Now Reading: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could–from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

Book Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Release Date: April 3, 2012

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?

I can honestly say that this book taught me something I did not know: That Brittany really was a separate country from France and England, and that the majority of the characters within this novel were real people. I wasn’t expecting this to be a historical novel after I read the synopsis, but I love historical novels so this book ended up being a complete pleasure to read.

My enjoyment of this novel is not limited to the historical subject matter, but LaFevers does an excellent job constructing an alternate world within reality, the character development is wonderful, and the depiction of the settings are beautiful and realistic. So I suppose I could go in order of these aspects and explain why I believe that Grave Mercy needs to be on your To-Read list for 2012.

As I mentioned above, the Historical subject matter is not something that has been explored much in literature, much less Young Adult literature. Therefore, not only will reading Grave Mercy expand on the readers’ general knowledge, but it will bring to light the treatment of women throughout history as vessels for procreation and arm candy versus a strong ruling power.

The alternate world within the reality of Brittany is that of the convent of Mortain (aka the God or Spirit of Death) and their operation as assassins. This provides LaFevers with the opportunity to throw some kickass poison knowledge, fashionable murder weapons (a la James Bond), and an outlet for the women of the convent toward the patriarchal society in which they reside. I can say that there are ways that LaFevers could have made this portion of the narrative stronger, (more details on the formation of the convent, perhaps), but overall this part was done extremely well.

Ismae starts off as a hated girl who is sold into marriage by her father, and ends the novel as a strong woman who’s intelligence and skills help save lives and capture those against the duchy (the Duchess of Brittany). While the reader does not get an exact depiction of her looks, it was easy to picture Ismae in my mind and the atrocious scar on her back. Duval was an excellent foil for Ismae throughout the novel, and their friendship grows organically—as would most relationships would during that time if not based on money or power. There are a score of secondary characters that are imperative to the story, but Beast is most likely my favorite of those. He is brutally large, but as nice as he can be to Ismae.

LaFever’s descriptions of the castles in Brittany and the chambers in which Ismae resides and searches are so vivid that I felt I was in almost every scene with Ismae, seeing what she was seeing. The writing style and point of view for this novel was spot on, and I was hard pressed to find any inconsistencies.

I’m giving this novel 5 Bards. I loved it, I want you to love it. Go read it! I wish I had a hard copy to give away, but, alas, I had an e-copy from NetGalley.