Title:
Author:
Series:
Number of Pages:
Date Read:
Genre:
Synopsis (Found on
Goodreads.com)
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...
She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...
My Review:
This is the last
book in the "His Fair Assassin" trilogy and it was awesome. This has
been one of my favorite series and I love all the characters especially the
assassins.
This book is the story of Annith, the most skilled of Mortain's hand maidens, but who has never been out on an assignment. We learn a bit about Annith's life in this book. She was sent to the convent when she was a few days old and she doesn't know the story of her birth. She was raised in the convent under the harsh abbess of the time called the Dragonette. Her life was brutal because this Dragonette wanted to fashion Annith into the perfect weapon. She was punished, tested and abused is what it really was since she was a toddler. Now at the age of 17, Annith, who has not been sent out on a mission (this is her one desire and what she has been training for her whole life, has been informed that she will be the convent's next seeress. Needless to say she flips out because being a seeress means that she will stay in the convent for the rest of her life and never go out on a mission. So when the abbess leaves for the Duchess' palace, Annith takes the opportunity to leave the convent to find answers about her history and why she wasn't sent out by confronting the abbess at whatever city she was in in Brittany. Of course along the way she meets a guy, Balthazaar and we all know what happens when a guys is involved.
I liked Annith even though she isn't my favorite assassin. That title goes to Sybella, then Ismae, then Annith. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Annith, like her birth history and why she was refused to be sent out on a mission. Among other traits like loyalty, loving and caring, she is very obedient to the nuns and to what they expect of her which is one of the reasons for her being chosen as a seeress. The abbess thinks that Annith is "obedient and biddable" and wants to use Annith as seeress for her own reasons. Once Annith has a taste of freedom (on her journey to confront the abbess) and disobedience, she can't get enough of it. She is loyal to the convent and the assassin girls she trains there but she feels like she cannot go back to the convent if it means her being a seeress. Annith is also a very strong woman, mentally. She had to be to survive her childhood but it carried into her adulthood too. Annith is also very very skilled in fighting, horseback riding, archery and fighting with weapons. She has even surpassed the skills of the nuns who teach her. One of the most noticeable things about Annith is that she is very loyal and truly loves her god, Mortain. She wants to do anything to serve him and be one of his handmaidens. She constantly prays to him and the reader can tell how much she loves him.
I really liked Balthazaar too. He is a hellequin, which are basically like Mortain's soldiers who go and find lost and wicked souls to bring them to the underworld. The hellequin are all dead and are men/souls who have done wicked things in their lives but are given a chance at redemption by being of service to Mortain. Balthazaar is funny and kind. He attaches himself to Annith and protects her while she stays with them. The reader can tell about their attraction to each other but one of the things a hellequin has to do is resist temptation, which is why at first he pushes her away. Once she leaves the hellequin's presence to continue on with her purpose, Balthazaar follows her and the reader knows then that he is in love with her and he gives in to wanting to be with her. Balthazaar is just as mysterious as Annith is because we don't learn about his history until much later in the book. However he is there by Annith's side ready to help her in anyway he can and protect her. The romance between them was wonderful and it wasn't rushed.
I enjoyed seeing the rest of the cast of characters in the book even if they didn't play a prominent role. I really liked that Sybella, Ismae and Annith were together again in the duchesses' palace. Their friendship is inspirational and they love each other a great deal. I also liked the duchess Anne. That girl has so many problems and hard decisions to make about war and what to do for her country and she is only 13 years old. I can't even remember what I was doing at 13 but I was so not mature enough to rule a country. The duchess does what she can for her people and she truly cares about what happens to her country and the people in it. She fights as long as she can for its freedom and she has a lot of hard choices to make in this book. The abbess started bothering me in the last book "Dark Triumph" but in this book she was such a b***h and so sneaky about things.
Once again I love the history of the book and the setting it took place in (the middle ages). It still baffles me that it took people days to get from one city to another and that they often had to stop and make camp somewhere. I hate camping so if I lived back then I probably would never go anywhere. The book moves at a good place and there is a good amount of action in it among all the politics and meetings with the duchess. I also enjoyed the mythology of the gods because this book talked more about them. It talked about the love story between Mortain and one of the goddesses of love. We also get to meet some followers of some of the other gods, not just Mortain's.
All in all it was a great conclusion to a series. I'm also hoping that LaFevers writes a book about the duchess Anne's life. That would be awesome also, since she's such a strong female in history.
