Mortal Heart Review

Today's review is about the finale of a series that I've been reading and loving for awhile. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers was a book that combined historical fiction and fantasy into one incredibly well written novel with amazing world building and some incredible character development. I read that one over 2 years ago so I honestly can't give you a detailed review except that it was 4 or 4.5 stars to me, so while the book wasn't perfect I did enjoy it. Today, we're going to be talking about the third book in the series, Mortal Heart. 

*Since this is a review of the third and final book in the series, there will likely be spoilers for the first two books in the synopsis and review* 

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...

Mortal Heart on Goodreads

Visit the Author's Website

This trilogy is one of my favorites for historical fiction/fantasy. I think the world building and character development is some of the best I've seen throughout the entire trilogy, and each book is wonderful and unique in its own way. When we were first introduced to Annith in Grave Mercy, I was already excited to hear about her story and narration, and Mortal Heart is a great finale to the trilogy. I gave Mortal Heart a rating of 4 stars.

To begin, this book had a lot of the world building that made the other two so interesting. The problems and issues that have built up in the past two books really come together in this finale. In terms of plot development and pacing, I think it was generally pretty good and consistent. There were some slower moments, but I think everything came together really well. In addition, there were some plot twists and changes that left me in shock. I kind of thought I saw some of the things coming, and then would second guess myself, and then be confused, and overall I thought that the story had some unpredictable turns in it. 

The character development has always been another aspect that's set this series apart for me, and while I think we definitely had that here, I was a little bit disappointed in some of the character interactions. Annith is a good narrator, and I think reading from her perspective is a very different version of Annith than I'd remembered in Grave Mercy. She undergoes a lot of character development, and the more we learn about her the more I appreciated how strong and well written her character was. Her relationship with the convent and the abbess is really complex and something that was very well written. In this novel, however, the romance bothered me a little bit. I think it was because it felt a little sudden in how she came around to her feelings and the interactions between the two developed. I think this was an aspect that did get better as the story went on, however.

Overall, I really enjoyed this series finale. I'm going to end up rereading these novels sometime, and I'm considering rereading Grave Mercy and reviewing it for the Re-Read Challenge I'm a part of, so let me know if you'd be interested in that. Anyways, let me know what you thought of the book and this series, and thank you for stopping by!

From the paper world,

V