#r l lafevers

[obscurecharacterfaves]

Obscure Character: Theodosia Throckmorton (Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh by R. L. Lafevers)

[Image is an illustration of a young girl with long brown hair and wearing a tan shirt. She’s holding a small map, which appears to give off a yellow glow.]

Image is from the cover of Theodosia and The Last Pharaoh.

[bookseraph]

Beast: “The last thing I remember is an insistent, soul-searing voice spewing venom and lies.”

Sybella: “That was me.”

[ijudgecovers]

"While Ismae will serve as His mercy, I will not, for that is not how He fashioned me."

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers

Why I read it: Sequel to Grave Mercy

Simple Synopsis: What has Sybella been up to since she left the convent?

Review: Dark Triumph start as Sybella reaches the roof of the ramparts where Ismae sees her in Grave Mercy. Sybella’s order from the convent has been to reenter her father’s entourage and gain as much inside information as possible. She’s back among the people that drove her to the point of madness that she showed up to the convent in the thralls of. Her only solace is the belief that her true father will marque d'Albret, but there is nothing on his person and to kill without a marque is to kill outside of Mortain's will.

             The abbess contacts Sybella with the task of returning Beast, taken alive after the battle, from d'Albret's dungeon to Rennes. This will be the last thing Sybella does for the convent, once Beast has left for the duchess she will finish off d'Albret at the cost of her life. Things don't go according to plan though. She's stuck with Beast en route for Rennes, delaying any patricide but bringing a reunion with Ismae and characters from the last book.

             "[T]his knowledge that my hands can heal as well as kill..." I felt happy for Sybella here. She wants to be 'good' but only knows the meaning as defined by others, not what 'good' she can do within her own nature as a handmaiden of Death. In one tiny aspect Dark Triumph is a Beauty and the Beast story. Rather than Beauty (Sybella) changing Beast into some 'civilized gentleman' Beast taught Sybella that to embrace the killer instinct inside her isn't wrong. It makes her who she is, as well as beautiful to him [a retelling I'd like to see more of].

               Sybella's story is just awful, you think you've heard the worst of it but then you're given another blow. I was elated when Mortain finally calls to her but that quickly turned to saddness. I cried when she confronts him, I didn't expect to feel so much for her. She is a great character. The way LaFevers intertwines killing and death with love and mercy is enchanting. [It's a fiction book so I can talk about murder being beautiful, no one really dies, I'm not advocating taking up Mortain's will] 

               Grave Mercy start us off on the journey to save Duchess Anne and left off at her coronation. Dark Triumph goes back a bit to cover the events of Grave Mercy from another point of view and proceeds to Anne's marriage by proxy. It all concluded in Mortal Heat out next year. Can't wait!

Recommendations: Poison Study, Throne of Glass