I want to state something before I go into this review. I am not a historical reader. It never really interested me and if when I do read something that has a set of history, I need it to be laced with fantasy. I need something to take the oddness away, if that makes anything.

So, when Eve from Andersen Press emailed asking if I wanted to read this, I was a little hesitant over it. But I read the info and watched the trailer. It was the trailer that changed my mind and made me go "I have to read this!". There's a line in the trailer that goes "Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?" and instantly I thought, "Now that sounds interesting. I shall investigate this..."

In medieval Brittany, there is a convert. The convert of Saint Mortain, and the nuns at this convert aren't normal nuns. They are assassins, doing the work of their saint.

When Ismae is sent to the court of Brittany, she finds her suddenly unprepared for court life. Not only the games of intrigues, treasons and politics, but also of the heart... Soon, her loyalists will be tested...

Now, as I have stated before, this is a historical novel and I don't do historical reads (though I am slowly getting into this genre in the past few years). So, maybe this is me being outside of my comfort zone, but this book was long and quite intense. I don't mean intense as in it had intense action scene or romantic love sense, but it was just intense. You had to learn EVERY little detail of court life, of poisons, of convert life, of politics. And because of this intense, it took me AGES (at least over half way) before it clicked in my brain and I went "Oh! Ok! I think I get this now!" and because it took so long to understand that, within the second week of reading this (this took nearly 3 weeks for me to read, which is slow by my standards), I had to stop and read a candy floss book to give myself a break from the intensity!

And because of the intensity of the book, the pace felt slow and this is why I felt it was a long read. The pace was slower than my normal reads and there were times I was going "Would you hurry up and get to the point!". On several occasions, I wanted to grab a knife or something sharp and stab the book, waiting to see if the book would bleed ink like in Harry Potter and the Chamber and Secrets.

But, with all that said, I can see people liking this. On more than one occasion, I thought that fans of the Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder and The Old Kingdom/Abhorsen series by Garth Nix would like this.

And with everyone else I know seeming to go "This book is awesome", I feel like the odd one out saying "It's good, but not my cup of tea". But I think if you're a reader who likes historical reads with an edge of paranormal/fantasy, you might want to investigate this book.

Grave Mercy ended up being a roller coaster, with many ups and downs. When I flipped the first pages, I was immediately caught up by this world of assassin nuns that serve St. Mortain, the God of Death. But then, as the story went by, the plot started dragging and it became repetitive - Ismae looking for marks to kill and Duval attempts to stop political machinations that would endanger his sister's reign.

Moreover, Ismae revealed herself to be a fanatic. She wanted nothing more than to kill in the name of her God! Every time she saw a new courtier, she could only think about how much she wanted to stab and slice him with her daggers. Yes, "him" because only men could be traitors... And, because of such, Ismae ended up coming across a man-hater (even if she developed feelings for Duval from the first moment she saw him).

I can't blame her for disliking men after how her father and her husband treated her, but it seldom crossed Ismae's mind that women could be as dangerous as men and that they could also be traitors. As a woman trained to kill by nuns, Ismae disregarded other women's potential to evildoing. Also, for someone trained to be deceitful and cunning, Ismae was clumsy. I mean, every time she killed a man marked by Mortain, she was seen and/or left a trail of blood behind that could lead to her.

Nevertheless, more than halfway through, the story started to pick up and Ismae finally questioned the convent and its ways. The moment she started thinking by herself, Ismae revealed all of her potential. I just wish this had happened sooner. Due to Ismae's character development, the ending was actually a little bit epic. Just a little bit because I was expecting a showdown that I never had.

Anyway, even if I had all these issues with Grave Mercy (fine, I had issues with Ismae and the convent), I do want to read the next book in the series because I need to know how the war will end and who will prevail. Also, Sybella, the protagonist of the second book, seems such an amazing character. For some odd reason, I love tortured souls.

