Title: Grave Mercy
Author: Robin LaFevers
Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers
Book Publication date: April 3, 2012
Pages: 565
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance
Grade: 89%
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy the Book: Here

Summary:

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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Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book! The plot was rich and full of twist and turns. Some things in the plot seem very unbelievable, but they are acceptable.  I really enjoyed the badass characters and Duval was cute. I would have loved to see him more developed and relatable but he was very cute none-the-less. There are two other books in this series that I would love to read as well in the near future.

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Grading

(you can find my rubric here)

Character Development:

Grade: 4/5 = 20 pts

(I originally wanted to give this section a 3 but as I was writing about why, I came to the realization that perhaps this was the author's intent.) I found Ismae a likable character. However, she wasn't relatable. I wanted her to show more emotion, more intent. Many times she felt flat or foreign like she didn't understand emotion. Given her past, I expected her to show more anger or more raw to emotion. Now that I think about it, an abused mind can go both ways, over sensitive or under. If under sensitive, the mind goes numb and you don't simply care anymore.  So while she wasn't developed like I would have hoped, I do understand where the author is coming from when she created her.

Tone / Writing style:

Grade: 5/5 = 15 pts

Everything here was perfect, I am awarding full points! You can hear the author's unique voice shine through and you can most definitely see that she loves her characters.

Plot:

Grade: 5/5 = 15 pts

I'm going to try to keep this relatively spoiler free. I am awarding full points to this section because everything was definitely beautifully constructed and I was never bored. I will have to say I was a little annoyed on how powerful Ismae became for no apparent reason other than she decided to change up how she worshiped the God. Though I really enjoyed learning why the "bad guy" became the "bad guy" in this story because that is often overlooked. There were a few plot twists that didn't seem believable but since the author created a developed arch and subplots, that in itself satisfied this section.

Theme(s):

Grade: 5/5 = 10 pts

Like many Young Adult novels, this also is based on the theme of self-discovery. Ismae searched all her life to belong so she adapted in every chapter of her life to fit in while trying to see who she is.

Unpredictability:

Grade: 3/5 = 6 pts

I'm marking this three out of five because I couldn't for the life of me find a plot twist believable. I get that she is a daughter of a God (not a spoiler! You find out in the first chapter) but that didn't make her very special in her world so it shouldn't make her any more powerful than the rest of the characters. Also, the love interest seemed pushed on like she settled with the first acceptable male specimen.

Food For Thought:

Grade: 4/5 = 8 pts

I was fairly crazy about this book when it ended. I knew I had to continue on with the series. While it was fairly interesting and fangirl worthy, I have to say that it did not prompt me to take a look at my own life. That is the requirement in getting full points for this section.

Ending:

Grade: 5/5 = 10 pts

I'm giving this full points for it answering all unanswered questions and ending completely.

Setting:

Grade: 5/5 = 5pts

My bed is empty but messed, as if it has not been made since the day I left for Nantes. There are candles but no fire in the hearth from which to light them. I waste precious minutes setting flint to tinder so I can have some light in the dark corridors beyond. My hands are trembling so badly that it takes five tries before the timer catches. When at last a small fire burns in the grate, I light a candle, then head for the wall near the fireplace.

Beautiful description! This is exactly what I look for when reading a book: whether the author tells us the story or shows us. This sets up the reader to have an amazing experience.