Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart #1) by Sarah Ahiers

Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart #1)
by Sarah Ahiers
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 2nd 2016
Rate: Enjoyed it (4 stars)

Synopsis:

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.

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.

Lately some amazing YA stories have been published and I am always looking for novels that blow my mind just like An Ember in The Ashes or Red Queen did, for example. Assassin's Heart is an enjoyable YA read in a world where murders are permitted as long as one of the nine assassins' families commits them. I can say that I was not disappointed at all by this novel. In fact, I had a great time while reading it, always not knowing what the author had planned for her characters.

I have to admit that the premise made me doubt a bit. I didn't know if I would enjoy the story due to the whole thing of the nine rival families murdering people as a job and that everything was pretty normal in the kingdom of Lovero. I found it a bit strange, to be completely honest, because I wouldn't go out of my house if I lived there. But when the story was presented to me in the first chapters and you accept the fact that we're dealing with assassins who murder people and who want to murder each other everything has a new perspective and you start truly enjoying the story.

The fact that Sarah Ahiers knew how to built her kingdom, not trying to evoke any other kingdoms that we already know, and trying to be original, but at the same time reminding us to other stories such as Romeo and Juliet but more murderous, was what made this story so enjoyable in the first place. Plus, her writing is also a bonus.

I did not give my five gorjuss dolls to this book mainly because I felt a bit disconnected from the story from time to time. Like there are some parts in the story where it catches the reader's interest and it's nearly impossible to even take a breath and some parts where you are just going through the motions and trying to get back to those mind-blowing scenes I mentioned before. In spite of this, the story was a good one and Sarah Ahiers had a great story to told us. I am just beyond thankful that HaperTeen let me read it.

And... I would recommend this book? YES! Why not? To me, it felt that it was on the line of other YA books published in 2015 that blowed our minds and even though the story is not quite on the same level as those other books, it's nearly there. So if you love a good story about love, assassins, betrayal and crimes, this is your kind of story. I will definitely keep an eye on the next book!

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Week One:

1/25/2016- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

1/26/2016- Brittany's Book Rambles- Review

1/27/2016- Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews- Guest Post

1/28/2016- The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club- Review

1/29/2016- The Young Folks- Interview

Week Two:

2/1/2016- Cover2Cover- Review

2/2/2016- YaReads- Guest Post

2/3/2016- Dark Faerie Tales- Review

2/4/2016- Storybook Slayers- Interview

2/5/2016- Fiction Fare- Review

Sarah Ahiers is working towards an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and lives in Minnesota with three dogs and a house full of critters. She has a collection of steampunk hats and when she’s not writing she fills her time with good games, good food, good friends and good family.

Sarah writes Young Adult and Middle Grade novels and occasionally dabbles in Picture Books. Fantasy is her favorite genre, though she sometimes can be found playing around with Horror and other things that go bump in the night.

Sarah’s debut novel, ASSASSIN’S HEART (HarperTeen, February 2nd, 2016) is a Young Adult Fantasy. In the Kingdom of Lovero, where families of assassins lawfully kill people for the right price, seventeen-year-old Oleander “Lea” Saldana sets out on a path of vengeance against the most powerful assassin family of all.

She is represented by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary & Media.

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