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Grave Mercy: Book summary and reviews of Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy

His Fair Assassin, Book I

by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers X
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
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  • Published Apr 2012
    560 pages
    Genre: Historical Fiction

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Book Summary

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?

Book 1 of a planned trilogy

Ages 14+

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. With characters that will inspire the imagination, a plot that nods to history while defying accuracy, and a love story that promises more in the second book, this is sure to attract feminist readers and romantics alike." - Booklist

"Starred Review. Fiction and history coalesce in a rich, ripping tale of assassinations, political intrigue and religion in 15th-century Brittany. ...LaFevers' ambitious tapestry includes poison and treason and murder, valor and honor and slow love, suspense and sexuality and mercy. A page-turner - with grace." - Kirkus Reviews

"Starred Review. This powerful first volume of the His Fair Assassin series should attract many readers." - Publishers Weekly

"LaFevers is an artful storyteller who has created a strong lead character.... The tale is one of scheming nobles, political subterfuge, murder, and romance - all of the best aspects of a good read. And like any good mystery, the plot is unpredictable." - VOYA

This information about Grave Mercy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Robin LaFevers Author Biography

Photo: Copyright © Huesing’s Stuido

Robin LaFevers, author of the New York Times best-selling His Fair Assassin books, was raised on fairy tales, Bulfinch's mythology, and nineteenth-century poetry. It is not surprising that she grew up to be a hopeless romantic. She was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in California.

Link to Robin LaFevers's Website

Name Pronunciation
Robin LaFevers: luh-FEE-verz

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