This is another one of those stories that just works to hard. It had a romance that it didn't need and a book two duology when it could have just been one. I felt like this book was just cut in two. Like ok this seems like a good place to quick snip snip! The pacing was ok there were some slower parts and some faster parts but overall it just felt like it was missing that magic spark to make it amazing. The plot was pretty basic and the only really original thing was the concept of death in this one. However, I felt like it wasn't completely explained. I really wanted to love this one but it just felt like it was a good idea but the execution just lacked what I was looking for.

I absolutely loved reading Gravemaidens. I loved the relationship between Kammani and her sister Nanaea. Kammani's character was smart, brave, and loving, and I really enjoyed seeing her character develop throughout the book. I didn't really enjoy Nanaea, though: she was silly and materialistic compared to Kammani, and it was so frustrating to read anything she said. This was also why I didn't like any of the characters besides Kammani
The world-building, in my opinion, was perfect for what the story was. It didn't go too into depth where it wasn't needed for the plot, but I didn't feel like the story existed in a vacuum, either. The setting was absolutely gorgeous, and a nice change from a lot of the medieval Europe-based fantasies I read.

This story was fantastic! The plot was definitely one that I have not read over and over - which made the read refreshing and fun!

Stuck in a society where each time the King dies, 3 beautiful girls must usher him into the afterlife, his Grave maidens. They are there solely for the king to NOT be afraid, or to enter the next life alone.

We have two different stories happening at once, a sister who is THRILLED with being chosen as a Gravemaiden and Kammani who is trying everything to figure out why the King is dying and to stop it before her sister dies with him. Each one vying for a different outcome, regardless of how it would hurt the other.

I'm not sure if this is rooted in a real mythology or just something that Kelly created in her imagination - either way it was AMAZING! The details that make this plot believable are heart wrenching and exquisite all at once. **Some of the details are very specific and horrible - eg: if a woman speaks out without proof, she can be bashed in the face with a stone, children being taken from their families as recourse for the loss of another child. They really brought you down into the gut of their world and connected it to raw emotions.

The twists that come into place throughout the book are satisfying, though a few were predictable. That did not take away from the story at all, though! Though predictable, they were valid and well done.

At the core, the plot really was based on strong female relationships, and I could not get over that! It was rejuvenating to read a book based on family and friendship instead of romantic love.

That being said, I actually ENJOYED the romance in this novel because it was pre-established and not insta love. I am a huge proponent of not having instalove in a story, ever.

The pacing in the book was up and down, though it did not hinder the flow of the story. I typically prefer fast paced books, they are just easier to read for me, but this novel's ebb and flow fit well with the ebb and flow of the character's actions and emotions.

Let's be real. We come for the plot but stay for the characters, and these characters were easily to instantly fall in love with. From our main character, Kammani, to the villains of the novel, which I cannot divulge without spoiling so much.

Kammani is the star of our story. She is a stubborn, willful girl who refuses to conform to the beliefs of her society. She knows that what they ask is wrong, though many do not agree with her. She holds a set of beliefs close to her and you cannot fault her for sticking to her core values. However, Kammani is a very flawed and selfish character at times. That doesn't mean that she's not a good characters, it only means that she is REAL. We all do and say things that are selfish, stupid and stubborn. It was nice to see a protagonist who also did this. It's a human trait, and many times the YA genre (readers especially) likes to pretend it's not.

The supporting characters around her are just as fabulous. Kammani's sister Nanea is just as stubborn as her sister, though she could do with a firm hand and a good ass kicking a few times. Though, once you discover her motives or reasoning behind it, which I caught on to very quickly, it's easy to understand why she wanted to join the King in death so badly. It was such a struggle for both of them, the love they shared as sisters - yet both wanting the exact opposite outcome. There were times though, that Nanea showed grace and love.

There were so many layers to their relationships that honestly kept me turning page after page because I desperately needed to know who would rise.

