LOL I love this sooooo much. “BOOM HUNGER GAMES!”

Synopsis: 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?

Review: I felt dubious when I first started Grave Mercy as it’s no secret I am not really into historical fiction (I am a novice at the very least). But I was determined to read this, being convinced by the absolutely beautiful cover firstly, but secondly the synopsis itself sounded REALLY cool. ASsassin nuns?! Hell yes, sign me up for that!

So I stuck with this, and I am so very glad I did. It’s a big read at 549 pages, but I didn’t notice how big the book was once I got sucked into the story line itself - which was brilliant!

The story is set in 15th Century Brittany. This was set at a time when the Duchy was trying to keep its independence from France, who are seen as the enemy in this novel.

Ismae is a 17 year old girl who escapes from an abusive marriage and flees to the convent of St Mortain, the patron saint of death. In this convent, the nuns worsip Saint Mortain and devote themselves to his every whim. They train in the art of assassination, they train in the thousands of ways a man can be killed. And when they are bid by Mortain to take a life, they do it without question. Awesome right?

Ismae is sent out on a mission, which turns out to be bigger than anything she’s ever faced in her life. Her mission is to accompany the sexy Gavriel Duval (whom I loved, more on him later!) straight to the high court of Brittany. Duval is the step brother of the Dutchess, Anne. His mission is to keep her safe at all costs, and as Ismae is sent with Duval, her mission is to find out who is to be trusted, and who bares the marque and needs to die.

It really is such a gripping story. Action packed from the first 30 pages or so onwards, and really kept my interest piqued right until the end. Some reviews have gone on to mention that the story is confusing as there is so many characters. I feel like that perhaps is a bit harsh as there was not THAT many charaters in the book. Certainly of the main players in the book, you could easily keep track and remember who was who, but you need to pay attention to the story. If you’re able to do that, then you will be fine with this book. A tip for those who struggle.. there is a map and a list of the characters and their significance in the first few pages of the book. Personally, I didn’t need to refer to this, but it might prove useful to some!

I adored Ismae’s character. She has been trained to need no one, and rely only on her own senses and instincts. And I truly loved the fact that she was such a strong leading female character. She is a weapons expert and knows about all of the types of poisons that can kill. The depth of her character was amazing, you understood all of her insecurities about her scars, and feel her resistance to wanting to fall in love and her inner conflicts when she does start to feel emotions the convent would not approve of. She was fantastic.

And Duval. *sigh* So different to all of the other men that Ismae had come across. He was trustworthy, and not wanting to take advantage of her. He really cared about her. And he wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable around Ismae as well, which I think really added to the attraction. :)

There was definitely a lot of betrayal and villains throughout the story as well, so lots of twists and turns! But I think it’s fair to say the worst of these villains is D’Albret, who I picture to be a sweaty, oily, sleazy pig of a man. *shudders* He is vile, and everything about the way he is written confirms that is is meant to be vile. I love a great villain though, I do enjoy having someone that I can hate!

Overall, a solid book, and I am desperately waiting for the next book in this series… I know I will be waiting a while, but I am very excited about this series. It’s something different to the other books out at the moment, and I found it to be completely refreshing.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Trailer:

Good afternoon readers! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

As always In My Mailbox is a weekly meme bought to you by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren. Smaller week for me this week but all bought books. :)

Unraveling Isobel - Eileen Cook

I have been wanting this book since before it was released in January! I am pretty excited to own it!

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear sanity might be giving way. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

Croak (Croak #1) - Gina Damico

How amazing is this cover?! I love it!! Sounds like a seriously fun book.

16 year old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure. He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

You Have Seven Messages - Stewart Lewis

This is a contemporary book I’ve been interested in for a while now.

It’s been a year since Luna’s mother, the fashion-model wife of a successful film director, was hit and killed by a taxi in New York’s East Village. Luna, her father, and her little brother, Tile, are still struggling with grief.
When Luna goes to clean out her mother’s old studio, she’s stunned to find her mom’s cell phone there—charged and holding seven unheard messages. As Luna begins to listen to them, she learns more about her mother’s life than she ever wanted to know . . . and she comes to realize that the tidy tale she’s been told about her mother’s death may not be the whole truth.

So that is all from me this week, what’s in your mailbox? Let me know - leave your links in the comments section below!

Good afternoon (in Australia) readers!!

How has everyone’s day been? I hope it’s been filled with family and friends and lots of chocolate for you all! :) I know my tummy cannot be the only one in pain from the sugar today! haha

Here’s wishing you all a safe and happy holiday! xx

I bought an iPad a few weeks ago… I’m going to the USA from May 8th to May 30th and I thought that the wi-fi and internet access on the ipad would be perfect for my trip. It’s so portable and light weight, and so I can stay in touch, and even update my site from abroad!

