Sunday, December 14, 2014

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers


Mortal Heart is the final book in the His Fair Assassins trilogy by Robin LaFevers.  The first two books, Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph, were wonderful and so much fun to read.  I always feel that reviewing the final book in a trilogy is tricky because I worry about spoilers, but Mortal Heart is a little different.  Rather than a typical trilogy, His Fair Assassins follow different main characters in each book.  The series also runs nearly concurrently.  While Isme is busy in Grave Mercy and Sybella has her own mission in Dark Triumph, we meet Annith in Mortal Heart.  Isme and Sybella have been sent out on missions and Annith is feeling left behind and a little jealous back at the convent of St. Mortain.  She has spent her entire life preparing to serve Mortain and is anxious to put her skills to work.  As the abbess sends out yet another girl before her, one that is far younger and less trained than herself, Annith's frustration grows.  When she learns that the abbess intends Annith to be the convent's new Seeress, she is determined to escape before she can be locked behind the convent's walls forever.

I love this series.  It is a combination of fantasy and historical fiction and while marketed as YA fiction, I feel obligated to mention again that I wouldn't really recommend it for young young adults.  This is a dark book, but really wonderful.  It is well-researched, well-written, and well-worth reading.  I really wish I could say more about it, but I would feel terrible if I were to ruin it for you.  The only recommendation I would give is to read them in close succession.  I had to wait for the third book to be released and I had forgotten some of the characters and events from the two previous books.  LaFevers doesn't do that semi-annoying thing in a series where the author repeats herself to remind readers of previous events, but that also left me a little confused in parts.  I will definitely be giving this series a re-read.

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