Assassin's Heart
Author: Sarah Ahiers
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Assassin's Heart Book #1
ISBN: 0062363786
ISBN13: 9780062363787
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Review Copy Source: EdelweissIn 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.
With shades of The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a story of love, lies, and the ultimate vengeance.
Plenty of action, lots of mystery and some romance gone wrong helped make ASSASSIN'S HEART an enjoyable read.
Romeo and Juliet are now Lea and Val, but instead of dying together for their love, Val betrays Lea and she loses her entire family. I really enjoyed the storyline of ASSASSIN'S HEART. I enjoyed learning about what a clipper was and the role that the Families of assassins plays in the world that Sarah Ahiers created. I don't feel I should go into the romances of the book as they play such a huge part in the story, but I will say that the romance was one of my favorite parts of ASSASSIN'S HEART.
A few things I wasn't crazy about. Lea got a tad bit annoying after she fled Lovero ( I thought she was awesome before that). She is full of guilt for her role in things and whines quite a bit about it—yeah I would cry too, but it was still annoying—I wanted her to just stop already and get on with it. She was way too full of herself at times and she seemed to fly off the handle about things I thought were ridiculous to fly off the handle about and then she would make a silly mistake that would set her back. She is an assassin and should know better. On top of that the pace of the story wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. A lot of parts were too fast or too slow, I would have liked more to fall in the middle.
Lea's revenge at the end made all the little things I didn't care for in ASSASSIN'S HEART move to the back of my mind. She rocked it! This could have been a standalone in my opinion, but I am interested to see what Ahiers has in mind for the story.
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
