Godsgrave

Gentlefriends, how have I not read this series before now? The Nevernight Chronicles are rapidly rising to my favourite series. The gentle sardonic wit that underlies these tales of brutal assassination and mass murder is a joy to read. Mia has to be one of the best and most likably sympathetic portrayals of an assassin/mass killer out there.

This second installment takes the action away from the assassin training school to a gladiator training school, with Mia producing an elaborate plot to assassinate someone based on posing as a gladiator.

The real stars of the show are Mia's two shadows - Mr Kindly and Eclipse. Their bickering is hugely entertaining and provides the comedic background (along with the narrators footnotes) to what is otherwise a brutal story.

Godsgrave takes all the good parts of Nevernight and just continues with them. A worthy successor.

I read Nevernight almost an year ago and absolutely fell in love. I would have usually decided to pick up the sequel right away, but knowing that Godsgrave ends with a massive cliffhanger and the finale wouldn't be out for quite a while made me very skeptical to pick it up. So, after all this time I'm finally here. I've done it folks. I finished Godsgrave and I'm glad I waited to read this till I had Darkdawn in my hands.

It didn't take me very long this time around to get used to the author's writing style but it's still not always easy to follow. I also found there to be a lot of descriptions that weren't exactly necessary to the story. But the pacing was mostly consistent, with a gradual buildup of tension and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat. I thought the gladiatii fight sequences were very well written, creating a lot of tense and thrilling moments. Because the story has shifted from training to actual fighting and takes place among slave fighters, the brutality and violence and gore in this installment is much worse than the first book. There are also many revelations that took me by surprise but the ones at the end definitely take the cake for blowing my mind. And even if I had initially planned to take a break before reading Darkdawn, I don't know if it's possible now.

Mia is still the badass protagonist I have come to love and it was nice to get to back to her story. Her goal is still the same, get revenge for the deaths of her family and every task she accomplishes for the Red Church is just another step in that direction. But when she is faced some very horrific truths, she decides to take matters into her own hands and become a gladiatii. But it's when she becomes a slave and gets to know the other fighters that she realizes the brutal truth about the slave trade, and how it forms the basis for the prosperity of the Itreyan republic. I liked how the author used her experience as a slave to let her introspect her own life, wonder if she would have grown up to be as cruel as the other slave holders if her family was alive, and also feel conflicted about protecting the other slaves around her at the expense of her revenge. For all the coldness she displays and prioritizes her endgame above all, she struggles about sacrificing others as a stepping stone for her ambition and this little compassionate side of her was what I appreciated the most.

There is a very passionate sapphic romance in this book and while it's amazing that Mia is able to find someone whom she wants to trust atleast a little, it wasn't almost till the end that I was convinced about her loyalty. So, it took me quite a bit of time to actually enjoy their romance. We also meet a whole host of other new characters who evoked a lot of sympathy because of the brutal circumstances under which they came to be slaves, and it was very interesting to see Mia interact with them. Mister Kindly and Eclipse are of course her constant companions, and while some of their bickering was fun, I can't say that I understood all of their conversations. Mercurio only shows up for a little bit but his relationship with Mia and how they feel about each other was definitely one of the best parts of the book for me.

Finally, I just wanna say that this sequel was fun, thrilling, thought provoking and quite brutal but ultimately, exactly what I would have wanted from it. I felt revolted at times while extremely anxious at others and it's this range of feelings that are evoked in us that makes this such a well written series. If you have already read and loved Nevernight, I obviously don't need to tell you to pick up this one. However if haven't read this series but love a bloody and dark story featuring a badass female assassin and lots of stabbing, you should definitely check it out. I'm much more excited to read Darkdawn now and can't wait to finally know how it all ends.

Jay Kristoff, you did it AGAIN!

“That's the power of words: twenty six little letters can paint a whole universe.”
And my, oh my, what a universe Jay Kristoff has painted withing this amazing book.

This book was full of amazing things. From the plot twists, to the development of the characters, to the way in which it is written. I cried, I laughed, I was really mad and I was really happy. Even though the ending left me speechless and I cannot wait to dive into Darkdawn and see what happens next.

“Godsgrave” is a really great book and if you've read Nevernight, I highly suggest to read this one FASTER, because you need to see what Mia does in this one. How amazing she is, how strong, how beautiful. At some point I really thought I was going to HATE her, but then Jay Kristoff did me dirty, oh yes.

