Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

I wouldn't say that I love YA historical fiction or anything of the like but have been able to enjoy quite a few lately. I had my doubts about reading this one but since I have been having such good luck lately I thought that it might end up being worth the read. While I didn't hate Grave Mercy, I had a hard time paying attention while reading it. I actually stepped away from it and read other books before coming back to it and finally finishing it. I think that I didn't end up loving the story because I felt like it was going in circles. The villain would come up with a plot and Ismae and her comrades would attempt to foil it which would succeed or fail and this would go on and on until the end of the book. It became tiresome. I would have liked for the author to switch up the story a little and have Ismae in action more. I feel like all she did was sneak around and eavesdrop. I wanted to see more of the skills that she had learned from the convent. I also became irritated by her lack of experience and naivety when it came to her mission. She couldn't see things that were right in front of her face that I felt were super obvious. Don't get me wrong, I thought that the ideas behind this story were interesting and different but I would have liked to see more follow through with it.