Grave Mercy / Robin LaFevers / 549 pages

What drew me to this book?  It's about a convent of assassin nuns.  Turns out it was a great story that takes place in Brittany in the late 15th century, a time of arranged marriages, nobility, political intrigue, and belief in the old Gods.  At age 14 Ismae escapes from a brutal father and arranged marriage to the local pig farmer.  She escapes and is taken to a convent of nuns who train novitiates in the art of death since they worship Mortain, the God of Death.  At age 17 her assignment takes her to the court of Anne, the young Duchess who is struggling to save Brittany from the clutches of France and her own politically arranged marriage.  Here you have romance, political intrigue, a castle with secret passages, knights, traitors, spies, courtesans, feminism, and lots more to keep you reading.  Ismae must decide whether to follow her own heart or the directions of the convent.  Does she see herself as an instrument of vengeance or mercy?  Dark Triumph, the next book appears in spring 2013.  With so many adults reading YA lit, I wonder if writers are trying to make their books appealing to both audiences by using more mature characters?