Review: Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

I adore Fantasy books. They are just the best. And this series by Robin is just amazing. She has written the best books. Such an interesting plot. Perfect writing. I very much loved the writing. And the characters. Sigh. They are all so perfect. And yes, they are all so very flawed and broken and that made me love them so much more. Dark Triumph is an amazing sequel to Grave Mercy. I might have loved it even more than book one. Maybe. I did loved the action and such more, though :)

Dark Triumph is an amazing book. It is the story of Sybella. We meet her a little in Grave Mercy. When I first read that book I found her to be a bit crazy. But not the second time. And while reading this one, my heart hurt so much for her. Sybella is an amazing person. Perfect main character. She is very different from Ismae in book one. Ismae was careful and innocent. Sybella is anything but. And I loved that. Loved them both very much. But yeah. Sybella's story is so much more heartbreaking and awful and just so perfect. I loved her so much.

I'm not sure how to describe the plot in this book. I will talk a little bit about it. It won't be spoilers. Not really. Since you learn most of it from the summary, or from the first pages of the book. This is Sybella's story. And it is not a happy one. She was sent on a mission by the convent six months ago. To the household of d'Albret. Which if you have read Grave Mercy you already know parts of how awful and cruel and gruesome he is. He is even worse in this book. Far, far much worse. There is so much pain.

I felt so much for Sybella. She is so strong. And has a kind and loving heart. But my god. She has had it so damn awful all her life. She got to the convent with the nuns and got trained to be an assassin at the age of fourteen. Three years ago. But oh. Those first years of her life were so horrible and sad. Because she was the daughter of d'Albret. And gah. I'm not sure how to deal with it all. It was just so cruel and heartbreaking and so damn perfect. I loved it. Every page. It was just so well done, I couldn't not love it.

Sybella has a lot of siblings. We get to meet some of them. I loved her little sisters. But oh. There is Julian. And he loves her. And they are kind of sleeping together, and Sybella is just going through with it and she is hurting and ah. But it was also perfect. I wasn't sure how to feel about Julian. Because he really loved her. He did some stupid things, but he did it all for her. And while it was kind of disgusting, I also liked it a bit. They don't sleep together in this book. But they have done so in the past.

I did enjoy reading about all the characters in this book. We even see more of Ismae and Duval and the duchess. And I loved that more than I can say. But oh. I also wanted so much more of them. Hopefully in the third book :) Anyway. This is a sad and heartbreaking book. So many betrayals. So much heart ache. So many dead people. So many broken hearts. It made me cry many times. But it is also happy and sweet. And it is all so amazing. I truly loved every moment of this book. Even the heartbreaking ones.

Anyway. Back to the plot. Sybella is there with her family because she has been ordered to kill her father. And she wants to. More than anything. Because he is a goddamn awful human being. But he isn't marked for death. So Sybella can't do anything about it. We also learn a bit more about the convent and the abbess. I hated her. She was just so cruel and heartless. I do not believe that she does anything for Mortain, to carry out His wishes at all. But yeah. I still loved it. I loved the marks and everything.

Not talking too much about that. But yeah. I kind of loved all the murders in this book. They were done really well. And oh. I loved reading about Mortain as well, even though I don't believe in God at all. But he is Death. And so amazing. While Sybella is there, she learns of a prisoner in the dungeons. Beast. And holy. I loved that. She manages to break him out, and is taking him to the duchess. We get to see them together a lot. And it is a great friendship and romance. I might even have loved Beast a bit.

Beast is a weird character. He is huge. And all kinds of ugly. Sybella says that the only thing beautiful about him is his eyelashes. But he has the biggest heart. He is the kindest person. And oh. I loved reading about him so much. And he and Sybella fit together so well. The romance isn't a bit part of the book though. But I loved every second about it. It was just very sweet and real and honest. But yeah. There is a lot of things happening in this book. Action. Death. Romance. Dark Triumph has it all.

We learn more about the duchess and the war with the French people. But it is all far from over when this book ends. I cannot wait to see what happens next. When I started reading this book, I was kind of thinking that I wished it was real, that the things happening had happened. Then I finished this, and read the Author's Note. And very much of this book IS real! And ah. That is just so amazing. I need to go searching for it all. Sigh. I just love these books very, very much. The world, the characters. Everything.

I'm not sure what else to say about this book. Not more about the plot, because there is so much happening and I don't want to spoil it. But oh. It is all so exciting and there were so many things that surprised me. So many things that made me cry. And smile. It was just perfect. But yeah. Dark Triumph is very heartbreaking. And it is perfect. I loved it. I loved reading the evil things as well. And I loved reading about Beast and Sybella the most. I need to know more about them both. Want so much. 

There were a lot of political things in Grave Mercy. And while I loved that, I was also glad there wasn't much of that in Dark Triumph. This book is shorter than Grave Mercy, though. But I'm not sure it is very much shorter in words, because it felt like it took me forever to read it. Yet I never wanted it to end. Felt like the ending should have been longer. But also not, because it was perfect. I am dying for the third book, Mortal Heart. Annith's story. I cannot wait to get to know her more. Sigh. So excited :)

Grave Mercy was an amazing book. Dark Triumph just as good, if not a tiny bit better. I cannot wait to read the third one. I feel that Mortal Heart will be perfect. I can't wait. You need to read this amazing sequel when it comes out in April. You will not regret it. Thank you so much to the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, for allowing me to read and review this book early via NetGalley :) So glad that I was able to. Dark Triumph was just so perfect and amazing. Loved it very much.

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