Fabulous book! Hooked from the first few pages. Dark and mysterious. The story building Sybella’s life with twists and turns that make you not want to put it down. Characters you really fall for with a story or deceit, passion and revenge. Beautiful!

I originally read Dark Triumph back in 2014. I intended to re-read it when I received the egalley, but I never got around to it. Even up until this moment I had intentions to re-read this book, but I've found that I just don't have time for re-reads right now. I wanted to send my original review.

I really enjoyed Grave Mercy. I was drawn into this series based off two things alone: assassins and historical fiction. I love the idea of nuns who are also assassins. It’s a great concept.

We met Sybella in Grave Mercy. The only thing we really know of her is that she is wild and tormented, and possibly on the brink on insanity. I wasn’t looking forward to swapping from Ismae to Sybella because of this reason and also because of how much I loved Ismae in Grave Mercy. I didn’t exactly want to read from the perspective of a borderline insane assassin, but Sybella is actually in a better headspace than I assumed she would be. And I truly came to love Sybella as a leading character--though not quite as much as Ismae.

Dark Triumph picks up on the battlefield of Nantes where d’Albert has set his trap for the duchess. Sybella has found a way to the north tower to watch what will transpire and, against all odds, warn Ismae of the trap laid before them. We find out quickly that while Sybella is d’Albert’s daughter that doesn’t save her from his clutches, and she receives no special treatment for being blood related to him. The abbess has sent Sybella back to her father’s household to spy on his movements with the promise that Sybella can kill him as soon as Mortain marques him for death. However, no matter what all d’Albert has done, he bears no marque and Sybella has begun to think that the abbess has lied to her in order to manipulate her. Having had enough manipulation in her life, Sybella borders on out and out rebellion, but when word comes from the abbess to rescue the prisoner held in the dungeon and Nantes, Sybella knows that she must accomplish this and then she will kill her father whether he is marqued or not. Sybella’s been through it in her life, time and time again, and she’s lacking the faith to continue on. However, she finds new reasons to live, and I love the complete emotional turn-around that she has throughout the book.

The prisoner that Sybella rescues is none other than Beast, Duvall’s friend that we also met in Grave Mercy. But Beast interrupts Sybella’s plan to kill d’Albert and forces her on the journey with him back to Rennes and to the duchess. Of course, Beast and Sybella begin to develop feelings for each other. And I loved this because I was afraid this book would be romance free. I love that Beast isn’t described as being attractive, yet Sybella falls for him because of his character and not because of the way he looks. However, Sybella has a dark past filled with secrets, and Beast will have to learn and overcome each of these secrets before Sybella will accept his affection as being real.

Robin LaFevers writes in language appropriate to the time period, yet her sentences still flow smoothly. And I love the fact that she has carefully chosen each word. While the majority of her writing isn’t necessarily lyrical or poetic, she has moments that are just that. My favorite quotes (probably too many quotes, but I had a hard time narrowing them down):

“A crossbow would work, but they are nigh unto impossible to conceal, and so I watch helplessly.”
“The man’s death cry reaches all the way up to the tower and wraps itself around my heart, calling for me to join it.”
“It is a good thing that I no longer have a heart, because if I did, it would surely break.”
“He does not love us because of the acts we perform in His name—He loves us because we are His.”
“If you hit me again, I will kill you,” I whisper.
“It is not hitting I have in mind.” And then his hands move up to cradle my head, making me feel small and fragile—no, not fragile, but cherished. As if I am some precious treasure.
I surrender to that kiss—surrender to the strength and the courage and the sheer goodness of the man.
Death has brought the fellowship that life could not.
--out of the ashes of despair, they have found forgiveness and acceptance. If they can, perhaps so can I.
Like a lamb in a field that trots unerringly to its own mother, I know that I am His.
I feel like some parts of Robin LaFever’s stories, both Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph, are symbolic in nature, and this just added to the overall appeal of this series and this author for me.

Dark Triumph has flawed characters, but ones that you can truly root for. The phrasing and symbolism make the story that much deeper. And who can really turn down a series about a convent of assassins? Dark Triumph exceeded my expectations in just about every way. Dark Triumph gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Dark Triumph? What did you think? Let me know!

