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Mortal Heart
464p. (His Fair Assassin: Bk. 3). ebook available. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Nov. 2014. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780547628400. LC 2014001877.
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Gr 9 Up—This thrilling series conclusion narrates the fate of 17-year-old convent-raised Annith who impatiently awaits her assignment to serve as the god Mortain's Handmaiden of Death. When the Abbess appoints her as Seeress, Annith is even more distraught, knowing that the position will condemn her to a life of celibacy and isolation. Vowing to confront her superior and aided by both the Helloquins (damned souls seeking redemption) and the Arduinnites (protectors of women and innocents), the teen escapes to the Breton court, where Duchess Anne and her followers are strategizing against the invading French. Distressed over her true parentage, Annith finds comfort in the Helloquins leader Balthazar, who has secrets of his own. LaFevers again mesmerizes her readers through the political struggles of 15th-century Brittany and the intrigues of the followers of Mortain. Details of court and village life in 1489 add vitality to the historic background, and back matter will further aid readers' understanding of the times. Clear, fast-paced, dramatic prose reveals the story via short, action-packed chapters, and the expert craftsmanship of the writing is worth savoring. The protagonists' sometimes-contradictory natures enrich their characters, and the intertwined relationships of realistic and Netherworld personages add depth to their personal stories. A plethora of strong females and their romantic relationships will have wide appeal for teens, making this a definite purchase where Grave Mercy (2012) and Dark Triumph (2013, both Houghton Harcourt) are popular and a strong story that can stand on its own.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence, RIAnnith, daughter of Mortain, god of Death, rebels against her abbess's decree that she remain immured in the convent as Mortain's seeress. Her escape revolutionizes Annith's understanding of her nature. LaFevers's writing often slips to the banal depths of an adolescent's romantic fantasy, overwhelming engagement with the story's fictional fifteenth-century Brittany setting. Even so, LaFevers effectively ties up loose ends of the trilogy's cast.
In the series' (Grave Mercy, rev. 3/12; Dark Triumph, rev. 5/13) third installment, Annith, overskilled and underused daughter of Mortain, god of Death, rebels against her abbess's decree that she remain immured in the convent as Mortain's seeress. Her rebellious escape to the world of politics, murder, and romance revolutionizes Annith's understanding of her nature and identity and brings about her sexual awakening: "My skin recognizes the dark, brooding caress of his gaze, and I shiver," she burbles. Indeed, LaFevers's writing here too often slips to the banal depths of an adolescent's romantic fantasy ("his finely sculpted cheeks"; "[I] allow a bitter smile to play about my lips"), overwhelming the story's engagement with its historical setting: the fictional, partly fantastical, very convoluted politics of Brittany and France in the fifteenth century. Even so, LaFevers effectively ties up the loose ends of the trilogy's cast -- its loves, connivings, and murderous skills -- with more love than war. deirdre f. baker
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