Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers Narrator: Jennifer Grace
Series: His Fair Assassin
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Recorded Books on November 4, 2014
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Length: 17 hours, 52 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Also in this series: Grave Mercy, Dark Triumph
Also by this author: Grave Mercy, Dark Triumph
Source: Audible
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Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.
She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn’t mean she has…
When I first realized about a month and a half ago that I never reviewed MORTAL HEART by Robin LaFevers, I was kind of aghast and ashamed. Who am I to not shout how awesome this book is from every available outlet? Obviously, I needed to make this right. However, I first read an ARC of MORTAL HEART probably a year ago now and couldn’t remember lots of things. Except Balthazar. HIM I remembered quite well. A reread was in order, so thanks to my Audible credits, I got into it. So SO glad I did, because MORTAL HEART was as epic a conclusion to the His Fair Assassin series as I remember.
Annith is the oldest novitiate at the convent of St. Mortain, aka, Death, and she wants nothing more than to be sent out on an assignment to honor her god and act according to his will like her bffs Ismae and Sybella. However, the Abbess has plans to keep Annith stuck in the convent for basically ever, so Annith takes matters into her own hands and escapes after a younger, less experienced novitiate is sent out before her. She winds up in the company of the Hellequin, the Hunt of Mortain that consists of souls hoping to make amends for their human actions and roams the countryside at night to gather lost souls. The leader of them is the mysterious, broody Balthazar. While their connection grows, so does the unstable position of the Duchess; the French are encroaching on their lands and nobles are betraying her at every turn. As the truth about Annith’s past comes to light and her relationship with Balthazar takes big strides, the situation in Brittany comes to a head. OOOOOH.
The historical drama in this series has always been excellent, and Robin LaFevers keeps up the good work in MORTAL HEART. The way she is able to take historical events and imbue them with fantastical elements MADE these books for me, and getting to see more of that in this book, especially with the backstory we get into the gods, was exciting for a bigtime lover of these books.
But of course, while the setting is awesome, it’s the characters that make MORTAL HEART so unforgettable (ahem, even if I did forget some of the things that happen in MORTAL HEART, I never forgot Annith and Balthazar). Annith is obedient and haunted by her youth in the convent at the hands of the old Abbess, the Dragonette. Balthazar is enigmatic and drawn to Annith, as she is to him, despite trying to keep his distance. There is a lot of really intriguing mystery surrounding them both, although I did figure out Balthazar’s big secret before it was revealed to us in the book. Their relationship is based on respect and trust, and it’s really swoony. I especially appreciated Balthazar’s support of Annith. She’s a badass in her own quieter way, compared to Ismae and Sybella anyway, and he doesn’t try to reign her in. In fact, this has been an awesome thing about all the guys in these books. They see the strengths in these young women and they’re like “YAS, YOU DO YOU, GIRL.” It’s most excellent.
Annith is a wonderful character. She’s a little contradictory. She’s spent her whole life obeying all of the rules set down by the nuns in the convent, thinking that it will lead to her being able to glorify Mortain, with whom she has had a connection since she was young. But when her excellence in her training and her obedience leads to nothing she wants for herself, she just up and lies to the Abbess’ face and departs onto what she believes is her true path, with barely much discernable fear. There was lots of fist-pumping going on in MORTAL HEART, because Annith gets dealt a few blows over the course of the story and she always bounces back and keeps her head on straight.
I also really enjoyed the way all three girls’ stories tied together in MORTAL HEART. There were a few scenes with the three of them together, drinking wine and talking, and granted they aren’t talking about the most recent episode of The Mindy Project or that picture of Chris Messina with a puppy that turned their panties to water. They’re talking about political scheming, personal traumas, life-changing events, lies, secrets, and the potential DEATH of people they hold dear. It’s a dire time. All the same, I loved these moments with them. They haven’t been in each other’s company much, so it was nice that they finally got this time to reconnect and fortify their bonds.
The narration of the audiobook was also really great. Jennifer Grace has a great voice to listen to and really brought the characters to life. She didn’t get too much variety with the voices, but that was ok. It was a pleasure to listen to her.
I’m sad and happy that this series is over, friends. I loved it all so much, so I’m beyond glad that I read it and got to know these awesome characters in this excellent historical fantasy. But BECAUSE I loved it, I’m sad that it’s over. MORTAL HEART was the perfect conclusion to Robin LaFevers’ series, but I wish that it would continue. I’m going to miss the Duchess and Duvall and the Charbonnerie and everything. Whatever Robin LaFevers writes next, I’m going to be all over it.
I loved Mortal Heart so very much! It made me cry while I read it, because I was so emotionally attuned to what Annith was experiencing. It seriously was the perfect conclusion to this series. (And now, thanks to your lovely review, I kind of want to read it again!)