Cover Image: Igniting Darkness

Igniting Darkness

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Member Reviews

I am a big fan of Robin LaFevers original His Fair Assassin trilogy. To me, most fantasy novels are tired tropes with nothing new. LaFevers introduced a historical fantasy world with an amazing cast of assassin nuns. Her prose is dark ans beautiful, perfect for the setting that she evokes.

After this trilogy, she added on two more books to the series. Gathering Darkness and this installment, Igniting Darkness. I enjoyed this one more that it's predecessor because all the threads she had been weaving finally pay off in a big way.

Sybella was my favorite character in the original series, and I have a feeling she was to LaFevers as well since she dominates the pages once more especially in this last book. A strong but very damaged woman, Sybella has endured horrors in her past but she overcomes all to find her way in the world and into her own powers although the world is ruled by men.

At times, the book gets bogged down in intrigue with so many political wars waged in the court. I sometimes lost interest and had to take a break in the middle and come back. That said, this is not a book to devour in one sitting. It needs to be absorbed and pondered upon.

The ending is very satisfying and I was very glad to come back into this world one last time. I hope newer readers will discover this series as I think it is one of the best that I've read.

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I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. The plot and characters didn't keep me interested. I really wanted to like the book but just couldn't get into it.

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Unfortunately I requested this one without realising it was a sequel! I'll hold off on a full review until I've managed to read book one but it sounds amazing!

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I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

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Sybella will always hold a special place in my little bookworm heart. Her journey through this duology is magnificent. Lafevers always delivers a spectacular adventure, and this is no different. The pacing was perfect, the characters were rich, little sprinkles of actual historic events throughout. Don't miss out on this return to the world of His Fair Assassin!

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I read book one and struggled, unfortunately couldn't get through book 2. It may be that I just wasn't in the mood to read fantasy I don't know. I can see it being a fan favourite for many :)

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Robin LaFevers knows how to do it right. After reading her first series, I'm always over the moon to see her name cross my bookshelf. Her novels have complex plot and keep me guessing at every turn. She did assassins first, and as always, she continues to do them well.

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I enjoyed the first book, Grave Mercy, but this one just didn't do it for me. There's a lot going on and also multiple POV. The pacing slowed down multiple times and made me put the book down for long periods of time. Took me a long time to finish.

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This was a nice way to end it. However I don't feel like this author is for me. I have forced myself to read this and that just wasn't fun.

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This title was not for me. Although the writing and story are great, I just couldn't seem to stay interested in it. It was easy for me to put down and forget about.

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I didn't clock that this is the second book in a duology so was a bit confused to begin with. Once I'd read the first book, it was a great follow up to the previous.

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Ok this is really really good! Now I need this book asap! Why did I take so long to start this! I love this storyline and I love the characters!

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Honestly, this was a big DNF for me. I powered through the first book in this duology but I was ridiculously bored. Every time I picked it back up to read, I found myself wondering if I could just move onto another book rather than this one. So I finally did and just solidly stopped reading it.

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The final book in this duology
I felt rather bored with this duology. I also felt like there was too many characters.
I really only like really liked the first book in the his fair assassins trilogy

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I did not realize this was a sequel and I was so lost as I started reading! One I got caught up on characters and plot I enjoyed it more.

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Praise Mortain! I’m finally done! I have been waiting since Grave Mercy for a happy ending for these characters I have grown to love so much over these years. I will say this book in particular may not be my favorite out of all of the books, I still really enjoyed seeing how each characters’ story wrapped up.

First, Sybella. I have always, always loved her fierceness, her loyalty, strength and love she has for her sisters and friends, even showing kindness to the people she really dislikes. She is truly a wonderful heroine and I’m glad to see her journey extended in this duology. Her and Beast are so good together. Beast reminds her that there is light alongside the darkness in this world. Truly so absolutely wonderful together!

Now onto Genevieve. I had mixed feelings about her in the last book because let’s face it, she can be naive, too trusting and made some really stupid mistakes in the last book. This book is about her trying to fix her mistakes. She really was trying to help but when she realized she made this colossal mistake, she does try to make amends. She is a bit unpracticed but it’s understandable since she left the convent at 12 and never got to finish her training. In this book, I appreciated her efforts to make things right again or at least to the point where her friends and sisters wouldn’t be in danger from the Crown. She definitely redeemed herself throughout this book.

Gen and Maraud are a couple I can totally get on board with. They didn’t have much time for romance, same for Beast and Sybella, but I can see them lasting. They have to rebuild trust now and then but I liked how she opens up to him. He is someone she can rely on but he isn’t asking for her soul in return, just to earn their mutual trust.

I did find Gen’s relationship with the King to be very interesting. The King is super clueless and sheltered. He takes people word just because they promise and really is only receiving the facts from a bunch of liars. Then he decides to make his own decisions at the stupidest times. He always had a fondness for Gen and that helped a lot in this book. Gen wants to offer friendship to him. She doesn’t exactly respect him but has seen kindness and honor in him so she sees hope even when the King is against her and Sybella. He does redeem himself as a leader in the end so I see hope for him. I’m impressed by her patience in him. I would have smacked him if he wasn’t the King.

I wasn’t bothered by the multiple perspectives. We not only have Sybella and Gen’s perspectives but also a little of Aeva and Maraud’s as well. It made sense why we had to know what was going on with them but at the same time I kind of wish the story would just be from Sybella and Gen’s perspectives only just to be consistent.

Lastly, the overall plot. I’m not going to lie, the plot is a little bit of a jumble. A little slow at times. I wasn’t as engaged when reading this book compared to the other. We have so many separate and overlapping story lines. I really wanted to know about Sybella and her sisters. Then there is Sybella vs the King, the Regent, General Cassel and a bunch of other people. They find out she is an assassin so they assume she is responsible for every death known to man. Like umm, hello? Don’t your guards and soldiers kill? Don’t they have swords and other weapons are there disposal? What about the bloodthirsty General Cassel? Is he not also equally capable of killing? Why are they are so ignorant? Like yes, Sybella doesn’t mind killing but only to protect those she loves or in defense. Only when absolutely necessary. I was so mad on her behalf.

Basically, the storylines were resolved in the end but I also feel like will there be more books. This story ended but I feel like we could fast forward to 18 years later and see how the next generation is going? I’m up for that.

From Sybella to Beast, Annith to the Queen, I was really reading this series for all of these amazing characters. Long may the Queen reign! I’m sad the story is over but I hope this won’t be the last book in this world.

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I was excited to continue on in the world of Xybella and Genevieve to see what would become of this world. I enjoyed the first half of the book as it left off right where the first book ended. All the characters I enjoyed were back and continuing on. About halfway through, I did not like the shift in the storyline. I understand where it was going, but I enjoyed the way the story was going and felt that it was such an abrupt change going into the fighting realm that it didn't sit well with me. It makes sense in the end and the last 1/4 of the book felt like it came back home to the original storyline. All in all, it was a good ending. 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC.

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It really is a hit or miss with multiple point of views because it can be exciting or drag the story on and make it boring..... Sadly it was the latter of the two. While it wrapped everything up I feel it could have entertained me more

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This was a very captivating novel, a great follow up to the first in the series. The author does a great job with character development, plot, and has beautiful diction.

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