Jay Kristoff hebt die Messlatte mit Godsgrave, dem zweiten Band seiner Nevernight-Chroniken, noch einmal höher. Während Nevernight bereits eine fesselnde Reise voller Mut, Freundschaft und Geheimnisse bot, geht dieser Nachfolger noch tiefer in die Abgründe von Rache, Macht und Verrat – und hält die Spannung bis zur letzten Seite aufrecht. Die Protagonistin Mia Corvere ist jetzt eine geformte Klinge, geschärft durch Schmerz und Verlust. Ihre Entwicklung ist faszinierend zu beobachten: Sie ist stärker, härter und entschlossener geworden, aber gleichzeitig ringt sie immer noch mit ihrer Menschlichkeit und den Geistern ihrer Vergangenheit. Genau diese innere Zerrissenheit macht sie zu einer der spannendsten Figuren der aktuellen Fantasy-Landschaft. Die neuen und alten Weggefährten an Mias Seite verleihen der Geschichte eine überraschende Dynamik. Ihre Beziehungen sind komplexer geworden, und die Dialoge – gespickt mit Sarkasmus und schwarzem Humor – sorgen immer wieder für unterhaltsame und emotionale Momente. Diese Figuren sind alles andere als Nebenrollen; jeder von ihnen trägt ein Stück der Last und Tragik dieser Geschichte in sich. Besonders beeindruckt hat mich, wie Kristoff die Welt weiter ausbaut. Godsgrave führt uns tiefer in die politische Intrige und die düsteren Machenschaften dieser brutalen Welt. Die Gladiatorenarena, in der ein großer Teil der Handlung spielt, ist gnadenlos und voller unvorhersehbarer Gefahren – perfekt, um die Spannung stetig zu steigern. Doch selbst in all dem Blutvergießen bleibt stets die Frage: Wem kann Mia wirklich vertrauen? Das Buch steckt voller überraschender Wendungen, die mich mehrfach sprachlos zurückließen. Kristoff versteht es, den Leser in falscher Sicherheit zu wiegen, nur um dann alles zu zerreißen. Godsgrave ist kein typisches „zweites Buch“, das lediglich die Brücke zum Finale schlägt – es steht für sich selbst als ein starkes Werk, das lange nachhallt. Wer düstere, vielschichtige Fantasy mit komplexen Charakteren und tiefen Konflikten schätzt, wird Godsgrave verschlingen. Diese Serie ist nichts für schwache Nerven – aber genau das macht sie so einzigartig und großartig. Ich kann es kaum erwarten, zu erfahren, wie Mias Geschichte im nächsten Band weitergeht.

I started Nevernight because I was so excited to read about a girl joining a school of assassins. After not really liking the first book in the series, my expectations for Godsgrave weren't high to begin with... but I still got disappointed, because there was basically no assassin action happening! Over 700 pages of lazy footnotes, smut, boredom and not enough assassin stuff - this book is basically just about Roman Gladiators fighting and while I do enjoy this topic and have read books about it, I wanted to read an assassin book! I HATED the romance, which came out of nowhere, felt fake and I just didn't buy into the LGBTQ+ relationship.

"Fear is a coward." Nach den Ereignissen in Nevernight schlägt diese Geschichte für Mia in gänzlich andere Richtungen aus. Ich muss zugeben, ganz oft dachte ich einfach nur, was macht die denn jetzt bei Gladiatoren Kämpfen und was hat das alles mit der Story zu tun und überhaupt, sollte sie nicht lieber nach Tric suchen?! Denn der kann ja unmöglich wirklich einfach tot sein! Das akzeptiere ich nicht!! Aber. Das große ABER in Jay Kristoff Büchern... Nichts ist so wie es scheint. Natürlich hat es alles einen Sinn und läuft am Ende zu einem Faden zusammen. Und lässt einen in Schockstarre zurück.

