I just finished Grave Mercy by Robin Lefevers and it was fantastic! Ismae is a young girl being forced into an arranged marriage with an abusive man when she’s rescued and whisked away to a convent. But it’s not your ordinary sort of convent because Ismae has been marked as a handmaiden of St. Mortain, the saint of death.

Ismae is trained as an assassin and then sent on assignment to her duchess’s court. Of course, there’s intrigue and romance to follow: gorgeous gowns and balls, poisons and betrayals, secret passageways and unforeseen alliances.

I really enjoyed this alternate history of medieval Europe; I’m looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Read an excerpt.

Maggie Stiefvater’s new book Raven Boys is the first book in a new series. It’s due out in the fall but you can take a sneak peek at the first two chapters.

Publisher’s description of the book -

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

If you’re a fan of Suzanne Collins or Christopher Paolini, you might try Above by Leah Bobet

From the publisher: Matthew has loved Ariel from the moment he found her in the tunnels, her bee’s wings falling away. They live in Safe, an underground refuge for those fleeing the city Above—like Whisper, who speaks to ghosts, and Jack Flash, who can shoot lightning from his fingers.

But one terrifying night, an old enemy invades Safe with an army of shadows, and only Matthew, Ariel, and a few friends escape Above. As Matthew unravels the mystery of Safe’s history and the shadows’ attack, he realizes he must find a way to remake his home—not just for himself, but for Ariel, who needs him more than ever before.

Read an excerpt (PDF).

 Were you a fan of Divergent by Veronica Roth? The sequel, Insurgent, is coming out soon. Read an interview with Veronica Roth about the continuation of Tris’s story of guilt, revelations, trials, and loss.

Description: One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook – From Lamb Stew to “Groosling”- more than 150 recipes inspired by The Hunger Games Trilogy.

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones