Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.

So, take YA historical fiction, throw in a dash of paranormal, a heavy heaping of romance, a bit of intrigue and some ASSASSIN NUNS, and you have Grave Mercy. It's definitely a unique book, as I haven't read anything like it in YA lately.

Ismae is an incredibly strong character - from the start of her journey toward being an ASSASSIN NUN to the main plot and the way she weaves herself into it, she's always very present, and you're always very aware of her. Whether you like or dislike her as a character, there's no doubt she leaves an impression. I found myself wanting to shake her at times, even dipping into the occasional bout of dislike in certain chapters, but eventually she won me over. Some of her character progression was predictable, but I enjoyed reading the conflict between her ASSASSIN NUN life and her budding romance.

The plot itself...is interesting. So much intrigue, so many twists and turns, and yet it all gets buried under the romance. I found the romance aspect nice, but there came a point where it got to be too much when I just wanted to find out who the traitor was. At times, this felt way too much like a historical romance novel that had been branded YA simply because of Ismae's age and the toned down violence. Everything about it, from the tone to the plot, seems to scream adult fiction. Which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong.

It was a decent read. The aspects I liked (the intrigue, Ismae's growth) just barely outweighed the ones I didn't (romaaaaaance), and I especially enjoyed that there was only a dash of paranormal, and it's treated as normal in Ismae's world. I don't know that I'd immediately recommend this to anyone, but it's worth a shot if you're the type of person who really likes a little intrigue and ASSASSIN NUNS in their YA historical romance.