Review: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by Robin LaFevers

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?

review

The cover of Grave Mercy blew me away before the plot could and that's saying something because the premise is extremely intriguing! I loved the red dress and the backdrop and the words Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf? Why, indeed! In Grave Mercy, Ismae Rienne, the protagonist, is immune to poison. She bares a scar from the poison her mother used to try to get rid of her in the womb. She is married off by her abusive father to a man who recognises her scar as a mark of being the daughter of St. Mortain, the patron saint of Death, and flies into an angry and abusive rage.

Ismae soon finds herself in the convent of St. Mortain, where nuns are trained as assassins to serve the patron saint of Death. Her assignment takes her to the court of Brittany where she must stick to Gavriel Duval to protect Anne of Brittany and see if anything is amiss while doing the bidding of St. Mortain.

I didn't bother reading the blurb at the back, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the story took place in the court of medieval Brittany! I love historical novels and I wasn't expecting this to be one! The court setting was great too. The way it was written made it easy to get sucked into that era. It was done with such ease that I could immediately focus on the other aspects of the book.

Also, Ismae was amazing. It was easy to root for her! She was someone who learned to mix poisons and fight like it was her second nature and yet was hopeless when it came to her feelings for Duval. She started off as so naive, I thought, Ohmygod! Why aren't you questioning anything? But she did when the time came. And I felt so proud of her when she had that moment of clarity when she saw things as they really were and knew what she wanted to do.

For while I am Death's daughter and walk in His dark shadow, surely the darkness can give way to light sometimes.

I could see how Duval could make anyone weak in their knees! He was so caring and considerate. His kindness felt so genuine. If I wasn't convinced that he was perfect for Ismae in the beginning, I definitely was when it became apparent that Duval had scars of his own.

As for the court drama and the suspense, I loved every second of the plotting and scheming! It was action-packed and there were a lot of surprises. After all, assassin nuns in medieval Brittany spells surprising! While I was a little muddled with the names in the beginning and wondered if there was an overdose of romance in the middle- by the time I reached the awesome climax, I was convinced that it was a balanced read! It had a bit of everything and I've never read anything like this before!

I love that the sequel His Fair Assassin, Dark Triumph is about Sybella, one of the characters who you will want to know more about after reading Grave Mercy! It's a book I'll definitely remember and the sequel to which I'll be waiting for!

Publication date: 3rd April, 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: NetGalley

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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