Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart, #1) by Sarah Ahiers Published by HarperTeen on February 2nd 2016
Pages: 420
Goodreads
In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.
Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.
4.5 Nuts
If there’s one video game series that I had to choose to play for the rest of my life it would be Assassin’s Creed. Add a dash of family betrayal and doomed lovers of feuding families (if you say Romeo and Juliet I will smack you) and you’ve got ASSASSIN’S HEART.
Just like Assassin’s Creed our main character is an assassin, from a family who has been taken from them. As I was reading I could swear I was seeing shades of Ezio, the high fantasy world very similar to renaissance Italy. Because of this any AC fan can catch the basic flow of where this story is going and will not find themselves all that surprised by the twists. Not that this book borrows the story much but most revenge stories are in essence the same.
If readers are expecting a tragic star crossed tale of lovers overcoming their family’s feud let me dissuade you of that notion right now. This is no Romeo and Juliet. First that R&J is not a tale of romance but of teenage stupidity and second that the true love interest of this story is between Lea and her family. While yes, there is a rather engaging romantic storyline Lea’s family is always at the forefront of her mind and first in her priorities.
Lea is a great character. Flawed, determined, and completely devoted to her family . She goes through a more realistic expression of grief than I see in a lot of YA fantasies. Besides the fact the she and Les are completely adorable together, the romance is not obnoxious or in your face in the way that I would expect a book that’s compared to Romeo and Juliet to be.
As has often been the case lately I listened to the audio version of this book. A good narrator can make the difference between a great book, and ok book, or a meh book. This narrator was superb, among some of the best I’ve listened to. I fully plan on looking up other books she has done just because I liked the way she read.
I recommend this book for fans of lady assassins, Assassin’s Creed, and swoony romance.
What’s your favorite assassin book? Share in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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