She is trained as an assassin, taught how to fight, how to create complicated poisons to kill instantly or drag out a death for days. She is rescued away from the beginning of an abusive marriage to be taken to a convent.

A young woman has been scarred since her mother attempted to abort her pregnancy but she survived, and the marque she bears is that of Death's servants. The beginning, in my opinion, was the best part of the whole book. The heroine - Ismae - is a trained assassin that has some serious man issues (with understandable reason), so why can she do nothing but ogle Duval's sexy body in armour when they are in life-threatening situations? It all happened too soon, too predictably, too obviously. I prefer a book that is about more than a bit of romancing, but I'm not immune to a well-told love story either and I can easily be persuaded to award a book at least three stars if I'd been sold on it. However, the romance was the main player in this book and it was the kind that sprang up immediately and left our heroine instantly breathless every time she saw Mr Duval after their first meeting. Perhaps I would have been less bored if the romance had been the kind to creep up on you, so that you're inwardly pleading that the characters will get together long before they even acknowledge their attraction for one another. Perhaps I would have been far less bored if I cared more for fantasy/historical fiction that focuses most of its energy on the romance story. This book is like small dashes of awesomeness randomly sprinkled throughout long stretches of boredom. The closest parallel I can think of is Cashore's Graceling - another fantastic romance about a deadly heroine. It isn't exactly an adventure novel, so don't expect a fight on every page, but if you stick with it, it's well worth reading! I'd recommend it to YA fans, especially those with an interest in history. The novel is driven by mystery, romance and subtle skulduggery. Unfortunately for Ismae, one of the people she is sent to spy on (and possibly assassinate) is the first man she feels she might love. Soon she is plunged into a game of intrigue and villainy as the realm tries to maintain its independence from France. Our lethal heroine, Ismae, escapes a life of poverty and abuse by joining the convent. The old ways live on, however, especially among the daughters of Saint Mortain, who serve as the realm's assassins, killing those who need to be killed. The novel is set in an alternate realm of Brittany, where the local gods have been subsumed by Christianity and renamed saints.

Hooked me with a great premise: medieval nun assassins who serve Saint Mortain, the god of death.

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