Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle, #2)

by Jay Kristoff

A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge in this new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.

WINNER OF THE THE AUREALIS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY NOVEL

Conquer your fear, conquer the world.

Mia Corvere, destroyer of empires, has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry do not believe she has earned it.

Her position is precarious, and she's still no closer to exacting revenge for the brutal death of her family. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it is announced that Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself into slavery for a chance to fulfill the promise she made on the day she lost everything.

Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold, secrets are revealed and the body count rises within the collegium walls, Mia will be forced to choose between her loyalties and her revenge.

• ISBN13: 9780008180058
• Publish Date: 7 September 2017 (first published 5 September 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Ben Pick]

The novel cared more about spectacle than substance. This was the best novel in the trilogy, but it was a boring read.

[lizarodz]

Pure awesome!

[e_rodz_leb]

Pure awesome!

[kalventure]

“You cannot afford to pity those men, Mia. Swimming this deep, your compassion will only serve to drown you. You must be as hard and as sharp as the men you hunt.”

Gentlefriends, I don’t know how I am going to string together words about this one. Have you ever felt trolled by a narrator before? Because The Final Word in Godsgrave was like a punch to the soul. One of the reasons I put off reading this trilogy until now was because I heard the ending was a Time, but I had no idea what was in store for me.

Despite being warned by the narrator that Mia is not a hero and she will die come the end of the trilogy, I can’t help but love and root for her even though it feels pointless. She’s just as dogged in her pursuit of vengeance for her familia but still holds on to that part of herself the Red Church hasn’t been able to destroy.

I love that Mia is a complex character who struggles with her own sense of right and wrong while pursuing her goals. It is her connection with people that I really enjoy the most, especially when she kind of goes with her gut.

“Fear is the only enemy in your path. Conquer your fear, and you can conquer the world.”

Godsgrave delves a bit deeper into Mia’s sexuality. Through her actions in Nevernight, it was obvious without a bunch of fanfare that Mia is bisexual, and this book sees her with both men and women. The f/f relationship that develops is absolutely beautiful to watch unfold for how it opens her up (even though I am still more than a little sus, sorry).

“Death is the only promise we all keep. This life we live… there is no room in it for love, Mia. But a love like autumn leaves. Beautiful one turn. A bonfire the next. Only ashes the remainder.”

Even though the world is so different from that which we know on Earth, it remains accessible and feels true somehow. Days are turns, night only happens once every couple of years, and there are three suns – but the world is tinged with Roman influence, the people just as power-hungry and vengeful as depicted in our history books. Kristoff manages to expand the world-building even further in this installment without weighing down the narrative.

“The heavens grant us only one life, but through books, we live a thousand.”

As a nerdy person, I relish in the Roman inspiration and Latin phrases found in this trilogy. As much of a pain in the ass it was to study Latin (I am convinced that the Roman Empire’s downfall was in fact the pluperfect verb tense), it remains ingrained in one’s brain. I outright laughed during the play – ¿ Et Tu, Brute? – and the world’s own version of Julius Caesar.

Just as with Nevernight, the book is fast-paced and action-packed. In my opinion, the narrative is more driven by the action itself primarily rather than the characters or plot. Sure, the action drives the plot… but I found myself less interested with the fight scenes and looking for where our characters are talking to one another or the plot moves forward after the fighting. And since this book takes place in a coliseum, there is a lot of fighting, which for me personally is never fun to read copious amounts of.

Overall, I found Godsgrave to be a fantastic sequel that doesn’t stop pulling punches. Although I personally found myself a little bored with some of the action scenes (it’s a me thing), I am so here for Mia’s journey and am excited & sad to see how it ends. Lots of questions were raised at the end of Godsgrave that I cannot wait to see answered in Darkdawn.

Content warnings: animal death (pg. 327), attempted rape (referred to), blood, child death (off-page), death of a parent, human trafficking, loss of a loved one, murder, sexually explicit scenes, slavery,
Representation: bisexual main character

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[Mercy]

HOW DO I KEEP LIVING UNTIL DARKDAWN

I loved this book so much, even though the story didn’t progress as much as I wished it would until the very end. We did get to know the characters a lot better, there was a lot of personal development and world building.

I adore the love between Mia and Ash, but I don’t want to trust Ash yet. I actually don’t trust Mercurio either, he suddenly seems like such a good person and I just don’t trust it. Also, Tric is alive?! How did this happen?

Just a few more months...

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Harper Voyager for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I also have an audible copy of this book. I listened to about 60-70% of this book and also read some of my netgalley copy. After I finished Nevernight I knew I had to jump straight into Godsgrave.

Well, I got to the end of this book and I wanted to hunt Jay down and force him to tell me what happens next. Haha okay, maybe not that extreme I am no stalker but seriously Jay! How could you end it like that! How am I supposed to wait until Stabtember to get all the answers I need. Like really need.

Okay well once I got over that initial reaction and really thought about it I felt exactly the same! Jay, you really test me!! I had such a book hangover I couldn't start a new book!

This was much easier to get into than Nevernight. Whether that is because I was more invested or because there was more indication when the story changed timelines I'm not sure.

Mia was as kick-ass as ever in this story. I love Mia. I love her sarcastic, witty remarks. I love her companions too. I love how they are such opposites yet they provide exactly what Mia needs.

I loved The Gladiatii. This was a whole new world. Mia thought the Red Church was brutal until she entered this world. There are some really great characters in this bunch. My favourites were Maggot and Sidonius. Both were such different but interesting characters. They both had backgrounds that you can't imagine having to face.

Jay was as brutal as ever in this book so don't get too attached to anyone. You are likely to get your heart broken into pieces.

I am both looking forward to and dreading Darkdawn. We know that Mia will die in Darkdawn. I don't think Jay is lying about this and quite frankly I don't think I am ready. On the flipside, I NEED to know what happens next. Oh, Jay, you have really put me between a rock and a hard place!

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 FIVE shiny ass stars and nothing less :-)
Sigh- I’m not ready to review yet- pretty sure I don’t want to face the fact that I have to shelve Mia Corvere until book 3 comes out. I am left reeling; my heart is aching, and I am so very excited, in love, shocked...
Ughhh so many feelings...

[littleread1]

Oh my lawt. I can't with these books. What the heck?! I need the 3rd book yesterday.

[Beth C.]

I started to read a couple more chapters at 9:30p. I finished it at 3am. It was just that kind of book. Intense and awesome, and it will leave you thinking, "WTF just happened?!".

Really - what more needs to be said?

ETA: There will be bigger, better review to come on vampirebookclub.net!