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5.10.2012

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers


Title: Grave Mercy
Author: Robin LaFevers
Pages: 549
Release: April 3rd, 2012

Synopsis:
(from Goodreads)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?

My Thoughts:
Grave Mercy has been one of my most anticipated books of 2012. When I first saw the cover, I instantly knew it would be a book that I would be interested in. While this book wasn’t exactly a favorite of mine, the story of Ismae, a trained assassin, was a very detailed, entertaining book that I did enjoy.

I don’t know what exactly I was expecting going into Grave Mercy, but I can say that my expectations were far exceeded in many ways. I loved the idea of this convent that pretty much bred lady killers. I am all about girl power and Ismae was fantastic at embodying that type of character I love. I also was so impressed by the detail the author put into every aspect of this book. The mix of history and her own fantasy blended together beautifully.

I will say, there were a couple things that bothered me. For one, from the synopsis I concluded there would be some romance in this book. Well, the romance isn’t really all that I had hoped, and it isn’t even introduced until you’re 3/4th’s into the book. Another thing is the lull of action; I expected this book to be all about the fights and violence, but actually there isn’t a lot of action through much of the book, it’s more schemes than anything.

It was a very nice read, that I loved for it’s intricacies and lovely world building. I also, definitely appreciate how well it was wrapped up at the end because far too often books leave off on cliffhangers with too many unanswered questions. I also believe the second book in this series follows another assassin girl, Sybella. So, I really like that rather than continuing to follow Ismae, the author is going to tell a different story.

In Short:
Rating: 4/5
Purchase or Check Out?: Purchase
Would I read it again?: Yes


5 comments:

  1. I loved this one! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I like that the next book will by Sybella's story, only because I really like Ismae, but I'll still definitely be picking it up. :) Great review!

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  2. Thank you for the review. I've read reviews similar to yours and others who thought it was amazing. I don't think I'll be reading it though. Glad you liked it!

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  3. I also thought the book was really nice. It was a nice break from all the other books, and I highly enjoyed the historical setting. I found Ismae so sweet!

    I was also happy about the closure ending. And reading about Sybella next will definitely be interesting :)

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  4. I've wanted to read this book for a long time and I've heard seriously awesome things about it. I think I'll pick it up now. Great review!
    Teenage Fiction

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  5. Ohhh, so many people talking about this book even makes me want to buy it more :( But I've already spent to much money on books this month, so this one is on my next buying list. I'm glad that you liked it, but what a shame that the romance is introduced to late.

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