I had so much fun with this book! I’d previously started it and then gotten distracted by something else about 100 pages in, but I can’t remember why I put it down. Coming back to it was a fantastic decision, because this just hit all my buttons for a fantasy – court politics, beautiful gowns on deadly women, assassins and poisoners, a strong romance. It’s upper YA (not quite NA, I don’t think, but pretty violent and open about sex) and skips a lot of the YA fantasy tropes that I’m very fed up with. If anything, it reminds me of a less weighty Kushiel’s Dart, which is one of my favourite fantasies – if you strip out the sex scenes and the more brutal murder, and lighten up the politics a lot, you’d get Grave Mercy. Perfect for when you want some of the romantic murdery fun without things getting too intense.

Ismae is a great main character, strong and smart in some ways, but woefully naive in others. I loved seeing her come into her own – from a farmer’s daughter sold in marriage to a brute, she develops into a skilled assassin at the convent of St Mortain, and then develops even further to truly become her own woman. It’s a really believable journey, and it’s very fulfilling to watch! I thought going into this that there would be more of a focus on her training at the convent, but this is actually over very quickly – I think perhaps I’d assumed that since this was a series, things would move more slowly, but actually each book focuses on a different main character, so Ismae’s journey is much more self-contained, meaning she gets out into the world more quickly and you get a satisfying conclusion.

I adored the romance in this book – I’m a huge fan of fantasy romance as a genre, where there’s as much effort put into the emotional depth of a character’s relationships as there is into the rest of the plot (rather than romance being sidelined as a tick-box exercise because it ‘needs’ to have one). Ismae’s love interest, Duval, reminded me hugely of Cullen from Dragon Age: Inquisition, whose romance arc is one of my favourites of any game – both are stoic warriors with hearts of gold, who offer an incredibly safe space to a heroine facing the trials of being a main character with a dangerous life. There’s one scene where Duval’s kindness peeps out from behind his business-like exterior, when he shows acceptance of something that Ismae hates about herself, that really cemented this for me as a great romance.

I’ve not had a great run of reads, recently, and having put this down before, I went in expecting that again I’d be disappointed, but Grave Mercy blew me away. It’s so compelling, and it has so many things I love. It’s going straight on my mental list of ‘great court fantasies’, and I can’t wait to see if the other books in the series live up to it. Five out of five cats!

Ismae is offered a way out of her arranged marriage by serving as a handmaiden to Death within the convent of St. Mortain. She is trained to become an assassin, using her gifts to manipulate affairs, including political ones. She is given an important assignment in the high courts of Brittany. Here she learns of treacherous plots and love.

Oooooh boy! This one was a good one. I think it's because I wasn't expecting it. It's a historical fiction/fantasy set in the late 1480s. While there's a bit of romance, I love that it's not all about Ismae and her love interests. Ismae is here for a mission. She has tasks she must do in order to complete her mission. But all the while, she starts to question if her orders are actual orders given from Death or orders the nuns are making up for their own political gain. I was GLUED to this book!

I'm usually not one for books with a political focus (they kinda bore me). But I think because Ismae wasn't a politician and Duval, our love interest, was part of the courts, but wasn't too "courtly," I just wanted more and more. I'm glad I read this book. I'm not sure about the next book since it's from another handmaiden's PoV, but if the writing is an engaging as it was in the first one, I'm sure I'll love it! Another 5 stars here!

3.5 stars

When Ismae is saved from an arranged marriage, she finds herself at the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters serve Death.
Ismae learns that she has been given gifts from Death Himself and is offered the chance to use them as a handmaiden to Death, to stay at the convent and become an assassin.
Having nearly completed her training, Ismae is given an assignment that takes her to the court at Brittany, where she is thrust into a world of political intrigue and treason.
Ismae's loyalty to the convent and her obedience in serving Death's will is tested, but what will win - her head or her heart?