Iltani, the bestie, is literally the goals of best friends. She is the OG ride or die. No matter how stupid Kammani's plans were, she was undoubtedly there with her, making her way in fashion and flash! I really hope that we see more of her in the second book, because she really deserves to shine.

There are far too many characters to list and gush about but Nin Arwia and Dagan are honorable mentions. I really felt for the princess, even as I suspected everything she did. She was a really great addition to the cast and I appreciated her on so many levels. I really enjoy characters who seem timid but are fierce when need arises.

Kelly's writing genuinely blew me away. From the story telling to the wording of her prose, I was thoroughly entranced as I read. I am a fairly critical reader, easily bored and forgetful, but this book stuck with me completely. Her world building is on par with some of the best, akin to AG Howard, Sarah Glenn Marsh and Kendare Blake. Once you step into Alu, you don't step out without a fight with reality. Her prose are deliciously lyrical; each time a quotable line came up I would squeal with delight over how effortless her words read. It's most definitely one of my favorites in the way of world building and prose. I would give her writing alone a 5/5 stars.

I had to wait a little while to review this, because I wasn't entirely sure if my thoughts were based on the actual book or what my expectations of the book were before reading. I was expecting this storyline to be a bit darker, honestly. It started off wonderfully. I loved the unique idea of the protagonist being a healer, loved the story of the Boatman and that the plot followed a girl's desire to save her sister, and I really enjoyed the voice. But as the story went on, it started to drag. After finishing, I felt it was one of those books where I couldn't really understand how I could've possibly just read 300+ pages when it felt like nothing really happened. Right before the climax, the story definitely picked up, though it started to get a little strange/out of nowhere and somewhat predictable. I wanted more emotion/relationship building between the sisters, and I felt the romance was kind of just thrown in and didn't really add anything to the story.

I think what it came down to was this just wasn't the book for me. It was a nice story, and not terrible by any means, but I'm much more drawn to fast-paced stories with more intricate plot lines full of twists and turns, and this one just struggled to keep my interest.

I enjoyed this book even though many parts of it were hard to follow and jumped around awkwardly. There were some seriously cliche things happening in the story but I still enjoyed the read.

First of all, I was very happy to have this book given to me as arc. Secondly, I wish it had given me more. Not a bad read, there were just too many troupes held within it for it to be enjoyable. The older sister who wants to save her younger one from an 'honor' that is really a horror. The single parent who's boozing or other lack of parental guidance, has left the household finances and up keep to the heroine. The love interest who will do anything for the heroine who is coincidentally too independent to ever want to be tied down by a man who adores her and is willing to do anything for her. The heroine who VASTLY underestimates her abilities but is 'big-upped' all around her. And finally, the love triangle. Honor restored

So as you can see, I given you no names, destinations, or eve plot points but by stringing all of these troupes together, you get the entire jist of this book. However, the writing style is beautiful, world building is well done, and the plot itself is intriguing. Not a story that advit YA fan would probably enjoy, we recommend Gravemaidens to anyone just starting out on the young adult scene. No excessive language or sex.

*** this book was received for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ****

Gravemaidens is a story motivated for love. Kammani's world changed the moment her family was cast down from nobility, but nothing could have prepared her for the shock and fear when her sister was chosen as a sacred maiden. These maidens are tasked with joining the dead King to the Afterworld, but it's human sacrifice - taking the most beautiful maidens to the grave. Kammani is determined to do everything she can to save her sister from death, including trying to heal the ruler with her well known healing skills.

Gravemaidens is a story of family and ambition, but it's also a story about conspiracy, manipulation, and belief. I think it's a good series opener and I hope the elements where I was searching for more depth - Kammani's relationship to her sister and her romantic feelings - will be discussed more in the second book. Overall, Gravemaidens is a story that asks us about our individual choices, if we live for those we have lost, and how we will fight to achieve our dreams.

