20 February 2014

Grave Mercy by R.L LaFevers

Grave Mercy by R.L LaFevers
His Fair Assassin #1
Release Date: June 7th, 2012
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
Source: Amber
Star Rating: ★★★★


Young, beautiful and deadly. Trained as an assassin by the god of Death, Ismae is sent to the court of Brittany, where she finds herself under prepared - not only for the 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?

This was a Christmas gift from my favourite person and I loved it tbh :') A historical fantasy about assassin nuns?? SIGN ME UP. The novel follows the story of Ismae, a young girl recruited by nuns who are actually badass assassins with a hand in political matters. And by that I mean they send recruits off to kill those people unfortunate enough to end up on their hit list; I find myself wondering how much more efficient modern politics could be with the threat of assassins hanging over politicians' heads. Hmmmmm. Ismae is taught the art of killing in a convent (!!!), learning everything from poisoning to using her sexuality and femininity to isolate potential victims. Armed with these skills Ismae is sent to the royal court and eliminate all threats. Also romance, because this is YA and that's like a necessary requisite around these parts, I guess.

I think this book is way more successful at emulating popular fantasies like ASOIAF than some other books that have been advertised as such  - it blends history, politics and the fantastical into a very well-balanced story that is refreshingly different. Ismae, our main character, is both vulnerable and kickass; it's easy to believe that while she is a trained assassin, she's still a teenager with many unresolved issues and it makes her an interesting character. A lot of her conflict derives from the romantic subplot and I actually thought it gave an edge to what could have otherwise been a pretty generic romance because it raises the question of identity and freedom of choice. It's even more intriguing considering that the author chose to set her story at a time when women had little to no freedom in their everyday lives, a fact Ismae learns very early on in the novel.

The romance itself was pretty good in the sense that it didn't bore me. Ismae's love interest is a generic brooding type, I don't even remember his name so like *waves hand* Even so, the slow build up of their romance is effective because then every touch and word feels earned. Ngl every time their hands made with the touching I felt emotions. I do like how the story resolves their relationship because all throughout it is about Ismae choosing her own path.

I liked so much about this novel - I love historical fiction and stories about women; this book is both and I loved it. I will say this though - the kind of story the author weaves in this book works because it's different but I don't think the next book in the series because it feels too much like a rinse and repeat of the same story.





Page Count: 484

16 comments:

  1. Assassin nuns and a historical setting sounds wayyyy up my street. Political intrigue too...Hmmm...

    SO MANY BOOKS TO READ THOUGH.

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  2. Yay! I love these books so much :-) The cover for Mortal Heart is so incredibly perfect. I really need to reread these before that last one comes out. So happy you loved this one.

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  3. DUVAL! :D That's his name and I like him. I like him a lot. I shipped him and Ismae like crazy :D The whole promise of Nuns, assassins, the including of Death as a 'person', everything was fantastic. The next one is also very good!

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    1. is the next one a romance too? i'm kind of curious but the initial blurb put me off b/c it sounded so similar to this story. and yesss Death, assassins and nuns make for a very entertaining novel!

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  4. I liked this one overall, but probably not as much as most. I'm glad you enjoyed it though! Haha, I was about to say I didn't remember the love interest's name either, but Mel reminded me. I liked the romance overall, even if I didn't find it particularly memorable.

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    1. that about sums up how i felt about the romance tbh. i didn't mind it but it wasn't memorable for me. it took me a really long time to remember to care about duval too *high fives*

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  5. What is ASOIAF? I loved this book. I really liked Ismae. I agree she was both vulnerable and kick-ass. A realistic combo

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    1. ASOIAF refers to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (the books Game of Thrones are based upon). they're super fantastic, everyone should give them a go imo :D

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  6. I've heard so many good things about this book--assassin nuns!--but have never got to it. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, but it's a bummer the love interest is so typical. I'll definitely try to make time for this...sometime. Great review!

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    1. in all fairness i do tend to not care about romantic subplots so it might be a 'me' thing. alternatively you could just ignore him b/c there's a lot more going on in this book than just the romance *wipes tears of joy that i didn't have to sit through pages of romance*

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  7. Great review = another book added to my TBR list!

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  8. I love this series! Glad you enjoyed the first book. I think what sets it a part is how well it blends genres together - historical, fantasy, romance, etc. Dark Triumph is even better!

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  9. This is one of my favorite books I read! I have the second one and I NEED to read it! Ugh, maybe I'll do it soon. soon. :)

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  10. A historical fantasy about assassin nuns?? SIGN ME UP.
    ^ Haha, that's pretty much what had me sold. I really enjoyed it, and to me the romance was great. I wasn't too sure about the companion book, but I ended up loving that even more than this book. :D

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  11. Oh man, as much as I adored GRAVE MERCY, I think that I liked DARK TRIUMPH even more! True story.

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