Robin LaFevers delivers a triumphant conclusion to her original, suspenseful His Fair Assassins trilogy starring deadly 15th-century nuns from the Convent of Saint Mortain in Brittany.
While Ismae (narrator of Grave Mercy) and Sybella (who narrates Dark Triumph) were both sent out on assignment as handmaidens to Death, Annith was stuck in the convent. She at last breaks free for this nail-biting finale. Annith had always felt a debt to the present abbess for protecting her as a child from the previous leader, who placed Annith in solitary confinement at age five--although that trying time also prompted Annith's first visit from Mortain. Now she finds herself questioning the abbess's decisions and flees the convent at the first opportunity. She soon finds herself in the midst of the Hellequins' Hunt. Readers will be fascinated to learn of these "tortured souls of the damned who have pledged themselves to serve Mortain in order to earn their redemption." The one who rescues Annith from the Hellequins turns out to be their leader.
LaFevers creates a tension that sizzles between them, and lays the groundwork for Annith to question the constructs of faith--such as the convent meant to serve Mortain but corrupted by power--in order to evaluate what it means to be guided by love and faith in all of one's choices. LaFevers blends history, intrigue and the forces of influence, while also putting a human face on the events. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness