Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy

by Robin LaFevers

SYNOPSIS:

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?

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Book #1 in Series

How many ways to kill a man do you know?
Probably many, right?
Now, how many of them could you use if in trouble?
For me the answer is around.. arr.. none, if you don’t count the fact that I could bore someone to death, but that would take me quite a while. This being said I would be in big, big trouble.

So, let’s pretend that we need to know how to save ourselves. We are all damsels in distress and we have to change this and fast because our life depends on it.

Who could teach us how to fight?

I have some choices ready right here:

  • Miyagi (what?! Don’t give me that look or he will kick your a$$ in about 2 seconds)
  • Bruce Willis (if he can save humanity in every single movie, damn him if he can’t teach me how to do that too)
  • An actual assassin (not that there are many around with signs above their heads, but how difficult could that be, right? Right?!).

These options are great, but they are obvious and not at all original.
And the problem is that I didn’t search for a killer in the best hiding place of them all.. in a convent. Yes, you’ve heard me right. Nuns are the new kick ass heroines that could kill in a heartbeat with their bare hands, and they are ready to teach you a move or two if you sell your soul to Death and swear to always listen to his command.

And so this story begins. This one was such a great adventure!

Ismae’s life has never been easy. All men in her life had shown her no mercy, so when she gets the chance for payback she takes it without second thoughts.
After 3 years of training in a convent (where she learns many ways to kill men using hidden weapons or poison) she is ready to confront the world of men and to kill all the people marked by Death.

I think that what I liked the most was the fact that under the assassin cover she was still human, and she cared. She was supposed to be this cold ‘weapon’ that only had to obey orders, but she had a heart too, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

When she was sent to keep the douches safe (and to kill the people that had betrayed her) she started for the first time to grow feelings for the man she had to keep an eye on, and her life got more complicated with every order she received, and every discovery she kept for herself.

People say that she was too soft around Duval, melting under his eyes, his touch; but the truth is that deep in her heart she didn’t want to become an assassin (and so her heart wasn’t cold at all), she only wanted to have the power to defend herself and even the ones that can’t protect themselves, she wanted to take control over her life in the only way that she could. Stripping away what she has been taught, all she really needed was someone to heal all those bruises left on her soul and maybe she found the perfect person to do that.

Grave Mercy is a story full of mystery, betrayal and ultimately love; and I hope that you will enjoy it at least as much as I did!

Happy midnight reading!

Watch the book trailer:

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LEAVE A COMMENT

14 responses to “Grave Mercy”

  1. Teenbookguru says:

    Great review!! And awesome trailer!! I added it to my TBR list. I’m a new follower and just wanted to drop by and say hi 🙂

    Feel free to check out my blog & follow too!!

    -Riya 🙂 (The Teen Book Guru)

  2. Cheles Bells says:

    I loved this book, and I love your review. Miyagi, indeed! This story took me by surprise, and I can hardly wait for the next one. Great job!

    • Ari says:

      Thank you!
      I didn’t know what to expect from it, so it took me by surprise as well ;)) I’m really glad that you liked it as well.

  3. This book is on my to-reads list! Love your review and I’m a new follower and I use to do professional web design and I have to say I love the design of your site! It’s simple and very professional (I’m still working on mine. I haven’t figured out the CSS for the custom buttons yet) I’m impressed and I had to follow you in every possible way! ha ha! I just thought I’d let you know!

    • Ari says:

      Thanks a lot, Johannah. I am really glad that you like my blog (it makes me so happy to see that people are enjoying it). Also, I hope that you will like the book, as the idea behind it (with the assassin nuns) is quite interesting 🙂

  4. Niahara says:

    I love the sound of this novel. It’s very original.
    Also I love the design of your site, it’s gorgeous.

    • Ari says:

      Thanks a lot 🙂
      And yes, the concept is different than what I’ve read before, and the characters are really great. Not sure why, but I love these ‘once upon a time’ kind of stories ;))

  5. Oh I really loved this one too! I mean, assassin nuns. So awesome.

  6. Connie says:

    I was weary to check out this book, as I am not a huge fan of historical fiction. The cover is beautiful, but I saw her dress and decided I wasn’t going to read it, but your review makes it sound so awesome! Definately gonna check it out!

    • Ari says:

      I am not a big fan of historical fiction either, but from time to time I find one that I really enjoy. This is one of them. I hope that you will like it as well ;))

  7. Zari Campbell says:

    I loved this book and your website that I only just found! Grave mercy was amazing and I am glad that I read it. Well now I know where to come to look for new and good books to read!

    • Ari says:

      Thanks, Zari, I hope to see you here again 🙂
      I loved “Grave Mercy” and “Dark Triumph” was even better (that’s my favourite in the series and I hope that you will enjoy it too, because for me it was perfect)

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