Sunday, October 19, 2014

Review - Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers


Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3)

Genre: Historical Fiction
ARC: 464 pgs
Comes out: November 4th 2014
Published by HMH 
Series: His Fair Assassins #3 (Final) 
Add it // Buy it 
Rating: 5/5 

Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.


She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...



I won a free ARC copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Goodreads, but this is an honest review with my own thoughts and feelings. 

I made a comment at the end of my Dark Triumph review that Annith's story would have to be truly phenomenal in order to top book two in this series. It was. It truly was fantastic and I am so full of stuff I want to say I don't know where to start.


Annith's story did not disappoint and this book is a thrilling wrap up to this series. Mortal Heart was an even more amazing and engaging read than Dark Triumph. It might be my favorite in the series, but it is a very close competition between the second and third books.

After Sybella's rebellious and heartbreaking story, I was unsure how Annith, who is described as perfectly obedient and well-mannered by both of her sister assassins, would work her way into this story. Even though hints in the other books had shown signs of a bit more rebellious nature, I was expecting a demure young woman. Instead, we start with Annith still waiting for an assignment within the walls of the covenant which are stiffing her strong and adventurous spirit. After being inside of Annith's mind for just a few chapter, no pages, you can see her true nature is carefully guarded and her struggles are just as deep and painful as Ismae or Sybella's. I was so impressed and proud of her character development through the book and thrilled with her part in this series.

Just like in books one and two the historical drama and well-crafted political intrigue are building to determine the fate of Brittany and the Duchess (who I have grown very fond of) since they are now on the brink of war. This time all the pieces are coming together and I was fascinated to know that the resolution LaFevers decided on is historically accurate. So don’t go looking this history up if you want to be surprised! The author admits that she made changes to the timeline, but I found the story to have an authentic feel for the time and place it was set in.

Honestly, I don’t want to say anything about the romance. I loved it just like the others in this series. It is a lot of fun and that’s all you get!

There were plot twists and surprises galore, but none of them were glaring or obvious throughout the book which I appreciated. I had suspicions, but still was surprised which was really nice. Near the end I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how LaFevers was going wrap everything up. This book is exquisite. I loved everything and this series is now cemented as one of my favorites which I wasn't expecting when I started! I don’t know how to explain how pleased I am with this entire trilogy. It is one of the most captivating and engaging series I’ve read in a long time. I cannot wait to see what LaFevers comes up with next.

Happy Reading! 

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