Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (See Content Warning)

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)

Author: Robin LaFevers

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published Date: April 2012

Hardcover; 549 pages

Genre: Historical Fantasy

ISBN# 978-0-547-62834-9

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: checked out from my local library

Summary

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?

First Line

“I bear a deep red stain that runs from my left shoulder down to my right hip, a trail left by the herbwitch’s poison that my mother used to try to expel me from her womb.”

Review

I can honestly say I’ve never read a book quite like Grave Mercy. Despite being well over 500 pages long, I read it quickly, drawn in and fascinated by the dark story of Ismae and her training as an assassin. Like the series name (His Fair Assassin) suggests, there a number of darker elements revolving around treachery, death, and warfare.

I felt for Ismae and everything she had suffered in her life. I liked seeing her character gain wisdom through experience and become more trusting of her instincts. While I was intrigued by Ismae and her ability to overcome death, I really liked Gavriel Duval. The contrast between these two characters taking different approaches to reach a similar end created conflict that added interest to their growing attraction to each other.

The historic setting and “serving” of various saints (formerly worshiped as “gods”) made me curious to learn more about the time period. I wanted to know if these were actual beliefs and places or a result of world-building by the author.

Ismae and Gavriel Duval were not the only well-drawn characters in the book. There were a a number of side characters with depth and history. The scenes involving de Lornay and the Beast were fun to read. I became just as devoted to the young duchess-to-be as the other characters, and my heart broke for her during one particular part of the book.

The villains are despicable and the intrigues are many. There was one twist I saw coming early on, but that didn’t ruin anything for me. Instead it kept me reading to see when the other characters would figure it out.

While Grave Mercy is technically YA, because of some of the darker themes I would personally consider it more adult. The next book, Dark Triumph, is scheduled to be released in Spring 2013. I will probably read the sequel eventually as I am curious about what is going on with that character’s assignment and situation, especially in regard to how her story intersects with Ismae’s in Grave Mercy.

Content Warning

• a few instances of swearing (heck, dang)
• mature themes of death, murder, espionage & serving Mortain, the saint/god of Death, as well as discussion of methods and tools for killing
• mention of a man’s “member,” talk of rougeing certain parts of a woman’s upper-body anatomy, “womanly charms” (innuendo)
• Ismae must pose as Gavriel’s mistress for the mission, so he visits her room at night to maintain the illusion but sleeps in a chair
• there is one part near the end where two characters lie together in dire circumstances but there are no details given and whether or not “something” actually happens isn’t discussed.