Awesome debut novel! Dark, breathtakingly beautiful fantasy novel. I love the strong will of the characters and the plot. Can't wait for the next book!

Today, three girls would be doomed to die an honored, royal death.
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I really enjoyed this one, here's a mini review:
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Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon is about the girls chosen to go with their King into death. The concept of how the maidens and their families dealt with such a destiny caught my attention right away plus the cover is gorgeous.
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Kammani is a healer and so her take on death is far different than everyone else around her who believe its an honor. Its a society where they believe they can take material things, people, and social status of this world with them into the afterlife. Since her family was stripped of their status when her father failed to heal an earlier son of the King, everyone is happy when her little sister, Nanaea, is one of the maidens chosen - everyone except Kammani. Her agenda is straight forward. Heal the King and her little sister won’t die. ⚜
The two sisters were very different in their personalities and opinions which made for some great antics and conversations. They also care for each other deeply even if they didn’t see eye-to-eye. Dagan, the love interest for Kammani, was a prince in his own right through and through, but Kammani wasn’t interested in a prince which I liked but … come on girl he’s perfect lol.
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The story was fast-paced, unique, and I had to know what was going to happen. It didn’t quite unfold the way I imagined, and Kammani could be a bit frustrating once she decided what she wanted to do especially if it seemed like suicide, but overall I quite enjoyed the ride. The ending was satisfying enough that I wasn’t left hanging, but I still can’t wait for book two.
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Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s Delacorte Press #Gravemaidens #Netgalley
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Publication Date: 10/29/19

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I loved the plot, the writing style, I thought the concept was fantastic! I love it when sisterly love is the main motivation. Will read more from this author in the future!

3..5-4 ★
This was a good first book in a series (duology). To be honest, this book I cover-shopped. I saw the beautiful cover and had to read the book. Luckily I enjoyed the book.
I really enjoyed the world and work building and the story just as much.
As some have stated before it is quite brutal and has some graphic scene in there, so if you have a weak stomach skip it or just skim these parts.
The only thing for me that I didn’t like was, that parts of the book were slow, even in the beginning and it made it hard for me to connect to some characters.
I wasn’t sure if I would like Kammani or not in the beginning and she just comes over as annoying and jealous brat, but I ended up liking her for the most part.
Overall I enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to the second book to see what is to come.
3..5-4 ★

This was properly one of my favorite fantasy, out of the ones I’ve read (not many), because I thought it had a darker theme and I love dark themes. I found it so well written and intriguing. Definitely found it to be developed in a way that kept my attention and the story going in a fast paced style. I think this author will end up a best seller; because she is able to really pull out your emotions when reading, which I find important. Highly recommend to those who love fantasy or even my fellow thriller lovers!
Will make sure I buzz it up!

I want to say 3.5 stars instead of simply just 3 stars, really. This book left me with some very interesting emotions.

Everything I disliked about the book kept me interested, if that makes sense. Like for instance I wasn’t too fond of the main characters decision making, but I was still curious to see how all of her decisions would backfire and they definitely did. I had a hard time loving the the supporting characters as well; her love interest, her sibling, they all just about upset me. But of course I wanted to see if Kammani would finally tell them off—which she did. I will give the author those points.

Overall, despite it only being a 3.5, I will be reading the next one.

From this point on there will be spoilers.

So first of all, we must discuss Kammani.

Just a little run down of her situation; Kammani is to heal the dying Lugal (similar to a King?) and if she doesn’t, three maidens called Gravemaidens (hence the title) have to follow him into the after life where the citizens believe they will live happy lives. Kammani shockingly doesn’t buy that at all, and she is motivated to keep the Lugal alive because her sister has become a Gravemaiden and obviously she doesn’t want her sister to die, though her sister wanted to go—we will get to that later. On top of that, someone is trying to kill the Lugal, and Kammani tires to figure out who’s responsible.

So I was internally screaming throughout this book because of Kammani who continually misjudged everything around her. That’s all she did was make mistake after mistake after mistake, after misjudgment after misjudgment after misjudgment...and she NEVER learned.

Well...

