Title: Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #1)
Pages: 512 (Paperback - ARC)
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: February 5th, 2019
Synopsis from Courting Darkness' Goodreads page
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?
THOUGHTS
Thank you so much to Raincoast Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Honestly, I am obsessed with this book.
I first read Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin trilogy when I was in high school, and I was as obsessed with that then as I am now (that is to say - completely obsessed).
The characters of this book originated in that trilogy, however, you do not need to read the His Fair Assassin trilogy to understand, and to enjoy, this book.
The characters are just as good, if not better, as they were in her first trilogy. They all have amazing depth, resilience, and strength, and I love seeing empowered woman in literature that are just concerned about themselves and their family. Each and every character in this book has a saddening, heart-wrenching backstory, but none of them let that ruin their lives or define who they are. Every character, man and woman alike, are strong and are realistic and wonderful to read about. As a reader, you can connect with each and every one of them, and that is my favourite thing about them.
The setting of this book is also amazing. I am a huge fan of historical fantasy books, and basically anything set in times of knights, warriors, and castles. (and a little bit of magic and gods and goddesses never hurt anyone!). I loved the descriptions of every place the characters went to. Even places like barns where the characters spent a night were so realistic, it felt like you were actually there with the characters.
I also adored the plot of this book. The entire story, and each characters' story, was very interesting and I loved seeing how they progressed throughout the story. Each one of the characters, from minor to small, plays some important role in the story, and I love how their lives and stories progressed throughout. I'm very, very much looking forward to reading the next book in the duology and seeing where they all end up!
The only reason this book didn't get a full 5 stars from me is that a fair amount of the beginning of the book is backstory that is known in the His Fair Assassin trilogy, and I felt it was a little slow. Other than that, I absolutely adored it!
After reading the His Fair Assassin trilogy, and now this book as well, I am EXTREMELY invested in these characters, and there is no way that I will not be reading the next book. Not only am I invested, but the books themselves are amazing and I have always recommended them to anyone and everyone who has ever told me they are looking for a strong fantasy read with amazing characters, a compelling plot, and a fascinating storyline.
Blog Tour Schedule
Q&A with Robin LaFevers!!
Q: What is the best advice you can give to aspiring writers?
A: How long do you have? Just kidding!
So, most importantly, 1) Give yourself permission to write. It’s so easy to think we aren’t special enough or our perspective isn’t unique enough or wonder who would ever be interested in what we have to say. Put all that aside—we all have a story to tell. How effectively we are able to tell it depends on the second piece of advice I have.
2) Take the long view of your writing journey and wallow in and enjoy both the act of creating AND your apprenticeship. The ‘overnight success’ is a rare, rare bird. Much more often writers have toiled in silence and ignominy for years to produce a saleable manuscript. But hopefully, you write because you love language or stories, and while talent plays some part, studying the craft plays a far larger role. That and persistence.
3) So be stubborn about this. If you want it, allow yourself to want it and spend time doing it and honing your craft and immersing yourself in becoming a writing nerd. No words are wasted—even the crappy ones that we use in our early manuscript teach us something and bring us closer to the story we are struggling to tell. My caveat to this is to check in with yourself periodically. If writing stops bringing you joy or becomes something that makes you down on yourself, put it aside. It’s okay to try something, then stop. And it’s okay to try something, put it aside, then pick it up again years later.
4) Protect the work—whatever form that might take. By keeping your writing private and not sharing it with those who don’t understand your need to create. Sometimes it can be extremely unhelpful having others poke their nose in: Have you finished anything yet? Gotten an agent? Sold something? It’s okay to not invite others in to your process.
It’s okay to protect your work by keeping your words private until you feel they’re ready to be seen by others. Or perhaps you’ll need to protect the work from your own rush to get published or making a facile writing choice within the story. Time and practice will help you recognize those moments.
