Gravemaidens (Gravemaidens, #1)

by Kelly Coon

 
“A dark, delectable, and utterly unique series that readers will want to drown in.” —Laura Sebastian, New York Times bestselling author of the Ash Princess series


The start of a fierce fantasy duology about three maidens who are chosen for their land's greatest honor...and one girl determined to save her sister from the grave. 

In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame. 

When Alu's ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her.

But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.

Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There she discovers more danger lurking in the sand-stone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself.




"A dark and utterly enthralling journey to an ancient land, Gravemaidens grabs you by your beating heart and refuses to let go until the bitter, breathtaking end."—Sarah Glenn Marsh, author of the Reign of the Fallen series 

• ISBN10: 0525647821
• ISBN13: 9780525647829
• Publish Date: 29 October 2019
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Out of Print: 27 September 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Delacorte Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525647829

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

Gravemaidens is the first in a historical fantasy duology set in ancient Sumer. It is a world in which tradition is deeply embedded into the very fabric of society, amd with it, the corruption of power.

When the ruler dies in this world, three maidens are chosen to voyage with him into the Netherworld, to become queens in the next life. This is considered to be of the highest honor, although it too is fraught with corruption. For those on the fringes of society, it can be a boon for the honor of a family. But sometimes maidens are chosen based on the wealth of their families, who frequently offer riches for the honor of their daughter’s choosing. But Kammami, whose sister has been chosen, soon discovers that not everything is as it seems, or should be. And this knowledge puts her in great danger.

Gravemaidens is definitely a page-turner, with good pacing that keeps a reader engrossed in the story. The world building was so well done that I felt as if I were present. And I definitely enjoyed the characters, the good and the bad.

However, I didn’t love parts of Kammami’s story. There were moments when I felt like she jumped to conclusions without much evidence. As an intelligent woman, that seemed out of character for her. She made great leaps of assumption sometimes that seemed weak at best sometimes. On top of that, while I appreciated the mystery aspects to it, it was very obvious from early on “whodunit.” I wish there had been a little more surprise to that.

But all of that being said, I did enjoy the book and am looking forward to Warmaidens, coming December 2020.

My recommendation: If you like a high-stakes, historical fantasy with a richly built world, give Gravemaidens a try!

[littleread1]

I guess it just wasn't for me.

[tweetybugshouse]

Wow this book takes the case with evil characters and serious brain washed religion. In the gravemaidens if the king dies 3 maidens are chosen from the population to be killed and accompany him to the netherworld. The maidens believe this is an honor as they will be wealthy and live like queens in the netherworld. Our main character thinks this is insane for who can know what really awaits us once the boatman comes to claim us.

The main healer in town has been in a drunken state since his wife passed away so his apprentice daughter has been taking over his duty and doing her best to heal the towns people. When her sister is chosen to become one of the gravemaidens she is determined to sober her farther up to save her sister from this horror. When her farther perishes before even arriving at the castle she must take his place and do everything she can to prevent her sister from meeting her death.

All kinds of betrayals and twists happen in this book. Your kept guessing tell the end who the bad guys are and what will happen if and when the king meets the boatman. I was on the edge of my seat and am eagerly awaiting the second book which should wrap up this edge of your seat story.

[kalventure]

Thank you, Delacorte Press, for sending my an ARC of Gravemaidens for review!

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

4.5*

Gravemaidens was quite the dark, entertaining story! I kind of fell in love with it, honestly. Look, I am going to go ahead and get my one negative out of the way first so we can get to the good stuff: It's kind of predictable. I wasn't ever really shocked by what happened next, but the story and the characters and the world were so engrossing that it really didn't make it any less enjoyable.

The characters are certainly for me the best part of the story. We have strong-willed Kammani willing to do whatever it takes to not have her sister's fate become "corpse bride". Because who wants that?! Oh right, the aforementioned sister does! It's bananas, but it also perfectly represents so many things in our society; things we've become numb to because they are just the norm. She thinks it's an honor because for generations, it's been drilled into the heads of all the people.

Anyway, I loved that part, because it's a great metaphor but also because it's dark as hell. I mean can you even imagine not only having that happen to you, but being excited about it? Oh, and Kammani is also an incredible healer, and is there anything better than a strong STEM commoner-girl in a crappy classist patriarchy? Methinks not.

It's a quick moving book, one filled with high stakes and an incredible cast of characters. There's of course a strong family bond, which is apparent from the very start. But there are also a lot of people outside her family who care for Kammani as well! The whole gang works together, and I love it. You'll fall in love with them too, of that I'm sure. And even though I was sometimes pretty sure I knew what was coming next, I still didn't want to put the book down like, ever. And now, I really need the sequel immediately, if not sooner.

Bottom Line: Strong characters, an immersive world, and a fast-past story that will leave you excited for the next installment makes this a must-read!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley and Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

While I appreciate a few of the unique and creative ideas in Gravemaidens, there are a few things that made me pause. At its bare bones, this is an interesting book with characters that could be loved. But it doesn’t quite get to that raving fan point. Gravemaidens is a forgettable book, and honestly? I’m disappointed.

