Plot:

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

My first thought was “Why have I never read this before!”

This is a fantastic Fantasy novel by Jay Kristoff whose other series include The Lotus Wars and Lifelike. I have not had the chance to read any of his other books but based solely on Nevernight they will shortly be added to my TBR pile.

The main character, Mia, is a fantastic Protagonist, easily relatable, even if she is an assassin in training. Jay writes her masterfully, making her emotions your own and her actions completely understandable. Mia is hilariously witty and the conversations between her and Mr Kindly were some of my favourite:

“She looked to Mister Kindly, sitting on the road beside her. 
‘Not. A. Fucking. Word.’
‘. . . meow . . .’ he said.”

She is one of my favourite female characters and she can kick ass to boot! With all the twists and turns inlcluded in the book you’re not really sure who the Antagonist is until the end, although there are some general villians throughout who Kristoff makes it rather easy to hate.

Ill admit to it not being the easiest book to get into. It took me two attempts before I finished it, but once you get past the 1st few chapters the story starts to flow with much more ease. Kristoff creates a world and set of characters easily believable, and with Godsgrave being loosely based on Venice you feel as though a visit is as easy as a plane ride away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, though not having the best start, the rest of the book is hilariously witty. I will add a warning though for graphic sex scenes and strong language, some may say was not needed, however, I feel it adds to the storyline and makes the characters much more relatable. This was an easy 5/5 for me and I have already downloaded and started reading Godsgrave, the second book in the series.

Goodreads