Book Summary:
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 assasin 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 Rating: 4.5 stars
My Review:
I absolutely LOVED 'Grace Mercy. It was so much better than I had anticipated. Ismae drew me in from the first sentence, and I loved the world, the politics, the romance... everything about it. I could feel her emotions, see what she was seeing, experience what she was experiencing.
Let's talk about Duval, shall we? I really loved him, though I admit I was a little hesitant to trust him at first. But like Ismae, it was hard for me to distrust him for too long. The chemistry between Duval and Ismae was perfectly written, and so believable. It's hard to find a book these days where the chemistry is actally realistic. As a writer myself, I struggle with it, too, and know how hard it can be. Their moments together were perfectly written, making you anticipate their next interactions. Both Ismae and Duval were extremely well-written, and in fact, I feel they are the two most real characters I have come across in a long while. The passion wasn't overdone, neither were the characters' personalities.
Also, I do love the way they spoke. It was definitely realistic for me. Did you know that "merde" means "shit" in French? After the first several times Ismae said the word, I had to look up the translation. I giggled to myself whenever she said it afterwards.
Robin's writing is absolutely amazing. I can honestly not put it into words how great it is. The book is over 500 pages, but it felt less than that with all the action and things happening in between. I finished this book this afternoon (it's currently 11:32pm where I live) and I have not been able to stop thinking about the book, or flipping back and forth to my favourite scenes. I also really liked Anne, the Duchess. She seemed like a really good person in general, and I felt so bad for her at so many points. But she kept her chin up and continued to be strong even though I'm sure the poor girl felt like she was being thrown into a tornado more than once, with all the politics and things going on.
I really love Grave Mercy. I am going to probably read it again just for the sake of reading, because I am soo in love with the book and I already miss Duval and Ismae. Seriously, I've actually missed them for the better part of the afternoon. That's how fabulous Robin LaFevers is :) Y'all should read this book, cuz it's AMAZING.
Grave Mercy offers exactly what those looking for strong plots, characters, and fantastc writing, want. Robin LaFevers has crafted what will certainly be one of the most memorable novels you will read, and has left readers highly anticipating what will come next.
I, for one, cannot wait until I can get my hands on book 2, "Dark Triumph." I have not been so excited to read a book in ages. I wasn't even this excited to read Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), Heir of Fire (Sarah J. Maas) or City of Heavenly Fire (Cassandra Clare). I cannot WAIT to read "Dark Triumph". I wonder if I will like Sybella as much as Ismae? From what I have heard of the book so far, and what I have seen of Sybella, I think I will.
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