In a rare event for me, I let myself wait a day to write this review. Usually, I’m scheduling these reviews within hours of finishing. Gravemaidens required some additional thought, because I needed to find the right words to express the weird feeling I had about it. What I’ve come up with is this: I don’t think Kelly Coon was the right person to write this book. Perhaps it’s just because this is her debut, but as a fantasy and the first book in a series? It left me wanting. Her world building in particular lay flat. There were a few sideways mentions of cultural things and the legend of the Boatman and the Sacred Maidens… which in itself, honestly, was not that well described. She left a little too much to the reader’s inference, and as such, failed to enchant.

There was too much emphasis on dialogue and too little on scene building. This style works better in contemporary – where the reader doesn’t need an introduction to the culture so much as a taste of it. In fantasy or historical fiction (where, like Sky in the Deep, this sits) it means the reader is forced to accept a lot of things, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to relate to the characters. Gravemaidens is set in (or at least inspired by) ancient Sumer. While I don’t know very much about this particular period in history, I do know that there was more that could have been done to bring it to life, even if it required a bit more creative license on the part of the author. This is such a cool era to be working in, because I honestly don’t think I’ve even heard of another book set in this period. I wanted more immersion, and definitely didn’t get it.

And then there’s Kammani. While I appreciate the dissenter perspective, when it comes to the tale of the Sacred Maidens, it was basically Kammani vs. the world and she was the only one who seemed to believe that the rites of passage meant dying. This bothered me a lot – not because she was the only dissenter – but because of the way she harped on it, told everyone, and everyone shrugged her off like a child. The fact that everyone seemed to be so okay with her spouting what was a cross between conspiracy theory and blasphemy to these people seemed a bit off for me. Kammani tends to obsess over ideas, repeating herself to no avail until magically everyone is on her side. This made the plot progression feel really jumpy as well. I sort of felt like nothing Kammani did in this book actually mattered. Even though she ran into pitfalls, they all seemed to happen just because she existed, not as a direct consequence to her actions.

There were a few things I liked. As I said, drawing inspiration from ancient Sumer was a magnificent idea, and I really would have liked to see more of that. The whole idea of the Sacred Maidens, as well, was really interesting. There are a lot of historical cultures who sacrificed family, servants, and animals to join a prominent member of society on (usually) his journey through the Underworld, and it’s something I had never seen explored in YA. There was also a perfectly chilling moment in the climax scene that let the book slip from historical fiction to fantasy for a moment, and I thought it was really spooky and we’ll-done and if only the whole book could have been like that!

There’s a twist in the middle of the book, and I saw it coming from the first time the character was mentioned. It may just be because I read a lot, but I’ve come to expect that there are more layers to characters, so that the real Grumpy Person is not really the villain, but a distraction. And that nothing is as it appears to be. So it’s gotten to be a bit disappointing when, nope, everything is exactly how I expected it would be and there were no surprises. The whole plot seemed to shift about halfway through from healing the lugal to figuring out who was plotting. Again, it was like Kammani wanted to talk about it rather than act. She was incredibly biased with no actual reason to be so. And the switch in plot was so clunky, coming out in conversation that was supposed to be a big reveal but was, again, more of a “well yes of course that’s what’s going on” moment. And what baffled me the most was that all the characters blindly believed her. And that all of her plans went awry, but fortunately, there was always another character with a different, barely explained plan, that worked!

So frustrating.

Anyways, these are just my opinions. I found it a generally weak example of writing and world building within the genre. I usually try to be a bit nicer with debuts, so I fully acknowledge that HEY! This is a debut, it’s going to be a little rough. I don’t think I’m going to be picking up the rest of the series because it’s not that it’s a poorly-written book… I just feel so much like it’s a mismatch. I know it’s unkind to box people in, but with the writing style we see in Gravemaidens, I just feel like Kelly Coon would be better suited to contemporary where the world building and character creation is a bit less atmospheric (not dissing contemporary, which I’ve grown to like).

Please, also know that a couple authors I really like have already given this five stars and Goodreads and Gravemaidens is being generally really well received. I’m the odd person out on my opinions about this book, so if it’s something you’re interested in, you should still give it a try. Chances are you will vehemently disagree and love it!

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book, in exchange for an honest review. This will be available to purchase on October 29th.

I found this book really enjoyable. The setup wasn’t all that original- girl having to provide for her sibling , sacrificing her innocence in the process. Relationship drama with monetary, as well as class, obstacles to overcome. However, this was still a fun read.

Kammani is a healer, which I always find interesting in fantasy books, where the main character is often a fighter of some sort. It allows for a different character development and a sense of compassion, which adds something I think. I liked Kammani quite a bit, although every now and again I wanted to shake her. Her sister, on the other hand…wow, she was a selfish idiot. I really hated any part of the book with her in it. Of course, there’s also ye random hunky dude. I thought he was rather one-dimensional, but it didn’t detract from the rest of the story all that much.

There’s a whole “who’s the villain?” thing happening during part of the book. I felt that it was rather obvious but, again, this also didn’t detract from the book. Oddly enough, as I write this, I start noticing that there were several tropes that usually bug me. The writing just flowed well enough that it covered up most faults. Sometimes a book is just the right one at a specific time…I think this was one of those situations. I really needed a fun read that didn’t wring me out too much emotionally.

This was engaging, and I like that it’s a duology instead of a long-running series. I think the second book will be better than the first, now that the setup and the world have been established. I’d suggest this as a perfect read on a day when you just need a break from the usual routine.