A very strong historical fantasy, with some excellent world building. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy!

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I don't know how it was possible for me to be bored with this book, but I was. While it started out very well, and Robin LaFevers is a good writers, I was unable to truly be pulled into this book.

This book has everything I love in a novel: Historical fantasy, playing with expectations of gender roles, awesome ladies, political intrigue, and subtle touches of feminism.

So I'm disappointed to say that while I liked it, I didn't outright love it like I wanted to. I'm not sure what it is about the novel, but I just didn't respond to it as much as I thought I would.

The world building was good and layered, though I wish we'd spent more time at the convent. Especially because later Duval is poking so many holes in how they teach things there, and Ismae begins to doubt everything there, but it didn't really have a lot of impact on me because we honestly hadn't spent much time there.

While the political intrigue was, well, intriguing, I figured out who the traitor was way before the book wanted me to. The entire time I wanted to jump into the book and point at the person and yell at Ismae, "RIGHT THERE!! USE YOUR BRAIN!"

Speaking of Ismae, I honestly wasn't taken with her as a character. Possibly because she showed a lot of disdain for things generally coded as "feminine"; pretty dresses, knowing how to curtsey and act like a noble lady, etc. It gets so grating to read about after a while, and granted she does eventually drop it, but by then the damage had been done. The worst part is she doesn't really get into trouble at the court once she's there, despite never really paying attention to the classes that would have taught her how to properly behave. Things are incredibly easy for her when they shouldn't be, and I felt it cheapened her story by a lot.

I also wasn't into her and Duval as a romantic couple. Bickering couples aren't my thing, and Duval especially lost any of my interest when he basically pins Ismae to the chair on their second meeting and tries to physically intimidate her. I had rather hoped she would kick him in the groin then, but alas, no.

Still, I wasn't bored while I was reading it and the pacing didn't bother me (I thought it was quite even, actually, if a slower kind of pace). I'll still look into Dark Triumph, but I'm going to hope it's improved from Grave Mercy.

I'm disappointed in myself for letting this book sit as long as it did. I am not sure why I was so apprehensive to read it. Could be the historical aspect but I am not sure. In any case, I loved this book. For anyone else who is nervous about the historical aspect, don't be. It was never boring and only enhanced the story.

Ismae is 17 and has escaped from awful people trying to force her to do things she does not want to do. She ends up in a convent and starts training. As an assassin. What she finds is a family, a romance and answers about who she is and who she can be.

I really enjoyed reading a book about a strong female teenager who was all sorts of awesome instead of being whiny and oh woe is me. It was refreshing and made me want to know more. I don't trust the nuns and I am interested to see where this story goes next.

Really fantastic story.

So, you’ve had woman assassins, teen assassins, but now you have teen nun spy-assassins! No really, Ismae was saved from a dreadful marriage and whisked away to the Church of St. Mortain when she was 14 years old to train in the deadly arts. Said to all be Daughters of the God of Death, (Hades allusions galore) these girls are gifted and Ismae more so – she can see the Mark of traitors on people, she can sense when someone is about to die and she is immune to all poisons, making her a natural fit to be Death’s handmaiden. Cut to 3 years later, when she is fulfilling her first few assignments and gets involved in the politics surrounds the Duchy of Brittany.

What makes Grave Mercy exciting is the plot – political intrigues are always great spy novel fodder, and Ismae is a most certainly a spy. Sent as a mistress in disguise to the darkly handsome Gavriel Duval, one of the late Duke’s bastards and the current Duchess’ most fiercest protectors, Ismae has to work around his suspicions of her and her Church’s motives, while also ensuring that the will of the god is carried out. It certainly has a cult-like status – her devotion to the Church and their expectation of complete obedience, but this is the story of a young girl who was picked out of a hard life and given a purpose. She is smart and resourceful, and soon learns the intricacies of the court politics well enough to suss out suspects. Her growing attraction to Duval, however, put her duties at odds with her desire, which further adds conflict to the plot. The twists of the plot keep you on your toes and wanting for more. Honestly, even though this novel is like 500+ pages, I didn’t ever feel the need to put it down.

The ending was also a great climax, with more insight into what it means to be a handmaiden to Death, as well as setting up the story for Sybelle. I will miss Ismae and Duval so much!

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

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?


Let's review the good stuff first:

* Excellent main character, Ismae. Normally we find lead characters in YA fiction to be dumb as bricks, make stupid decisions and whine about nothing at every opportunity. Well, not in this case. Ismae is a fiercely smart and tough character. She was a highlight.
* A good combination of historical fiction, intrigue, and action. I was pleased that the author gave it all a bit of a go, as it would have suffered without the action or the intrigue...
* The mythological angle - the story of Mortain, the God of Death, adds a different perspective to this YA book, bringing some depth, background and the sense of history to the narrative.

But really, that's about where my excitement ended. Cos, you know, the romance...

Why is it that good, solid novels need to be over-infused with romance to sell them? This was quite a good read until Ismae discovers a boy...and then it was "Oh, my quivering loins..." kind of thing.

Also, I would have really liked to read more about the assassin training. I think that would have added a bit more to the story, for me, and not been so focused on the romance.

Finally, a little more action would have been good, too - she was plugged as an assassin. Shame we didn't get more of that...

Overall, this was still a really good novel and I will certainly check out the following book.


Paul
ARH

I have heard really good things about this book, and I was not disappointed!

I really enjoyed this book, there were many things I wasn't expecting.

Spoiler time: SPOILERS BELOWWW

The whole idea of Daughters of Death is really cool. However I wonder if we will ever find out if there are any sons.
I really felt for Ann the entire book. Her situation was so horrible. She was being pulled from all sides. She just wants a semi normal life, as normal a life as a Duchess can have. Not one of those dying around her, betraying her and trying to bribe their way into becoming Duke.
Duval was great. I was really skeptical of him at first. He always seemed to keep Ismae at distance but then when she would go out and do things while he was away, he would storm in and get angry. She is on a mission as well, do you want her to sit at home and twiddle her thumbs?
At one point it seemed like her letters were being intercepted so I really expected to see them in that drawer she searched. We never really had that cleared up.
BUT THE HORSE. I CRIED. IT WAS SOOO SSADD...
The ending though was brilliant. Finally figuring out a way to get the poison out of Duval and then kissing him in front of the abbess! I died.

Young Adult, Young Ladies, Thriller Spy Story with Romance.
Delightful engaging characters with problems to solve and romance to resolve