Dark Triumph

His Fair Assassin Trilogy, Book 2

By: Robin LaFevers

Narrated by: Angela Goethals

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

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?

©2013 Robin LaFevers (P)2013 Recorded Books

Sybella Kicks MAJOR Butt

Any additional comments?

This book was phenomenal! I had really high hopes for this book after reading Grave Mercy and it didn’t disappoint even one bit…I got everything I wanted and more!

After reading Grave Mercy, I was super excited when I learned that in Dark Triumph we get to learn more about Sybella, cause all throughout Grave Mercy we only got to see little glimpses of Sybella, and her character was extremely intriguing. Now I know why! Holy CRAP! That girl has had one extremely messed up life. I don’t think it could at all get any worse than what she had to go through, and I knew that pretty much immediately as soon as I discovered who her family was. And OMG!...it’s horrifying. I kept questioning myself like, “Is that really her dad? Oh crap!” Being able to be in Sybella’s mind, to truly understand what she’s thinking, and gauge her reactions to situations was perfect!

Other than Sybella’s story, there are other things that I was thrilled that we get to see more of. We get to learn more about St. Mortain (Death) and the Convent. We get to see Ismae through Sybella’s eyes and we get to know more about the politics between the countries. And we learn more about the death marks!

Every part of this book was fabulous. The beginning, the middle and the end were all AWESOME! And hooray for the romance! Score!!! It was the most perfect of all perfect matches! I couldn’t have asked for a better dude for Sybella.

I’m super excited that the last book in the His Fair Assassin Trilogy is going to be about Annith. I can’t imagine what kind of life she has had, and I hope that she gets a happily ever after. I have a feeling that I’m going to have a really hard time saying goodbye to this series. I can’t believe there is only one book left.

Triumph Indeed!

This is just a good book all around. Complex characters, wonderful world building, and an interesting depth to the story. This book showed me things I dare only imagaine in my darkest nightmares and somehow made that enjoyable and left me wanting more.

The story is full of a suspense and mystery that will leave you guessing. If you liked
Grave Mercy you will LOVE Dark Triumph. There is not as much romance in this one
but the little that is there is so sweet and pure it completely satisfies.

Highly recommended.

My Favorite of th Series

Dark Triumph is Sybella's story, and as others have mentioned (and as the title implies) it's a much darker tale than Ismae's. For me, this was part of the book's appeal. The stakes are high in Grave Mercy, but in Dark Triumph everything is ratcheted up a notch. Not only are there political problems but very personal ones as well. For Sybella, this situation truly is one of life or death, and she may not escape with her sanity intact.

Sybella is a spy in her father's house. Sent back to d'Albret by the Abbess of St. Mortain, Sybella is at the heart of the rebellion against Duchess Anne. It's a dangerous place to be, for d'Albret is truly black at the core. And is his household resides another monster, one whose love for Sybella has twisted into something rotten. Sybella finds her sanity chipping away with every day.

Then the Abbess orders Sybella to rescue the Beast of Waroch, who was believed to have fallen in battle against d'Albret's men, but who, in reality, lives languishing in the dungeon.

I love the Beast. I loved him in the last book. He was probably my favorite character, and so I was just thrilled to be following his story this time around. And Beast and Sybella. They really work.

Fabulous audio version, as well.

Entertaining story

Any additional comments?

While book 1 followed Ismae's story, this one followed Sybella's, and I assume the last book will follow Annith. Sybella's story was plagued by her father's dark and twisted hold on the lives of many. She was strong and courageous and took the reader on an adventure that was heartbreaking and triumphant over and over again. This book makes you feel many emotions and become strongly attached to the characters. I found this book way easier to follow than book 1, as it is much less focused on all the political players (whom I had a hard time keeping track of) and focuses in on Sybella as a delicate and strong person.

18+ ! inappropriate for younger

This book was supposed to be for teens Some of the content is very in appropriate for that age so I recommend being 18 plus but it was a really good book if you want a book that similar to this that is for teens then I recommend the 1st book in the series it's definitely not as dark.

better than the first

the 2nd installment was better. the story was but good. the narrator did a phenomenal job.

OUTSTANDING!

Wow edge of my seat suspense. twists and turns in every direction. Can't wait to hear the next book.

Review: Dark Triumph

Any additional comments?

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.

Even Better than The First

I absolutely loved this book! At first I was a little confused about the narrator change, but then I understood that in was to give each girl their own voice. I love books with assassins and this book did not disappoint. Truly loved listening to what was happing with Sybella and how she came to terms with who she is.

Love, Love this Trilogy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Assassins trained by nuns, who fall in love with strong principled men......what more can I say. This book was a little darker than the first but I still loved it!