What a final! Who had thought that the second volume would end like this! In the meantime, I've unfortunately already finished with the series because I didn't like it at all and it was boring. It started very well and with the flashbacks you learn why Mia decided to be sold as a slave and what happened after the first book. Unfortunately, I didn't like the majority at all - but only because it was about the gladiator games; like every movement was described here and there and I honestly skipped these pages. As in the first book, the plot takes over the last pages of the book and has an open ending with several surprises (and I mean it!). At this rate the most important question is: how is the rate? The first book definitely blew my mind but this one was uninteresting until 70% of the content. So I'm giving it a solid three star rating. I hope the third and last book of the series is getting bettaaaa

I'm speechless, utterly speechless. Mir fehlen einfach die Worte...Was war das denn für ein grandioser Cliffhanger am Ende?! Like, what the actual heck?!! Ein bisschen habe ich schon vermutet zwischendurch oder mir viel mehr gewünscht, aber es dann zu lesen, es mitzuerleben...ich bin wie im Schockzustand. Gerade die zweite Hälfte des Buches hat mich umgehauen, sodass ich es einfach nicht aus den Händen legen konnte!

I'm speechless, utterly speechless. Mir fehlen einfach die Worte...Was war das denn für ein grandioser Cliffhanger am Ende?! Like, what the actual heck?!! Ein bisschen habe ich schon vermutet zwischendurch oder mir viel mehr gewünscht, aber es dann zu lesen, es mitzuerleben...ich bin wie im Schockzustand. Gerade die zweite Hälfte des Buches hat mich umgehauen, sodass ich es einfach nicht aus den Händen legen konnte!

Oxkekdbsksbdl WAAAAS?? Ich kann mit einhundert prozentiger Sicherheit sagen, dass ich NICHTS von dem, was auf den letzten hundert Seiten passiert ist, kommen gesehen hab. Heilige Sch*sse war das gut. Es ist aktuell 1:30 Uhr in der Nacht und ich sollte wirklich schlafen und bin totmüde, aber ich muss einfach weiterlesen

Finishing a book ends always in a book hangover, but finishing a book with cliffhangers and have to wait for the next instalment to be published is... a hard time to pass. I do like the first book more as I do the second. I have some problems with excepting Mias choices like when it comes to Ash. But the end... what about her family? And the last sentencd. Oh I can't wakt to get all thr answers to my questions.

Da es sich hier um Teil 2 handelt, möchte ich kurz vor eventuellen Spoilern warnen, die auftreten können, weil man Teil 1 noch nicht kennt. Nachdem mich Teil 1 ganz gut begeistern konnte, habe ich natürlich auch zu Teil 2 gegriffen, um Mia Coveres Geschichte weiterzuverfolgen. Ob es sich gelohnt hat dran zu bleiben, erfahrt ihr jetzt. Der Schreibstil in Nevernight ist absolute Geschmackssache. Er ist brutal, lüstern, düster, humorvoll und durch die Fußnoten vor allem anders. Ich steh absolut drauf, mittlerweile auch auf die Fußnoten. Die knapp über 700 Seiten können ersznal abschrecken, verfliegen aber wie nix, wenn man in der Geschichte drin ist. Gelungen fand ich das Perisnenregister zu Beginn, was dabei hilft sich ins Gedächtnis zu rufen, was im ersten Teil passiert ist. Mega gemacht für meinen Gecsgmack und sollte auch in keiner Fortsetzung fehlen. Nach einem grandiosen Ende von "Die Prüfung" darf sich Mia als Assassine der Roten Kirghe bezeichnen. Es bringt sie näher daran, endlich den Tod ihrer Familie rächen zu können. Da dieses Vorhaben gegen die Regeln ihrer Assassinengemeinschaft verstößt, braucht Mia einen anderen Plan und natürlich hat sie den auch. Sie will als Gladiatii in Grand Finale stehen und ihren Widersachern Auge in Auge gegenüber treten. Der Weg ist allerdings mehr als steinig und gepflastert mit jeder Menge Blut, Schweiß und Tränen. Ich bin ehrlich, ich habe es geliebt. Mia mag ich immer mehr, eben auch, weil sie keine typische Heldin ist. Zumindest ist sie anders als Alle die ich bisher kennengelernt habe. Sie kann gefühlskalt und skrupellos sein, aber auch in manchen Beziehungen Gefühle zeigen. Zum Beispiel Mitleid. Sie ist für mich wi wahnsinnig gut durchdachter und vielschichtiger Charakter. Herr Freundlich ist die beste Nichtkatze ever und auch Eclpise war wieder gut in Form. Beide zusammen sind einfach nur genial und ohne sie, ist Mia nur ein halber Mensch. Verständlicher Weise. Fazit Starker Auftakt mit Teil 1 und noch stärkere Fortsetzung. Jay Kristoff legt ein enormes Tempo an den Tag und hält für alle Beteiligten die ein oder andere Überraschung bereit. Es war absolut spannend und faszinierend Mia in diesem Teil zu begleiten. Der Schreibstil mag nicht jeden ansprechen, aber ich hab mich daran gewöhnt und finde ihn mittlerweile mega. Die Einarbeitung der Gewalt, des schwarzen Humors und, ja auch die Fußnoten, liebe ich abgöttisch. Es rundet das Bild der Assassine absolut ab. Ich bin wahnsinnig gespannt, was Teil 3 mit sich bringt. Klare Leseempfehlung mit 5 Sternen.