This book is the story of Annith, the most skilled of Mortain's hand maidens, but who has never been out on an assignment. We learn a bit about Annith's life in this book. She was sent to the convent when she was a few days old and she doesn't know the story of her birth. She was raised in the convent under the harsh abbess of the time called the Dragonette. Her life was brutal because this Dragonette wanted to fashion Annith into the perfect weapon. She was punished, tested and abused is what it really was since she was a toddler. Now at the age of 17, Annith, who has not been sent out on a mission (this is her one desire and what she has been training for her whole life, has been informed that she will be the convent's next seeress. Needless to say she flips out because being a seeress means that she will stay in the convent for the rest of her life and never go out on a mission. So when the abbess leaves for the Duchess' palace, Annith takes the opportunity to leave the convent to find answers about her history and why she wasn't sent out by confronting the abbess at whatever city she was in in Brittany. Of course along the way she meets a guy, Balthazaar and we all know what happens when a guys is involved.
I liked Annith even though she isn't my favorite assassin. That title goes to Sybella, then Ismae, then Annith. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Annith, like her birth history and why she was refused to be sent out on a mission. Among other traits like loyalty, loving and caring, she is very obedient to the nuns and to what they expect of her which is one of the reasons for her being chosen as a seeress. The abbess thinks that Annith is "obedient and biddable" and wants to use Annith as seeress for her own reasons. Once Annith has a taste of freedom (on her journey to confront the abbess) and disobedience, she can't get enough of it. She is loyal to the convent and the assassin girls she trains there but she feels like she cannot go back to the convent if it means her being a seeress. Annith is also a very strong woman, mentally. She had to be to survive her childhood but it carried into her adulthood too. Annith is also very very skilled in fighting, horseback riding, archery and fighting with weapons. She has even surpassed the skills of the nuns who teach her. One of the most noticeable things about Annith is that she is very loyal and truly loves her god, Mortain. She wants to do anything to serve him and be one of his handmaidens. She constantly prays to him and the reader can tell how much she loves him.
I really liked Balthazaar too. He is a hellequin, which are basically like Mortain's soldiers who go and find lost and wicked souls to bring them to the underworld. The hellequin are all dead and are men/souls who have done wicked things in their lives but are given a chance at redemption by being of service to Mortain. Balthazaar is funny and kind. He attaches himself to Annith and protects her while she stays with them. The reader can tell about their attraction to each other but one of the things a hellequin has to do is resist temptation, which is why at first he pushes her away. Once she leaves the hellequin's presence to continue on with her purpose, Balthazaar follows her and the reader knows then that he is in love with her and he gives in to wanting to be with her. Balthazaar is just as mysterious as Annith is because we don't learn about his history until much later in the book. However he is there by Annith's side ready to help her in anyway he can and protect her. The romance between them was wonderful and it wasn't rushed.
I enjoyed seeing the rest of the cast of characters in the book even if they didn't play a prominent role. I really liked that Sybella, Ismae and Annith were together again in the duchesses' palace. Their friendship is inspirational and they love each other a great deal. I also liked the duchess Anne. That girl has so many problems and hard decisions to make about war and what to do for her country and she is only 13 years old. I can't even remember what I was doing at 13 but I was so not mature enough to rule a country. The duchess does what she can for her people and she truly cares about what happens to her country and the people in it. She fights as long as she can for its freedom and she has a lot of hard choices to make in this book. The abbess started bothering me in the last book "Dark Triumph" but in this book she was such a b***h and so sneaky about things.
Once again I love the history of the book and the setting it took place in (the middle ages). It still baffles me that it took people days to get from one city to another and that they often had to stop and make camp somewhere. I hate camping so if I lived back then I probably would never go anywhere. The book moves at a good place and there is a good amount of action in it among all the politics and meetings with the duchess. I also enjoyed the mythology of the gods because this book talked more about them. It talked about the love story between Mortain and one of the goddesses of love. We also get to meet some followers of some of the other gods, not just Mortain's.
All in all it was a great conclusion to a series. I'm also hoping that LaFevers writes a book about the duchess Anne's life. That would be awesome also, since she's such a strong female in history.
Rating
A+
This sounds like a great trilogy, I haven't heard of this before, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the cover!
Have a nice day :)
Myra @ I'm Loving Books
I highly recommend this series
ReplyDelete