The premise for Grave Mercy intrigued me - I love a historical setting and assassin stories.
I thought Ismae was a likeable protagonist. She had suffered a lot during her childhood, so the convent was a safe haven for her where she learned to defend herself.
Duval was an interesting character and I liked reading his interactions with Ismae.
The setting was interesting as I don't know much about the history of France (except that England and France have pretty much always been at war). However, I don't know how historically accurate it was.
I liked the mix of fantasy and historical.
The plot was interesting and held my attention. I appreciated that the romance (which I found quite sweet) didn't overshadow other aspects of the plot like Anne's struggles. I thought it ended really well.
The writing style was easy to follow and I liked the character descriptions.
While I wasn't blown away by Grave Mercy, I did enjoy it and I am intrigued to read the other books in the series.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Have wanted to read Robin LaFevers books for a long time - always described to me as a YA Game of Thrones - and loved falling into this rich fantasy world. Can't wait for more!

"Yes, I think. Yes. This is what I want to be. An instrument of mercy, not vengeance"

* * * * 
4 / 5

Grave Mercy had murder, mystery, politics, and an interesting historical setting. Against the background of the tumultuous situation of the independent duchy of Brittany, seventeen year-old girl Ismae is saved from an arranged marriage and taken to the convent of the old death god, St. Mortain, to train to become an assassin. 

"I fear the age of kingdoms and duchies is coming to an end. France is eating its way through Europe like a beggar at a banquet"

The synopsis of Grave Mercy reminded me of that of Red Sister, mostly because they both have the premise of assassin nuns. Which is dope. The convent of St. Mortain takes in the daughters of death himself and trains them to be killers and to serve His will. At the moment, death's will is that Ismae infiltrate the court of the young Duchess-to-be Anne and to protect her crown. I'm not at all familiar with history of Anne of Brittany, but I understand that the broad brushstrokes of the plot are true to history. And it's an interesting and compelling time period.

Ismae herself is an interesting character. She's physically scarred from her mother's botched abortion, mentally scarred from her abusive father's attempts to marry her off, but she finds some measure of peace and friends at the convent. Yeah, I wish there had been a bit more actual assassinating and plotting of assassinations going on, rather just Ismae listening at doors, but there was something very compelling about Grave Mercy. The writing style was smooth, the plot flowed, and the machinations of court were intriguing. 

"You came to us a lump of clay and we molded you into an instrument of Death"

My only complaint? The romance slowly grows to dominate the story. Is it too much to ask to have a story about a young woman that kills people for a living to not have a romance? Or to at least not to fall in love with a person that she is ordered to kill. It's uninspired and unoriginal and really quite boring. That aside, Grave Mercy sucked me in and I'm looking forward to reading the subsequent books.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy has been out in the US for several years. When I saw that it was being published in the UK by Andersen Press I leapt at the chance to finally read it.

What’s it about? Well I was sold on the description of “assassin nuns” by a Goodreads user! Want more detail? Read on.

a wee summary

It’s 1480s’ Brittany and our protagonist, Ismae Rienne, a girl with the mark of Death on her back, finds herself among a group of nuns at the convent of Saint Mortain, the old God of Death.

It’s here that Ismae is trained to be an assassin so that she may carry out the will of Saint Mortain himself.

Brittany as this time is a Duchy. Following the Mad War with France, the Duke ensured Brittany’s protection through treaty. The Duke has since died and his young daughter Anne is set to be Duchess. Prior to his death, the Duke had agreed many potential betrothals for his daughter. However, in signing the treaty to protect Brittany, he agreed that the King of France must approve any marriage of Anne.

With a 12 year old set to become Duchess, many look to wed her and seize control – not least France who have long wanted to rule over Brittany and its customs.

Following her first assignments, Ismae is seconded by the convent to Anne’s court, under the guise of being the mistress of a Gavriel Duval.

Ismae must gather information in the court, reporting back to the convent with her discoveries. She must be poised to undertake any assignments for Saint Mortain – following a message from the convent or finding His marque on members of the court, Ismae must be ready to kill.

my thoughts

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself wanting to read ‘just one more chapter’ – always a good sign!

