This book was an interesting read. I was really taken by the premise, but kind of disappointed overall. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read but the plot was fairly interesting and quick paced. The story takes place in medieval Brittany (a region of France) where our heroine Ismae is born marked by the poison her mother took in order to abort her. She is a daughter of death, feared by her step father and sold to the pig farmer down the road when she reaches marriageable age. Before she can be ruined by a life of physical labour and hardship she is rescued by a group of nuns at the convent of St. Mortain who are assassins, fulfilling Death's wishes by killing those who are a threat to Brittany's independence. Ismae joins the nuns and becomes an expert assassin, particularly well trained in poison. However, things go slightly awry on her first mission and she ends up in the company of a nobleman bound for Brittany's royal court and the intrigue and deceit that comes along with it.
I have to be honest I wasn't really to fond of Ismae. She was a bit whiny. I was also a bit confused as to why the Abbess of the convent would send a woefully unprepared novice to the royal court when there were surely people more adequately prepared for the mission. Ismae spends quite a lot of time questioning her placement there, and while her loyalty to the besieged duchess is admirable, she was quite clearly not the woman for the job. I was also considerably more interested in another one of the novices who arrived at the same time as Ismae. Sybella was a much more engaging character and I was quite pleased to learn that she is the star of the second book in the series! another thing that really bothered me about this book was the fact that as a trained assassin Ismae should really be able to take on any and all opponents, and often she does, but occasionally her skills seem to abandon her and if there's one thing I dislike it's inconsistency. Finally and I'll say *SPOILER ALERT* Sex as a cure for poison? Not so sure about that...
All and all a decent read but not the top of my list!
Enjoy
Morgan
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