I somehow feel sorry that it only turned out to be a 3-star rating. I wanted it to be so much more. Maybe my expectations were set to high, I can't say. But I did expect something else. After almost 3 months and a big reading slump, I finally managed to end this book. It took me a while to get into the first book and it took me even longer to get into the second. It had a good start,but then it dragged on and on. Except for the last 150 pages. Those flew by. And it's for the end, that I need to finish this series when the last book gets released in September!

This spectacular male specimen has a fantastically astonishing way of starting a book and hooking the reader with just a few sentences! And the little recap of the characters and a brief story about them was glorious! I missed this so much there are no words for it!!! I never expected to say this about dark fantasy and this series in particular, even though I love it to no end and will never tire of it, but this feels like coming home. The plot, the characters, everything, settling in my bones in the most pleasant experience I remember from a book! It's fascinating and fantastic! In a feast in Tsana's honor, Aa's firstborn, Mia is looking for someone, a young man. After a play about the plot that had her father killed, Mia stumbles into the booth where her mark is with his companion. And she seduces them into the bedroom. But Mia’s lips are coated in poison, so when she kissed the man it didn't take long for him to start coughing blood. He is the only one she lets kiss her because of that, but she also thinks how the hands on her skin are not his (Tric's). Mister Kindly and Eclipse are so busy arguing that they don't do their job of making sure the coast is clear, so guards come after her. She tries to hide in the cemetery but she's bleeding and has to fight. The ruckus alerts more men to her. Mia is facing death when a mysterious man saves her and delivers a cryptic message. Mia takes forever to kill who she needs and she's running out of time. So she tries going into the building through the front door, first, because Mister Kindly said she's getting better at that. But not really. Mia doesn't immediately understand that "her kind" is the female kind before she bribes the guards into letting her in and is still left outside. So she has to go with the more dangerous method: across roofs. Disguised as a servant, Mia makes we way past the guards without much fuss and into the owner's private room, where she and some guards are expecting the map. And who is going to deliver such item? Ash. Mia is stunned to find her there, but hidden being the mask Ash is none the wiser. The map and coin change hands and as Ash makes to leave, she is stopped. Cardinal Duomo gave orders to kill her. But Ash is prepared and has an incendiary device in the map case that kills the woman and most her guards. When at last she sees Mia is there she flees out the window, thanks to a bit of Mia's help, the girl hot on her heels. But she's still not fast enough and when the girls reach the cathedral, Mia can't jump the wide gap, so Ash gets further away. Mia shadow hops but is so weak from doing it so close to truelight, even on a cloudy day, that Ash has the upper hand... And the trinity too, which only weakens Mia further. But Eclipse went to get Jessamine and she appears out of nowhere and stabs the traitor! Mia confronts Mercurio about her father's death and although the man knows that Scaeva is a patron of the Red Church, who frequently uses their services, and that Duomo is too, he knows nothing about the Church's involment in her father's death. And suddenly they both know who requested Mia her latest kills: Scaeva. Duomo hired Ash to retrieve a map from somewhere dangerous with dangerous things all so he could bring down the Church and Scaeva with it. So now, to the Ministry, Mia is searching for the map. In reality she has Mercurio's and Ash's help to infiltrate the Venatus magni and be close enough to the two people she wants to kill first and foremost. Slavers are making their way across the Ashkahi desert when they smell death. A handful of them go to investigate, and who do they find there? Our beloved Mia. She got herself captured so she could be sold to a very specific person. But on her way to the Garden the 'van is attacked. Arrows rain down everywhere and Mia has to open the cage so she can help. Using her Darkin power to cloak herself from view, she finds the "sharpshooter" and takes her out before killing the rest of the bad guys. The captain owes Mia her life and maker her an offer but she declines, making her demand to be sold to a gladiatii. In the Hanging Gardens no one believes skinny Mia can fight gladiatii but they still let her. They all think it's a joke when she steps into the arena and dismiss her. Joke's on you, people, Mia kills two mountains in less than 30 seconds! That gets people's attention but not from the man she wants. So she decides to fight 3 at once, unarmed. It's almost too much, as Mia gets badly hurt. But