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

by Robin Lafevers

[paperbackjedi]

Posted to Novel Tea

His Fair Assassin had something I'd never encountered in a book before. Badass nun assassins. No, seriously. Ismae is a girl who's tired of her circumstances and the crappy life they've created for her. Not to mention, she's surrounded by absolute jerks. Her "adoptive" father tries to marry her off to a complete and total abusive asshole and she's just DONE. Way done. Before her would-be husband can do too much damage, she is whisked away by a priest to a convent to train to be a servant of Mortain, the patron saint of Death, who also happens to be her real father. There, she learns how to fight, kill, and seduce men who bear the marque of Mortain (a way to spot those that need to be punished by death) and sometimes even people the convent deems fit for slaughter.
The kicker comes when the leader of her convent decides to send her on a mission to uncover a plot against the Duchess and punish the deserving culprits. Adding to the mix, she's posing as mistress to a very gorgeous, very mysterious man, Gavriel Duval, who has his own game to win. As she becomes more embroiled in court life, she begins to wonder who she can trust and who exactly is giving the orders she's assigned to carry out and to what purpose?

This book was a quick read for nearly 600 pages. Even though I didn't finish it in one sitting, I probably could have. The chapters are short and there's a lot of action (especially for a period novel). The plot is engrossing, but in many cases, predictable, though there are some surprises. Where LaFevers really shines is the mythology and history. The story takes some of it's cues from actual places and events in history (though not a true story by any means). I particularly enjoyed the mythology surrounding The Nine Old Gods of Brittany which is the author's own creation based loosely on Celtic mythology- Continental, not Irish). It was interesting and added an air of intrigue to the novel.

In all honestly, I kept forgetting Ismae's name for the first hundred pages or so, even though I had no trouble with most other characters. Ismae as a character is driven by a singular purpose; to seek revenge upon evil men. She is very much single-minded in the endeavor and her character is one dimensional for the first part of the novel which made her a little boring for me. However, once she got away from the convent and started experiencing a very different world, her character became more rich and engrossing and I started rooting for her. Duval was probably the most charismatic character to me and evenly developed.

The romance takes a backseat to the mystery and actual plot of the novel which is nice. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was different than what I normally read and I had a lot of fun imagining the world it took place in. It's a bit long, but you don't really notice it honestly, as the plot moves at a pretty steady pace, breakneck even, at some points. The characters could have been a little more fleshed out, but by the end you do get a pretty good feel for them (some more than others). It's set up for sequels about other initiates at the convent who are introduced briefly at the beginning of the novel. All in all, I'd say to grab a Kindle copy or head to your local library and check it out.