This book was such a journey! If you've ready anything else by Robin LaFevers before, you know just what I'm talking about. She does such a masterful job of twisting history, complex plot, and intense character development into her stories. It's definitely a huge reason why I keep coming back!
This book took us through Genevieve's story, who was a character we had never heard of in the previous trilogy! It also continued Sybella's story which I loved because she was such an interesting character in the earlier books. What was truly interesting in this book was that Genevieve had been forgotten by the convent, something I had never even considered could happen. She's been basically abandoned for five years with only one other girl from the convent to keep her sane, not that her friend is very good at that.
When Genevieve thinks the convent has been dismantled due to the recent marriage between Anne of Brittany and the King of France, she decides to take her life into her own hands. That's one thing I always love about LaFever's books, her heroines are really queen of their own choices. I'd love to say more about her journey, but I don't want to spoil the book!
I loved all the history presented here too, as the goings on between Brittany and France were not something I knew anything about before. The historical setting is so complex and I loved the play of power between the men and the women in this. It definitely follows historical norms but shows us just how a woman could get around that and have her voice be heard, even if it had to be more delicately. Well, as delicate as you can be when you're wielding a sword, wink wink.
I'd give this 5/5 stars with a rating of PG-13 (leaning maybe a little older, which makes sense, its YA after all!)
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