I will say again, don't let this one pass you by. It has a light, sweet and enduring romance with a fierce young woman/assassin/friend and a loyal and honorable young man/brother/son as the protagonist. I can't say enough or give it enough praise. If you love and/or enjoy historical fiction or romance, just plain romance or a good read, I highly recommend Grave Mercy. Ofcourse there are the EVIL Villians but I can only mention one, as to not give too much away and he is d'Albret, the worst of villains. What more could you want? I fell in love with many of the characters Ishmae, Gavriel, Beast, Anne, Annith, Sybella, Francois, De Lornay, Madame Hivern and Captain Dunois. It had action, deceit, poisons, messaging crows, spies and daughters of death. It was fast paced, enthralling, suspenseful, and captivating. I don't know that I'd immediately recommend this to anyone, but it's worth a shot if you're the type of person who really likes a little intrigue and ASSASSIN NUNS in their YA historical romance. The aspects I liked (the intrigue, Ismae's growth) just barely outweighed the ones I didn't (romaaaaaance), and I especially enjoyed that there was only a dash of paranormal, and it's treated as normal in Ismae's world. Which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong.It was a decent read. Everything about it, from the tone to the plot, seems to scream adult fiction.

At times, this felt way too much like a historical romance novel that had been branded YA simply because of Ismae's age and the toned down violence. I found the romance aspect nice, but there came a point where it got to be too much when I just wanted to find out who the traitor was. So much intrigue, so many twists and turns, and yet it all gets buried under the romance. Some of her character progression was predictable, but I enjoyed reading the conflict between her ASSASSIN NUN life and her budding romance.The plot itself.is interesting. I found myself wanting to shake her at times, even dipping into the occasional bout of dislike in certain chapters, but eventually she won me over. Whether you like or dislike her as a character, there's no doubt she leaves an impression. It's definitely a unique book, as I haven't read anything like it in YA lately.Ismae is an incredibly strong character - from the start of her journey toward being an ASSASSIN NUN to the main plot and the way she weaves herself into it, she's always very present, and you're always very aware of her. Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.So, take YA historical fiction, throw in a dash of paranormal, a heavy heaping of romance, a bit of intrigue and some ASSASSIN NUNS, and you have Grave Mercy.

Grave mercy