HOLY SHIT, VC ANDREWS MUCH?? This book has some BONKERS drama. Like just one shocking reveal after another. But with a lot of swordfight scenes and spying in the middle.

Uhh I don't know. I'm interested in the way these books show female solidarity in the face of sexual violence, but both ultimately resolve with their lady assassins happily in love with dudes who seem way older? (I'm not sure I ever got their ages pinned down, but they seem older.) Like, I'm happy Sybella and Ismae can be lady assassins but also find romantic love, but the way it plays out felt a little weird to me?? I think I was kind of rooting for Sybella to hook up with her maid Tephanie. Tephanie seemed way into her. Oh well, I guess that was just me accidentally writing Dark Triumph fanfiction.

I think maybe overall I would have liked this more than I liked [b:Grave Mercy|9565548|Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)|R.L. LaFevers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337042881s/9565548.jpg|14452295], but because I read them both close together, by the time I got to the end of this I was just pretty sick of court intrigue and old-timeyness. But those aren't my favorite things in the first place, so readers who like that kind of book will probably want more. (I'm rounding up to 4 stars to account for how much I liked Sybella despite all the stuff I didn't like.)