Dark Triumph
Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her a refuge-but at a price. Naturally skilled in the arts of both death and seduction, Sybella, the convent realizes, is one of their most dangerous weapons.
But those assassin’s skills are little help when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drover her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she finds an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?
Given my lukewarm feelings towards Grave Mercy, the first book in LaFever’s trilogy, I seriously wavered in giving this second installment a chance-but I’m very glad I didn’t listen to my doubts. Dark Triumph is a coup of a novel, one that’s not only packed with action and adventure, but also delves very deep into a troubled heroine’s journey of self-discovery.
In many ways, Dark Triumph seems like a completely different, more riveting book than Grave Mercy and that’s largely due to the strength of Sybella’s character. Prickly, cunning, and ruthless, Sybella is arguably the most skilled of the Mortain’s assassins, but underneath her fearless façade is a girl with a troubled past. Her story is dark, one of the darkest I’ve come across in Young Adult novels: Growing up, Sybella endured not only a merciless, violent father, Count d’Albret, but also sexual abuse at the hands of her brother Julian, the one family member she thought she could trust. On top of the burden of her past, she also struggles with what her identity as a handmaiden of Death means. After effortlessly dispatching some of her father’s soldiers, she is suddenly forced to consider her actions:
Do I enjoy killing? Is it the act itself that brings me joy? Or do I embrace the sense of higher purpose it gives me?
Or do I simply enjoy having something at which I excel, as there are few enough skills that I possess?
However, if I do enjoy killing, how does that make me any different from d’Albret? (141)
Sybella continually grapples with this question of who she is, and it becomes increasingly clear that she cannot come to terms with herself until she stops running away from her past. Although certain aspects of her past felt harrowing, at times uncomfortably so, Sybella’s personal journey felt more genuinely raw and emotional as a result: Here is a heroine who learns to have the courage to accept herself, both the dark and the light.
Although Sybella does undergo a challenging journey, I also really savored the fact that she does not have to do so alone; in fact, she couldn’t have done so without the knight she saved from her father’s dungeons-Beast. While so many romantic interests in YA feel contrived or, at this point, obligatory, Beast was a true foil for Sybella: Whatever he lacks in looks (Sybella has no qualms about calling him an ogre, which he only laughs off), he more than makes up for in his bravery, loyalty, and courage. Plus, he’s not one bit intimidated by Sybella. One of my favorite moments is when she is first caring after his wounds, and all she wants to do is shut him up:
“You are as mad as your reputation suggests.”
He grins. “You have heard of me?”
I roll my eyes. “I have heard of a madman who dons battle fever like most men don armor and charges out into the field killing nigh unto hundreds of souls.”
He settles more comfortably onto the blanket. “You have heard of me,” he says, the satisfaction thick in his voice (119).
Underneath the easy smiles and laughs, though, Beast has his own burdens, and to watch these two slowly come together-after a lifetime of thinking each was truly alone-was another triumph of this book. Dark Triumph showcases the real potential of LaFevers’ His Fair Assassin trilogy, and I can honestly say I look forward to the third installment, Annith’s story.
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her a refuge-but at a price. Naturally skilled in the arts of both death and seduction, Sybella, the convent realizes, is one of their most dangerous weapons.
But those assassin’s skills are little help when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drover her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she finds an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?
Given my lukewarm feelings towards Grave Mercy, the first book in LaFever’s trilogy, I seriously wavered in giving this second installment a chance-but I’m very glad I didn’t listen to my doubts. Dark Triumph is a coup of a novel, one that’s not only packed with action and adventure, but also delves very deep into a troubled heroine’s journey of self-discovery.
In many ways, Dark Triumph seems like a completely different, more riveting book than Grave Mercy and that’s largely due to the strength of Sybella’s character. Prickly, cunning, and ruthless, Sybella is arguably the most skilled of the Mortain’s assassins, but underneath her fearless façade is a girl with a troubled past. Her story is dark, one of the darkest I’ve come across in Young Adult novels: Growing up, Sybella endured not only a merciless, violent father, Count d’Albret, but also sexual abuse at the hands of her brother Julian, the one family member she thought she could trust. On top of the burden of her past, she also struggles with what her identity as a handmaiden of Death means. After effortlessly dispatching some of her father’s soldiers, she is suddenly forced to consider her actions:
Do I enjoy killing? Is it the act itself that brings me joy? Or do I embrace the sense of higher purpose it gives me?
Or do I simply enjoy having something at which I excel, as there are few enough skills that I possess?
However, if I do enjoy killing, how does that make me any different from d’Albret? (141)
Sybella continually grapples with this question of who she is, and it becomes increasingly clear that she cannot come to terms with herself until she stops running away from her past. Although certain aspects of her past felt harrowing, at times uncomfortably so, Sybella’s personal journey felt more genuinely raw and emotional as a result: Here is a heroine who learns to have the courage to accept herself, both the dark and the light.
Although Sybella does undergo a challenging journey, I also really savored the fact that she does not have to do so alone; in fact, she couldn’t have done so without the knight she saved from her father’s dungeons-Beast. While so many romantic interests in YA feel contrived or, at this point, obligatory, Beast was a true foil for Sybella: Whatever he lacks in looks (Sybella has no qualms about calling him an ogre, which he only laughs off), he more than makes up for in his bravery, loyalty, and courage. Plus, he’s not one bit intimidated by Sybella. One of my favorite moments is when she is first caring after his wounds, and all she wants to do is shut him up:
“You are as mad as your reputation suggests.”
He grins. “You have heard of me?”
I roll my eyes. “I have heard of a madman who dons battle fever like most men don armor and charges out into the field killing nigh unto hundreds of souls.”
He settles more comfortably onto the blanket. “You have heard of me,” he says, the satisfaction thick in his voice (119).
Underneath the easy smiles and laughs, though, Beast has his own burdens, and to watch these two slowly come together-after a lifetime of thinking each was truly alone-was another triumph of this book. Dark Triumph showcases the real potential of LaFevers’ His Fair Assassin trilogy, and I can honestly say I look forward to the third installment, Annith’s story.