Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

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 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?


I loved the beginning of Grave Mercy. It’s harrowing, emotional, intriguing and grabs you from the start: horrific, yet emotionally compelling back story. Mysterious night trip to a nunnery on an island. Assassin nuns. Boarding school intrigue. Poisons. Masterly constructed weapons and gadgetry. Secrets and oaths.

Here I was all primed for a kick-ass medieval assassin, and as soon as Ismae is unleashed in the world... things sizzle right down. Instead of being a wild, brilliant sneaky little assassin, her potions and gadgets get less of a work-out as readers have to sit through pages of political intrigue. Did I say intrigue? It was not overly intriguing. Such a fantastic premise was coupled with such a bland political plot. Pages of council meetings and trying to keep up with which political dude wants what, what they really want and who is betraying whom, etc. It felt confusing, keeping track of everyone, yet the political plot itself was simple: the whole mid section of the book was about who the duchess should marry. 

This major political plot line felt like a waste of an assassin premise. Like I had been promised one kind of (exciting, original, dashing) story and somehow fell into a medieval political snoozefest instead.

It is not all just politics. There is, of course, some romance. And I have mixed feelings about this as well. It, too, began with promise. Compelling antagonism and a hint of chemistry bubbling away, but then it fell into a predictable format and by the culmination at the end, I felt nothing. I am not sure why it did not work for me? Perhaps because Ismae seemed out of character in the romantic scenes? Hmm...

The Climax: the author went the whole way, raising the stakes to the highest point. Yet, it was done in such a way that I felt zero tension and no anticipation. I knew the author would not be willing to sacrifice that which her story was threatening to ~ and so sat waiting back for the author to create her magical loop hole promising a happy ending. 

Overall, regarding my personal enjoyment of Grave Mercy: I started off engaged and intrigued. If I was to make a graph, my interest would start out deliciously high and then drop to a steady decline from the middle of the book to a fizzed out ending. Okay, add a a few blips of increased interest at intermittent romantic intervals (I am always on the look out for some swoon, it was slow building enough to add tension, but ultimately just short of bringing enough spark, for me).

Side note: Pet peeve: making YA villains not just evil in their intent, but also ugly, fat and repulsive to look at (and horny in that filthy underage way. Argh.). Why? So unimaginative. 

Also: did French women really paint their nipples with rouge? O.o

Oh: and I felt some confusion about what elements were fantasy from the author and which parts had historical basis? I am clearly not an expert on this genre.

Recommend for fans of historical, political intrigue in a lite manner ;) 

Thanks Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ecopy