Daughter of crows

This glimmering grimdark fantasy, the first in the Academy of Kindness series from bestseller Lawrence (The Book That Held Her Heart), follows Rue, a retired deliverer of vengeance, who is called back into action when mercenaries wipe out her quiet village. Tracking them down leads Rue into a confrontation with a god and forces her to look back on her life. From there, flashbacks illuminate her grooming as a death dealer, first trapped in a "family" of children taught through terror to obey a pair of unearthly parents, then as an escapee who joins a training school dedicated to the three Kindly Ones, goddesses of vengeance. The plot takes Rue on a twisty quest into the afterlife itself as she uncovers forgotten parts of her past. Lawrence draws from several different mythological pantheons to build this surprising new world and keeps readers guessing how the dangers detailed in the flashbacks will play out, sparing none of his characters from gruesome fates, deserved or not. Rue's struggle to integrate her emerging feelings of love and loyalty will enable readers to root for her even on the rougher stretches of her road to redemption. Lawrence's fans will be eager for more. (Mar.)