Book Review | Dark Triumph | Robin LaFevers

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #2
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on April 2, 2013
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 385
Format: Hardcover
Also in this series: Grave Mercy, Mortal Heart
Also by this author: Grave Mercy, Mortal Heart
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons. But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for? This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats.

Friends, if there is one series out in the world right now that I would recommend EVERYONE read, it might be Robin LaFevers’ His Fair Assassin. (A close second would probably be Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and I ALWAYS pimp A Song of Ice and Fire, OBVS.) For real. When I read GRAVE MERCY last year, it completely blew me away with it’s historical foundation and fantastical embellishments. The characters of Ismae and Duval were outstanding, and when the book was done I was kind of desolate; I didn’t think I could wait to read more of this world, and get to know Ismae’s sister of Death, Sybella. Friends, DARK TRIUMPH has solidified my already firm belief that Robin LaFevers is amazing, and that this series will be one of my favorites for a long time.

As I mentioned just before, DARK TRIUMPH is the second book in Robin LaFevers’ His Fair Assassin series, and it follows both the continuing story of the Duchess of Brittany and her attempts and desire to keep her people from falling under the yoke of other countries, as well as the story of Sybella, one of the Sisters of Mortain and a troubled soul with a very dark, very upsetting past. At one point in this book, Ismae is referred to as Death’s Mercy and Sybella as His Justice. I couldn’t think of a better way to describe their differences as well as the path that their lives have taken. (And, honestly, it makes me super curious about how Annith, the central character in the forthcoming MORTAL HEART will figure in.)

Sybella has lived through many horrible things in her life, and meting out justice is her driving purpose in DARK TRIUMPH, where she is forced by the Abbess to live again in the home of her father, the manipulative traitor, D’Albret, whom she discovers is keeping the Baron of Waroch–Beast–very near death in his dungeons. A dramatic story of rescue, retribution, death, scheming, manipulation, and blossoming love between two broken souls are at the heart of DARK TRIUMPH.

First of all, let me tell you how much I ADORED Sybella and as a corollary to that, Sybella and Beast. But let’s talk about Sybella first. From the glimpses we got of her in GRAVE MERCY, I knew that she would be even more broken than Ismae was and my gut feeling was right. Growing up in D’Albret’s home was horrible. We learn almost right away that he is cold, ruthless, murderous, and power-hungry. He spares no love for Sybella. But the fact that she has the strength and emotional fortitude to return to such a place and pretend to be loyal to her beastly father is a testament to her. Her lady stones are basically HUMUNGOUS. Sybella is a passionate, damaged young woman who believes she is worthy of little, especially in the way of love. This makes her relationship with Beast all the more satisfying. Sybella and Beast have both suffered greatly, and they continue to be tormented by their pasts. Watching them slowly grow closer despite neither thinking the other could possibly see anything worthy of the other’s love in them is special. OBVS I was rooting for them HARD. REALLY HARD.

One of the reasons that Sybella’s time growing up in D’Albret’s household was so awful, and one of the reasons that I admired her so much for returning to that household, was her relationship with her brother Julian. (I can’t remember how closely brother-sister related they actually were, but still. RELATED.) Their relationship is twisted and wrong and heartbreaking, and I often struggled with Julian and how I felt about him. I give mad props to Robin LaFevers for taking such a bothersome story and making it simply sad and upsetting. By the end of DARK TRIUMPH, my feelings for Julian had run the gamut from wary to disgusted to angry to confused to heartbroken. His closeness to Sybella might be too icky for some readers, and we get enough details so that it’s completely clear what’s going on, but I still found myself very emotional by the end of DARK TRIUMPH and a big part of that was because of Julian.

So to refresh from GRAVE MERCY, Duchess Anne of Brittany is a 13-year-old girl who is trying not to get married off to one of the horrible men around her while still trying to keep Brittany independent of France. People betray her at every turn and she knows the true loyalty of only a small few. I don’t think she gets enough props. I loved her in GRAVE MERCY, and I loved her even more in DARK TRIUMPH. Robin LaFevers has portrayed her–a real historical figure–as an impressive young person who deals with worse crap than a modern tween could fathom with smarts, compassion, and open-mindedness. The female characters in this series are so fantastic.

Perhaps the only exception to this is the Abbess. THE FREAKING ABBESS. Guys, if I was unsure of my wariness about the Abbess’s motives before I read DARK TRIUMPH–and I was–that uncertainty is completely gone now. She’s a cold-hearted old bat. She hates Sybella, and lets that hate determine her actions. It’s plain that there is one thing the Abbess cares about and it most certainly isn’t the lives of Sybella or Ismae or Annith. She throws Sybella to the wolves again and again and she ruthlessly threatens Sybella by swearing to harm people who are close to her. These girls are merely the means to an end for the Abbess. I get the impression that she still sees them all as the ruined, broken girls she rescued, no better than any other person would see them who knew their pasts. It’s both heartbreaking and ANGRY-MAKING and worrying.

There is so much more to talk about with DARK TRIUMPH, friends, but I’ve already talked too long I think. I don’t want to give everything away!! Trust me when I say that if you loved GRAVE MERCY, I really do believe you’ll love DARK TRIUMPH just as much if not more. I’d say that it’s a different tone than GRAVE MERCY, though, as evidenced by the word “dark” in the title, but Sybella and Beast will capture your hearts, and the political scheming will capture your minds. Robin LaFevers is writing one of the best series out right now. This book couldn’t be further from a sophomore slump if it tried. I wish book 3 was coming out TOMORROW because that’s about the extent of my patience for it.