Gravemaidens
Do you ever hear all about a book or see a book on the shelf and think you know exactly what it's about? But then you actually start reading it and it was completely different from what you thought?
Well, that was Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon for me. I'm on Twitter a lot and I follow all sorts of authors that promote each other's books so I find out about books before they come out pretty frequently. I was hearing all about Gravemaidens and how good it was. I had seen the cover everywhere and it looked gorgeous.
To me it looked like a great fantasy book or something. The cover has some pretty bugs on it with a glowing blue jar. And I was like hm...maybe there are fairies or something. I don't know? But I heard all the rave reviews once the book came out and knew it was pretty popular. So when I saw the book on the new arrivals shelf at my junior high library, I was excited to read it. Let me tell you--it was not what I was expecting at all.
First of all, Gravemaidens is set in what seemed to me to be an ancient Mesopotamian-like city state called Alu. Kammani is the main character and her father is one of the greatest healer's in the city but was cast out of the privileged life when he failed to heal the ruler's son. Kammani wants to be a healer just like her father and has become his apprentice.
When the ruler of Alu falls ill, Kammani's little sister, Nanaea, is chosen to be one of the three young maidens who will join him as one of his queens in the afterlife. Everyone in the city sees it as a great honor and tradition. But Kammani sees it as a death sentence and just another way that her family is slipping away from her.
Kammani manages to scheme her way into the palace to find a way to heal the ruler so that her sister won't be killed. But there seems to be more than just an illness standing between her and her goal. Danger and secrets abound and Kammani will do anything--including sacrificing herself--in order to keep her family together.
I loved the unique setting of the story. I've never really read anything in a similar setting--it's supposed to be fictional but like I said, it gave off Mesopotamian/Egyptian vibes to me. I enjoyed it a lot!
I also loved the characters. Kammani is a great main character who doesn't allow the traditions and closed-mindedness of those around her stop her from getting what she wants. Nanaea is the annoying younger sister who enjoys the frivolous things in life but Kammani loves her anyway. Iltani is Kammani's best friend. She is supportive and turns out to be a great sidekick. But my favorite is Dagan, who loves Kammani more than anything and she returns his feelings but worries that she can't give him the life that he wants. She pushes him away but he keeps coming back to take care of her.
There's a lot of great sleuthing in this mystery. There's romance and friendship and action. Overall I thought it was a fantastic, well-written YA read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for some interesting "historical-fiction" type fantasy-esque fiction.
You can purchase a copy here.
To me it looked like a great fantasy book or something. The cover has some pretty bugs on it with a glowing blue jar. And I was like hm...maybe there are fairies or something. I don't know? But I heard all the rave reviews once the book came out and knew it was pretty popular. So when I saw the book on the new arrivals shelf at my junior high library, I was excited to read it. Let me tell you--it was not what I was expecting at all.
First of all, Gravemaidens is set in what seemed to me to be an ancient Mesopotamian-like city state called Alu. Kammani is the main character and her father is one of the greatest healer's in the city but was cast out of the privileged life when he failed to heal the ruler's son. Kammani wants to be a healer just like her father and has become his apprentice.
When the ruler of Alu falls ill, Kammani's little sister, Nanaea, is chosen to be one of the three young maidens who will join him as one of his queens in the afterlife. Everyone in the city sees it as a great honor and tradition. But Kammani sees it as a death sentence and just another way that her family is slipping away from her.
Kammani manages to scheme her way into the palace to find a way to heal the ruler so that her sister won't be killed. But there seems to be more than just an illness standing between her and her goal. Danger and secrets abound and Kammani will do anything--including sacrificing herself--in order to keep her family together.
I loved the unique setting of the story. I've never really read anything in a similar setting--it's supposed to be fictional but like I said, it gave off Mesopotamian/Egyptian vibes to me. I enjoyed it a lot!
I also loved the characters. Kammani is a great main character who doesn't allow the traditions and closed-mindedness of those around her stop her from getting what she wants. Nanaea is the annoying younger sister who enjoys the frivolous things in life but Kammani loves her anyway. Iltani is Kammani's best friend. She is supportive and turns out to be a great sidekick. But my favorite is Dagan, who loves Kammani more than anything and she returns his feelings but worries that she can't give him the life that he wants. She pushes him away but he keeps coming back to take care of her.
There's a lot of great sleuthing in this mystery. There's romance and friendship and action. Overall I thought it was a fantastic, well-written YA read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for some interesting "historical-fiction" type fantasy-esque fiction.
You can purchase a copy here.
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