Review | Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1
Release Date: April 3, 2012
Pages: 549
Review by: Max

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

Basically, this book is Brittany, France plus assassin nun spies plus medieval court life.
Really....what more could you want?

Ismae's only seventeen, but in seventeen years, a lot can happen. For instance, you can be abused by your father AND your husband, join a convent, and fall in love with someone you're assigned to kill.

All in less than two decades. Pretty good, huh?

Anyway, it all started when Ismae (does anyone know how to pronounce this, by the way? I go with Is-may) was born. Since her father is Death, you can safely assume that this was the start of her problems.

After an unsuccessful wedding, Ismae is carted away to a convent that she knows nothing about. She's just grateful to get away.
However, it turns out that she's not at some ordinary convent; she's at a convent of St. Mortain, the patron saint of Death. And the nuns there? They're Death's handmaidens, and they do whatever he wants them to.

I loved basically everything about this book.

I've never read a book set in Brittany. I barely even knew what Brittany was! I don't think I've even read a book set in medieval France, and this book soared past my feeble expectations (I'm not the biggest fan of historical fiction. Sometimes it's just hard to get right, you know?)

For one, I was a huuuuuuge fan of all of the characters. Ismae was kick-butt, and she made sure she always got what she wanted. Duval, the love interest, was worthy of her affections, in my humble opinion. The supporting characters, Ismae's friends from the convent and Duval's sidekicks, were interesting and SPOILER ALERT! Highlight to read! I was honestly upset when Duval's friends died.END OF SPOILER! I really didn't like the characters Ismae, erm, disagreed with, so I would concede that LaFevers did an A-Okay job of writing them, also.

Here's some quotes so you can get a feel of LaFever's writing (because, face it, this can make or break a book):

(Ismae and Duval conversing)
“God's Teeth,' he says. 'I was only trying to wake you. You were crying out in your sleep.'
'I was not,' I say, then look from his neck to my knife.
'When I tried to wake you, you stabbed me.' He sounds sore put out. and I cannot blame him.”  

(Duval to Ismae)
“Whenever you are ready, or if you never are, my heart is yours....”  

I was really intrigued by all of the classes at the convent, and I really wish Ismae would have gone to class more often so we could experience them with her. Also, the religious part of the story was pretty cool too, and this book is definitely set in a world that I would like to read more of.

And, besides all of the fantasy and historical part, the romance in this book? Amazing!

If any one of these three genres sound appealing to you (fantasy, historical fiction, or romance), or maybe even all three together, I really think this is the book for you!

Check out this book's sequel also, the second book in His Fair Assassin series, titled Dark Triumph.

Fly on,
Max