I really enjoyed this book! My star rating is 3.5. It was a fun read and I hope we get a series out of these characters! Thank you for an ARC of this little gem.

This book has probably one of the most interesting premises to exist. A world where when the lugal, who can be considered the king of the city, dies, a group of three beautiful young women accompany him into the afterworld. Our story follows Kammani, a young healer’s apprentice, who does everything in her power to save her sister who had been chosen as one of the three Sacred Maidens. Something I loved about this book was the relationship between the sisters. As I sister myself, I can relate to fighting with a person endlessly but still loving them above all else at the end of the day. I also loved Kammani’s persistence in trying to heal the lugal, as well as her dreams of becoming the greatest healer in the land. I can appreciate a strong woman with big dreams of her own. However, so much of this book was also lackluster. The romance left much to be desired (I’m going to need a book just on that) because Dagan was such a loyal guy, and we all deserve someone like him. I also found Kammani to be annoying in how she handled her actions towards the end. She lied and lied and wouldn’t listen to anyone else. This book also wasn’t particularly gripping in the way that I hoped it would be. Overall, I would recommend this book if you find the premise to be interesting.

I'm going to be honest, when I first heard of GRAVEMAIDENS, I thought it wouldn't be my cup of tea. Death and graves and sacrifice are all kinda *shudder-inducing* to me; I'm more of a magic/fantasy/romcom/sci-fi/less dark! kinda reader. I only picked this up because it was required reading for a committee that I'm a part of...

...yet I was really pleasantly surprised, because I actually REALLY enjoyed it!

The prose is wonderful; it's gripping and doesn't let you go, and it's beautifully written.

Though yes, the premise is dark - and Coon doesn't hold back from the darkness throughout the pages - it's also full of twists, so the story flies by; the setting is incredibly realistic (which, yeah, ADDS TO THE DARKNESS and the horror, but it also makes the story that much more incredible!), and the sisterly dynamic is great.

I'm truly glad I had a reason to pick up this book, because it was definitely a read that I'm glad I got to experience!

Not only did the cover of Gravemaidens capture my attention immediately, but so did the synopsis. I loved the idea of the main character being a healer instead of the typical fighter/warrior character that you tend to see in YA fantasy. Plus, I'm a sucker for family stories, so Kammani wanting to save her sister just really piqued my interest in this book. I loved the writing and I am so excited to see where the story goes in the sequel!

Kelly Coon’s Gravemaidens is a YA historical fiction/fantasy novel with a wonderfully original premise and setting. In fact, it’s one of the best conceptualized novels you’re likely to find this year. It’s dark, realistic tone is compelling, and it’s fast pace means it feel like big twists lurk on almost every page.

On the whole, Gravemaidens is a worthwhile read and something most YA fans who like similar historical fantasy stories will really enjoy. That said, the novel has an issue that keeps it from being the book I personally hoped it could be, and that’s the fact that its heroine can be frustrating, difficult and downright hard to root for at times.

But more on that in a moment.

Gravemaidens follows the story of sixteen-year-old Kammani, who wants nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of her father, who was once the greatest healer in all of Alu. Women aren’t necessarily particularly valued in this kingdom – which seems to draw a lot of inspiration from ancient Sumerian and Egyptian culture – but Kammani is determined to prove everyone wrong.

Her family has suffered greatly in recent years due to her father’s inability to heal the king’s son the previous year, which caused their wealth and status to be stripped away. As a result, they now live in new poverty, Kammani’s mother is dead from childbirth complications, and her father has lost himself in the bottom of a bottle.

When her sister is unexpectedly chosen to become a Sacred Maiden, Kammani’s world crumples. These are three young women who are chosen to be killed and buried with a dead king upon his passing, and the tradition is seen by most in Alu as a great honor. Kammani doesn’t think so, however, and is determined to save her sister from a fate she sees as little more than a government enforced death sentence.

In a desperate attempt to save her sister, Kammani manages to get herself invited to the palace as the Lugal (a.k.a. the king)’s new healer, in order to try and save his life and prevent Nanaea from needing to die at his side.

Coons builds out the world of Alu in great detail, creating a culture that feels both rich and vibrant. (For what it’s worth, I’d read an entire book about the Alu before this, and how the idea of Gravemaidens came about in the first place.) Readers are largely dropped into the center of this world and left to figure out its rules and traditions on their own. Which is, for the most part, a captivating experience. Unfortunately, as a character, Kammani doesn’t get quite the same level of depth.

As a heroine, she’s surprisingly frustrating. She’s strong-willed and stubborn to a fault. She refuses to listen to anyone else’s opinions or suggestions and immediately assumes that her choices are not only right, but superior and necessary.

The thing is, her feelings are largely understandable. Kammani has been through a lot in her short life. Her mother’s dead, her father’s a mess, and the family’s lost everything. She’s got so much responsibility on her young shoulders. Of course, she’s going to be something of a control freak with a complex about failure. She should be.

