Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

GODSGRAVE
by Jay Kristoff

St. Martin’s Press
September 5, 2017

THERE WILL BE NO GODSGRAVE SPOILERS HERE, BUT THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR NEVERNIGHT (BOOK ONE) SPOILERS.

From Goodreads:

Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

Ok, everyone. I’m so behind on all my reviews. Behind isn’t even the right word. More like buried. But I had to crawl out from underneath to rave about this one, because holy crap! I was already a fan of Nevernight, but Godsgrave is next level.

We continue to follow Mia after the events of Nevernight, and once again we’re treated to a story split in pieces. A chapter of backstory, then a chapter of the present. Back and forth. And they’re both fantastic. Every time a chapter ends, I didn’t want it to. I didn’t want to shift from the past to the present or vice versa. But a paragraph or two into the next chapter and I was firmly rooted in that narrative and didn’t want to leave.

Kristoff does this marvellous job of giving us something new and unique while still feeling enough like the original Nevernight book. Not an easy task. How do you make something seem old and new at the same time? Step 1: read Godsgrave. Step 2: Give up, knowing you’ll never be as good as Jay Kristoff.

Many of the characters from the first book are mentioned or seen briefly, but the majority of the story takes place with a new cast of characters. That may seem disappointing at first, but these new characters will worm their way into your heart and won’t leave. Unless you stab them. Then they’ll stab back. And Jay Kristoff will stab you both. I get the impression that the characters from both book one and two (those are still alive anyway) will be meet in the third. And probably stab each other.

Let’s talk about what I didn’t like about Godsgrave: it ended. It ended and I have to wait approximately forever for Darkdawn. Seriously, that’s the only thing. I even liked the footnotes this time around, which were a source of annoyance in Nevernight. I can’t figure out if I enjoyed them this time around because I was expecting them, and thus more mentally prepared, or it was because Kristoff wrote the footnotes with a much more cynical voice. It’s probably a combination of the two.

In summary, anyone picking up Godsgrave can expect dynamite writing, characters reaching right off the page (to try and stab you), answers to some questions you’ve had since Nevernight, and a whole pile of new questions you never had before. Did I miss anything? Probably. Trust me. Just read it.

Fun fact about this post: This book caused me to want to curse out loud many, many times.