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33 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Sybella's story delivers
By Liviania
GRAVE MERCY was one of my favorite books of 2012 so DARK TRIUMPH, the second book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy, had a lot to live up to. Robin LaFevers does not try to repeat GRAVE MERCY, giving Sybella her own story.Sybella is a very different person from Ismae. She's more wild and vicious. At the same time, she is more self contained, careful not to let others close, because she grew up in a home full of betrayal. She can trust herself and herself alone. She never trusted the abbess and knows she was right not to when she's sent back to her home in order to spy. Her father, d'Albret, is a monster and she longs for the order to kill him. In the meantime she enjoys assassinating his underlings.DARK TRIUMPH begins with Sybella warning Ismae and the duchess, risking the exposure of her true loyalties. It is not an inviting beginning for new readers. Who the characters are, their relationships to each other, who is important and why is not explained. The religion of LaFevers alternate Brittany is not explained either, thus new readers must puzzle out who Mortain is and how is handmaidens work for themselves. I even found myself wishing for a small refresher on the world since it's been awhile since I last read GRAVE MERCY.I soon fell back into the swing of things. The scope of DARK TRIUMPH is smaller. Sybella's focus is moving past her family's history rather than the duchess and the future of Brittany. She cares about what happens, but it isn't her priority. I loved the politics of GRAVE MERCY and yet, I didn't miss them. LaFevers progresses the overarching plot of the trilogy, but she doesn't force Sybella places she doesn't belong. Some might be disappointed by how different the two books are, though I think more readers will appreciate the detail given to Sybella's character. I can't wait to see what LaFevers does with Annith in MORTAL HEART.In addition to espionage, murder, and sabotage, DARK TRIUMPH features a daring rescue and perilous flight across the countryside. Sybella finds herself accompanying the Beast of Waroch, a berserker imprisoned by her father. He's not handsome, but he is ridiculously noble and tough. He's very similar to Sybella, but different from her in ways that provide for perfect balance. DARK TRIUMPH is less steamy than GRAVE MERCY, but I found myself swooning more. Although he would not believe it, the Beast is as much a fairytale hero as his name would imply.Anyone intrigued by Sybella and her secrets in GRAVE MERCY will devour DARK TRIUMPH with relish. Her family is truly horrifying, and she deserves to find healing and absolution. LaFevers continues to make history and fantasy collide in the most delightful way. DARK TRIUMPH delivers all the action and romance His Fair Assassin fans could hope for.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful.Sybella's even better than Ismae!
By Ashleigh
See more of my reviews sooner on The YA Kitten!As much as I liked Grave Mercy when I read it last year, it was hardly perfect. Pacing issues and a heroine I don't much care for in hindsight are my two most noteworthy problems with it, but neither of those are anywhere to be found Dark Triumph. LaFevers kick it out a couple dozen notches and shows everyone how writing a sequel is done. It's so good that I'm scared the next book in the series will disappoint me!Ismae's story in Grave Mercy began with her wedding and escape to the convent, which made the pacing drag a little as we saw her grow up, but Sybella's story cuts right to the chase and reveals a part of her background we never learned in the previous book: she's the daughter of D'Albret, the man trying to force Duchess Anne to marry him. Over the course of the novel, bits and pieces of what living in his household was like for her. Close to the end, we come to learn exactly what had Sybella so wild and distraught when she first arrived at the convent and met Ismae. It's... pretty bad. I don't blame her a bit.Sybella is also a more engaging narrator. Whereas Ismae is very devout and subdued, Sybella is angry, jaded, and often wonders if St. Mortain exists at all. Her voice is more natural, there's hardly any noticeable flubs in the prose (no blood singing in triumph or whatever, thank goodness), and it's difficult not to cheer her on when she has to deal with a very twisted family. There's her monstrous, occasionally-flat-but-still-terrifying father, one brother who is in love with her and rather messed up, another brother who is even MORE messed up, and two younger sisters she'd do anything to protect.While reading Grave Mercy, imagining the Beast of Waroch being with anyone was a little difficult, but he fits in well as Sybella's love interest--and especially dear to me because he isn't a handsome man at all. The way he understands her and accepts all of her secrets so readily won me over in a hurry. I didn't appreciate him knocking her out because she wouldn't go along with one of his plans later in the book, but other than that one really stupid moment, their relationship is really quite sweet.Mortal Heart won't be out until 2014, but I'll be okay with the wait as long as I can keep Sybella in the meantime.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
I want to love this series, but...
By Melissa Owens
Originally posted 4/14/13 at Melissa's Bookshelf.I know I am in the minority with this series, but I am just not as into these books as everyone else seems to be. I want to love them. I mean, who wouldn't want to love books about assassin nuns? The premise behind this series screamed to me and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book after I read Grave Mercy last Fall. But sadly, Dark Triumph fell flat for me. I wish I had written a review of Grave Mercy so that I could remember all of my thoughts after reading it, but I do know that I enjoyed that book more than its sequel.I'll start by saying that Dark Triumph started off very slowly for me. So slowly, in fact, that I didn't find myself getting into the story until probably close to halfway into the book. Not only that, but I had no problem putting it down when I had to do something else or go to bed or whatnot. I'm not sure if the slow pace is due to the high level of detail LaFevers provides in her story-telling, or that events simply weren't happening fast enough to keep me interested, or perhaps it was a combination of the two. Like Grave Mercy, this book is written in the first person present tense, this time from Sybella's perspective. I generally don't care for first person present tense storytelling, though it has worked for me a few times, most noticeably with The Hunger Games trilogy. Well, I can't way it worked for me in Dark Triumph. I can't pinpoint what it was about it -- perhaps an awkwardness at times? Regardless, I found myself distracted by the fact that the book was written in the first person present tense, so that took away from my enjoyment of the story. Other than my issue with the point of view and tense, I do like LaFevers' writing style and her use of imagery and description.I enjoyed the way LaFevers told us Sybella's backstory in bits and pieces throughout the entire book. It was an effective way to develop her character and I will say that I probably preferred her to Ismae. In the end, though, I felt like this book was doing more to tell us about Sybella, her life, and her personal experiences, as opposed to really furthering the plot surrounding the Duchess and those working treason against her. I don't mean to imply that is necessarily a bad thing, because Sybella's story is certainly powerful, but everything involving the Duchess felt like it almost didn't belong in the book. Hands down, my favorite part of the story (minor spoiler alert) was the developing romance between Sybella and Beast. Those were the pages where my attention was truly captivated and I very much wanted to keep reading the story. But make no mistake, this book is much darker and grittier than Grave Mercy, there is nothing exactly light-hearted about the unfolding romance or the rest of the story (assassin nuns, remember), but the growing relationship between Sybella and Beast is beautiful to read.I suppose I can understand why so many people love these books, but they just are not quite working for me as a total package. The first two books feel a bit disjointed and even the stories within each book seem disconnected at times. We know so little about Annith, whose story will be featured in Mortal Heart, and what we do know doesn't spark much interest for me, so I have a difficult time seeing how her story will follow Ismae's and Sybella's and connect the three books. I'm not sure if I will be in a rush to read the final bok when it comes out next year, but I expect I will want to at least finish out the series at some point.Read this book...~ If you liked Grave Mercy -- no reason not to continue the series, right?~ If you enjoy paranormal historical fiction/fantasy~ If you liked Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo or The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