Thank you to Delacorte Press, Netgalley, and Kelly Coon for providing me an ebook copy of Gravemaidens in exchange for an honest review**

Gravemaidens is the first in a new duology about Kammani, a young woman who is trying to hold her family together after their fall from nobility, her mother's death, and her father's subsequent drinking problem. She is holding it all together until her sister, Nanaea is chosen to be a Sacred Maiden, one of three beautiful, young women who are chosen to follow their ruler's path to the afterlife. Kammani seems to be the only person who does not see dying with the Lugal as a high honor, and is trying to save Nanaea's life... whether she wants it or not.

What she comes to find out is that she has bigger problems that trying to save her sister. Her city-state of Alu is in danger as an unknown person is trying to kill the Lugal and take over as ruler. Only she can stop, but when she becomes the next target, she must fend for herself and decide who to trust.

Kammani is a STRONG, female character. I love her, and felt for her through the entire book. Nanaea did not deserve her, and frankly her character was wildly irritating and bratty. She is the reason this book dropped a star in my review. All other characters has redeeming qualities and were well described, but I can't get over how badly Nanaea's character sucks.

Kelly Coon has created a captivating world and a strong, female character to live in it. I look forward to reading the sequel when it releases in 2020.

The characters felt stale, and I could see many tropes. This book in general was VERY predictable, and I nearly DNF'd. It picked up about halfway through, and the last third was action packed. The love interest was very bland (I hated him) with not only that, but other aspects of the book almost downright UNBELIEVABLE! The end saved this book from a 1 star, and I rounded from 2.5 up to 3. I will not be picking up the sequel.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The characters felt 2d and I really didn’t get their motivation for anything. It just felt stale. Though I did enjoy the overall story, that was just odd.

It was a bit meh to me. I feel like the story has already been told, and it is a repeat of many tropes we see time and time again. For enjoyment purposes, it did it’s job but as a critical reader, it lacked, it was extremely predictable (I knew what was going to happen ASAP) & I felt some parts were so unnecessary including the romance,

Kammani Healers Daughter is trying to hold her family together after they have been cast down and her mother has died. When word comes that the Lugal is near death and his three sacred maidens are to be chosen, she doesn't want to be involved. How could anyone consider it an honor to give up their lives for a dead man? When her sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of the sacred maidens, Kammani convinces her father to sober up and go to the palace to try to save the Lugal and restore their family name. Only, her father doesn't make it to the palace and she is called in his stead. Will she be able to save the Lugal thereby saving her sister's life, or will they both die for him.

I had a hard time getting into this one, and DNF'd it at around 48%. I plan to try reading this again in print form after publication as I sometimes have a difficult time getting into ebook versions.

The cover of this book is gorgeous, and the premise is intriguing, but I found the clunky writing dragged on much longer than needed. The climax picked up immensely, but the first two thirds of this book were so slow I barely got to it. There is promise here for this debut author, but I don’t think I’ll pick up the next book in this series.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So, first of all, the cover is gorgeous, and I'd been looking forward to this book for quite some time! The premise is exciting, and this girl's hero's journey to save her sister and her family's reputation checked all the boxes for me. I think Kelly Coon definitely put the work into her world-building, and lush descriptions dot every page. It was a little slow for me in the beginning, which was probably just my response to the author setting up a very detailed foundation, but the pacing definitely improved in the second half. I think this is a solid debut, and I'm rating it 3.5 stars.

I've seen several people voice this opinion, but I did struggle with some of Kammani's decisions, and especially in the beginning she just seemed to be drifting along with no real direction. Her motivation was very clearly defined, but sometimes it was a little hard not to want to shake some sense into her. I did love her feminist vibes and how she seemed to be the only person that didn't see being a Gravemaiden as a blessing. Her sister, Nanaea was also a little hard to swallow, but I will say that a revelation that highlighted some of her motivations was beautifully done, and really took me by surprised. I didn't like her most of the book, but I think Kelly Coon really nailed that classic bratty, spoiled, younger sister vibe. Her character also showed some real growth by the time we got to the end.

