Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

Courting Darkness

Courting Darkness duology

by Robin LaFevers

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Feb 2019, 512 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

First in a duology, this darkly thrilling page-turner set in the world of the best-selling His Fair Assassin series is perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Red Queen and Game of Thrones.

Told in alternating perspectives, when Sybella discovers there is another trained assassin from St. Mortain's convent deep undercover in the French court, she must use every skill in her arsenal to navigate the deadly royal politics and find her sister in arms before her time - and that of the newly crowned queen - runs out. 

When Sybella accompanies the Duchess to France, she expects trouble, but she isn't expecting a deadly trap. Surrounded by enemies both known and unknown, Sybella searches for the undercover assassins from the convent of St. Mortain who were placed in the French court years ago.

Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she no longer knows who she is or what she's supposed to be fighting for. When she discovers a hidden prisoner who may be of importance, she takes matters into her own hands.

As these two worlds collide, the fate of the Duchess, Brittany, and everything Sybella and Genevieve have come to love hangs in the balance. 

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Sharp and breathless, full of anger and strength. May the sequel hurry." - Kirkus

"Starred Review. Both thoroughly developed female protagonists are models for young women – individuals of strength and power...A first-purchase gem of historical fantasy for high school and public libraries that will delight fans and engage newcomers." – School Library Journal

"Starred Review. The book's plot assumes some familiarity with its companion trilogy, which may confuse new readers; nevertheless, LaFevers's blood-soaked, machination-riddled tale captivates as its fierce, passionate, intelligent female characters examine issues of agency and empowerment, freedom, and sisterhood." - Publishers Weekly

"LaFevers yet again skillfully pulls from the history of the 15th century French-Breton War to create a richly developed world of political intrigue, while casting it with deeply relatable and fully fleshed out characters." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Alternating between Sybella's and Genevieve's voices, LaFevers maintains an intense pitch of intrigue: murders, assaults, romance, betrayals, and erotic encounters follow one after another with plenty of garrotes, swords, daggers, poisoned sewing needles, and the like." - The Horn Book Magazine

This information about Courting Darkness was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Robin LaFevers Author Biography

Photo: Copyright © Huesing’s Stuido

Robin LaFevers, author of the New York Times best-selling His Fair Assassin books, was raised on fairy tales, Bulfinch's mythology, and nineteenth-century poetry. It is not surprising that she grew up to be a hopeless romantic. She was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in California.

Link to Robin LaFevers's Website

Name Pronunciation
Robin LaFevers: luh-FEE-verz

Other books by Robin LaFevers at BookBrowse
  • Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos jacket

7 more...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more YA fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, alt. history...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.