Review: Mortal Heart

“Mortal Heart” (His Fair Assassins #3), by Robin LaFevers. The Goodreads summary:

Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.

She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...

I’d heard from multiple people that this third book wasn’t as good as the first two, so I went into it with fairly low expectations. But, well, I liked it. Okay, so yes, I didn’t like it as much as the second book, because “Dark Triumph” is sheer awesomeness, but all things considered, I enjoyed the third book quite a bit.

Annith was admittedly a little difficult for me to connect to. But then again, I didn’t really connect to Ismae from the first book either. That’s one thing about this series: usually, in books if I can’t relate to the main character, the odds of me liking the book are pretty much shot. But in this series, not connecting to the main characters doesn’t really seem to hold me back. Probably because there’s so much plot going on and I’m too concerned about the fate of the kingdom and whatnot to get hung up on Annith being a bit whiney or whatever.

You know what this book has going for it? Aside from the fact that it wraps up the series and finally gives some closure? Balthazar. I just really loved Balthazar. I do wish we could’ve spent more time with him and his Hellequin, though, because obviously the Hellequin are pure awesome, and you get the feeling there are some good stories there. Like Misere (I’m pretty sure I just misspelled that, but oh well)—he was a promising character if I’ve ever seen one, but we don’t get to spend much time with him. But still. Balthazar. He makes up for a lot.

As for how things all wrap up? I’m going to be vague here to avoid spoilers, but though I was happy everything worked out, I thought the ultimate solution to the kingdom’s problem ended up being kinda anticlimactic. I felt a bit like, “Really? After all the political scheming and battles, THAT’S going to be what saves everyone?” I still got the resolution I needed; it just wasn’t quite as dramatic as I was expecting.

Overall, while the book isn’t perfect, I still enjoyed it and thought it was a pretty decent ending to the series.

Rating: 4 / 5

Other books in the series:
Grave Mercy
Dark Triumph