It wasn’t until I was part way through the novel that I realised that it was drawing upon actual historical events! The author has a note online which goes into more detail, but most of Anne’s court, and indeed Anne herself were based on real people. The situation that Anne finds herself in is indeed from the historical events of the Duchess Anne’s life.

While most characters were drawn from historical figures of that time, Gabriel Duval himself is a purely fictional character. The convent of Saint Mortaine is also fantasy.

I wanted to share that with you as I loved that aspect of the book – a fantasy novel that draws from history.

With quite a cast of characters and names, it can be a wee bit hard to keep track of everyone. However the author has included a ‘Dramatis Personae’ at the start of the book which I found helpful.

I liked Ismae and enjoyed her whole story arc – I mean, she becomes an assassin nun! I very much enjoyed her interactions with Duval – I even laughed out loud once or twice!

Duval was perhaps my favourite character as I tried to decipher what his true intentions were.

With action, assassin nuns (did I mention them?), politics, poisons, and plots I found myself unable to put the book down.

The setting, and the creating of a fantasy tale that draws upon historical fact was perhaps the part I enjoyed most. I actually went on to read online what actually happened to Anne – I truly did learn from this novel.

All in all, just the kind of read I needed to kick start 2019. I’ll definitely be looking to read more of Robin LaFever’s books this year!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel!

Title: Grave Mercy 
Author: Robin LaFevers 
Genre: YA, Historical, Fantasy Romance
My Rating: 3.5/4 out of 5 stars
Trigger/content warnings: Some violence and gore, sexual assault and attempted rape, physical abuse

Set in 1400s Brittany, this book weaves magic and romance with court intrigue and betrayal to create an original and refreshing YA fantasy. The world building and magical element were fantastically written and the story very fast paced. We follow our main character, Ismae, at the beginning of the story she escapes a brutal arranged marriage at the age of 14 and is taken to a convent to become an expert in the art of death. At around the 10% mark, the story jumps 3 years to Ismae's first assignment. 

I loved Ismae's quiet strength and unyielding loyalty. Even though from the ages of 14-17 she was raised by the "Handmaidens of Death" when faced with impossible choices, she only ever follows her heart and what she believes is right. 

Considering this book is around 400 pages long and I read it in under 2 days, it's clear to say that it's gripping and engaging plot kept me on the edge of my seat. 

Another thing I really enjoyed was the subtle undertones on Greek Mythology, essentially the Hades and Persephone myth, in regards to the God of Death's story.  



While I did really enjoy the story, I had a couple of problems. One being, The Duchess, Anna, is a 12-year-old child. During the book she is betrothed to lots of different men, one tried to rape her, one falls "in love" with her, Anna's storyline was so disheartening and awful, and I just couldn't get along with it. Especially as she had two older brothers who could have taken the throne over her, and I didn't understand why Duval or François couldn't have led instead. They were much older, she was just a child. However, I do realise that historically, things like this did take place, it was still uncomfortable to read for me personally. 

The second thing I had a bit of a problem with was Ismae, while I absolutely loved her character, sometimes she would say such vain things about others that were so out of place for her character. For example, when first enrolling in the convent, Ismae feels like everyone there is stunningly beautiful compared to her until she sees a woman that she describes as the following: "her black dimple does not flatter her olive skin. It does, however, match the faint moustache on her upper lip. I am filled with relief that she is not beautiful like the others, at least I will not be the ugliest one here" 

Another instance, when meeting one of Duval's friends, who is scarred, she describes him as "the ugliest man she has ever seen" I felt like these comments were so at odds with the rest of her character.


Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and I would definitely recommend it to lovers of YA fantasy, especially if you like dashes of romance and magic too! I will probably be continuing on with this series as the characters intrigued me so much. 


Favourite quotes: 
-"I am sorely vexed at being treated like a temptress when all I feel is bruised and broken."
-"Perhaps that is because you mistake death for justice, and they are not the same thing." 

Disclaimer: Quotes taken from the ARC copy, these are subject to change. 
Review to be posted on my blog this evening, I will link it once done.

