to me. Yes, Ismae is dedicated to the service of Death, but I don't feel that the target she receives towards the end is a person who has stolen her heart against her will, because as the novel progresses, Ismae begins to question if her convent truly understands exactly what Mortain's will is.
Grave Mercy at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grave-mercy-robin-lafevers/1104512967?ean=9780547628349
Grave Mercy at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Grave-Mercy-Fair-Assassin-Trilogy/dp/054762834X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350662050&sr=1-1&keywords=Grave+Mercy
The second book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy is Dark Triumph and is set to be released April 2, 2013.
Other Readings:
Next week's review is Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, and it was the main pick for the Vaginal Fantasy book club on Goodreads and the monthly meet-ups are hosted on the Geek and Sundry page on YouTube. Right now I'm finishing up on Master of Crows by Grace Draven, which will be my review on Nov. 2. Master of Crows is the Vaginal Fantasy alternate pick for October. After that I'll be neck deep in NaNoWriMo, but I'm hoping to still be able to finish up on the other books I'm reading: Tangled Web by Crista McHugh, The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines, Alchemystic by Anton Stroud, and hopefully I'll finally be able to finish Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey.
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