Iltani was probably my favorite part of this entire book, and that girl needs her own book. She's ridiculously brave, fiercely loyal, and had me laughing out loud in several spots. More Iltani in the next book!

I didn't love the ship, and there was also potentially another ship, but I'm still not sure if it was a ship? Dagan, her childhood playmate turned possible sweetheart, was kind, generous, and always seemed ready to swoop in and help --- despite Kammani's insistence on doing everything alone. I just didn't love him?

Overall, I would recommend this title to others, especially those with a love of fairy tales meets hero's journey meets historical romance. I think her premise was solid and unique, and although the pacing was a little slow at times, it was a very detailed and enjoyable journey.

I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book, and intrigued by the author's research on human sacrifice. How does it affect the families of those who are sacrificed? How does a society build a belief in the ritual? How does grief merge with celebration? How does a single individual develop a doubt in a system of belief embraced by her entire culture? Interesting stuff to dig into.

This isn't an academic book through. It's a hero story. A rescue story. A tale of political intrigue. And while it's set in an invented world, there's no magic or magical beings to settle it firmly in the fantasy genre. It's really a story of a young healer who fights to save her sister's life while uncovering a treasonous plot in her community. I so appreciated Coon's world, in that it eschewed the medieval British/European tropes we see so often in this kind of story, embracing another language entirely, both visually and verbally. It's a sensory experience, and there's a hallucination near the end that's not to be missed. I hope that little detail--also hinted at in the beginning of the book--comes into play as the epic story carries on into another volume. The book is visual and visceral, and I think it will appeal greatly to lovers of hero stories, set in invented worlds, with a dash of romance and a background of class struggle.

Gravemaidens did a fantastic job of making a fantasy world that was not hard to comprehend. While there were fantasy lands and different names for rulers and such, I didn’t feel as though I had to take notes with definitions to reference while reading.

I am someone who likes flawed main characters. Maybe that’s why I love Kammani? Either way, she’s a strong, independent woman and I love her. I understand that carrying the feeling of needing to take care of everyone by yourself is kind of a toxic trait to have. But, as an older sister myself, I completely understand it. We, as humans, are not without our faults and I feel as though main characters should be a reflection of this.

Obviously, as this book has not even come out yet, I will not be including any spoilers or discussion about the plot points but I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect book to read while I was studying because it distracted me from my homework problems. While I will say, there are some stressful situations in this book, I didn’t get super stressed while reading it.

Alright, it's time to bite the bullet. I've been sitting on this book for a while hoping it would get easier to write a review and it just hasn't and it's getting to the point where now details are getting fuzzy so it's time to dive into this. I was so incredibly excited to get approved for this book on Netgalley. After reading the synopsis I knew I needed this book in my hands as soon as possible. However, after reading this book I'm sorry to say I did not enjoy it. In this case, I think my expectations were just vastly different from the actual story. After reading that the story is about Kammani trying to rescue her sister from becoming a bride to the Lugal in the afterlife I expected something a little darker and more atmospheric. I also expected a stronger sister bond. The girls really didn't seem that close for the level of danger that surrounded Kammani trying to save Nanaea from her fate. The characters were mostly average. I didn't love them, I didn't hate them. They just didn't really standout for me and so I felt that I wasn't really connecting with them. I did love how commited Kammani was to becoming a healer and how passionate she was about the subject.

I struggled a lot with some of the choices of language made in this book. Everyone is reffered to as their father's occupation son/daugher. So you get the characters name as well as Healer's Daugher or Farmer's Son, ect. It just got really clunky and I tired of it after a while. I also felt iffy on the world and the setting. It's obviously drawinig from Mesopotamian influcences but I never felt like I was there in the world. Instead it felt like the author was cherry picking words like Lugal and ziggurat to place her story in an "exotic" local but didn't put any real effort into making the world feel fully fleshed out. I needed more discriptions to really get a sense of the world our characters lived in. I will not be picking up the sequel to this book.

