All Things Halloween Review - Igniting Darkness

Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness, # 2)

By: Robin LaFevers

Publication: August 4th 2020 by HMH Books for Young Readers

496 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From New York Times best-selling author Robin LaFevers comes the follow up to “sharp and breathless” (Kirkus Reviews) historical fantasy Courting Darkness. Set in the world of the beloved His Fair Assassin series, this is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Game of Thrones.

When you count Death as a friend, who can stand as your enemy?

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

After months of seeking her out, Sybella has finally made contact with a fellow novitiate of the convent, Genevieve, a mole in the French court. But when Genevieve mistakenly draws the attention of the French king to the convent of Saint Mortain and its deadly arts, she may do her sisters (and herself) more harm than good. Sybella, having already drawn the ire of the French regent, may not be able to depend on her sister and ally as much as she hoped. Still, Death always finds a way, even if it’s not what one expects.

No one can be trusted and the wolves are always waiting in this thrilling conclusion to the Courting Darkness duology, set in the world of Robin’s beloved His Fair Assassins trilogy.

Man I could kick myself. It's been 13 days since I finished Igniting Darkness and I'm finally forcing myself to write this review. And in those 13 days, I've finished 3 other books. I used to have a rule of not letting 2 days go by without writing a review and not finishing another book before reviewing. I knew I'd regret waiting so long and now I'm really struggling with remembering what I wanted to say at all. Well, all of that and pregnancy brain which is very, very real. I'm going to do my best though.

I was so angry with Genevieve at the end of Courting Darkness. She puts the entire convent at risk of the king's anger. And her disregard for her feelings for Maraud in an attempt at manipulating the King for her own benefit had me wanting to shake some sense into her. Thankfully she had Sybella to help get her back on the right path as well as fix some of her mistakes. Especially considering the terrible position she put Sybella in. So I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about her during Igniting Darkness, but she was able to put some distance between herself and the King, physically even if he did come to rely on her thoughts as an impartial friend.

I knew that Genevieve and Maraud would have to reconnect with each other and I both dreaded it and anticipated it more than anything else about the book. I just knew that if she got caught with him then the King would punish one or both of them. I worried how Maraud would handle Genevieve sleeping with the King. Of course the two weren't committed to each other, weren't even sure they would ever see each other again, but it has to feel like a betrayal nonetheless. Yet he never even questioned her about it. How convenient.

Sybella is still one of my all-time favorite heroines. She's struggling with a lot in this book...well really that's not unusual for her. She's gotten her sisters to safety but keeping them there isn't as easy as it may seem. Beast finds himself in jail for something he didn't do. A twist of the Reagent as always. Pierre plagues her on all sides. Aligning with the Reagent to turn the King against Sybella and by default the Queen. Plus she's struggling with her faith now that Mortain has become human. Who does she serve now? Even though I anticipated Genevieve and Maraud's reunion most in the book, Sybella's story always ends up being the most interesting.

Favorite quotes:

-A knowledge both primitive and true rises up from deep within me, and I feel the power of the Dark Mother fill me. Understand in my bones that while I have been broken and beaten and beyond despair, I have also rebuilt myself and have risen from the ashes of my own funeral pyre.

-“Knowing a miracle will occur does not keep one from marveling when it does.”

-And though this moment feels hopeless, that doesn’t mean I must give in to despair. Hope need not shine brightly. It need only be a dogged refusal to give up.

Igniting Darkness is so much better than my review of it. Robin LaFevers does a wonderful job of weaving a story together. So many pieces that must come together. So many characters with different motivations each. Wonderful heroes and heroines, but also equally challenging villains that thwart our heroes at nearly every turn. This story has a lot of focus on fathers. Different types of fathers who each have differing influence over their children. There's also a more feminist message to Igniting Darkness even though the entire His Fair Assassins and Courting Darkness Duology stories have focused on strong female characters leading countries, making major decisions that affect many, saving the day, and protecting others. This book had a less subtle message on the ill treatment of women from the time these books are supposed to take place. I don't mind stories that focus on strong female characters. I love them actually. And I don't mind since this is a fantasy series that the author wants to stray from social norms of the time to write what she would like to see. But I guess I just always get hung up on books with a message, even if the message is one I'm in agreement with. I end up feeling preached at and I just wonder why make the distinction in the first place? Write the story you want to read. Make society be more accepting of women if that's what you want to see, but don't put up a billboard about it so to speak. Anyway, overall I enjoyed Igniting Darkness and give it 4 Stars. Have you read Igniting Darkness? What did you think? Let me know.

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Can't Wait for Igniting Darkness

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness, # 2)

By: Robin LaFevers

Expected Publication: June 2nd 2020 by HMH Books for Young Readers

496 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From New York Times best-selling author Robin LaFevers comes the follow up to “sharp and breathless” (Kirkus Reviews) historical fantasy Courting Darkness. Set in the world of the beloved His Fair Assassin series, this is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Game of Thrones.

When you count Death as a friend, who can stand as your enemy?

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

After months of seeking her out, Sybella has finally made contact with a fellow novitiate of the convent, Genevieve, a mole in the French court. But when Genevieve mistakenly draws the attention of the French king to the convent of Saint Mortain and its deadly arts, she may do her sisters (and herself) more harm than good. Sybella, having already drawn the ire of the French regent, may not be able to depend on her sister and ally as much as she hoped. Still, Death always finds a way, even if it’s not what one expects.

