In this installment, we get to read from Sybella’s point of view. Sybella’s story is significantly darker than Ismae’s. She grew up under the brutal eye of d’Albert. She turned to her brother for companionship and protection, but found a twisted version love instead. She has watched terrible things occur around her, each one with varying amounts of her involvement. She began to internalize the atrocities as partly her fault. These layers of secrets and shame slowly dragged her into despair. Over the course of the book, she finds someone to help her through the horrors of her past.
Dark Triumph is a fantastic addition the series. The book is action packed and exciting from beginning to end. Best of all, it shines in places that its predecessor failed. Grave Mercy was bogged down by politics, slowing the pacing significantly. A political conflict requires a slow build of complex subplots and mysterious details in order to arrive at a satisfying climax. Dark Triumph lacks that political setting, allowing the plot to move a t a significantly faster pace. Each story has a large cast of characters, but handles them differently. Grave Mercy introduces a large cast of characters almost immediately then spends time developing them. Because of the sheer volume of the characters being introduced, many of them run together. Dark Triumph introduces and reintroduces characters at random. It is not confined to one place, so characters can enter and leave the plot based on their role in the story. Many characters had specific roles that enhanced the story instead of useless characters to serve as red herrings. Sybella’s interesting place in the story also allows us to see old characters in a new light and find out what has become of them. The two installments also varied in how they treated romance. Grave Mercy had the characters fall in love almost instantly, then spend the rest of the book trying to hide it. Dark Triumph allows characters to slowly form a strong bong over time. Finally, the world building seemed better in this book. After slaving through Grave Mercy confused and lost, I emerged with a good understanding of the book’s place in history. Dark Triumph only expands upon the world. If you haven’t looked at a map or done a 5 minute google search of 15th century Brittany, this series will continue to be confusing. I give this 378 page book 4.5 stars.