rage over the past overtakes her, and even Misty Kindly has a hard time calling her back to the present, and she wins, proves her worth to the sanguila she wanted. She's this close to getting what she wants when the man's estranged daughter outbids him and he lets her have Mia. The biggest problem for Mia is where she will train. And where is it, you ask? In her old familia's house, the Crow's Nest... Mia is overtaken by memories when she sees Crow's Nest, especially given that it still has Remus's crest. Mia has the same weird mix of feelings when she sees the Dona's gladiatii that she had when she saw Lord Cassius. And the cause of that is the Dona's champion, who is a darkin! And when Mia is showing her worth to the executus and tries her usual trick with the shadows the man takes control away from her and Mia ends up losing quite badly... Dona Leona had the great thought of putting her assets in a room below ground. Which allows you to work wonders when your Darkin, right Mia, love? After making sure that everyone is asleep Mia goes to find the other Darkin, Furian the Unfallen. Of course the first thing he does is flip Mia over his shoulder before she stabs him with a fork (no, you've not read that wrong, a fork) and he lets up. The reason behind Mia wanting to enter the most dangerous games in the Republic, fighting sand krakens in the Venatus magni, is that Duomo will be in beggar's clothes, according to the parable of Aa, and thus without the trinity on his neck, and Scaeva will also be right next to him. She can kill two birds with one stone! "All" she has to do is be a gladiatii and win the games! Easy peasy! (sarcasm, see?) During the Winnowing Mia's team is losing, even though Sid is an unexpectedly good leader! But to win only one team can remain in the end so when Mia kills a man she takes his helmet and his guts (you heard me) and pretends she's close to dying. No one pays any attention to her so she gets close enough to take out both catapults and then the balista while the people inside the walls destroy the rest of the rival team. It's glorious to see Mia fighting like that, a Blade, an assassin! She's clever and underestimated and so amazing in her own right! And she took over her fear, because Mister Kindly and Eclipse are still away, and owned it, fought despite that and won in a fantastically amazing way! Mia is an astonishing badass and I love her! When Mia steps back into her cell, after her meeting with Ash, she scares the living hell out of Sid. But he knows what she is and is not scared because she's not the weirdest thing he's seen. When he says that he worked under the justicus for 5 years it all stops for a moment. But then he says the real justicus Dario Corvere and even Mia loves him. She doesn't give herself away, just listens to him talk and remembers and tells him a bit about her power. It's precious! The executus, Arkades, asks to talk to Leona to understand the sale of a gladiatii, and of course Mia spies on them. First Mia spies on a conversation between Leona and her maid. They are gentle as they talk about the stress of not having any money to live. So when the maid suggests that she talk to her father about loaning her some, Leona flips! She turns cold and cruel, saying her father will be the one begging, on his knees, knowing his daughter is the reason for it. Then Mia assists to a discussion about her. Arkades hates that Mia was so expensive, she can't even hold a shield, her wit and cunning are not going to be enough to win. And thus he convinces the Dona that she needs to sell Mia, no matter how she feels about it. And he's so fervent in his promise that he will deliver a win in the Venatus. And it's in that moment that Mia realizes the man is in love with Leona and that's the reason why a champion like him, who was teaching in a great collegium, is now loyal to her. Ash and Eclipse hatch a plan to put Mia on the games, getting rid of the competition by giving them explosive indigestion. No one can stand, not even Furian, much less hold a sword. So Mia convinces Leona to let her fight and the Dona gives in. Thanks to Ash and Eclipse Mia know just what to expect in the games but it's still terrifying to see the enormous monster rise up from the sand. It's like a worm but it spits out its stomach to catch victims before sucking it back in. And worse, it reacts poorly to Mia's shadow plays, like the krakens. Ash had hidden explosive wyrdglass in the sand and Mia has to use it to hurt the monster. But the first time she does it she pisses it off so much, it breaks its chain and runs at her. Guards pour into the arena only to be eaten and/or smashes to a pulp. The public panics when they see the broken chain and the monster marking them as prey. But then Mia uses her tricks again and in the chaos of it all people can't really understand what happened, only that this slip of a girl saved them and killed the beast! Mia is fantastic through it all! The way she fights and thinks, the things that happen...! This scene is really good! Dinner at