Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin, Book One
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover, 549 pages
Release Date: April 3, 2012
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries  
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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 Review:

I have been missing out. I’ve had a couple of people recommend this book to me and, while it has been on my radar, I’ve been pushing it off for other books. Historical fiction doesn’t usually interest me. I worried that it would be boring and that I wouldn’t love it as much as everybody else seems to. But I finally decided to give it a try. My only regret is not reading it sooner.

I loved everything about this book. The characters, the story, the world, everything down to the very last detail. When I saw how long the book was, I worried that there would be unnecessary detail in it that would bore me, but this was not the case. Robin LaFevers does a great job of weaving in subtle, minute details that truly add to the story.

The main character, Ismae, is a child of Saint Mortain, Death himself. She is taken into a convent and trained to be an assassin, carrying out the wishes of Mortain. The book opens with a brutal arranged marriage. From the start, I could tell that I was going to like Ismae. She was strong and fought back against a man at least twice her size and had taken beatings from her father her whole life. As she trains to become an assassin, she becomes even more badass.

I love love love strong female characters! There are two in this book. Ismae and Sybella. We don’t know too much about Sybella except that she is also at the convent training to be an assassin, and is presumably extremely skilled. The second book, Dark Triumph, is about Sybella’s story so I can’t wait to start that one and learn more about her.

Ismae goes from strong, yet broken to possessing unyielding strength that radiates from within her. She is strong in all things battle related and is extremely smart when it comes to figuring people out, a skill many of us wish we had. However, when it comes to matters of the heart, we see just how young she is. She vowed never to trust a man after her horrible experiences with her father and husband, but finds herself falling in love nonetheless. She fights the feelings because she believes that, as a handmaiden of Death, she cannot allow herself to love, until she realizes that love may be her strongest weapon yet.

Gavriel Duval is devoted to protecting the duchess of Brittany from any and all threats. Ismae begins to travel with him, by a stroke of bad luck, to assist in protecting the duchess. I wish I had read this book two days ago before I made my Top Book Boyfriends list because he is officially on it. Gavriel is hysterical. He is sarcastic and had me cracking up. But he is also fiercely loyal to the duchess and would readily give his life for her. Gavriel is kind and tender, not even so much as flinching when he first sees Ismae’s scar that lies across her back. He makes her feel beautiful when she has been treated as nothing more than dirt by all the men she has encountered. Need I say more? He is definitely my newest book boyfriend.

“As am I. Go to sleep. I will sit here but an hour or two, then leave.”

I yawn. “So very long as that?”

When he answers, there is a wry note in his voice. “I do have my reputation to protect.” –exchange between Ismae and Gavriel masquerading as lovers

This book holds so much mystery. You never know who to trust when it comes to the duchess’s best interests. Everybody seems to want something from her and it is Ismae and Gavriel’s job to find out who is a traitor and who truly wants what is best for Anne (the duchess). I had my suspicions along the way about who to trust, but several times through the book I changed my mind or doubted myself because of other small details that came up.

Overall this was a fantastic book. Filled with rich detail, strong characters, and a plot that pulls you in, you won’t be able to put this one down. If you like The Girl of Fire and Thorns series then you will love this book. Don’t let its size or genre intimidate you. This one is a must read. Happy reading all!