Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title:         Grave Mercy SubTitle:   His Fair Assassin, Book 1 Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Imprint:     Houghton Mifflin Pub Date:  April 03, 2012 ISBN:        9780547628349 Author:     Robin LaFevers 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?

I like the book cover very much! It's the book cover that attracts me at the first place. The story is very interesting. It's a historical fiction, with some elements of the romance in it. The story may look a little dark with those training and killings being an assassin, but nothing brutal. I'm intrigued with those assassin trainings from the convent. Even though the trainings and the rules in convent was very strict, but it did not stop Ismae from making good friends with few other girls there. And instead just blindly follow the order from the convent, I'm glad that Ismae at the end actually give some time to ponder and do her own analysis before carrying out her duty as handmaiden. And her honesty and courage telling the abbess about her mind. It's like you can just see how she has grow by carrying out the order from the convent. It's just a little less convincing that how naive she is when comes to between man and woman, despite those seduction lessons at the convent as part of her training. Duval is another like-able character. I like the way he protects his sister. And Anne, being strong despite her young age.

In summary, Grave Mercy is a good read. Although I feel that the introduction is a little lengthy and slow. But nonetheless I enjoy reading it very much, especially the part Ismae works as the spy in the court. I'm looking forward for the next book in the series next Spring.

I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.


Note: I receive the digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Gallery. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.