Grave mercy

by Robin LaFevers

Hardcover, 549 pages

English language

Published Dec. 8, 2012 by Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN:: 978-0-547-62834-9

(18 reviews)

In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.

2 editions

Kathrin Passig reviewed Grave mercy by Robin LaFevers (His fair assassin -- bk. 1)

Review of 'Grave mercy' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Das Cover tut dem Buch ein bisschen unrecht, es geht nicht nur um Romantik, sondern ziemlich ausführlich um Anne de Bretagne und die Unabhängigkeit der Bretagne im 15. Jahrhundert. Leider sind die historischen Details abgesehen davon dünn, die Leute reden und leben praktisch wie in der Gegenwart.

Gut: Kompetente Heldin, relativ komplexe Handlung, elegantes Ende, Handlungsfäden bleiben offen.

Naja: Es wird sehr lange geschmachtet ("die Berührung seiner Hand, ich darf der Versuchung auf keinen Fall nachgeben, es darf nicht sein, bla"). Und wieso verlieben sich eigentlich diese Heldinnen in jedem Buch in denselben Mann, ritterlich, loyal, stark, kompetent, selbstbewusst, aber zurückhaltend und schweigsam, in der Vergangenheit ein dunkler Fleck auf seiner Ehre, aber es geschah für einen geheimen guten Zweck oder unverschuldet und auf jeden Fall ist er mindestens zehn Jahre älter. Da kann die Protagonistin noch so lang von weisen Frauen in der Kunst des Mordens ausgebildet worden sein, …

arr reviewed Grave mercy by Robin LaFevers (His fair assassin -- bk. 1)

Review of 'Grave mercy' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I'm always down for teen murderesses, but this was also pretty good historical fiction in its own right.

Ookla_the_Mok reviewed Grave mercy by Robin LaFevers (His fair assassin -- bk. 1)

Review of 'Grave mercy' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

OK - this was a really fun read. It's a YA novel with an interesting approach. The action is good, there's a good mix of court intrigue, the characters are deep enough, and the writing is quite good.

What I need to do is look into the historical pieces to see if they have any basis in fact - if it does it would be interesting, particularly to Americans (like me) that know very little about the region of Europe that is the setting for the novel.

I have to admit that I was getting pretty worried about the 'romance' side of the novel, but the author managed not to go down that path too far (I really was worried for a bit, but she pulled it off without the whole thing getting out of hand).

Overall a really nice read with an interesting premise and interesting characters!

rai ♡ reviewed Grave mercy by Robin LaFevers (His fair assassin -- bk. 1)

Review of 'Grave mercy' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I tried reading this, but I couldn't hold out. I only managed to get three chapters into this book. The beginning definitely captured my attention, but..... I just can't do it. I was gonna try to at least get up to the part where she meets the guy, but I'm bored. Maybe I'll try to pick up this book again and finish from where I've started, but for right now I feel like I can be reading something far more interesting than assassin nuns who hate men.