the Governor's house was a ruse by him and Leonides for Leona. The host suggests Mia fight against one of his guards and the Dona, naive, says yes. But then her father intervenes and suggests she fight against another champion, one of his. Except his champion is a six-armed, eight-eyed woman! Mia, alone with just two blades, is no match for her. But Leona had already said yes so she couldn't back down without losing credibility. Besides she's so blinded by her hatred for her father that she doesn't see the trap set before her! So Mia and the other woman fight, Mia loses and it's in part Furian's fault for wresting control of the shadows from her. Arkades tries to ease the stress of it all by stating the fight was unfair. But the sanguila arranges a match, this time to the death, in the next games between 3 of Leona's fighters and his fighter. And on top of that he dangles a seat in a box if she wins. Leona is incapable of thinking it through and says yes without missing a beat... So it will be Mia, Furian and Bladesinger against Ishkah... But they can't fight fluidly together! Mia and Furian are incapable of it! So the other woman snaps at Mia for it and she decides to go talk to the stubborn, honorable Darkin. He doesn't budge, refusing to even let Mia play by any other rules than honor's and is a general p**** about it, as usual. After that and a fight with Sid, Mia is desperate to not think, remembering what it was like to be with Tric, wanting to make a choice of her own for once in her life, and goes to Ash. And I honestly wasn't expecting it to be sweet afterwards. I expected Mia to either regret it or excuse herself away. But no, Mia loves Ash even though it seems unwise... I know I've said this ten thousand times in Nevernight, but I bloody love the narrator! The way he engages with the reader so seamlessly, so perfectly! My favorite narrator ever. In the fight of their lives Furian forbids Mia from playing with shadows and keeps wresting control from her. She's even cute enough to ask permission once! The arena is made of rotating platforms, which are up in the air and drop into the gears below the floors, so it’s a terrible way to die. And they have to run for their blades. Mia concocted a solution to weaken the obsidian of the blades so that Ishkah's blades broke easily. Except she didn't account for another set of blades to be called up! So if before they had the upper hand and were close to winning, they are not after that. In fact, Furian gets acid spit on his exposed neck, Mia gets a kick so hard to her ribs they break, and Bladesinger is nearly dropped off the platform into her death. Mia jumps after her, even though she's in great pain, even though she's not supposed to be attached to the gladiatii in her Collegium, and lets her climb her body up to the platform. As the girl is helping her climb back, Ishkah, despite her deep wound, tries to kill the girls. But Mia sees Furian getting up, urges him to use the shadows and he does, allowing Mia to climb up and kill the other woman! Furian sold himself off and ended in Leona's collegium, where at the end of the magni he can be a man again and redeem all the death he caused. But Mia points out a gigantic flaw in that plan, no matter what Furian says to counter it: he can't wash away the blood of hundreds of innocents with the blood of hundreds more. That's not atoning... Understanding that Furian will not stand by the rebellion and knowing that he can't stop them either, Mia decides to help her friends. At the start of the rebellion I sensed something would go wrong, but more like Mia would be the cause. The way it's narrated, how there’s so much faith put in one girl, it was easy to predict Mia would betray them, especially knowing how much is ridding on the magni for her... Still she follows the plan she laid out, leads them to a ship and locks them in its belly before Leona comes out. Every single plot thread before Mia's purchase comes together. Mia and Wavewaker came together to plot the execution, using chicken blood to get the gadiatti to the savety of the mortuary, where Mercurio and Ash woke them up. The gladiatii were then taken from the arena by Belle to Teardrinker, who has contacts to prove they purchased their freedom and to take the marks from their faces. “Scaeva” and his "son" and Duomo reach Mia, ask her name, she says her full name and all hell breaks loose. Mia opens Duomo's throat from ear to ear, turns on “Scaeva”, who throws the boy at Mia, and she kills him too, falling from the battlements into its shadow with the boy in her arms. Ash runs to Mercurio's chapel to get him and Mia's things. She is caught by the Ministry when he enters the bishop's chambers. And Scaeva is there, alive and well. They knew the plan, all of them! And they let it happen! Kidnapped Mercurio to the Mountain. Put Scaeva's face on some poor bastard and let Mia kill him and Duomo, riding the consul of his enemy! Letting him rule till the end of days, unopposed! And worse of all, Mia is not Darius's daughter, but Scaeva's!