Not until Dagan talked some sense into her, finally rousing her from her blindness to the obvious. For instance, when her father was miraculously killed. Just suddenly dead, and the most suspicious character—the Nin is like “oh yea... he never made it here, he died before he could arrive, but ignore my dying father who needs tending to because we have a festival to enjoy.” Mind you, she is the heir to the Lugal, so if he dies she succeeds him. I will say that after yet another good talking to by Dagan who made her realize how much sense it would make for the Nin to kill him, she got her thoughts together for all of two seconds. But for most of the book, Kammani was ready to run to the suspicious Nin and tell her everything.

What really solidified my irritation with Kammani was her relationship with her sister Nanaea who I also disliked until the VERY end when she finally turned it around for me. Kammani was so dead set on saving Nanaea, even though Nanaea bought the lie of the afterlife being a wealthy paradise, and being a Gravemaiden an honor. And the author made her so unlikeable to he honest, I couldn’t have cared less if she died and followed the Lugal into the so-called paradise, and so I disliked that Kammani dropped all things to try to save her sister who hated her guts, even being rude to Dagan who cared a lot for her and only wanted to help her come to that realization later. Naena was like a meanie Taryn from the Cruel Prince in my opinion.

I was a little shocked when the truth came out, when Kammani finally enacted her plan, and it backfired on her. When the Nin ended up NOT being the killer and it ended up being Ensi and his maid friend—two people who barely have any presence by the way. But I just thought it a shame that she had once again, messed up. And she knew it halfway through her accusations, but because she had gotten too far deep into her plans, she couldn’t go back. I wish she had somehow used that failure and learned from it before she went on stage to out the Nin, and it failed.

As far as the plot goes I thought with a couple of very minor changes, it could have been great. Like it’s enjoyable, but it could be even better. Some of the conversations were oddly written. Like when Kammani and Nasu were in the tomb half arguing and half about to kiss and she was trying to poison him and he was trying to slit her throat? That was just WEIRD, it was written weird, and the scene itself was just weird. Like the purpose of the scene was great but the execution was odd.

Overall though I did enjoy this read. It has potential, and I was intrigued enough to finish it in a day and a half. I am definitely intrigued for book 2!

Thank you for NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have a confession. I didn't read "Gravemaidens" right away. I had other books I wanted to read first. This was a mistake! I am actually in a bit of a reading slump. I've started a few books that I just can't seem to get sucked into which is unusual for me. But "Gravemaidens" pulled me out! I read this book in about three days which with work and other obligations was really fast. The basic plot is that in the city-state of Alu, three maidens are chosen to be killed and buried with the ruler of the Alu when he passes away. The citizens of Alu believe that this is a great honor and that the maidens will go into the next rule to marry and serve that ruler. Kammani is a healer, the daughter and student of perhaps the greatest ruler in the land. When Kammani's sister is chosen as one of the maidens, Kammani decides she must save the ruler's life to save her own sister's life.

It has elements that are common in fantasy YA novels but it also had some unique elements that I haven't run across yet in all my reading. And the writing is very engaging. This is author Kelly Coon's debut novel and I am very impressed with her ability to make me care about these characters and this world. It isn't an overly complicated world set up which really helped the book move at a fast pace. It also isn't really a magical world. Kammani's power is in her knowledge of medicine and healing. I did call the 'whodunit' part of the ending very early on but was surprised and pleased with some of the other parts of the book's climax. I loved Kammani's friends and how willing they were to help her even when her ideas sometimes were rash. I can't wait to hype people up for this novel. I also can't wait for the conclusion to this duology! This was probably in my top ten favorite reads this year (and I average about 150 books a year!)

The first half of GraveMaidens is quite slow, so slow in fact that my hopes started to dwindle that this would be a good book. Not to mention the main character made me want to pull my hair out, and her sister made me want to scream with how selfish she was. So, not a good start. The second half completely blew me away. I learned more about Kammani’s family and their past, and the story really started to pick up. I really enjoyed how everything was coming together towards the end, and I started to have emotions towards the characters. I would give this a solid 3.5 stars, which I will round up to 4 stars.

