First in a duology, this darkly thrilling page-turner set in the world of the best-selling His Fair Assassin series is perfect for fans of THRONE OF GLASS, RED QUEEN, and GAME OF THRONES. Told in alternating perspectives, when Sybella discovers there is another trained assassin from St. Mortain’s convent deep undercover in the French court, she must use every skill in her arsenal to navigate the … navigate the deadly royal politics and find her sister in arms before her time–and that of the newly crowned queen–runs out.
When Sybella accompanies the Duchess to France, she expects trouble, but she isn’t expecting a deadly trap. Surrounded by enemies both known and unknown, Sybella searches for the undercover assassins from the convent of St. Mortain who were placed in the French court years ago.
Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she no longer knows who she is or what she’s supposed to be fighting for. When she discovers a hidden prisoner who may be of importance, she takes matters into her own hands.
As these two worlds collide, the fate of the Duchess, Brittany, and everything Sybella and Genevieve have come to love hangs in the balance.
more
I saw this book on Netgalley and it sounded good, it said it is a Duology, which it is, but it is still very connected to the previous trilogy, which I have not read.
That being said I was a little confused in the beginning and had to look it up. Thank heavens for Wikipedia because I did not have the time to read all three books.
Once I was caught up I enjoyed it tremendously. I loved everything about it. The story arc, the writing but I think most if all, the rich and vibrate world building and the characters.
I thought the world was awesome and descriptive , well enough to transport you right there but not overly to be annoyed with. Which can be a fine line.
The same goes for the characters, I couldn’t help but love and root for them, all of it … the good, the bad and the ugly.
The story once I had a better understanding of the previous books was fantastic, I read the book pretty much in one sitting and couldn’t put it down.
Its dark, its snarky and keeps you guessing and interested till the last page.
Overall I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next book already. I also will read the previous books in the meantime, I just really liked this author’s work.
I will rate it 4 , but just because I think we could have gotten a better background of the other books for new readers of this universe otherwise I thought this book was fantastic.
Delving back into the world of the assassins of Saint Mortain was something I’d been looking forward to ever since I heard about this book. I was worried I’d be unsure of who was who, but it wasn’t hard to join with the characters at the stage they were in. Truly, Sybella had been my favorite, even if her book wasn’t my favorite. The other main character in this book, Genevieve, took me a little bit to come around to. But once I did, I was rooting for her, and hoping that she could have a romance herself, with Maraud, the prisoner she’d rescued from the dungeon, even if the rescue was only to serve her own purposes. Now when something happened in the book, I kind of assumed it was going to be the prisoner, I won’t say what happened, so maybe you won’t expect what I did. So when we did find out who he was, well, all the little puzzle pieces started to fall into place.
The author is great about keeping certain details from coming out until moments that will have the reader gasping in surprise! The other thing I love is all the history that is interwoven throughout the plot. The author has a note at the end that does clear up what is actually true and what she had to adjust and tweak to fit her story. Not only is there an afterward talking about the history of the story, but there is a letter at the beginning to the readers, talking about what motivated her to write further in this world. It was a touching note, with some deep topics and worth reading.
The ending of the book left me on the edge of my seat, satisfied with this reunion of some of my favorite characters, but sad that I’ll be waiting until 2020 to see what will happen with where we left off.