But the problem is that we never see another side to her thinking. She’s 100% convinced she’s right, at all times, and never wavers from that. The novel does its best to show us other perspectives – including why Nanaea wants to be a Sacred Maiden so badly. (Spoiler: It’s not for the reason Kammani assumes.) But Kammani’s position almost never changes – or even wavers at any point. From insisting she knows better than her sister does, to misjudging the intentions of almost everyone around her to vacillating between disinterest and jealousy over her sort of maybe boyfriend.

In short, it kind of gets real tired, real quick.

Gravemaidens is the first book in a duology, and the events at the end of the novel mean that its sequel will naturally look quite different than its predecessor. Here’s hoping that whatever the second half of this story includes, it takes a more balanced approach to its primary heroine, a character I desperately wanted to love, and could only begrudgingly respect by the end of the story.

I wanted to like this. The story sounded intriguing, the world building started off good. But there is just something about the main character, Kammani, that doesn't ring true. I can't tell if it's because Coon isn't as skilled as needed in character development, or if she was just trying too hard to make Kammani this justice warrior sort of person that she forgot to make her more relatable to readers. Whatever it is, I ended up abandoning it before the final reveal because I just couldn't make myself go back and spend more time in the world. There may be some out there, especially younger female readers looking for a voice, who will enjoy this. I wasn't one of them.

Solid story, not at all what I was expecting. The twists kept me reading and I'm curious for any sequels.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this!

this wasn't a bad book but it just wasn't for me, which was disappointing because i was really intrigued by this title. reading about a fantasy world set in an ancient (mesopotamian-like?) world was really cool, but there were a couple things that i wasn't a fan of.

the first being the pacing. the first half of this book was incredibly boring to me. it was so slow and it took me forever to reach the halfway mark, then the second half flew by.

i also wasn't a fan of the main character, kammani. i found her to be annoying most of the time to be honest, and i wish we got to see more of her best friend, iltani. i thought the whole romance - betrothal with dagan was weird because we got almost no backstory to that and it seemed like kammani didn't actually like him until she did? idk

3.5 rounded definitely up to four, are you all set to teleport yourself into a fairy tale meets fantasy meets historical romantic journey, if you nod passionately, stop staring with your mouth open and join this amazing j voyage because you feel hooked from the first pages and you don’t want to put it down stars!

Raise your hands to clap because there is a new author in the literature town and we should welcome Kelly Coon with open arms. Because we need good minds, creative genius brains and we really need good books to read! Because our time is precious, our mind needs more vivid journeys and our hearts needs warming feelings that only a heart-embracing book can give.

The book is centered on Kammani’s story who is a healer, lost both of her parents. Her brother was given to another family with the ruler’s order and now she is about to lose her only family member, her sister Nanaea who was chosen to be one of the sacred maidens will join the ruler in the afterlife.

THE THINGS I LOVED: Story pacing that captures your full concentration and attention, take your mind off from your daily stress and bring you to this fantasy land. It was entertaining page-turner make you want to know what’s going to happen next.

As a hero (He actually seemed like a supporting character because there were too many women characters on this book which also made me happy) DAGAN is honest, devoted, strong, carrying all the great attributes of best book boyfriend but sometimes I thought he acted like doormat of heroine (DON’T BLAME HIM! BLAME THE HEROINE WHO DOESN’T SHOW HIM THE RESPECT HE DESERVED.)

And best of the best friend forever, amazing supporting character ILTANI; unpredictable, bat-shit crazy, amazingly loyal and supporting friend, sarcastic, witty and funny is completely my favorite character.
(As you can see I wrote DAGAN and ILTANI’s names in big letters, you can imagine how I loved them.)

THE THINGS I HATE: I want to yell at Kammani: “Why are you so stubborn and choosing unhappiness? You’re not carrying all the word’s weight on your shoulders. Cheer up! Stop being serious and kiss Dagan!”

And Nanaea, did you leave your brain cells at the coat room before entering this fantasy world?
She’s so happy to be chosen as maiden. She’s going to be trapped in a tomb with dead body and die but she thinks this is honor! ( Yeap, maybe before being a character of this book she watched too much episodes of Bachelor and lost the rest of her grey cells). She just made some moves to Dagan even she knows her sister has feelings for him.( You broke the sister code, you bitch :)))) So I fantasized to punch on her spoiled brat face thousand times which made me smile.( Okay, not smile, evil laugh like Cardi B’s)

Those two sisters really annoyed me but I mostly liked the writing, story development and pacing. It’s a good start for debut novel. I didn’t know it was duology before I started. So I little disappointed because I have to wait for my second book to read the end of the characters’ story.

QUICK NOTE TO THE WRITER:
I loved Iltica too much and as a kind request I wish she has her own book after the ending of the duology. This is such a passionate and vivid character. I liked to read more about her adventures.

I loved this book so much. I hadn't planned to read this book, I'll be honest. When I found out that the author would be in town during a YA panel I was hosting, we invited her on-board. I read the book due to this and was surprised with how much I loved it. I am so excited for the sequel and to see what is next!

I was sucked in from the very beginning, as we explored the culture and got into motivations and really felt like I was there!