No one can be trusted and the wolves are always waiting in this thrilling conclusion to the Courting Darkness duology, set in the world of Robin’s beloved His Fair Assassins trilogy.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Courting Darkness - Review

Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology, # 1)

By: Robin LaFevers

Publication: February 5th 2019 by HMH Books for Young Readers

512 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Source: Amazon Vine

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Death wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning…

Sybella has always been the darkest of Death’s daughters, trained at the convent of Saint Mortain to serve as his justice. But she has a new mission now. In a desperate bid to keep her two youngest sisters safe from the family that nearly destroyed them all, she agrees to accompany the duchess to France, where they quickly find themselves surrounded by enemies. Their one ray of hope is Sybella’s fellow novitiates, disguised and hidden deep in the French court years ago by the convent—provided Sybella can find them.

Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she struggles to remember who she is or what she’s supposed to be fighting for. Her only solace is a hidden prisoner who appears all but forgotten by his guards. When tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands—even if it means ignoring the long awaited orders from the convent.

As Sybella and Gen’s paths draw ever closer, the fate of everything they hold sacred rests on a knife’s edge. Will they find each other in time, or will their worlds collide, destroying everything they care about?

I'm not quite sure why Courting Darkness has been listed as a spin off series and part of a duology instead of just extending the original His Fair Assassins series. The events basically pick up right where Mortal Heart left off. Unlike the previous series, Courting Darkness has two narrators: Sybella and Genevieve. Sybella we've read from before in Dark Triumph, but Genevieve is a new narrator.

Sybella's story is necessary in the largest part because she's one of the Duchess's ladies so she's close and involved with all of the political moves which leads the story in this case. Sybella offers strength to the Duchess when no one else can. I loved the continuation of Sybella's story. She still has much to work through emotionally. After the events of Mortal Heart, being a follower of Mortain isn't as clear as it once was. There are no more marques, but that doesn't mean that the gifts he's given to his children are all gone. However, Sybella has always struggled with her desire to cross the line and kill those who might not have been marqued in the first place. She's battling her fear of being like the man who raised her. We also experience more of her relationship with Beast which I adored.

Genevieve was back and forth for me. I liked her easily enough in the beginning. I sympathized with her over several things. She was placed in an undercover situation 5 years ago. Initially when she and Margot (a fellow initiate) were sent out they were told that there would be no contact for at least a year, maybe even two. But now FIVE years have passed without contact at all. No instructions. No updates. Nothing. It's quite easy to feel forgotten after 5 years. Not to mention she was barely trained in many areas and not at all in others. And none of this is helped by the fact that Margot has increasingly embraced being forgotten and being back into the world she was familiar with from her time before the convent. Genevieve has lost her closest and really only friend and ally. When she's given information that the convent has been disbanded, she steps up to take matters into her own hands. Like all of the previous books and relationships, I easily found myself rooting for Genevieve and Anton. Until Genevieve gets this ridiculous plan in her head which I feel like I need to discuss separately. I want to say so much more about this but don't want to spoil anything. I assume the 2nd book in the duology will also follow Genevieve and Sybella and will give me more closure.

I've mentioned in all of my past reviews from Robin LaFevers how impressed I always am with her phrasing and that was yet again the case. I even told Husband that I want to bring back the word "mayhap" into modern-day conversation. Her sentences flow, yet there's no way you'd forget that you're reading historical fiction.

Favorite quotes:

-But Sweet Jesu, this loving someone is hard. Might as well rip a piece of one's heart from one's chest and feed it to wild pigs.

-"No. You are not a piece of fruit. You are a blade that has been brutally forged, painfully hammered, and wickedly honed. You are steel, not poison. You are deadly, not depraved. They are very different things, Sybella."

Another thing I've mentioned in each of my previous reviews for the His Fair Assassins series is symbolism. It felt to me that Robin LaFevers was using the assassins relationship with Mortain (the god of Death) as symbolic to the Christian's relationship with God. I'll continue to read the symbolism into those books, but Courting Darkness kind of made it clear that this was not her intent. She brings in Christianity and God with the French and makes it clear that they do not support the nine gods that Brittany served. The author's note at the end tells us that the gods of Brittany are based off some Celtic gods from actual history. Bringing Christianity in made this feel much less like a fantasy and much more like a historical retelling--which it is that too. Robin LaFevers takes some major historical moments from 1489-1491 and brings them into her story. I don't fault her for this, but the addition of Christianity actually took away from this book and my enjoyment of it as backward as that may be.

I appreciated how actual events and reality weren't shied away from. It wasn't abnormal for men in high ranking positions to have wives and mistresses. And while this hurts my romantic heart, I appreciate the reality of it all. I did find it frustrating that Genevieve could so wholly abhor the idea of lowering herself to becoming one of Count Angouleme's mistresses, yet the thought of becoming a mistress for the king of France wasn't beyond her realm of possibility. I also struggled with how Genevieve had no thought of Anton at when it really should have mattered. I'm sure there could be an explanation for that, but it felt important to me that it was missing.

While I certainly didn't want to stop reading Courting Darkness anytime I needed to put it down, I also found it lacking in some ways when compared to the His Fair Assassins series. Some of the things I loved most from that series were either missing entirely or twisted in some ways with the start of this duology. I did continuously think about Courting Darkness when I had to put it down and finished it within two to three days. It was still a great read, and I can't wait to find out what happens next. Yet overall, I can't rate it as highly as the prior books. That being said, Courting Darkness still gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Courting Darkness? What did you think? Let me know!