**Review will be posted to my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog two weeks prior to book publication date**

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Gravemaidens is about a young woman named Kammani who is following in her father’s footsteps to become the best healer in Alu. But her family’s reputation was tarnished years ago when her father’s healing talent couldn’t save someone very important. So they went from a renowned family in society to being outcasts and her youngest brother is sent to live at the palace as punishment. Kammani’s life and family has fallen apart.

A very fascinating ritual takes place in this book. The Lugal, their ruler, is on the verge of death but when he dies tradition follows that three of the most beautiful girls will accompany the Lugal into the tomb and die with him. These gravemaidens will travel with him to the netherworld. Kammani’s sister is chosen as a sacred maiden. Where everyone saw this role as a true honor, Kammani only sees death and vows to save her sister.

I love the strong female characters and female relationships in this book. I especially loved Iltani, who is Kammani’s best friend. She’s funny and spunky, she really made the scenes come alive. Kammani is a strong young woman as well but sometimes I thought she was rash with her actions and thoughts concerning her sister and the Nin (princess). Her reasoning for who was trying to cause harm to her and the Lugal came to her so quick, even I questioned her accusations. Nanaea, who is Kammani’s younger sister comes off as materialistic but there is more to her than what everyone sees.

Kammani does have a romantic interest in Dagan. Their relationship is a slow burn, friends to lovers clean romance. Kammani is wary of becoming a wife and mother and nothing else, so she is conflicted about marrying Dagan. Dagan is patient, loyal and a good friend to Kammani. He really is just a good guy who loves her.

Gravemaidens is a story about the bonds of family, friendship, finding love and navigating the expectations of being a young woman. Overall this is a very solid debut and an engaging young adult fantasy novel.

I loved this book! I will be recommending it to all my young adult readers! Thank you for this opportunity to connect books to their readers.

Title: Gravemaidens

Author: Kelly Coon

Series: The Gravemaidens

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

Likes

I really enjoyed this book! I felt like the plot was unique and gave me vibes from different types of mythology that I know. And mythology is always my thing! It was loosely inspired in my opinion but I appreciated that. I think it's wonderful that this will be a duology because, as of the end of this book, it seems like we need to know what happens next! I've found that I much prefer duologies to trilogies or series, so that's also a small plus in my book. Kammani was a great main character. I felt connected to her and I felt her care for her sister. I'm going to go out on a limb and say she was kind of like Scarlett from Caraval towards Tella! Nanaea, on the other hand, I didn't like and I'll talk more about her later. That passion Scarlett has for protecting and saving her sister is evident in Kammani as well. I really appreciate in a book when the female character is some sort of intellectual and she is a healer. She is so smart, which makes her feel like a strong character in the sense of the plot and independent on standing on her own. As a healer, she needs to know so much about diseases, healing, poisons... all of that stuff. I felt like her mysterious detective side also came about in this book as she was trying to figure out what was happening at the palace. I liked the romance in this book. It's definitely a side plot but it was that classic 'boy next door' vibe and it didn't feel forced at all. I enjoyed the progression and how the boy fit into the story as well. The twists in this story were also good! You thought one thing one true and the next chapter it was the opposite, in terms of the big mystery and climax in the story. 

Dislikes

I didn't really like Nanaea at all. I felt like she was kind of airheaded and brainwashed at times, which was most likely the point, but she annoyed me. Much like Tella annoyed me in the first Caraval book, but then I grew to love her even more in Legendary. So I'm kind of hoping the next book is told in Nanaea's point of view?! Either way, she wasn't my favorite but she was more tolerable at the end of the story. I toyed with my rating on this one for sure. I felt the last 25% was the best part of the book and picked up the pace and action quickly, which kept me very engrossed. But I felt parts of it were a little slow and there was some backstory thrown in there that I would've wanted to know about earlier. I do wish there was more world-building! I was curious about the traditions of the country and how it fit in to the main story plot. I ended up giving it a 3.75 star rating because I enjoyed it more than just being neutral about it but I wasn't completely blown away.

Recommendation

I'd recommend this book to fans of different types of mythology as well as those who enjoy a strong family-inspired fantasy!