I have been searching for a book to topple Jay Kristoff's Nevernight from my favourite book of the year slot since I read it earlier in 2018, somehow nothing ever really came close...until I read the sequel.

And did it surprise me? Absolutely not. This is a series that seems destined to swallow me up whole and it has absolutely the most fierce, badass heroine of any book I've read and the breathtaking twists and turns we take on the journey of Mia Corvere is a ride I'm not quite willing to get off yet. In fact, I am now counting down the days till the release of Darkdawn later this month.

The opening of Godsgrave is definitely one that leaves us with plenty of questions as we find Mia captured by Slave Traders and on her way to be sold at market. How did we go from her being admitted into the Red Church of Assassins to being sold as a slave? The first section of this book allows us to flit between Mia's adventures in the months leading up to these events whilst also allowing us to follow her travels in the present. One thing is for sure Mia is back and she's as crazy as ever and she in turns had me laughing out loud and equally breaking my heart for her on this journey we take.

As with Nevernight there is the return of many of our favourite characters from the Red Church and Mia's past, some alliances we do not expect and a whole new cast of amazing characters to fall in love with. We learn more about Mia's family and their past and some shocking secrets that are revealed in the closing chapters that we really didn't anticipate. Set in a world that very much echoes Gladiator games in the Roman Empire we watch Mia fight for her life over and over throughout this book and the friends she makes along the way and the joy it brings me as a reader just haven't been matched by any other fantasy series this year, or ever.

Echoing the writing style of Nevernight we have lots of footnotes throughout expanding for us readers the world in which Kristoff's characters reside and a history of the world for those who long to immerse themselves in it. Often these are witty and sarcastic and full of parables and tales of warning to us readers. They add so much sass and attitude to the narrative and I personally love them. They are not as prevalent as they were in Nevernight but there is still more than enough for those who love them to get their fill.

So, 20 days till Darkdawn is released, I held off waiting to read Godsgrave until my library obtained a copy of the book, I don't know if I'm going to have the patience if they wait as long next time around. I have a feeling I may be delving into Darkdawn in August if only to answer all those questions in my head about just what is going to happen to all my favourite characters and whether justice will ever truly be served.

Jay continues to deliver on this highly charged series. There are parts that seem to have been stretched to fill space and make it a trilogy and ofcourse there is the smut, but its all still done at such rapid pace that you never really notice it. The daemons take on more of a role and the twist at the end only makes you more wary of every character making the ending all the more intriguing. Where we go from here is a grand finale and the origins of Godsgrave

What in the holy...did I just read??!! This was like Game of Thrones mixed with Spartacus: Blood and Sand (TV Show), mixed with Hunger Games mixed with...sheesh just hold onto your breeches and don't let go...

I am seriously smacking myself right now for waiting so long to continue this series. I read and absolutely LOVED Nevernight but kept putting this one off. It actually made the TBR list a few times for me and my friend and somehow kept getting skipped. Well that was probably one of the dumbest decisions I have made in a while

As much as I liked this book, I was also disappointed in it. What was with the Spartacus retelling in there? I really enjoyed the first book, so imagine my surprise when it took me almost 2 weeks to read this. OK, that is partially my fault, I used to read 2 books a day, now im lucky if i can get through 2 chapters a day. Working really takes a toll on my ability to just plow through a book.

Oh... I also couldnt stand all the time jumps from present to past, or that all the past scenes were in italics. WHY!

Mia, Mister Kindly, and Eclipse go through a lot in this book. And I absolutely love the 2 shadows creatures bickering. It reminds me of Tyrion and Varys. And it seems she may have picked up another passenger, from what I gathered. Not sure yet. But, the build up to the gladiator house was amazing. Mia was lethal, and nothing was stopping her. I was confused, but I knew the payoff would be great. We also run into Ash again, remember her? Shes interesting.

And while it was, there was still that hint of disappointment because I felt like I had already been through this story. Granted, there were no chariot matches in what I remember from Spartacus, but it was still pretty similar. The only difference was that ending. And, GAH DAMN that was a good ending. I had to read it twice, because it was so good. It is hurting me not to tell you my favorite part about this ending. But, lets just say that Kristoff left a VERY good setup for the next installment.