Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 22, 2011 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-has-a-copy, romance, young-adult-teen-new-adult, fantasy-science-fiction

This was another pick from a list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans. But I'd had it on my TBR long before I read the books or watched the show and it was my recent finishing of A Dance With Dragons that helped prompt me to finally read this book. And unlike the previous book I read, The Winner's Curse, which was also a suggestion from that list, but which didn't have much of a fantasy feel to it at all, this was a lot more like it. This does read a lot like a more simplistic and l This was another pick from a list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans. But I'd had it on my TBR long before I read the books or watched the show and it was my recent finishing of A Dance With Dragons that helped prompt me to finally read this book. And unlike the previous book I read, The Winner's Curse, which was also a suggestion from that list, but which didn't have much of a fantasy feel to it at all, this was a lot more like it. This does read a lot like a more simplistic and less sprawling and much less violent version of Game Of Thrones set in the real world. This book had lots and lots of the political and courtly intrigue that's a hallmark of Game Of Thrones with some very Thrones-ian betrayals. And though this wasn't quite as heavy on the fantasy as Game Of Thrones is, no dragons or snow zombies, this book still had a definitive fantasy feel to it with the gods mentioned in the description playing an important role in the book and Ismae's being a daughter of Death coming to the forefront. In fact, the abbey of St. Mortain and the religion surrounding Mortain and Ismae and her fellow acolytes serving as assassins in the name of Mortain and that serving as a worship of sorts reminded me a lot of the Many Faced God and The House Of Black And White and that the Many Faced God's acolytes doing the same thing from Game Of Thrones, although Ismae isn't nearly as broken or angry a character as Arya is and at this point in the trilogy, there's nothing too mystical about how the assassinations are carried out. There's no Hall Of Faces. And though this book didn't have even a fraction of the characters of Game Of Thrones, that was fine by me. I quite liked Ismae and Duval and I found them to be nicely developed characters and I thought they made a good match and I enjoyed their romance and how it took time for them to fall in love. The other characters were also good and I wonder where things are going to go for Anne. The worldbuilding wasn't anything to write home about, but given that this is set in the real world, that's okay. We can all pretty well picture 1485 Brittany. The plot itself was good and well thought out and it held my attention easily. Overall, I liked this book a lot and I found it to be a good after Thrones read and I definitely recommend it to YA fantasy fans. ...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Joseph rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, fantasy, young-adult, historical-fiction, read-in-2012-04-apr, death, read-in-2017-09-september, read-in-2019-02-february, read-in-2023-09-september

A many-paged book, but not a long read at all. A very fast-paced romantic young adult historical fantasy adventure.

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Feb 08, 2014 alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, intercultural-france, teachers-and-pupils, no-men, fantasy, addicted-to-ya-2014-books, historical-fiction, romance, series-in-progress

Grave Mercy was an Addicted to YA February 2014 Book of the Month. I thoroughly enjoyed this mysterious adventure full of uesful herbs, tiny crossbows, and Bretagne lore. While I did study pre-revolution(the big one) French history, I no longer have any idea whether the battles and characters described in the book are accurate. Regardless, the mythology of the saints as well as the medieval times create an aura of dark magic that makes for an entertaining read.

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Jul 30, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy-and-sci-fi, historical-fiction, fantasy-romance, romance, era-medieval, favorite-series, gods-known-and-unknown

from NPR poll of best Young Adult fiction ...

I am a handmaiden of Death. I walk in His dark shadow and do His bidding. Serving Him is my only purpose in life ...

I seem to be on a bit of an assassin kick lately. It's good that I am reading this AFTER Graceling, because Graceling would not compare well, it is gaudy and simple, while Grave Mercy is dark and twisted and nuanced.

I really appreciated how closely this story and details hewed to actual events; the realism added darkness and depth to ...more

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