Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Release Date: April 3rd 2013

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Age Rec: There are some terms not suitable for all ages, and there was also an attempted rape scene at the beginning, not very graphic. 
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?

My thoughts:

For those of us who read more light-weight books, this book might seem a little bit intimidating. It is a very thick 500 or so page book. I found it at the NEW BOOK shelves, I had my eye on it for a little while so I was so excited when I saw it.

I have read a few thirteen-century set books, but nothing of this caliber. Robin LaFevers introduces the main character, Ismae, with a very secretive past. Some sort of mysterious birthmark and a curse. The story captivated you to turn the next page and the next, until you have no choice but to finish. With such authentic plot and dialogue that you will enjoy every single page.

When she is taken away from her abusive husband, she is introduced to a world that she could have never imagined. After a couple years of training she becomes a seductive deadly assassin, she must do the will of the God of Death. She must do Mortain's will and kill those with his mark. She must do anything and everything in her power to fulfill his will. 

There is where all of her adventures begin, she meets different characters, some remarkable some not and she must decide who she trusts. The characters, I admit, were a little hard to keep track of. There were a couple of times I was a little confused. But that was my mistake, I would recommend a little notebook to keep track of characters. 


The action and suspense were ultimate during this whole book, but there was a romance sub-plot through the story. The sort of romance that slowly builds up. 


Ismae will definitely be added to my list of kick ass heroines that I admire and love. 

I will most definitely be looking forward to what Mrs.LaFevers releases in the future. 


Thanks for reading! =)

IDENTICAL by Ellen Hopkins REPOST

Well I found this review of mind that I though I HAD lost in my old laptop, but I checked on Goodreads and there it was. So I want to re-post it here as a library homage post since I had gotten it from my school library.

Release Date: August 26, 2008
Source: School Library
Age recs: Definitely for more older teens. Drugs, sex, some rape scenes included.
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Summary from Goodreads.com: 

Do twins begin in the womb?Or in a better place? Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family -- on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin. For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites -- and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex. Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept -- from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is -- who?

My review: 


I knew what I was signing up for when I started reading Identical, since there was some strong content on CRANK, well that was an understatement. This book is real, raw, disturbing, and everything else in between. It had me squirming in discomfort on some scenes, being the squirmy type, but I knew that even though this was not based on a true story, it was based on the million of stories just like that. In fact, I had just watched a episode on Oprah where two twin sisters talked about being raped and molested by their father and two brothers with their mother completely knowing everything.

So I read on, and through this single book I went through a roller coaster of emotions. Disgust (and exclamation for Justice) at the seriously disturbed father, frustration because Kaeleight and her twin sister wouldn't report the abuse (as I would imagine I would in their situation). But thought those emotions I began to understand the fear of both sisters if they ever told on their father. I mean, even I was afraid of that monster. Their mother was also a big part of my frustration, only caring about appearances not the welfare of her children. I wanted to pop right into that book and slap that lady silly and make her realize what she was taking part of.

The impact this book had on me, and I imagine the rest of the people who have already read it, was very great. The turn of events was like nothing I have even experienced when reading books, and I have to admit I has to read some parts multiple times to understand (mostly at the end of the story). Mrs. Hopkins is not the type to censor feelings or events and she isn't afraid of being bold. She created two very alive characters, whose interpretation of love was so twisted and wrong that they wouldn't let anybody that truly cared about them in.

And the ending, wow, the ending is something I never expected. I love those kind of hard-to-predict books that have me guessing at the last second.
I want to keep this review as spoiler free as possible so I will leave you with those few words of many that I can use to express the serious awesomeness this book is. I would like to repeat that this book is among on of the strongest (content wise) books I have read. It requires a very high amount of matureness and understanding.
If you are comfortable with reading books with strong content, it is a must read!