Waiting on Wednesday: Dark Triumph

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I am eagerly waiting on...
Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers

Summary (from Goodreads):
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove 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 discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats.

Dark Triumph will be released April 2nd 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

What are you guys waiting for this week? Leave thoughts and links in the comments!

Trailer for Dark Triumph now available!

The first book in Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin triology, Grave Mercy, was one of my top 12 of 2012. I loved it, as I wrote in my review. And now we are approaching the release date for Dark Triumph! I can't wait to read about Sybella, who was one of the most interesting characters in Grave Mercy. I am so excitied to dive back into LaFevers' world. I may even reread the giant Grave Mercy before I pick up Dark Triumph.

Anyway, today, the trailer for Dark Triumph was released on Entertainment Weekly. Check it out here!

There's only a few short weeks until Dark Triumph comes out on April 2nd! Mark your calendars, everyone!

Best 12 of '12

As the year comes to a close, it is a time for reflection on the past twelve months. 2012 was a great year, filled with many wonderful reads. Here are my 12 favorites, in the order that I read them. Not all of these books were published in 2012, but I read them first this year.

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My favorite fairy tale retelling of the year. The original setting, the well-developed characters, and an incredibly engaging writing style made Cinder an overall great read and left me wanting more! I can't wait for Scarlet to come out in just a few short weeks. 

2. Well Witched by Frances Hardinge
I adore Frances Hardinge's writing. Well Witched was deliciously creepy and still scares me a bit. Although it is a relatively older book, I only discovered it this year, and am so glad I did. 

3. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
An amazingly crafted fantasy - and in my opinion, the best book of Cashore's trilogy. This carefully woven tale absolutely won its place on this list with characters I fell in love with, a complex and fascinating story, and amazing writing. Absolutely superb.

4. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
This weighty historical fantasy absolutely captured me with its amazing characters and  multiple (captivating) storylines. The complex politics of the court and the amazing development of the already awesome character of Ismae kept me glued to the pages. 

5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Ah, The Night Circus. This beautiful book was absolutely breathtaking. It's beautiful writing and story was perfectly crafted and masterfully woven together. I've read it twice so far, and it only gets better upon rereading. 

6. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom was probably the most fun book I've read this year, although technically I listened to it rather than reading it. I laughed more times than I can count when I was listening to this book, and I've listened to it three times this summer alone. An excellent, excellent middle grade.

7. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Princess Bride is such a classic, I can't believe I hadn't read it until this year. I grew up with the movie, which my family quotes extensively, and my dad had read the "good parts version" to my brother and me (which, looking back, is somewhat ironic as the whole book is supposed to be the good parts version) so I never felt I needed to read it until this year. Well, I was missing out. I loved it!

8. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Although I preferred Divergent, Insurgent definitely earned its place among my favorites of 2012. I read it when it came out in the spring and also listened to it as an audiobook this summer. I can't wait to see what happens in the series' conclusion.

9. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The twists and turns of this excellent MG enthralled me, and the fantastic main character became a favorite of mine. I love Sage, and I cannot wait to read The Runaway King, the next volume in this wonderful trilogy.

10. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone was absolutely one of my favorite fantasies of the year. I couldn't get through it fast enough. It had such great characters and compelling plot that I did not want to put it down.

11. Reached by Ally Condie
I loved Matched, and although I was not quite as enamored of Crossed, finishing the series with Reached made me love the entire trilogy more than ever. Ally Condie brilliantly wrapped up the Matched trilogy in the perfect way, keeping true to the characters and the story. The writing was so beautiful and the way that the poetry, art, and songs were woven in enriched the story and made it stand out from all the other dystopians I've read.

12. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I almost never read contemporary fiction, but I had heard so much about The Fault in Our Stars that I knew I had to pick it up. And even though I don't generally like contemporary books much, I loved TFioS. It took a lot to keep me from shoving it into the hands of everyone I knew, although I suspect I will end up giving it to many of my friends as birthday presents this year. Very highly recommended.

So there you have it: my 12 favorite books of 2012.  What were your favorite reads?

Happy Holidays!

Friday Face Off: Playing With Knives

Friday Face-Off is a weekly feature hosted by Misty at The Book Rat. 

This week's FFO features not two but three covers that show a girl holding a dagger. All three of the girls seem to have a different intent, but there is little doubt that they would all use their daggers if necessary. 

But now it's your turn to choose...

Which cover did it better?

Click on any cover to enlarge.
Leave your thoughts in the comments!

On last week's FFO: The cover for The Goddess Inheritance won against Cursed, although Cursed gained support for its more natural-looking model. The overall sentiment was that the colors on The Goddess Inheritance complemented each other better, which created an overall more pleasing cover.

As usual, you are still welcome to comment with your thoughts on old FFOs, and I will update this page accordingly.

Cover Reveal / Cover Crazy: Dark Triumph

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Worms on Mondays. The idea is to showcase a beautiful book cover each week.

