Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence
Mark Lawrence's Daughter of Crows completely blew me away. It is a revenge story, but the twist is that the main character, Rue, is an elderly woman. Watching an older protagonist deal with physical aches while remaining a total badass is incredibly refreshing for a fantasy novel. The book jumps between Rue's quiet retirement being shattered and her backstory at a brutal academy where young girls are trained as killers. The eerie magic and sharp plot keep you guessing, but the grit and maturity truly hook you. If you want a dark fantasy with a real heart, you seriously need to pick this up.
