Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers

Synopsis: 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? (From Goodreads)

Grave Mercy is so freaking awesome, I can hardly stand it. As soon as I heard "assassin nun" I was so in. Beyond knowing there would be a convent and a lot of bad-assery, I had no preconceived notions about this book. Even if I did, I still think I would have been blown away. It's everything that used to drawn me to historical fiction, plus fantasy, plus a strong heroine, the ideal man, a whole lot of politics that I can actually understand, AND it is still wonderfully relevant to present day society and issues- even if it takes place in 15th century France. In my opinion, the best books both contribute to a conversation, a movement, or idea and tell a captivating story at the same time. This is one of those books.

If you're still not convinced, read the first few pages - heck, read the first page and tell me you aren't immediately in awe. It's a whirlwind beginning that starts out as dark, disturbing, and intriguing. It begins with a girl who has no control and it turns into this incredibly empowered tale of said girl gaining strength, wisdom, and freedom to make her own choices. It's also one of those books where you finish and you think of the very first scene and just think - wow, she ended up so far from there. I finished it feeling like I'd been through the whole journey with Ismae, had made her decisions, and couldn't believe where I ended up. The journey was fast paced, intense, and so beautiful.

One of the most heartbreaking parts of this book was the struggles that women had to go through. The poor duchess is practically being auctioned off and used as a bargaining tool. Seeing her as a strong girl, but still having no control over her own life or her own decisions was frustrating. Then you have the girls in the convent who are using their hatred towards men, or at their negative experiences with men and channeling it into violence. Even these girls think they've gained control over their own lives, but really that hatred is just allowing men to still control them (Ok rant over). I won't go too much into the portrayal of religious institutions here, but I loved the way that the Christian religion was in the process of evolution and was turning into something like the Church we are familiar with today. Not to mention the mixture of religion and politics fit amazingly with the story, but has valid application to contemporary issues.

I have a bajillion more things to say about Grave Mercy but I'm going to stop for now. Although if you want to discuss more I'd love to carry on. But seriously. Read this book.