Kammani the main character is a healer and is chosen to heal Alu’s ruler, while her sister is chosen to be a grave maiden if Alu’s ruler passes away. I really disliked Kammani and her sister for most of this book and it made me not interested in any of the story. I have to have a connection to characters to really get immersed in the story. Kammani is basically the protector of her family even though she is just a teenager herself, she bears a lot on her shoulders. What made me mad is she would not accept a helping hand from anyone, but continued with the poor me act. Especially when Dagan who is swoon worthy, would do anything for her. Also, her sister Nanaea is super annoying and selfish. I honestly, didn’t care one bit about her or that she was going to die. She only wanted to have the fame and fortune, she didn’t care how much her sister did for the family. Not to mention, it sickened me when she would flirt with Dagan in front of her sister!!! Uh hello, Dagan likes Kammani not you so back off.

Once I got about halfway through and the books pace picked up, I was intrigued as to what would happen. Not to mention all the evil people involved and the horrible violence they unleash just because they can. I began to really love Kammani and even her sister, once I realized why she acted the way she did. I was pulled right into the magical world and absolutely loved it! I really appreciated the way everything concluded at the ending and was pleasantly surprised with how much I cherished the characters in the world. If the next book is as action packed, then sign me up!

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

Gravemaidens definitely started off with a bang..but like small one. It sucked me in and kind of reminded me of Hunger Games a bit. Mostly because of the whole saving her younger sister from being sacrificed. Again, this was definitely a page turner in my opinion because HG was a bit boring to me (the first 500 times I tried to read the first book).

In it, you will meet Kammani, Dagan, and Iltani. There are a bunch of other characters that I could name off but those are kind of the main three in my eyes. I loved everything about Dagan and Iltani. They gave this book life and I probably would've DNF'd this bad boy if they weren't in it. Speaking of DNFing, ugh - Kammani. It's not like I plotting her death or anything the entire book but she was beyond stubborn and frustrating. If I could reach into any book and bitch slap a character - it would be her hands down. Her little sister was no angel either - kind of a twat really. A dumb twat, which is probably worse. Together they were annoying as hell.. and if I was Kammani I would've said good riddance to Nanaea (little sister) the day she was chosen. Enjoy hell brat.

Other than that, I loved loved LOVED Dagan and Iltani. Those two deserve a better best friend. Also Dagan deserves to be treated a lot better than he was. Here's hoping that the next book will bring these two justice!

** TRIGGER WARNINGS**
Infant death, detailed still birth, attempted suicide, and sexual assault.

I really enjoyed this book from the very beginning. I cried like a baby right off the bat. I instantly felt what Kammani felt. She was exquisitely written. She reminds me of myself in many ways. I related to her so fiercely. I left an abusive home to deal with my very sick father and care for my siblings who never wanted me to be their parent. So when Kammani ached for her family I felt it in my core. This book deals with so many relationships and fears. Then Dagan is a damn dream boat! I was swooning immediately. He may be my favorite book boyfriend ever. I love his character. I love how distinctly you can feel everything from each character. Kelly did an absolutely amazing job creating characters you care about as a reader. Each character is uniquely their own and very clearly individual. I’m hoping there’s a second book in the works.

GRAVEMAIDENS is the debut novel of Kelly Coon. I've never read a story set in a Sumerian-esque setting. On that front, it excelled in worldbuilding. I specifically requested this book because I loved the concept of gravemaidens following a ruler into the afterlife. The execution, however, left a lot to be desired. The prose was crisp and clean. The pacing was alright. I liked Kammani in the beginning, but that feeling waned as the book continued on. Her reasoning for things just didn't make any sense sometimes. The stakes weren't very high and I predicted most of the twists/turns.

In the end, I kinda liked the book, but I didn't love the book like I wanted--like I had hoped. I do, however, believe the author has immense potential. She's got the ingredients to turn out a fantastic book I might gobble up. Maybe, it will be the next book in this series.

I look forward to reading more from her.

This was a very interesting, fresh YA fantasy world. The plot is compelling and I was anxious to learn more about the relationship between Kammani and her sister, and to see if Kammani would succeed in saving her. I also liked the reading from the perspective of a healer, which I think is not done too often in YA fantasy. Kammani was a quieter kind of protagonist, but one that I liked. The writing was also very well done. I would absolutely read another book by this author.

I loved this book! It was intriguing and captivating from the beginning until the very end. I'm a sucker for any Egyptian/Roman/Greek type settings and this book absolutely fit that trope of mind. Most of the time books set in those time periods are heavily focused on mythology, but this one did a good job of really only making that a side portion of the story.