It came with some unexpected perks for me though, namely iBooks! What started as simply something to check emails, the web and play games on has quickly turned into my favourite e-reader when compared to my Kobo and Kindle… for a few reasons!

1. iBooks

This app is amazing. I always had issues in the past with any of my e-readers displaying PDF files properly. iBooks displays them beautifully. And it also is compatible with all my existing epub files, so I can put them all on here and they all have one home from now on! You can also purchase books from iTunes. Probably not my fave place right now to buy them as the selection and price is not the most competitive, but the option is there!

2. Kindle app

And just so I am not having to juggle my iPad and Kindle, I have a Kindle app for iPad and all the books I have purchased from there are accessable at the tip of my fingers! I love this! You can also get an app for Kobo as well which works in the same fashion. And both are FREE!!

3. Night time reading

I was always frustrated that my Kindle had no backlight for night time reading. And whilst I appreciate the Kindle is probably better for my eyes overall, and probably more ideal for day reading, the book lover in me loves being able to turn the lights off and snuggle in bed whilst reading a book on my iPad. I can control the brightness so I am not blinded too most importantly!

Overall - I really still love my Kindle, and the Kindle wins for portability as it’s the lightest and more compact than my iPad. That being said, the iPad offers everything the Kindle does, but in colour which is a fantastic perk. Plus the fact that the internet capabilities are so sofisticated means I have easy access to Goodreads via the Goodreads app (also free!), and of course can access blogs and websites with ease. Definitely worth considering for all you gadget fans out there!

It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the last week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently juggling two books, one that is quite detailed and involved and one not so much so I can have a break when I need it!

I’ve almost finished Grave Mercy by Robyn LaFevers, I am really really enjoying it. So many people have said they thought there was too many characters and it was too hard? I really disagree with those opinions. I have been able to follow it just fine, and I am so sucked into this book right now. It’s a chunker though at roughly 550 pages!

I’m also reading The Future Of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler at the moment, and so far it’s pretty cool! Very original.. and sadly enough, I remember the 90’s vividly, so for me, it’s like a trip back to yesteryear.

What did you recently finish reading?

I last reviewed The Catastrophic History Of You And Me by Jess Rothenberg. It was really original and cute, but had a great story to it also.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I have a bit on my plate at the moment, so I can’t say for sure!! Hopefully I will finish Grave Mercy today (I need to know how it ends!) and certainly I’ll finish The Future of Us quite soon as that’s an easy read… and then…. who knows? Maybe something that is getting dusty on my shelf?

Any suggestions? :) What is everyone out there reading at the moment?

Good morning readers! I hope it has been good for you! I am battling a cold at the moment so I daresay I’ll be in bed all day attempting at getting better, but I thought I would at least get my IMM up for the week!

As always In My Mailbox is a weekly meme bought to you by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren. Pretty good week this week for me once again. I didn’t buy anything this week though - thanks to Netgalley I received a whole stack of ARC’s.

Night Beach - Kirsty Eagar

I am particularly excited for this because Kirsty Eagar is an Aussie YA author! We always get excited to read home-grown YA right? :) This sounds amazing:

Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that’s not rational, not right, and you’re becoming somebody you don’t recognise, and certainly don’t respect, but you don’t even care.

Goddess Interrupted - Aimee Carter

I received this one a few weeks ago but forgot to add it to previous editions of IMM!! I am still yet to actually read The Goddess Test which is the first book in this series. I own it though.. so I am making an effort to try and get through the first one so I can enjoy Goddess Interrupted also. This was released on March 27th so it’s already out on bookshelves now! The cover is absolutely beautiful right?

Torn - Stephanie Guerra

This one entrigued me.. it sounds a little dark, but interesting none-the-less.

New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella’s polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels . But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world—a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn’t be tried once.

But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn’t show anyone—not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

The Hunt - Andrew Fukuda

This sounds action packed! Great reviews on Goodreads so far too!

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

Disharmony: The Telling - Leah Giarratano

Another Aussie author!! Leah has written adult fiction previously and this is her first YA release. This looks quite dark… the plot sounds great!

A psychopath…an empath…a genius. Three siblings who will save the world – or destroy it. They know nothing of each other. They know nothing of the Telling. But they’ll need to learn fast if they’re going to survive…

So that is all from me this week, what’s in your mailbox? Let me know - leave your links in the comments section below!