1. I think this book should be on the shortlist. It was a book where I could tell myself one more page but carry on till the end of the chapter. It was intriguing, ferocious, passionate and compassionate all in one but it left you craving more. If you're one for thrillers with a hint of reality, romance and history then you should give this book a try.

Reviewed by Maryam

 

2. Ismae is marked by the God of Death when her mother tries contraception, unsuccessfully, to kill her. Labelled as an outcast and a freak she is taken to a Convent where she is taught to carry out Death's Will as an assassin. When she is sent to the court of Brittany, she discovers that what they teach in the convent is one-sided - how can she kill the one person she has grown to love?

I really enjoyed this book; I thought the growth in the characters personalities and relationships were well developed and believable. I also thought that the author made the story work well in its historical setting and there was a lot of information about the time that made it more realistic. Personally, I think it is a lot harder to understand if you don't know much about the time which it is set, however it could also be a good book to learn from as there are many pieces of information throughout.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Year 9

 

3. The book that I read was Grave Mercy and there were a few reasons why I decided to pick it. It could be because I thought it would help my understanding of 18th Century Brittany but truthfully it was probably because the blurb's first few words were "an assassin trained by the god of death." That appealed to me, though it may put a few of you off, it isn't actually centred around violence too much. Sure there was the odd harmless poisoning and assassination but it also contains a fair amount of romance that was in perfect balance with the action. That is why I am recommending it for this award and I hope that many others will read it and enjoy it as much as I have.

Reviewed by Pippa, Y10

 

4. Grave Mercy was a pleasure to read.  I enjoyed playing out the story in my head and imagining the vivid characters though it took me quite a while to work out if it was set in England or France.  I especially enjoyed the twists and turns of everyone's personalities (Crunard's betrayal and Duval's "Seduction").  Each character has a personality which either makes you want to love them (eg Duval) or absolutely hate them ( Guillo).  The storyline goes a bit slow but that means it can give LOVELY detail. But a bit of language was a bit hard to understand. This is on my top 10 favourite books!

I look forward to book 2 which features Sybella and probably the beast.

9/10.

 

5. La Fevers was extremely creative with this book- a thrilling chain of mystical events, which leads Ismae, a handmaiden of Death, on a long trail of questioning.  At all points, I was yearning to read more - the book was unputdownable!  It is an amazing book which I would encourage many to read.  I especially found the patron saints rather interesting, and would like to hear more of these in LaFever's next book, about a friend of Ismae's, Sybella.  This book makes others look boring- and believe me, I've read some interesting books!

I would recommend this book to people aged 12-20, as it is slightly more advanced for younger children.

Reviewed by Imaan

 

6. This book combines historical fiction with fantasy, it's weird but I'm enjoying it.  Ismae has escaped to a convent to avoid an arranged and violent marriage, her escape isn't quite what it seems, if she stays she will have to become an assassin, for death!  The story is set in Brittany at the end of the Middle Ages and while the author has gone to a lot of trouble to convey an accurate historical setting the events in the novel aren't what you would expect.  The plot twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Reviewed by Pippa

 

7. The book ‘Grave Mercy' by Robin La Fevers is about a young newly-wed woman, Ismae, who is being treated unfairly against her will by her new husband. When she refused to do what her husband asked she was locked in the food cellar and left while her husband had gone to get a vicar to clarify their marriage and their vows. Whilst he was out a different vicar came to her rescue, unfortunately for her she was in a terrible state and shocked the vicar but her carted her off with a blanket wrapped around her, the journey consisted of an over seas boat ride on which the sailor had noticed a large scar from her left shoulder to her right hip which had been caused whilst she was still in her mother's womb, her mother had tried to get rid of the baby by having a herb-witch  make her a poison to kill the baby but she survived and was named the child of the devil, when the sailor saw this he was. Ismae soon found out that she was being taken to a convent to be trained as an assassin for the God of death.

This book is an accurate account of people's thoughts on religion and the drastic things that they had believed but it doesn't say what era it's from so I can't tell exactly how accurate this book is at telling you what that era was like.

It was a very shocking book full of suspense and the thoughts of Ismae were described very well, although some of the vocabulary is confusing but it is written like that to show that it is based on a very long time ago.

I enjoyed reading this book as it really grabs your attention and you want to keep reading it.

Reviewed by Charlotte

 

8. I really enjoyed it and don't want to let it go! I have finished it, and given it a mark of 9/10. I've really enjoyed the plot and the historical references, the interesting main characters and a little bit of killing. However, the many characters in the book made it slightly confusing, so the writer could have improved on it there. But on the whole, it was excellent!

Reviewed by Lun

 

9. I really enjoyed this book because there was lots of suspense and something was always happening. My favourite character is Ismae and I like the way that at the end she meets Death and realises she doesn't have to serve the Convent to serve Death.

The history in the book is very realistic as an army is invading the country and Ismae's priority is protecting the Duchess.

I would love to read more books by Robin Lafevers about Ismae and Duval and recommend this book.

Reviewed by Ella