This week, I'm crazy about...
Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers

I've totally been squeeing over this cover for the entire weekend. I'll have to be brief for now, since I only have a minute to blog tonight, but I seriously love this cover for this next His Fair Assassin installment. I love illustrated covers, although I am surprised that this cover didn't have a photo intstead, since the first one wasn't illustrated.  Also, it seems a little strange that Sybella is illustrated, but the background is not.

No matter. I shall love this cover no matter what. And I so can't wait for Sybella's awesomeness in Dark Triumph!


Want to know more about Dark Triumph?

Summary (from Goodreads):
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove 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 discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dun geons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats.

Are you as totally excited as I am for Dark Triumph?

Have you missed out on this amazing series? 

Check out my review of Grave Mercy!

Review: Grave Mercy

by Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin, #1
Hardcover, 1st Edition, 549 pages
Published April 3rd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Age Recommendation: Older YA, Adult

Summary (from Goodreads):
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Grave Mercy was absolutely fantastic. It's a bit different from what the summary would suggest, and I'm really glad I read Small Review's review before I began the book, since it gave me much more accurate expectations. Not to say that I had to lower my expectations, but the plot is far more centered around political intrigue and the various machinations of the different characters. Yet even though I didn't get a rollicking action plot, I adored the story I ended up with.

The story begins in a less-than-nice way. Ismae is leaving a brutal childhood for an arranged marriage that seems a no better situation. She manages to escape after some rather nasty incidents and is taken to the convent of St. Mortain, where she dedicates her life to fulfilling the wishes of the god of death. You can read the first chapter on Robin LaFevers' website here. (A note before you click over: as I said before, this chapter has some less-than-nice things in it. The rest of the book is not nearly this harsh.)

The scenes in the convent were pretty darn awesome. Ismae doesn't just say, "I learned how to use a dagger..." but actually describes her different lessons and totally immerses the reader in the world of the convent. Daughters of Mortain (Ismae is literally a daughter of Mortain) often have special abilities granted to them by the god, and Ismae's is immunity to poison. She, therefore, specializes in learning about different poisons. In Ismae's time at the convent, she and the reader are both introduced to Annith and Sybella, the main characters of the other two books in the trilogy (Yes, it is a trilogy, but don't worry! Grave Mercy works wonderfully as a standalone).

In fact, Robin LaFevers just released a scene from the convent that was ultimately cut from the novel. You can view it here at the blog Feeling Fictional. It takes place at the convent and is an excellent example of how LaFevers describes Ismae's training.

Ismae is a fantastic character. She is a strong person but has just enough weakness to steal your heart. For all her fantastic assassin skills, she is struggling to find her place. She is so eager to get out there and start killing people (as is the reader), but she is forced to keep up her pretense as Duval's mistress in order to root out the secrets of the palace.

There is not a lot of action and not a lot of assassinations. I think Ismae kills around four people, total, in all 550 pages. There are a few people whom she helps to die, but she doesn't actually assassinate them herself. But if you were expecting lots of action and Katsa-like awesomeness, prepare to change your expectations or be disappointed.

At this point, some of you may be thinking, "This doesn't sound like a very interesting book. No action? No killing?" Never fear. I could barely tear my eyes away from the pages. The story flew by. I didn't ever feel like I was reading a 500+ page book. I was too engrossed in the story. I finished the entire book in two days, largely because I practically refused to put it down. Even though Ismae is not killing everyone off or using her amazing convent training, there is so much going on.

The majority of the story takes place in the court of Anne of Brittany. Every single character has some plot to carry out or some scheme they are trying to keep secret. Ismae has her hands full figuring them all out, while at the same time, trying to fulfill her mission from the convent. All the complex politics were really fun to read about, and as Robin LaFevers writes in her author's note (some slight spoilers), they are all true. In reality, there was actually even more going on, but she trimmed some of the characters and plots because it was getting to be just too much, and the book ended up at nearly 550 pages regardless.

Part of what kept me so interested was the superb world building. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, much of what is in the book is completely true. LaFevers certainly did her historical research, and it shows in the execution. I totally felt like I was there: at the convent, in the court; anywhere Ismae went, I was instantly transported.

And then, finally, there is Duval. I'm spoiling it now: Ismae falls in love with Duval by the end of the book. But I loved the super-slow, hate-to-love romance. Duval is a wonderful character, love interest of not, and he was Ismae's perfect counterpart. I loved the scenes they were in together (which, I suppose, is nearly the whole book), because they worked together so well.

The other characters were great as well: no cardboard cutouts to be seen. I couldn't always get into the heads of the side characters, but I was fascinated with how they played this complex game.

Overall Thoughts:
Quite a spectacular book. There are so many layers upon layers, and lots of different political schemes. Although the action is limited, I was enthralled by the unfolding plots and Ismae's character development. Highly recommended.

Age Recommendation:

I almost never put an age warning at the end of my reviews, but I think this book needs it. This is definitely not a book for younger teens. There is nothing too explicit, but there are many adult themes and references, and the book is written for a mature audience. I would recommend for 16+.