Well. The summary of "killer nuns" was all that was needed to sell me on this book, but "Grave Mercy" is so much more than that. I love the historical setting and watching all the politics played out, all the more brilliant for how the fantastical aspects of the saints were woven in. Ismae is a brilliant main character and I love her verbal sparring dynamic with Duvall. Definitely will be reading the rest of the series, there's a lot to enjoy here.

Grave Mercy, the first novel in the bestselling His Dark Assassin series, is a fascinating story of assassin nuns in medieval France and the major historical events and people are based on actual real-life events with Ms LaFevers merely adding embellishments to suit the story. What I particularly loved about this was the incredible worldbuilding; not only do you read about the world, but you are instantly transported there. I could see everything so, so vividly. This is fun and intense historical fantasy at its finest. It's absolutely stunning!

Main character Ismae is as easy to love as the world, and I liked that she started out with low self-image and confidence and slowly she grows and evolves to realise that she has the power to change her future and that's very much a message everyone, but particularly our youngsters, need to hear right now. She becomes a strong, inspirational figure and a go-getter. I'm not a big fan of romance in novels but where it is organic I can often get behind it, and here it is. Ismae and Gavriel first build a friendship then their relationships changes into young love. This is a great start to the trilogy, and I'm most excited for the two instalments to come. With mystery, court politics, conspiracy and intrigue aplenty, there are so many exciting facets to the story.

Many thanks to Andersen for an ARC.

A daughter of St Mortain and an assassin herself, Ismae is on a mission: protect the duchess of Brittany by spying on her half- brother. But as time goes by in the castle, the plots are multiplying, the treason is near, and Ismae is in for a very big surprise: maybe the convent that taught her the ways of St Mortain isn't right in everything.

When the abbess orders her to assassinate the person she's closest to, it will be time for Ismae to decide: is everything she's followed blindly in her life until now true, or could there be another way?

Mystery, plots, politics, and fantasy blend in perfectly with a slight hint of romance. The result? Grave Mercy. Robin LaFevers has managed to bring together aspects from a lot of genres, keeping the quality of the writing intact. The story builds up slowly to an exciting crescendo, all the while making it impossible for readers to make out who the loyal people and who the traitors are. And, as for Ismae and Duval : well, you just can't help but root for them.

This is more than a well-written book. It hides many important lessons for us all: what happens when we blindly follow a belief or a powerful person? How much do we question what we've been taught? And what would we be willing to do for love?

Grave Mercy is a compelling, unique book. Definitely recommended for the fans of fantasy and YA.

This was such an interesting read, unlike anything I've ever read I think! I really liked the characters and the setting, but there was a lot of emphasis on politics which I don't really enjoy as much while reading books. I really wanted to get to know more about the characters. Though, I enjoyed it nonetheless!

I've not been shy on this blog before about discussing my passion for assassin books. My love of Nevernight knows no bounds and Red Sister is another winner for me. It would seem that a Catholic education left me with nothing but the ability to cross myself at a moments notice and the belief that all nuns must secretly be assassins. So this book, which promised me pretty much exactly that, was a sure-win for me.

We meet our character with a fun description about how her mother attempted to terminate her pregnancy (as in the mother's pregnancy) and thus made her daughter have a special affinity with the old God Mortain (God of death). To say this book plunges you in at the deep end is no understatement. We are also confronted within the first few pages with a forced marriage to a would-be abusive husband. It doesn't make for pleasant reading and I'd advise reader discretion if that's the kind of thing you'd rather avoid reading about, although you could probably just skip the first chapter or so and you'd get around it. As the summary suggests they then go to the convent of Saint Mortain (more on that later) where Ismae is to learn to be the best assassin she can be. 

That's where my problem was.

There's a three-year time jump at chapter six. There is no training montage. You don't get to read the poor sad girl learn how to kick ass and poison everybody, it's totally missing from the book. There isn't even the literary equivalent of a montage?! I felt cheated. It would have made so much sense to have it there, it wouldn't have made the book unreadable in length, but no, no learning how to murder from the nuns for you.

