by Kelly Coon
Series: Gravemaidens #1
Published on October 29, 2019 by Delacorte Press
Format: eARC
Pages: 416
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
The start of a fierce fantasy duology about three maidens who are chosen for their land's greatest honor...and one girl determined to save her sister from the grave.
In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame.
When Alu's ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her.
But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.
Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There she discovers more danger lurking in the sand-stone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself.
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I hate writing bad reviews. Especially for a book that I looked forward to for so long. And I really do always try to find something positive to say about every book I review. But, with Gravemaidens, that has been really, really hard to accomplish.
My initial thought after DNFing this one at about thirty percent was, “Wow. That entire beginning felt like a Hunger Games ripoff.” And I usually like stuff that’s derivative! But with an opening ceremony in the town square and a younger sister chosen as tribute(HA I’m kidding- the word tribute wasn’t actually used. The rest of it though…), Gravemaidens crossed over from derivative territory to copycat-ish. And I know that it’s hard to have wholly original ideas anymore. Everything is similar to something. But I’ve read plenty of books that are similar to The Hunger Games without feeling like a total ripoff.
Honestly though, I probably could have looked past that eventually. Probably. But nothing else in the whole first third of the book grabbed me! Sure, it was a fast, easy read. But it felt like that ceremony was all that really happened! And the characters were fine, I guess, but I didn’t feel pulled toward any of them or their stories. They all felt bland, like caricatures of people from *insert almost any YA fantasy book here*. Nothing in this book- not the characters, not the story- was engaging enough for me to want to keep reading, no matter how fast or easy of a read it was.
So I guess, if I’m going to try to end on a positive, then maybe this is a case of ‘it’s not the book, it’s me?’ But even that doesn’t feel right. YA fantasy is a highly over-populated genre right now and there are so many incredible books out there. One’s that go above and beyond, that take inspiration from stories we love and turn them into something totally new and stunning. I truly can’t see myself recommending this one over countless other options. Here’s to hoping others enjoy it more that I did I guess.
About Katie
I'm a twenty-something aspiring writer who really, really needs to get back to revisions. I've been reviewing books since 2014, and am determined to somehow make stories my day job. I truly think that every book out there contains something good and is meant for somebody.
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