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?



I was sent an eARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. This does not change my view in any shape or form.

First of all, Robin LaFevers is one of my auto-buy authors and I just now realized my reviews of the His Fair Assassin books are MISSING. What?! Those were some of the first books I reviewed after my massive hiatus a few years back. Damn. Second, I'd always hoped that she'd release a book like Courting Darkness. Aka, a companion novel or series. So, this book was IT for me. I was ready to throw down my kidneys for it and sell them in order to be approved for a galley.

Good news for my kidneys: I didn't have to. When I got approved for this, I'm almost certain I spent a good portion of that day squealing loudly. If you guys heard something inexplicable on November 15th, 2018, that was just me signing onto NetGalley and seeing I'd been approved. I'd apologize but, you know, don't want to. I think receiving an ARC of Robin LaFevers is a pretty good reason for, putting it bluntly, completely losing your shit.

I really wanted to reread the His Fair Assassin books before diving into Courting Darkness but (a) I don't own them and my library doesn't have them anymore, ugh! and (b) Time was a total nag about this book. Time was basically like, wow, Jessica, you cannot reread those books before the release of Courting Darkness. Sad.

That being said: I ADORED Courting Darkness. Like, a lot. A LOT, A LOT. I feel like we're being so spoiled with good books this year and this is definitely one of the many.

It's just so brilliantly high paced and as action packed and intriguing as the books it is a companion to. In summary? Robin LaFevers marry me. It's great. I adored being able to revisit this world and seeing Sybella in particular. Am I Sybella's number one stan? YEP. I'm not sorry.

I mean, I'm sorry, because I'm babbling and not reviewing, when I should be reviewing. So, like, half sorry I guess? Whatever. Back on track, Jessica. Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, I can't really say much without spoiling the book because my feelings are all (incoherent screaming) and the plotlines were just so, so engrossing, I couldn't put Courting Darkness down.

It left me wondering: did I consume this book or did it consume me?

This was just an experience. One that was equally quick to devour and the slowest of burns. It's such an odd way of wording it, but it's all I can come up with?

LaFevers continues to impress me and will likely always do so. I wish I had a physical copy of this novel (it's so beautiful!) and the original series, but I'm confident that one day I will own it. That being said, I need the sequel now. I can't wait to continue this planned duology. If you're a fan of His Fair Assassin, you're going to adore Courting Darkness.