But the rest of the plot is actually pretty cool, so I wasn't overly bitter (I'm still pretty bitter) about the lack of montage. I won't go into too much detail about the plot because I think it's one that will read better if you don't have a full idea of what happens. I will say that there's a heavy dose of intrigue, a heck of a lot of conspiracy, and court politics abound. 

There is also romance, it's quite a predictable romance (so again I won't go into too much detail to avoid spoiling anything for you), but I found it hugely enjoyable to read. I thought it was just the right amount of cheesiness, that kind of 'beautiful dress with a dagger in her cleavage' feel to it? 

There are some interesting world-building elements that I'll touch on before I let you go off and read this (or not, that's your call). I mentioned that Mortain is an old God but is also a Saint? Well, that's because one of the things this book touches on is that tension between old Gods and monotheism. It was a great take on a classic theme and as it's something I have a particular interest in, the way that the old Gods were absorbed into a new religion and how they hadn't died out in certain circles. 

I am aware that this book has been out for around six years, and that it is being promoted because of the Courting Darkness duology publishing in February next year, but since I somehow missed it when it published I thought you might be interested too. I think I will go on to read the rest of the series as it seems like a fun adventure. 

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Once I started reading this book, I was hooked. It was an addictive quality to it that keeps you reading until the end. I thought the characters were well written, the plot is compelling and the setting is an interesting one. It is very romance heavy, which isn't normally my thing but something about this one just worked for me. I thought this was a great introduction to this trilogy. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend checking it out, especially if you love the YA genre.

Grave Mercy is the first book in Robin LaFevers' new historical fantasy series and a book I'd highly recommend to fans of Maria V. Snyder's Touch of Power. Ismae has suffered from prejudice and abuse her whole life - starting with her mother's attempt to abort her before she was even born. The poison used by her mother left her scarred and marked her as Death's daughter, her father never forgave her for being born and after years of abuse he forced her into an arranged marriage when she was just 14. After suffering a brutal beating on her wedding night Ismae is rescued by the local herb witch and taken to the convent of St Mortain. Mortain is the god of Death and the nuns at the convent train as his handmaidens to become assassins.

Ismae is an easy character to love, she starts the story with a very low self image, lacking in confidence and believing that she is worthless and unwanted. She feels powerless in a world where men get to control women's destinies and it isn't until she arrives at the convent that she starts to realise that she can change her future. As the nuns train her with weapons and in the art of poison and she starts to uncover her previously hidden abilities Ismae grows as a person and becomes a confident, powerful and kick ass young woman. It is easy to see how she comes to blindly trust in the nuns who gave her her freedom and why she believes they have her best interests at heart. When she is assigned to go to court to protect the Duchess Anne she starts to realise that the orders from the convent aren't always the best way to serve her god. It is at that point that we really get to see her become a woman and begin to follow her destiny. Ismae has the courage to go against orders from the people she believes saved her because she has the intelligence to figure things out for herself.

I can't write this review without mentioning the wonderful slow-build romance between Ismae and Gavriel Duval. These characters start off with very good reasons to mistrust each other - they don't like each other much either! - but both of them are sworn to protect the Duchess and they finally realise that they are on the same side and start to work together. Trust slowly turns to friendship and eventually becomes something more and it was beautiful to watch. Duval and Ismae really are made for each other and I hope we get to see a lot more of them both as the series continues. I was a little disappointed when I first found out that the second book Dark Triumph will be told from Sybella's point of view - I'm going to miss Ismae - but the more I think about it the more I actually like the idea. I've been intrigued by Sybella since we first met her and I think that Ismae and Duval's part of the story has come to a natural conclusion so it will be interesting to see what part Sybella has to play.

This story is full of mystery and political intrigue that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. This feels more like a historical book with slight fantasy elements than a full on fantasy novel although I don't know enough about the time period to know how historically accurate it is. Either way it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. I am very curious to see how things play out for Anne and her subjects and I highly recommend this series to both historical and fantasy fans.