Grey Sister

Great book. Would like to have heard more about another character towards the end, but still so much fun to read. Thanks.

Abess Glass is who I want to be when I grow up.

I loved the continuing story line from book 1 and getting reacquainted with the characters. However, like book 1, there's an emphasis on the blow-by-blow telling of each fight that I'm not a fan of.

Mark Lawrence continues his Book of the Ancestor trilogy. The central characters remain as engaging as ever and the story rocks along at a very nice pace. I love the writing style - it really draws me in as a reader with fun and engaging characters that you really end up rooting for

“There are many poisons that will induce madness but none perhaps quite so effective as love.”

The training swords are no longer wooden and the risks are even higher as Nona continues to train under the Sisters of Sweet Mercy. Scarred from her battle with Raymel, a devil has invaded her body, feeding off her anger and guilt. Every day is a battle over her emotions as the death of Hessa weighs heavily on Nona's shoulders. Blocked off from the site of Hessa's death by the Sisters, Nona explores the under caves determined to find another way in. What she will find when she revisits the site of Hessa's death will force her to flee the Convent of Sweet Mercy. Thrown back into the world, Nona must put her years of training with the Sisters to use as she becomes the hunted.

I do have to say there were a few moments I was confused in this book. The first few chapters with Nona introduced a cast of new characters in the Grey class and it took me a while to grasp the change of pace. The devil Keot, in particular, caught me by surprise and I thought I missed something from the previous book. I even went back through Mark's summary from Red Sister and the last few chapters, but no, he simply wasn't mentioned until book two.

I do appreciate how Mark Lawrence included a summary of all the important parts from Red Sister. I feel like this should be something that should become a norm for authors. I love rereading my favorites, but sometimes you just don't have the time and want to jump right into the newest book in a series.

I was surprised when Nona no longer became the only point of view the reader was allowed to follow. Sister Kettle takes front stage and has her own chapters in Grey Sister. Her path is dark, full of shadows and poisons. Seeing a Sister in action and being able to experience battle from Kettle's point of view was intense. Although I do have to admit towards the end, Nona and Kettle flip flop point of views mid-chapter a lot and it became a bit repetitive for me.

I completely expected another book with Nona staying in the Convent to train in her new class, but I should have known it wouldn't be so simple. Mark Lawrence has a tendency to throw expectations out the window. With Nona on the run, the book reached a whole new level of tension. Between Keot trying to make Nona kill everyone and her desperate battles against would be assassins, there is barely a page left without blood and violence. It is nonstop action. Even the courtroom scenes aren't spared from it all.

I can't wait to read Holy Sister, but at the same time, I don't want Nona's story to end.

There were a few too many newly revealed items in this book for me. I'm talking about things that should have been mentioned in the first book but appear suddenly in order to explain various things.

But overall still a fun read.

Although I didn't find Grey Sister to be quite as compelling as Red Sister, I loved it anyway and could hardly put it down throughout the second half. I'm very invested in many of these characters, especially Nona, and I also very much enjoyed the themes surrounding various types of strength, power, and friendship.

Full Review on My Website

An amazing book for any fanfiction

I'm not one for lengthy reviews, so here what I think about Grey Sister:

Just go and read it (the series), it's awesome!

I actually never written a review, but because it's important for a book and its writer I gladly do so. Bonus points for the book/writer being amazing!

That's all.

This book starts off two years after the end of Red Sister. Nona is back at Sweet Mercy taking her classes to determine which kind of Sister she will become. She still can't stop thinking about Hessa and the shipheart. Thoughts of killing Yisht consume her. As if that isn't enough, she has made an enemy in Joeli Namsis, one of her classmates. Joeli's main goal in life is to have Nona thrown out of Sweet Mercy or dead would work for her too. With enemies everywhere, it's a good thing Nona is surrounded by friends, including one she didn't know she had.

This book was AMAZING!!! The story is great, and it has one of the best groups of characters ever!

You must read this book!

Executive Summary: I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as [b:Red Sister 25895524 Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) Mark Lawrence https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481038440s/25895524.jpg 45777900], but it was still really goodAudiobook: Heather O'Neill does another fantastic job. I love her voices. She reads with good inflections and volume. She definitely makes this series a must listen for me.Full ReviewI finally took the plunge with Mark Lawrence with [b:Red Sister 25895524 Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) Mark Lawrence https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481038440s/25895524.jpg 45777900] back in February and this is now the 5th Mark Lawrence book I've read this year. It's the first I got on release day, and won't be the last. In fact I'm ready for [b:Holy Sister 38099642 Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #3) Mark Lawrence https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png 59773612] to come out tomorrow :)I love the idea of a warrior nun. Not only is Nona Grey a fantastic protagonist, most of the other Nuns are Novices are fantastic as well. It probably helps that I love a good fantasy school trope, but Mr. Lawrence's spin on it is pretty unique compared to all the others I've read.The world building is really intriguing, but not explored as much as I'd like. I want to know more about the ancient people and their technology. I was also hoping we got some more information on the magic system in this book, so I was a bit disappointed in that regard.My main gripe was that the primary antagonist felt a bit too much like your standard spoiled rich kid who hates the protagonist simply for being poor. I know those people exist in reality, but it just feels a bit overused, especially in the fantasy school trope. It would have been nice if there was more depth to her character.That aside, I'm really eager to see where things go in what I believe is the final book. I think I read that Mr. Lawrence has already finished writing it, so hopefully it will be out early next year. I've seen comments about this ending on a cliffhanger, but I thought compared to the first book this one ends in a much better place. Do I want to know what happens next? Of course I do. I want all of the next book right now in fact, not just the next few scenes.I'll likely sustain myself by reading The Red Queen's War trilogy. Some of my friends say it's better than this one. All that I know is that this series is great, and I think it's a far better place to start with his work than [b:Prince of Thorns 9579634 Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1) Mark Lawrence https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327917754s/9579634.jpg 14466531].

A wonderful sequel to Red Sister. Reading the story unfold from two perspectives and then come together in such a climactic way kept me from putting the book down.

Many trilogies experience a “second book slump”, where the story lags between the grand opening of the first book and the epic conclusion of the third. Not so for Grey Sister. 

The book picks up three years after the conclusion of Red Sister. Nona is now in Mystic class, though most of her friends are still in Grey. She's changed a great deal since the ranging where she first walked the Path and is struggling with containing her rage. 

We finally get to learn more about the Grey Sisters (shocking, I know), and they more than live up to their reputation as masters of discretion. Nona tends to take more of a brute force approach to problem-solving, and this leads to some interesting situations. 

There are two main things that make this book stand out from its predecessor. First, Lawrence explores the lore of the world in greater depth. Who are the Missing? Where do the devils that infested Raymel Tacsis come from? What the heck is a ship heart? Don't expect to have everything just explained to you, but there are a lot of answers revealed. Secondly, the scope of the story expands. We're no longer confined to the convent, or even limited to just Nona's point of view. Through some creative narrative devices, we're able to see through the eyes of side characters firsthand. 

Grey Sister is not without flaws. Interesting characters were set aside for nearly the entire book, intimidating villains made some questionably effective choices, and some scenes were written to intentionally obscure subtleties from the reader rather than letting them figure things out for themselves. That said, most of my concerns with the book were minor and could likely be considered positives by another reader. 

Overall, this was a strong follow-up to Red Sister. Readers who enjoyed the first book will be in for a treat. 

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.