Have Mercy on my Reader Soul

I'm officially on Spring Break right now and have promised myself not to do any homework over the next week. It will most likely bite me in the ass when I get back to school and am drowning in all my schoolwork when all I want to do is keep reading and being a lazy book worm. Oh well.

Anyway. The things I've learned since being away from my family for 3 months:

• my younger sister can drive and it's the scariest thing ever.
• I'm actually so much like my mother it's both comforting and frightening at the same time.
• I have a newfound appreciation for the cold and actual snow (not the sad excuse Oklahoma has for it where it calls itself snow but it's really just a sheet of ice everywhere you step). 
• My hair does NOT look good after being stuck under a helmet all day.
• I am predictable in all of my likes and dislikes. (I like to say I'm consistent but whatever.)

So. It's been an enlightening past 2 days.

It's also been two days since my last post (and since I've started a new book) and I'm in dyer need to review a book...

The Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Started: March 12, 2015
Finished: March 14, 2015
Stars: 4/5

Where to start with this...
We'll start with the plot. Usually when I'm reading I can predict or anticipate where the plot twist is going to go and who the big jaw-dropper is, but with this book, I couldn't. I had no idea where this book was going and it both frustrated me and excited me. I hate surprises and I need to know how a book is going to end. That's probably why whenever I read books (even when I loathe them with the fire of a thousand suns) I have to finish it. I can't be left in the dark.
That singular reason is why I finished this 549 page sucker. S/O to Robin for that.

It was a little difficult to get into the book. I was left confused by who the hell these people were and who they were serving and the whole spiritual aspect of this book. It took me about 100 pages to get immersed in the text and the characters.
I also thought several parts of the narrative was vague and I had to re-read the paragraph or page a couple times trying to figure out what the author was saying. I wanted more on her encounter with her dad (both of them) and I am still wondering what happened to Beast. I don't know if she touches on that in the sequels or not, but I'm still on the fence with whether or not I want to read those.

The characters were awesome to read. I really liked the mystery behind Duval and his true motives. I loved reading about the nobility and the Middle Ages's people. Every character was well-developed and dynamic and each had something to them that made them seem realistic.

I loved how Robin (is it weird to refer to her by her first name?) ended things between the convent and Ismae [small note: I really hated that name]. I liked that it was it's own story line(-ish) in the book. It held it's own issues and confrontation by Ismae and wasn't skirted in the end nor was it neglected in significance in the book. That result was a big part of the big wow for me by the end of the book.

[this was my 500 page or more book for my 2015 Reading Challenge]

I'll keep this post short and sweet after the novel I posted yesterday. Still sorry for posting that Beast...

Peace.

SOP: This is Gospel (Piano) by Panic! at the Disco