While this title was not for me, I will definitely recommend to my teen customers looking for new fantasy.

An interesting concept with a world that I would have liked to seen fleshed out a bit more, especially the concept of death and ‘heaven’. Somewhat mystery plot that did not surprise me in the end, but I wasn’t upset at the lack of surprise. Quintessential YA female MC that has severe struggles, but still tried to save her family. I enjoyed the fact that she was a healer, not a fighter. We don’t see enough healers.

The only thing that really threw me was the almost sexual assault that happened at one point in time.
Not appropriate for the younger teen crowd.

3 stars. Solid, enjoyable, I will recommend. I personally won’t read the sequel, but I can see my customers enjoying this duology.

I LOVED the cover of this book! It is just so beautiful I thought the characters had fully fleshed out personalities and backstories and could believe this was a story from long ago with the religious and medicinal beliefs. Kammani’s no nonsense character traits made her all the more likeable but I did want to shake her every time she brushed off that boy’s attentions. This was a great read and worth the attention the cover will gain. I am excited for how this story will end in Warmaidens.

I really liked the premise of this story from the beginning. I liked Kammani's fierce determination and her protectiveness of her little sister and family. I truly felt bad for what life had dealt her and her family and loved that she tried to make the best out of a bad situation. I was disappointed in how she treated Dagan though and felt that where she was upfront and blunt with everyone else she just brushed him off a lot. I could not stand her little sister Nanaea though. She was the typical younger sibling who just wafted through life with everyone doing everything for her and was a complete ditz. She's one of those characters that doesn't sacrifice or give anything of her self to help her family or friends, but expects them all to do things for her. As much as I disliked her, I felt it was very appropriate for the story line. One of the characters who I felt didn't get a lot of page time (but I hope does in the sequel) was Iltani. I loved her attitude and spunk and she was a fun character to read.

I received a review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read but it also wasn't entirely original. Just another typical basic fantasy storyline. Girl has to provide for her family and give up her innocence and youth in the process, drama with classes and societal issues to overcome, you know the drill. It was still a fairly fun read but it wasn't anything ground breaking.

The premise of Gravemaidens was very promising. I loved the world building and the political intrigue, and the relationship between Kammani and Nanaea was wonderful. However, at some points the pacing fell short for me, and while I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, it felt that that was the only driving force behind Kammani's actions - which in turn made her feel underdeveloped. While I enjoyed the read, I didn't love it, hence the three stars.

This was about a 2 star read for me. Our main character's most obvious traits are: being morose, insisting that she has a job to do, and allowing other people to use hollow reasons to keep her from doing her job. She's always right on the cusp of figuring out what's going on (which the reader already has figured out) and the only thing driving the plot forward for me was waiting to see how else she messed up. Her love interest deserved better, MANY characters only served as foils or props to allow the plot to move forward, and it was generally frustrating to read. This was clearly a miss for me.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one is about a healer in a city in which the ruler is dying. It is tradition that 3 beautiful maidens are chosen to accompany the healer to his grave in order to take care of him in the after life. Everyone thinks this is a great honor, except for the healer who knows it is just dying. When her sister gets chosen to be a maiden, she does everything she can to prevent the ceremony from taking place.

Here are my thoughts: While the main character seemed a little naive and didn’t always recognize the things that were right in front of her. She’s also so concerned with helping others that she will not accept help from anyone else which is a bit annoying.

However, the story was enchanting. I stayed up late more than one to finish out the chase scene, and then the next part.. and then I absolutely had to find out what happened to the mother. The story has a great pace that pulls you along.

I give this book 4/5, and I had to think about it carefully because the ending just felt so flat or “blah” to me that I almost wanted to give the whole book a 3. Then I remembered how much I liked all the good bits and I tried to forget the ending. It’s not that it is a bad ending, and I cannot articulate what it was that I didn’t like, but it just left me feeling uninterested in what could happen next.

3.5 Stars

Loved the cover and the characters were interesting but I struggled to connected with them. Some parts felt really intense and emotional while others just felt like filler moments that slowed the pace down.

Being a romantic, I'm really shipping the romance and didn't mind that it was secondary to the story because it allowed for some built up to their emotions and their overall relationship, yay!!

The world building has to be my favorite part of this book. It was unique and memorable and I hope this will stay as a duology because I am definitely interested in seeing a proper ending, but not sure I'll check in for the long hual :(

This one just wasn't for me. I was thrilled over the synopsis but it did not read as original to me as it sounded. It felt predictable and like I have read this book many times over in the YA Fantasy world. It was decently fast-paced so it felt like a quick read to me, so there's that? I hate leaving bad reviews but I do not think I will be continuing in this series. I hope others enjoy it more than I did!

I received a free e-book version in exchange for my review!
I must say it was not exactly what I was expecting. It was definitely a page turner specially at the second half and I wasn't entirely sure who to trust however I had a feeling about who the villain was and I ended up being right in the end. I couldn't connect very well to the characters, except for Iltani who was by far my favorite. I love how the book shows the bonds of friendship very well. I will likely pick up the next book to see if there is some character improvement!