Summer Reviews: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

It being summer, I am trying to get caught up on all those books I wanted to read during the school year, but didn't manage to. And since I've been being dreadfully lazy about posting to my blog of recent I decided I'd better start writing up reviews for said books--that way I can't weasel out of blogging by whining "But I don't know what to blog about!"

The first book I'll review is Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers. I read this some time ago, but it was so delightful that I wanted to write a review of it--especially since many of the reviews on GoodReads claimed it was boring, which it most certainly was not. 

Grave Mercy's backcover copy:

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 picked this book up at random during our annual Christmas Eve run to the local bookstore, tentatively hopeful of a good period piece that was a little dark. I got exactly what I'd hoped for and more.

Grave Mercy was a delight, a deftly woven tapestry of strong characters and complex intrigue. At frirst I was hesitant--it is all too easy for a book handling some of the themes this one does to slip into melodrama--but the elegant and deliberate pacing do not waste time wallowing in angst. The world is meticulously constructed and introduced, and I found myself reading for the worldbuilding almost as much as the characters (I love strong characters--unsurprising that mine run my life...), a rare occurance for me. 

The characters in Grave Mercy are wonderful. I did not like Ismae much at first; her devotion to her convent was irratating at times, though realistic, given her past. But she won me over in the end; her journey from a fanatic follower to an independent force with her own understanding of her relationship with her god was beautifully handled. So too was the romance. I was afraid that we'd get a plot in which the older, wiser hero gentles the fierce and unreasonable heroine. Not so--Ismae is not easily gentled, and when she and her love interest come to an understanding, it is a meeting of equals and based on a deep friendship and hard-earned trust. 

Yes, Grave Mercy is dense and slow, but this is not a bad thing. I enjoyed every moment of it, the complete immersion in a totally different world. When, visiting the bookstore on my birthday, I found Dark Triumph (its sequel), I bought it without hesitation.