Sarah Ahiers

Complicated, frustrating, fantastic. The world got under my skin and I couldn't shake it. An anti-heroine with her own amoral morality, sleeping gods and mafia assassin families doing business in the dark. Reminds me strongly of the Gentleman Bastards series, but mostly that's because it's a thief's tale and you don't really know who's pulling the strings until the very end.

The only thing I could use less of is the main character's annoying tendency to brood on how everything's her fault, show more which admittedly is perfectly reasonable for a teen audience. Romance is an integral plot point in this one, but not the focus of the book.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss. show less

“I closed my eyes. What hurt more? The death of my Family, or the cold betrayal?”

I love books about assassins, and I love a bit of romance. Throw the two together and BAM! It should make quite an interesting tale, right? Right.

The basis of Assassin’s Heart is a twisted Romeo and Juliet. Lea is our Juliet from the Saldana family, and Val is our Romeo from the Da Vias family. Both are the biggest and strongest families of assassins in Lovero, but while some of the families have some show more kind of truce, the Saldana and Da Vias are rivals. That doesn’t stop Lea and Val from having a little secret behind their families backs, until Lea’s entire family is taken out by the Da Vias.

I have to start of with the world building. If you love world building, you could get lost in this. There’s a deep rooted history and tons of religious elements built into the world, not to mention a ghost filled plane that borders nations. The people of Lovero know about the nine assassin families and actually treat them as royalty, because in some twisted way the assassinations are part of their religion.

Lea can be annoying as a character, and fall flat at times, but I can still see how she makes some of her decisions based on the situation she’s in. She can come out as a bit whiny, but then again her entire family died and her boyfriend may have had something to do with their mass murder, so I think assassin or not, she’s a teenage girl and has permission to be a bit mopey.

Val is a charming guy, for a full grown pit bull that acts liked kicked puppy that doesn't know it did anything wrong. Poor thing. Seriously, I don’t know if the guy had mental issues, a psychopath, or is very desperately in love.

Lafevre is a minor character I couldn’t help but mention. He’s a police man sent to tail Lea after she makes it out of Lovero and starts working with an assassin-wanna-be, Les. Lafeyre reminds me of Javert from Les Miserables in the sense that he pops up everywhere at the most inopportune moments to arrest her. I nearly wanted to start breaking out in song.

Les is the character that provides balance for Lea. He makes her question her ideals as he starts questioning his own.

The storyline was great. I loved the inner turmoil as Lea struggled with herself and the outer turmoil as she fought her way through assassins and ghosts, but the story could have also but cut much shorter in some areas. At times it was just Lea repeating the same notions over and over and that really bugs me in books.

Overall, Assassin’s Heart is an enjoyable read with plenty to look forward to, you just might end up skimming a few pages. show less

Drama like you’re watching an episode of Days of Our Lives, bloodshed like it’s Game of Thrones.

Set back in the day (when there were assassins and horse riding was a top means of transportation), Assassin’s Heart leaves little to be desired. It’s all here.

The drama and the romance.
The strong female heroine and the male sidekick.
The betrayal.
The romance.
The action. So. Much. Action.
Poisons and swords and creeping on rooftops.
Family.

I loved it all.

For a while, towards the beginning, I show more almost hated Lea. She would not stop whining about Val and his missing touch, yada yada. I was over it and hoping she’d put her big girl pants on and focus on the real problem.

And she did, finally. I’m not holding that against you, Lea. (Val, you scum!!)

Above all, my favorite thing is a book that sucks me in and makes me miss precious sleep just to see what will happen next. And from about 40% in, that was me. Curled up under the sheets way past my bedtime, waiting to see if Lea made is past the monastery or if she got eaten by an angry ghost (legit spooky).

I loved the different Family’s throughout the kingdoms and I wish they may have been elaborated on more.

Assassins Heart is a nonstop thriller of a novel. Original and spellbinding, you won’t be able to put this one down!

REVIEW AT YABOOKSCENTRAL.COM show less

***Spoilers ahead you’ve been warned***

The world building is really well done with different Families pitted against each other and each one wanting to rise up in the ranks to gain more influence and power. There’s elements of fantasy, as it also involves deities and Gods (each city has their own patron deity). Lea has Safraella for example, who happens to be the Goddess of her city and protects her followers from the ghosts that frequent outside during the night. I loved this concept as show more it kept the world interesting and played a large role in Lea’s character.

Speaking of Lea. I really enjoyed her as a character. She’s fiercely loyal, headstrong, and her skills are on point. She’s a survivor and once she sets her goals, she does it. Despite all she goes through, she continues to keep going. I love her devotion to Safraella. It may seem fanatical to some but it’s what kept her advancing into her plot for revenge. (Also, she wouldn’t have the drive to go find Les and Marcello)

Although I rather liked Lea and Val together but well he just had to go ahead and do that thing didn’t he but well, Family before family right? Les and Lea were all right. Not the ideal chemistry that I thought she had with Val, but it’s still sweet nevertheless. I can’t say I enjoyed reading the romance in the book though. It felt awkward and out of the place (do we really have time for this when revenge is priority??) and I didn’t care too much for reading about that. I preferred the plotting and surprises that were in store for Lea with the Da Vias.

Aside from the awkward moments of romance, the plot itself was great. It’s got good amounts of action and drama to keep the reading going, and the excellent world building really helps in this case. I especially liked the encounter with Lea and the Goddess Safraella herself. The last third part of the book closed nicely (bwahaha! Revenge was sweet!!!!)

I’m looking forward to the second book, I’d like to know what happens next considering what Lea chose to do. show less