Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) in Hype or Like Friday

Jun 21, 2021 Zezee rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, bookseller-book-club

“We carry out Mortain’s will when He wishes to alter the warp and weft of life’s weave for some purpose of His own.”

I started Grave Mercy eager and open-minded about what’s to come. I enjoy reading stories about assassins so one about assassin nuns sounded great to me. Also, my friend had assured me that the romance does not overwhelm the plot, which is something I often complain about regarding YA fantasy, and she was right. The romance does not take over the plot, but this was so slow-going an

“We carry out Mortain’s will when He wishes to alter the warp and weft of life’s weave for some purpose of His own.”

I started Grave Mercy eager and open-minded about what’s to come. I enjoy reading stories about assassins so one about assassin nuns sounded great to me. Also, my friend had assured me that the romance does not overwhelm the plot, which is something I often complain about regarding YA fantasy, and she was right. The romance does not take over the plot, but this was so slow-going and Ismae was so in denial about her feelings for Duval that I actually was hoping for the romance to take over just for SOMETHING to happen.

The story starts out interesting enough. We meet Ismae as a 14-year-old girl in her village being sold off into marriage to a pig farmer by her father before she’s whisked away to the convent of St. Mortain, where all daughters of death go to become assassins. That much interested me. I was hoping for some cool training scenes, but not much of that was included. And, unfortunately, as the story continued, I lost interest until I was tempted to give up on the book. What made me finish it is that I was reading it for book club, and I wanted to be able to discuss it with my friends.

The pace was slow and became even slower when Ismae arrives at court and the political intrigue ramped up. I usually don’t mind political intrigues, but nothing about the intrigues included in this story interested me. I blamed that on Ismae because I didn’t like her as the narrator or the protagonist or a character. For a good bit of the story, she seems to be dragged along with whomever she’s with. It’s not until a couple chapters toward the end that she seems to become more assertive and think for herself.

I was also annoyed at how “innocent” and naïve she is. I get that’s what Duval finds so appealing about her, but… I think I’m now tired of this trope. It also makes no sense to me that a convent that has been around for such a long time and have ordered numerous assassinations over the years and has several assassins in their employ would give someone like Ismae such a task. She was SO unprepared. She was innocent and naïve of so many things that she was unconvincing to me as a capable assassin. I was hoping for scenes that display what a badass she is, but I didn’t get much of that either.

Also, why (WHY!!) would such an old convent rely on only one man, the chancellor, for all their information regarding what’s going on at court or how to direct their kills or who to focus on? It makes no sense to me. From the moment that dude was introduced as the convent’s connection to the outside world, the whole setup for the convent’s organization seemed wobbly to me. I just don’t think an assassin organization that’s been around for a long time would rely on just one source of information or place so much trust in one guy. It made the whole story seem silly to me and Ismae’s character didn’t help much in convincing me otherwise because she seems too innocent to be playing assassin.

I was also put off by the writing. The story is written in present tense, and… ugh!! I find that annoying, especially since the story is set in the past. I… ugh!!! SUCH a frustrating read.

OVERALL: ★★☆☆☆

I initially rated it 2.5, but I knocked it down to 2 after reflecting on it for this review. I really didn’t enjoy my time with this book.

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Jul 11, 2018 ❤ Aly ❤ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

Great book! I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the world building. I also really enjoyed the building relationship between Ismae and Duval.

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Apr 30, 2016 Debby (Alwaysbooking) rated it really liked it

This book was definitely a slow burning book. In the beginning I was just waiting and waiting for something exciting to happen. If you stick with it the intrigue is really worth it. The network of paths that need to be taken to get you to the end result are really well thought out. Some of things that happened in this book really touched my heart. Some things I was really not expecting.... some of the deaths :(

Ismae has left a horrible situation hopefully for a better one. She is sent to conven ...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Jean ~ Kindle Queen rated it really liked it

This one was different than I had expected, but I liked it. It was definitely more of a romance book than an assassin book. (And no love triangles! Woohoo!!) I felt it was a bit slow with all of the court politics, but I'm not generally a fan. (It wasn't overwhelming in this book though.) I really enjoyed the slow-burn romance. It felt realistic to me, and I was pleased with the ending.

Overall, I liked the message of the book and that it wasn't too "after-school special." The next book actually ...more

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