Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin: Book Two)
Robin LaFevers, 2013
Premise: Sybella blessed the day she was told she was a Daughter of Death and taken into Mortainās convent to be taught to kill. Because her human father, the nobleman dāAlbret, was the stuff that nightmares are made of. But now she is back in his household, spying for the young Duchess of Brittany, and trying to keep both her life and her sanity intact long enough to kill dāAlbret.

I remember being very interested in Sybella before, as she was a mysterious side character in book one, and at least the first half of her story lived up to those hints. She was subject to an incredibly dark childhood, but now must face those demons, external and internal, while she works secretly on behalf of the convent.
She constantly wonders whether the darkness that she sees in dāAlbret is in her as well. She is good at the skills taught at Mortainās convent. She enjoys killing those who deserve to die. Adding that to her background, itās only natural that she worry about the darkness within her. Balancing what she wants with what the convent wants, her past with her potential futures, and her instincts with her fears, are her core conflicts, and they are well handled, for the most part.
And sheās really interesting, and her story is complex and hauntingā¦.for the first half of the book.
And then thereās a romance.
And really, really Iām fine that thereās a romance. Itās done well, and the characters fit together in a satisfying way. Even if there is some painfully maudlin stalling in the form of some predictable Iām-sure-he-hates-me-so-Iāll-hate-myself-no-of-course-he-doesnāt-really shenanigans.
And then she gets a big piece of plot/character/world knowledge dropped in her lap by the protagonist of the first book. Maybe this wouldnāt have bugged me if Iād remembered the first book, but I found it awkward. It could have been more effective if sheād discovered more of it on her own.
And THEN late in the book she gets a big dollop of (spoiler) mental and spiritual healing from the visit of a divine character who only appears the once. Which, for me, rather makes the whole story that came before seem unimportant. Itās all a bit deus ex machina, and between this, the romance, and the way the final fight shakes out, for a badass assassin maiden, she sure depends on validation from a lot of dudes.
Sigh.
All that said, I did still enjoy the experience of reading the book, and the parts that were good were very good. Iām intrigued by the third book as well. Maybe I wonāt let years go by again? Or maybe not.
3 Stars - A Good Book
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