I really loved Gravemaidens, a story about a healer named Kammani who is determined to save her sister from being a "Sacred Maiden" or a sacrifice for the ruler of Alu when he passes into the Netherworld. Gravemaidens is a very complex story about human sacrifice, court intrigue, sisterhood, feminism, and first love. Parts of it are endearing, heartwarming, heart-breaking, infuriating and dark, making for a very developed story. The MC, Kammani, got on my nerves sometimes because of the way she refuses help from the people in her life and her arrogant/naive moment, but honestly, it's heartening to see an MC that you can still root for who has some very relatable flaws. Dagan and Nasu were both so swoonworthy, and Iltani was someone I wanted as my best friend! The world building is exquisite here, brutal and terrifying all at the same time. This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is well-worth the read. Fans of The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games, and An Ember in the Ashes will devour this book just like I did. In summary, Gravemaidens is an awesome book, and should be on everyone's TBR this fall!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for giving me the opportunity to read/review Gravemaidens early! I follow the author on Twitter, so I’ve been seeing so much about Gravemaidens that I was super excited to be able to read it!

Gravemaidens: 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads: The start of a fierce fantasy duology about three maidens who are chosen for their land's greatest honor...and one girl determined to save her sister from the grave. 

In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame. 

When Alu's ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her. 

But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.

Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There she discovers more danger lurking in the sand-stone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself.

I really liked the characters- Dagan was a great love interest who seemed to really care for Kammani, whether she outwardly reciprocated his feelings or not. The Nin seemed like such a sad person who only wanted a real friend. Kammani had such high dreams and wanted to keep her family together no matter what. Nanaea wanted glory and recognition. Kasha was an adorable younger brother. Iltani was the greatest best friend a girl could ask for. Overall, our main characters were great! When we get to the villains/antagonists though, I was a little lost. I know Kammani was battling time and the ruler dying, but there were also other antagonists and I had a hard time believing any of them. I hope that side of the story gets built out more in book two.

The plot was really interesting and the premise behind that was fascinating. It took me back to some of my favorite history classes from high school. At certain points, the plot dragged just a little, so people who want all the action all the time might be a little disappointed by that, but overall, this was a great book!

Gravemaidens comes out on October 26th, so definitely pre-order it or request it from your local library!

**link to blog post to come closer to when the book is published**

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

This one's a 3.5 for me.
So the idea of royalty and human sacrifice is a really cool thing to write about. Three beautiful maidens chosen to journey with a dead King or Queen into the afterlife. There's hundreds of examples through out history. Some took people, some just simulacra of those they would require.

Kammani is an apprentice healer, and the Ruler of her city of dying, 3 Sacred Maidens will be chosen to join him as his queens in the afterlife. It's considered a great honor. When her only living sister is chosen, she sees the writing on the walls, that being chosen isn't a grand honor it's a death sentence. She can't fathom why her sister would be excited to die at 15.
When her father the greatest healer in the city, fails to make it to the palace to try to heal the Dying Lugal, Kammani is sent in his stead. If she can save the Ruler, and prevent his death, her sister will be spared.

While I enjoyed the descriptions of revelry and ritual involved of the Sacred Maidens and watching a city fawn over women who will go to their deaths. I just wish the plot and intrigue had been just a little more thought out, and not dropped on us in the last few pages. It just kind of fell apart and fell flat for me. I didn't mind the ending , but some of it wasn't believable (Nin Arwia at the end). Some decisions I really didn't get. This is another one with a not so thought out villain and everyone just glazing over an important part. And getting what they want.
And the pining love, but not really love interest that was just there like an extra rosette on a cake. Pretty but pointless. Good support.