Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by R.L. LaFevers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Disclosure: I received a free ARC eBook special edition of this book from netGalley in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis from Goodreads: 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?

My Thoughts: Medieval assassin nuns. That is the phrase that caught my attention. I was trying to not take any new netGalley books until I had gone through a few I’ve had for a while, but I just could not resist this one. This interesting bit of historical fantasy is set in the 1400s in Brittany, during the time when they are trying to remain independent of France.

While I quite liked the beginning of the book, by the time I was a bit past the half-way mark, it had more-or-less turned into a romance novel. The last bit of the book wasn’t bad – the whole thing wrapped up nicely. Still, overall this wasn’t really my cup of tea and it is doubtful that I will want to read the sequel, due out in 2013, called Dark Triumph. However, if you like historical romantic fantasy, especially if you are interested in Brittany and the old ways, you should like this. I certainly found no fault with that aspect of the stories.



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