Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Published: April 3rd, 2012

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Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? 

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of 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 destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, 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?

I'm sitting here, finishing my dinner, after 9 PM. Wow. Turns out, track meets happen every Monday and Thursday. Just my luck, right?

Now to the review.

I've been wanting to get my hands on Gravy Mercy forever. The book sounded amazing, and I had been craving some historical fiction. There's hardly any historical fiction out in the book market, much less historical novels that are half-way decent. The last good HF book I read was The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen. 

Grave Mercy has 4.12 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com, which is a pretty high rate. Most authors these days have books under 4 stars--this is not bad, of course, but the closer to 5 five stars you are, the better.

This book pretty much had it all: Strong, yet flawless characters, a brilliant plot, superb writing, an incredibly setting, and so much historical accuracy. 

First, how could you not love a book about nuns that are secret assassins? It's every girl's dream: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Wow, this book really showed that. The whole brew-ha-ha of it all amazed me. I loved the training Ismae had to go through, especially the bits on making poisons. 

Then we meet Duval. Oh, Duval, how you made me hate you right away. The moment you first entered the book, I wanted to rip out your throat. But later on--far later on--you stole my heart, just like you did with Ismae. And I don't know why; there's nothing incredibly special about you. Yet somehow, you reeled me in, and now I'm a victim of your love trap. *swoons* 

That leads me to the next point: The romance was actually believable. Unlike most books, the love-dovey stuff doesn't happen until about 4/5 of the book. There's no INSTA-LOVE at all; LaFevers made everything seem so real. How the heck she did it is beyond me, but let me tell you that the woman who wrote this book had got talent.

Lastly, the twists. This book was historical/adventure/mystery/romance and a tad of humor all meshed into one. The little stunts and surprises that popped up every so often were... well, twisty. I couldn't have predicted them at all. 

'Tis about it, friends. I'm getting tired, my legs are sore from racing all day, and now it's time for me to hit the sack and read some more of Hemlock.

Overall: This book was spectacular. That's all I can really say. Although the book is long, it's worth your time. Believe me. 5 out of 5 stars.

Bidding you a farewell,

Megan (The Thursday Girl)