The entire series is packed with adventure and strong female characters.. Great surprises keep building the suspense.

Sybella has just helped the Duchess and her party escape, but was almost caught. She is full of doubt and resentment towards the Abbess of St. Mortain and St. Mortain himself for forcing her back into her place of nightmares. Not only that, but it was all under false pretenses, as she was told she'd been given permission to kill D'Albret, only to find no marque of death on him. Instead, she's a glorified spy, while dodging cruelty everywhere she goes and trying not to lose her sanity. When she finally hears back from the convent, it isn't to tell her that she should kill D'Albret and get it over with, but to help a prisoner escape and remain at the palace as a spy. Despite not wanting to trust or help the abbess any longer, she can't help but feel for the prisoner and try to help him escape, only for things to go awry, and a new unscripted journey for her begins.

Worldbuilding:

As with book one, this one is a continuation in the same setting with the same events, perhaps a day or so after book one ends (not including the last chapter). I went on to read some of the author's thoughts on the history of events, which can be found here. Then decided to head on to Wikipedia (which I know isn't precisely the most reliable source of information), to learn more about the accuracy of events. The gist of it is, the major plot points of the story were real, with some timeline discrepancies. But as a whole, the author's ability to weave reality and fiction into such events and characters is a boon, especially since it had spiked my own curiosity to learn more about the real-life events that so entranced the author, making her want to tell this story.

Characters:

This book put me through the grinder because of the emotional toil it had on Sybella. Since I was seriously invested in her story from book one, it was easy to get in with her and feel so attached. In Grave Mercy, we know that Sybella was practically catatonic and suicidal when she came to the convent. She was promised the chance for vengeance from all those who have hurt her, and when she is sent out earlier than the rest on missions, her friends wonder if she was good enough to leave so early. When Ismae happens upon her in court, she notes how much weight she'd lost and how sullen she'd become. We learn that she's part of D'Albret's party, and it makes sense that she'd be enduring hell. What we don't learn back then is that she isn't just part of his party, she is his own daughter. This makes things worse, since we know the state she'd been in when she arrived at the convent four years ago.

I knew this book would crush me from one simple sentence in the synopsis: 'Her father's rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother's love is equally monstrous.' A parent's rage is definitely a huge source of trauma. Especially the more we learn about D'Albret as a character and how he doled out cruelty as if it was nothing to every single person in his vicinity. But this is an obvious kind of evil. However, the second part of the sentence is much worse. Particularly when put into context. It is under the guise of 'love'. You have a brother who loves his sister so much, that that love goes very wrong.

(SPOILER AHEAD)

This particular part of the story hit me because in many cases of abuse, the abuser isn't the out-and-out evil villain. It's the loving family member or friend who fulfills every emotional need you have. Whether it is love from a parent, attention, praise, or even protection, as the case here may be. Sybella had been so terrified of her father, even nervous of her other brother, Pierre, who'd stolen her first kiss, that Julian's love, protection, and camaraderie, had been a safe haven. So, she'd innocently invited him into her room, like they did when they were children. She wanted his embrace when she was scared. She hadn't wanted him to cross boundaries she was too young to understand. She'd felt like her insides had gone to rot at the act, but his pleasure in it made her ignore her feelings. She'd been trapped, praying her brother wouldn't come to her bed again, but being too terrified to refuse him, because who else would love her? Who else would protect her? Throughout the book, Sybella talked about how evil her father was and how he deserved death, but with Julian, she didn't. She always defended him, even against her own self. She blamed herself for inviting him over and leading him on. It wasn't until she got courage from loving Beast and his words of acceptance that she finally said the words that needed to be said, made herself stand up against Julien when he talked of love and a future for them she'd never wanted but had been too scared to talk about. 