My heart broke for Kammani throughout the book, but I adored her perseverance in doing what she believed was right even when the odds were stacked against her and it caused strife among her friends and family. I really enjoy main characters who are people to be admired and strong by themselves, without needing to rely on a romantic interest or other people.

I'm very excited to see where this leads and what the sequel will contain!

Gravemaidens has a great premise. It just took me forever to finish it. It was very flat. The characters didnt feel organic to me, in a way everything felt terribly forced.

The writing was excellent. I would definitely read another book by this author, but this one was like pulling teeth for me to return to.

The biggest issue came down to the characters. Kammani makes terrible decisions. Her love interest fell flat the way a bad female love interest falls to the wayside in old hero books. To the point the romance could have just been taken out.

It would be one thing if Kammani had started out one way and grown. But she didnt.

This one wasnt for me.

3.5/5. Received a copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

I did overall enjoy the story but I think it could have been better. Kammani soon finds out that the Lagu is being poisoned however is in his room very infrequently. I understand there are times when she is asked to go to a bazaar etc but wouldn’t you think she’d be terrified of leaving him alone? She has no idea who is poisoning him yet is okay with him being tended to by others?

Kammani does have a lot on her shoulders and has had a tragic life. I understand she feels as if she needs to shoulder quite a bit. I understand her pushing away Dagan and am glad eventually she saw that she doesn’t have to push him away. That she can accept his help and that doesn’t make her any less strong.

The nin being involved was silly. It was obvious that she was not the one involved. I understand Kammani is young and in her grief it was an easy option for her to believe.

So, I am assuming the Lagu is in fact still alive. The “light” and “Boatman” carried away him while he was still alive. I think this section of the book was one of the strongest, there was a sense of foreboding anxiety.

This was not a bad story - there were some enjoyable parts. I will read the sequel however I think this story could have been tightened up quite a bit.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to review this title.

Well, this was a big fat NOPE.

Ok so, the story was unique. Three girls are chosen as maidens for their ruler. In this case, the ruler is dying. Therefore, the three girls will die with him, which is a huge honor apparently. Healer Kammani's sister is chosen, and Nanaea is all gung ho about it. But sister is like, nah, you aren't dying today, sis, and takes her father's place as a healer to keep the ruler from dying, thus saving her sister.

I think what frustrated me the most was that the story started really promising. The premise is unique, and I think I was expecting something creepier than what it was. By the second quarter, it began to turn into your cookie-cutter YA fantasy with an unlikeable protagonist who makes questionable decisions. Kammani did not have a distinct personality. She's just a typical YA heroine who wants you to think she's smart but instead makes you roll your eyes at the things she does for plot's sake. I wasn't feeling it.

The love interest was another negative aspect for me. As in, there WAS NO LOVE INTEREST. Though the plot set us up for one, maybe two, nothing comes out of it. There is no payoff. Maybe if I felt some tingles, I would have enjoyed this part a bit more. Instead, I felt numb to it every time he came "on screen."

The writing was fine. Some dialogue was hard to follow, and some phrases seemed out of place. The twist was no so much a twist. I was truly hoping for someone I did not suspect, but alas.

GRAVEMAIDENS could have been the twisted and dark tale I thought it was. Instead, I won't remember it come tomorrow.

3.5 rounded definitely up to four, are you all set to teleport yourself into a fairy tale meets fantasy meets historical romantic journey, if you nod passionately, stop staring with your mouth open and join this amazing j voyage because you feel hooked from the first pages and you don’t want to put it down stars!

Raise your hands to clap because there is a new author in the literature town and we should welcome Kelly Coon with open arms. Because we need good minds, creative genius brains and we really need good books to read! Because our time is precious, our mind needs more vivid journeys and our hearts needs warming feelings that only a heart-embracing book can give.

The book is centered on Kammani’s story who is a healer, lost both of her parents. Her brother was given to another family with the ruler’s order and now she is about to lose her only family member, her sister Nanaea who was chosen to be one of the sacred maidens will join the ruler in the afterlife.

THE THINGS I LOVED: Story pacing that captures your full concentration and attention, take your mind off from your daily stress and bring you to this fantasy land. It was entertaining page-turner make you want to know what’s going to happen next.

