Review: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers

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?

Published 3 April 2012.

*

Grave Mercy. It’s no simple YA book.

Yes, it has that slight dose of magic.

Yes, it has the excitement and thrill of adventure beyond your wildest dreams.

And, yes, it has the romance that will make your heart sigh with dreamy contentment.

But, Grave Mercy is more than just that. Because, for once, not only did a YA historical fiction met my impossibly high standards and ever-growing expectations, it also earned itself a worthy place in my best reads of 2012. Without a single doubt.

Grave Mercy took my breath away.

Taking place in medieval Brittany, this novel follows the adventures of Ismae. Escaping from an abusive arranged marriage, Ismae ends up in the St. Mortain convent. She is a daughter of the God of Death and in an age when women are can be traded as sheep, she is to learn the thousands of ways to kill a man. 

I think that was when I first fell head over heels in love with this book. Perhaps it's just the case for me, but it was like seeing all of my dreams come true in that one single moment. In that precious times of our fast childhoods, we always have some tiny dreams tucked away under our pillows and in our hearts. Those dreams of being an undercover spy, of being identified as a lost princess, of getting on that train to Hogwarts... That is why books like Harry Potter and Princess Diaries are immortalised in our hearts. Simply because we can never outgrow our outlandish childhood daydreams. They stay with us. And when we see them take shape within the pages of a book, the dying embers of our dreams are revived. 

It's the same thing when we become teenagers. With angst, we say we don't dream any more. But, we do. We yearn for things more pragmatically, but still with pinch of fairy dust. To be a Broadway musical star, to be the rags-to-riches Cinderella extraordinaire, to be that girl who falls in love on that one fateful night in Paris... We turn to people like Stephanie Perkins (that's me), Sophie Kinsella (that's me again) and all those contemporary goddesses and the occasional god (like Jay Asher and John Green). 

That is precisely why I put my whole heart and soul into reading Grave Mercy from that moment onwards-- the moment when Ismae sets off to the high court of Brittany to aid the young duchess in securing the nation’s freedom and independence. I had always wanted to do that, to be an assassin in the royal courts. To dance amongst feathers, masks and glittering gowns, with a stiletto and dagger in my boot. 

So I readily lost myself within the pages, and got delighted again and again by an author who packed all the realities of my daydreams into one brilliant package set within the exotic cage of the palace walls. 

Manoeuvring in dangerous waters filled with the duchess’ treacherous enemies and hungry suitors, Ismae puts her assassin skills to full use by hiding behind doors and sneaking into dangerous rooms. But it is only when her convent sends her the final order to assassinate a noble whom she has fallen in love with does Ismae finally dare to open her eyes to start seeing the truth for herself. 

Does she follow the words of the abbess or her heart? Does she dare to go against the convent who had brought her here in the first place? How far can she stray from her duty to St. Mortain before it is too late to turn back? 

Grave Mercy sets forth some startlingly deep questions. What is Death in the first place? As Ismae witnesses the death of a close friend, we finally realize along with her dawning understanding. Death, is not vengeance, but mercy. 

Quoting Robin LaFevers herself,

You know that book you’re terrified to write? The one that is too hard, too scary, too weird, or too damn intimidating. Yeah, that one. That’s the one you need to write.

She wrote that book, the one that is the hardest and the most daunting. Because she dared, she dared to put her most bizarre and outrageous thoughts to words, she dared to play them out on the epic stage  of history, her book is one with a heart and with a soul.

It has the soul of a girl with an unwavering sense of truth and the heart of a girl who dares to take the leap for love.


Source: Gifted (from my best friend, ZJ)

xoxo,

Sel