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

by Robin Lafevers

[Katie King]

**2 Stars**

Upon reading the description, I was pretty excited. A female assassin working for the god of death finds herself drawn into not only political intrigue, but with her own heart as well? Sounds like someone has finally found the best mix of romance and action. If only that were what actually happens.

Grave Mercy starts out with our fair assassin, Ismae, essentially being taken in by a convent loyal to Death himself. She is told she has special powers due to her father...being the god of death. She then learns to use these powers...skip 3 years...and is sent on one last mission before her final vows. It is up to her to protect the Duchess and her country all while guarding herself against the late Duke's illegitimate son! What action! What excitement!

Nope. True, all of that technically happens. However, don't kid yourself if you're wanting for some great pro-female adventure. Ismae does more talking and swooning than any good assassin should. She is told to stay away from Gavriel Duval (late Duke's illegitimate son) and not to trust him, and of course she falls in love with him. He even gets poisoned and she saves him...by sleeping with him? Her body is a temple, apparently.

The major villain is thrown at you like a small child begging for attention. The minor antagonists miraculously switch sides and swear fealty. Ismae saves the Duchess from a trap, saves everyone's soul, meets her real dad, saves Duval, confronts the major villain, has a talk with Duval, confronts her Head Mother, and goes to meet the Duchess for her coronation all in the last 50 pages. Everything worked out really nicely for Ismae.

The romance felt weird to me. I can't think of any points where they would have forged their deep and everlasting bond, but it was apparently there at the end. Even now, I question why they even liked each other. There weren't any really positive moments, but no negative ones either. Maybe I stopped paying attention by the time that happened.

The plot, while it needs work, actually presents a good idea. If it were carried out more truthfully to the description, this would be a great book. The very beginning was interesting enough to catch my attention. The arranged marriage, the escape, the introduction to the convent was all exciting. Basically after the "skip 3 years" part, it went downhill. Ismae manages to kill a few people, which are some of the more exciting parts. Overall, a lot of the time I felt as though I were reading the same few pages over and over. The same people said the same things and did the same things as though all action in the book was scripted like a play. I was straight up bored past the first 100 pages, and for a book this long (~550 pages), that is a struggle.

Summary
This wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't that good. If you've ever felt so incredibly neutral about something that it frustrates you, that describes how I feel. A great concept that was shakily executed. A romance built out of air. An assassin, who does everything but. The sequel focuses on another female assassin; maybe that one is better.