Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) – Jay Kristoff

Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church hierarchy think she's far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she's no closer to ending the men who destroyed her familia; in fact, she's told directly that Consul Scaeva is off limits. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia's suspicions about the Red Church's true motives begin to grow.

BOOK REVIEW

I knew I was in for a while ride when starting GODSGRAVE but Jay Kristoff sure did not skimp on the cliffhanger here! There was definitely a lot that happened towards the end of the book, full of action, surprises, and twists. While NEVERNIGHT was easily one of my favorite books of last year, I didn’t love GODSGRAVE quiiiite as much but it was still one of my favorite reads of 2019!

The gladiator aspect was fine and enjoyable, but it was just such a different setting from the first book. I liked the school setting more in NEVERNIGHT and it was such an easy way to introduce all of the elements of this world, magical and political. GODSGRAVE became a lot more plot-driven instead of world-driven, I think, and there was a heavy action focus with the gladiator concept taking over a big part of this book. It was still enjoyable but I felt like some of the things we could learn about the world was a bit limited due to setting.

I also felt like we got a lot more character development in NEVERNIGHT. There were a lot of interesting things that happened here, although I do still wish we had gotten a few more answers here too. There was a lot to discover and I feel like we could have had a few more teases! GODSGRAVE was still a fantastic middle book but I almost felt like a couple things took a bit too long to transition. Then again NEVERNIGHT also really took its time setting a few things up. Also, I’m definitely not complaining because I really did still enjoy it! It’s just interesting to look back after finishing to see how things shook out over the course of the book. I think it would be fascinating to reread this whole series after reading the last book.

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FAVORITE FACTORS

Kept Me Hooked On: Roman influence in fantasy. I feel like most of the high fantasy influence is largely English. This was a very unique Italian/Roman influence and it was a neat change of pace!
Left Me Wanting More: World-building? It really wasn’t missing world-building but I did miss how much we got in NEVERNIGHT through what we learned through the school. It was just a different way of introducing things to the audience, I guess.