"Grave Mercy" by Robin LaFevers

I can't express how much I loved this book. Thank you Netgalley for giving me the exclusive opportunity to review it!!

From the very beginning, the story grabbed me. I loved the descriptions, the inner dialogue. And I absolutely loved Ismae. She was a scared, scarred girl, who had known nothing but hatred in her 14 years. She had thought herself damned, and had almost completely lost hope that life would change for the better for her.

Until that night when she was whisked away from her brute of a husband and taken to a convent. And no, it wasn't just a regular convent where all you do all day is pray and fast and that sort of thing. Oh no. It was a convent where young girls with special blood were prepared to become Brittany's best assassins.

From then on the story spun like a spider's web, smooth and sleek with no blemish to point out. I really liked it that Ismae didn't get to trust anybody automatically, or "because it felt right" as it usually happens in books. No, she was a real character with real thought process. There was a depth to her that made me love her deeply. Because she was a real person to me. At times I even caught myself wondering if people like her existed at that age of time. Assassins, I mean. What their life was like... that sort of thing.

I was with her on all of her assignments, hoping she'd succeed and dreading any trouble she might get into. I loved her steady character, I loved her truthful heart, and I loved the fact that she preferred to show mercy than go for vengeance.

Then there was Gavriel Duval. He wasn't the stunningly handsome guy. He wasn't the adoringly charming person who'd leave any girl swooning after him. No, but he was caring, he was honest and loyal to the death. There was honor in him that could be rarely found even in books. And there was absolutely no way that I wouldn't fall for him. My heart was doomed from the moment I saw him furious with righteous anger. I loved his quirks, his gentleness, his morals. Every single thing he did was to protect his family, and mostly his sister the duchess, who he'd sworn to take care of no matter what. Duval made my heart flutter and bloom, and I'm grateful that I got to meet and know him.

I hated it when great characters had to die, but LaFevers is a brilliant author who knew when and how to sacrifice the people she created. I was close to tears by the end, but I didn't cry. Because it all just felt right. Everything just fell together in the perfect puzzle, leaving me aching for more. Too bad the next book won't be for Ismae.

And there was another awesome thing about the story. It's this that even the bad guy wasn't really bad, he was just human, and as such, he was susceptible to flaws and wrong decisions.

It was good that the story didn't revolve only about the assassin stuff, and that there was intrigue, romance and lots of dilemmas. It made it strong and controversial and tightly mysterious until the end.

I gladly recommend it to all my friends, and everyone who's into strong female characters, slow romance development and lots of mystery on the paranormal side.


My rating clearly is