I haven’t read much this month, so here’s a review from the archives. Makes me want to read this book again!

Mortis offers only two choices to its students: life or death. About to graduate this school of assassins, Jane wants life. But not the life of Mortis. When the time comes for her to receive her master sword, she faces a decision that will affect her, her friends, and all ten counties: keep the Code and stay, alive, in the dark of Mortis, or make her own choice and challenge the deadly school that raised her.

The concept of Mortis intrigued me from the beginning. A girl raised in an assassins’ school? I’d never heard of anything like it. I bought it for my Kindle and started reading. I wasn’t disappointed. Mortis is a book unlike any other, full of intrigue, wit, and wrenching twists without the garbage of typical YA fiction.

The first few chapters are the beginning of that intrigue. They move slowly, and though I knew the goal was there, it wasn’t clearly expressed. Like the beginning of a chess game. The board is set. The pieces are introduced. The first few moves are made. Strategy lurks under every choice, but it isn’t revealed this early in the game.

If Mortis were a roller coaster, the first few chapters would be the uphill journey to the top of the first peak. Then Jane is assigned her mastery test, and before I could stop it I was plunging into a wild ride of ups, downs, loops, and jolting turns. I held on for dear life. Even if I could have torn myself away from the ever-broadening ride, I wouldn’t have. I was hooked.

Again and again Mortis surprised me with its cleverness, its beauty, its depth, and its unpredictability. I like nothing better than surprises, and Mortis surprised me many times. Also, the more I read, the more the placement of the chess pieces in the first few chapters made sense. The book referenced itself, built upon itself, and doubled upon itself in a masterful work of cleverness and intrigue.

I give Mortis

• five stars for wit that made me laugh out loud;
• five stars for beautiful word-crafting, such as “Her smile unfurled one bit at a time”;
• five stars for a moral main character in the midst of amorality;
• five stars for a clever but clear story of good vs. evil;
• five stars for the incredible intelligence of interweaving life and chess;
• and five stars for lack of language, lack of gore, and safe handling of the love interests.

Mortis is a truly excellent book I am proud to have in my collection. I recommend it to all teens looking for a good, clean story. (Hannah Cobb is also a Christian author.)