(END OF SPOILER)

Beast, as a character, had been one I'd loved since the first book. He was nice to any woman, even dressed as a trollop, and treated them all as ladies. Despite learning that Ismae was an assassin and could not be trusted, he didn't treat her badly, and even stood up for her and fought for her to the end. So it goes without saying that learning he was still alive had filled me with so much joy, not to mention excitement that someone so easygoing (aside from looking scary and being terrifying in battle) would deal with Sybella's sharp tongue, and haughty and brusque behavior. In all honestly, it was such a fun time seeing them bicker throughout their journeys.

All in all, the character development here had been incredible, with so much insight into their lives and how much they've changed and grown. I do enjoy well-written characters.

Writing:

Strangely enough, I found the writing to be much more potent this time around. Maybe because I felt bad I hadn't been as focused with book one. Or possibly it was because this book felt more personal and deep than the first one that I hung on to every word. Either way, it hit me better in this book than the first one.

Quotes:

"There are no innocents where death is concerned."

"It was the most foolish, jape-fisted bit of buffoonery I have ever seen, and I am impressed in spite of that."

"I do not think you understand how hard it is to be left behind, to feel as if you will never be given a chance to prove yourself or make a contribution."

"Every death I have witnessed, every horror I have endured, has forged me to be who I am—Death's justice. If I had not experienced these things firsthand, then the desire to protect the innocent would not burn so brightly within me."

"My life is already a living hell, so trading one form for another is not so great a deterrent."

 “I welcome pain; it lets me know I am alive.”

Overall Rating:

(Four out of five stars)
As much as I had really enjoyed book one, this was a much better installment in my opinion. I knew from the start Sybella was a girl after my own heart, and frankly, neither she nor her book disappointed me in any way. Her story was far more cruel and heartbreaking than that of Ismae's and it hit too close to home for my liking. The book kept me enthralled to the end, and I can't wait for the last book in the trilogy!

A beautiful Beauty and the Beast-esque tale where the Beauty is just as dangerous as the Beast, set in LaFevers' gorgeously rendered world.

Sybella's journey is a darker than the first book, but full of intrigue and interesting twists, and learns to weigh the cost of survival without blaming its victims. It's a very interesting addition to the series.

Sybella's story is raw and edgy. I'm non too sure whether Dark Triumph outshines Grave Mercy as I totally was overwhelmed by the series as a whole. LaFevers takes Sybella's reasons for becoming an assassin nun dedicated to Mortain in this fifteenth century fantasy saga set in France and exposes them in a way we can fully identify with. Sybella is one of Mortain Convent's best assassins, sharp and vibrant.
Her relationship with Beast as it develops is a work of art. So exciting!
Such a satisfying historical warrior fantasy!

A Houghton Mifflin ARC via NetGalley

While I enjoyed Sybella's story and really looooved the Beast, I found this installment a lot slower paced than Grave Mercy. I think it took almost half the book to really pick up and start going somewhere but once we got there, I really liked where we went.

Sybella is strong and a badass for which I will always love her. I think it was nice to see a different side to her and her relationships, especially with Ismae. Sybella's love and concern for her sisters was awesome and I am glad we get to learn more about them in a later story.

All in all, not a bad second installment and certainly I will keep up with the series. Next up is Annith and I cannot wait.

Oh my goodness this is a dark old book with tales of incest, murder, torture, and lets not forget the female assassins. Given all that i feel i have to state that i did feel that certain bits of this book did drag a little. I found that it was a little hard to get into but once i'd attached to the different characters it did become an interesting book. This one focuses mainly on Sybella and her past. She really has a lot to accept all of which is shown to the reader very slowly as Sybella herself is also trying to come to terms with her past. Lets just say there's no wonder she is as broken as she is, a lot of things happened which i don't think many people could have survived.

There are a lot of morally grey characters here who will do what they need to in order to survive. Then there are some purely good characters who are fighting on behalf of others and will stop even when they're half dead to help other people. There are also some completely morally dark characters who kill people just for the fun of it, and they make sure people die in the most painful way. I found a lot of the characters very interesting especially some of the morally grey ones, and there were some moments for tears for some of them.

I really enjoy how there are so many historically accurate elements to these books and such detail but then there are the magical realism bits where the assassins can see a marque on those meant to die, or they are visited by their gods. I like how this is all woven together so well.

