Robin LaFevers, Mortal Heart
This final book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy focuses on Annith, one of the most skilled novices at the convent of St. Mortain in medieval Brittany. She has lived her entire life in the convent but yearns to be sent on her first mission to the outside world, so that she can finally use her skills to serve the god of death. But the abbess has stubbornly kept her in the convent while allowing other, less skilled novices to go out on missions. When Annith hears that the abbess intends to make her the next Seeress, effectively locking her within the convent walls forever, she decides to leave the convent and find her own way to serve Mortain. Along the way she runs into a group of hellequin, doomed souls who can only redeem themselves by ushering the spirits of the dying into the afterlife. At first the hellequin terrify Annith, but she soon grows closer to their mysterious leader, Balthazaar. Will Annith be able to overcome her past, including the secrets the abbess is keeping, and forge her own destiny?
I was a big fan of Grave Mercy and, to a lesser extent, Dark Triumph, so I jumped at the chance to grab this galley at BEA! Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely enamored with the book, although I’m having a hard time pinpointing why. For one thing, the plot doesn’t have much forward momentum; there’s a lot about Annith’s past and the secrets hidden in the convent, but her current journey is much less interesting. I also found Balthazaar underwhelming as a romantic lead. There’s just no spark between him and Annith, possibly because the book spends so much time in the past. And although his big secret makes total sense in the world of this series, it made me less enthusiastic about him and Annith as a couple. That said, I do think the book is a good resolution to the series as a whole, providing some closure on all the main characters and resolving the dangling plot threads from earlier books. So I’d certainly recommend this novel to fans of the series, but I still think the first book, Grave Mercy, is the best.
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WIN THIS BOOK
Since I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to read this book, I’d like to give someone else a chance as well. So with that in mind, I am offering one lucky winner my advance reader copy of Mortal Heart. It’s only been read one time and is still in great shape, I promise! 🙂 Here’s how to enter:
- Comment on this blog post between now and July 3, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern time). Be sure to mention that you are entering the giveaway!
- One entry per person, please!
- This giveaway is limited to US readers only. (I know, I know, sorry!)
- The winner will be chosen randomly, and I’ll announce the results in a new post sometime on July 4.
And…that’s it! Good luck, everyone!
You Book Me All Night Long 
I totally agree. The identify reveal threw me off, but I dealt with it better than I thought I would when I first suspected that twist. And I think this is the weakest of the three, but still a pretty satisfying conclusion to the series as whole. Dark Triumph is my favorite of the three. LOVE Sybella. And Beast.
Haha yup, that’s what I was referring to! On the one hand, I think it was inevitable…but I wasn’t nuts about it!
I finally acquired the first two books in the series so I’m fairly impatient for the release of Mortal Heart. Thanks for hosting this giveaway!
rainjeys@yahoo.com
OOO I love this series and can’t wait for this one! Thanks for the amazing giveaway 😀
iliveforreading AT hotmail DOT com
I would love to win this!
Sounds interesting; please enter me
How exciting! I’m sorry to hear that this didn’t live up to the other books in the series, but I’m definitely still excited to read it. Please include me in the giveaway 🙂 Thanks for passing your ARC along!
I have read the first two books and liked them. I hope the third and final book will be a good read for me. Sorry to hear it wasn’t the best of the three. Thank you for this giveaway. I’ll keep my fingers and toes crossed 😀
I am so excited to read this even more now! I would love to enter the giveaway! Funny story, i was trying to reccomend this series to a friend and had the hardest time explaining it
Me: its about assassins
Her: –Looks–
Me…and nuns?
Her:–looks harder–
Me: trying to explain St. Mortain and hand maidens of Death.
Her:…………..
Me: kissing and swoons
Her: thats better
Haha! It was quite funny
Please enter me. I loved Dark Triumph and I’m excited for Mortal Heart. Thank you for the giveaway!
***This giveaway is now CLOSED.***