As a hero (He actually seemed like a supporting character because there were too many women characters on this book which also made me happy) DAGAN is honest, devoted, strong, carrying all the great attributes of best book boyfriend but sometimes I thought he acted like doormat of heroine (DON’T BLAME HIM! BLAME
THE HEROINE WHO DOESN’T SHOW HIM THE RESPECT HE DESERVED.)
And best of the best friend forever, amazing supporting character ILTANI; unpredictable, bat-shit crazy, amazingly loyal and supporting friend, sarcastic, witty and funny is completely my favorite character.
(As you can see I wrote DAGAN and ILTANI’s names in big letters, you can imagine how I loved them.)

THE THINGS I HATE: I want to yell at Kammani: “Why are you so stubborn and choosing unhappiness? You’re not carrying all the word’s weight on your shoulders. Cheer up! Stop being serious and kiss Dagan!”
And Nanaea, did you leave your brain cells at the coat room before entering this fantasy world?

She’s so happy to be chosen as maiden. She’s going to be trapped in a tomb with dead body and die but she thinks this is honor! ( Yeap, maybe before being a character of this book she watched too much episodes of Bachelor and lost the rest of her grey cells). She just made some moves to Dagan even she knows her sister has feelings for him.( You broke the sister code, you bitch :)))) So I fantasized to punch on her spoiled brat face thousand times which made me smile.( Okay, not smile, evil laugh like Cardi B’s)

Those two sisters really annoyed me but I mostly liked the writing, story development and pacing. It’s a good start for debut novel. I didn’t know it was duology before I started. So I little disappointed because I have to wait for my second book to read the end of the characters’ story.

QUICK NOTE TO THE WRITER:

I loved Iltica too much and as a kind request I wish she has her own book after the ending of the duology. This is such a passionate and vivid character. I liked to read more about her adventures.


PS: I hope in second book, Kammani gets her head out her ass and pay more attention to Dagan’s charms.
Sincerely

Your new fan who supports you to write new novels sooner than ever.
Nily

Special thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley to provide me this beautiful ARC COPY in exchange my honest review.

I*I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I wanted to like this book so badly. I requested it the moment I got my NetGalley account, yet it ended up not being anything like I imagined. My main issue with this book was the characters.

This is the second book I’ve read recently where the protagonist is willing to throw their life on the line repeatedly to save their really immature little sister. I get it, it's her sister. But that sister kept treating Kammani (our protagonist, whom I truly love) like legit crap and her only visible talent was to act like a spoiled child. Why on earth would you risk it all, almost die three times, and throw away your love life to try to save this kid? She doesn't even want your help! Kammani’s actions were so heroic throughout the book and I applauded her about fifty thousand times. Yet, it made me so angry when her sister would throw a tantrum or yell at Kammani because she didn’t understand that Kammani was literally trying to save her life.

The romance in this story was cute but not a super defining part of this story, which is fine. The love interest was a super sweet guy, but unfortunately really cliche. He's the mainstream super buff guy with a sweet heart that will punch his way to Kammani's heart. At the end of the book, he put his beautiful black hair into a man bun and I laughed for twenty minutes. Why, just why?

Jokes aside, the ending of this book made up for a lot of the points I took away because of the characters. It was an awesome twist, filled with some serious suspense and moving moments. The ending alone made me interested in reading book two when it releases. Yet, it made me sad that the first half of the book was filled with Kummani interacting with these characters that I couldn't really relate to.

From the very first page you can tell that Kelly Coon sees the world she’s created vividly. Her descriptions of clothing, people, markets, and architecture are more than enough to paint the world for the reader.

Unfortunately, other aspects of Gravemadens didn’t meet the same standard.

I was drawn to request Gravemaidens because of how wonderfully dark it sounded. I also felt that the themes hinted at on the back cover, those of honor and tradition, were poignant in today’s political climate.

But I felt lost in the early pages. There is a lot of language that is unique to this world, and I could not understand family relationships without it. It was also difficult to understand the regency without a few context clues as to what all these new words meant.

Ultimately, I put it down pretty early on when the main character suggests and believes in the power of a Hail Mary to save her sister, although just paragraphs before she knew all was hopeless.

I wish I’d made it further but I didn’t feel like anything pulled me along.

My Rating: DNF

Great book! The author really knows how to tell a story. I felt like I was right there with Kammani as she tries to save her sister and herself. The setting of rich in detail and the characters were so relatable!