Overall i did enjoy this book even if it took me a while to get into it. I will be reading the third in the series for the sake of completion and i want to see what happens to everyone.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Sybella's duty as Death's assassin in 15th-century France forces her return home to the personal hell that she had finally escaped. 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. The convent views Sybella, naturally skilled in the arts of both death and seduction, 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. 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?

Not that long ago, I read the first book in this series and, apart from a few little things, I enjoyed it quite a lot. So when the opportunity came up to read the second book, I jumped at the chance...

...and I am glad I did.

This book is better than the previous one, in my opinion, as it seems to get the balance a little better (although I do think Ismae was probably a better MC) and it goes a little deeper in the emotional stakes as well.

I felt for Sybella from the start - torture, betrayal and pain were all part of her history. I couldn't help but feel something for her. She carries a greater weight on her shoulders than Ismae did.
Sybella is also a well-seasoned, battle-hardened assassin, which is why, I think, this book was more action-packed than the previous one as well. Where the first one was more the intrigue and following Ismae's first few steps into the assassin's world, this story really took the action ball and ran with it.
Beast was an interesting character - as expected, he was the strong and protective type, but the author did him a great favor by not making him the most handsome man in the universe. In fact, he was described as being ugly - it was just his personality that made him irresistable to Sybella (and the reader!)

All the other things I liked about the first book were still present - the mythology of Mortain, the political intrigue and the kick-ass nun assassins. Just a really good book to sink into...


Paul
ARH

This book has been sitting in my Netgalley list for longer than I like to admit, but I finally got around to reading book 1 and was glad that I had this sitting there. I thought that I would need to read book 1 in order to get into this book, and yes it is very helpful for the backstory but realistically you can read this book without having read the first in the series.

This book follows Sybella, another assassin from the convent of Mortain, as she is embedding the the evil deeds of her family and others who oppose the Dutchess. She does everything in her power to help but it is a slippery slope between helping the cause and death.

I enjoyed Ismae's story in Grave Mercy very much, I liked her as a character, I also enjoyed how she interacted with others, but I really loved how broken Sybella is and how she struggles with her past and her future and how she comes to know herself and her place in the world. I think that where book one was a lot of politics and world building this book took the time to really delve into the main character and the reader is able to feel the pain and suffering and yearning Sybella has. She is mean and raunchy but soft and innocent all at the same time.

This story follows where the last one left off, so it is a continuation overall but like I mentioned you don't need to read book one to understand everything that is going on. However there are a lot of politics in that book and they are helpful - so it is up to you. The books are both very lengthy at about 550 pages each or 13-14 hours as audiobooks.

The series is wonderful though. They are mature young adult books with a lot of hard topics these girls face including death, killing, politics/ places of women, and rape and incest. So be prepared for a lot if you plan on reading the series.

This book was a lot darker than the first in this series, and I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much. Sybella was definitely an interesting character, who had been through some truly awful stuff in her life. She was less, I don’t know, righteous, than Ismae from Grave Mercy, which I liked, because not everyone can be so sure that what they are doing is right, all the time. She questioned Mortmain, whether what she was doing really was the best way to serve him, or to rid the world of evil. Having to go back to her family, after everything that happened, was so difficult, but she did it because that's what the Abbess asked of her, as a daughter of Mortmain. And her character developed so much over the book; she learnt more about herself, about Mortmain, about what needed to be done. And her relationship with Beast was one I really enjoyed reading about. I didn’t like Dark Triumph as much as book one because I think I just enjoyed the plot of the first book more. However, Sybella was a compelling character and it was a good sequel as whole, so I will be picking up the final book in the series at some point.

I love the writing of Robin LaFevers! Grave Mercy was an amazing read and I didn't think it could be topped- in characters or in plot. However, it was. Sybella is the kind of protagonist that I root for. She's brave and kick ass!! And the romance is swoon-worthy but it doesn't overtake the importance of the plot and is more of a back-burner which I found to be important because of Sybella's dark and hopeless circumstances. Overall a great, fast paced read!