Review of Assassin's Heart

Assassin’s Heart

Author: Sarah Ahiers

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: ARC

Expected publication date: 2/2/16 

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Summary

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. 

Review

I wasn’t drawn into the story right from the start; it was too much like Romeo & Juliet, sappy romance and all. I wanted assassins and killing, but I was not disappointed for long. The story quickly diverged from the Romeo & Juliet meets The Godfather as in the description, and I found it much more like Throne of Glass meets His Fair Assassin. 

Oleander “Lea” Saldana is from one of the nine clipper, or assassin, Families of Lovero. The Saldanas and the Da Vias are enemies, and Lea has fallen for none other than Val Da Via. But that all changes when Val betrays Lea and uses her to help the Da Vias break into her family home and kill her entire family. As the only left Saldana alive, Lea must flea Lovero to seek the assistance of her estranged uncle, Marcello, in order to kill the Da Vias and avenge her Family’s death. Along the way she meets Les, a clipper in training, and finds her uncle Marcello, but with the Da Vias posing an even larger threat than before, it will cost Lea everything, perhaps even her life, to exact her revenge.

Where to start. Once I got into this book — read, once Val betrayed Lea and the fun revenge plot began — I absolutely loved it. Lea should not be likable. She is an assassin and she feels no remorse at her kills. In fact, she feels justified in them. Being a clipper in Lovero is to have status and wealth in a country where death at the hands of Safraella’s chosen Families is a form of worship. Lea is prickly and hell bent on revenge. She has no time for anything else save plotting the downfall of the Da Vias, but she is still a teenager and she still makes stupid mistakes, making her all the more human despite being a clipper. Lea shouldn’t be likable, yet she is, and as the story progresses, Lea really starts to change. It is slow going at first, and Lea struggles the hardest to remain focused on her mission. Lea’s mantra: 

“All that matters is killing the Da Vias.”

Although I would have been happier hearing that particular line repeated a few less times. 

Les is a clipper being trained by Marcello Saldana. He was abandoned as a child in Yvain, a city worships a god of agriculture and debts, but after being taken in by Marcello almost as a father, all Les wants to be is a clipper. Scared of being abandoned by Marcello, the one and only constnt person in his life, Les is unable to convince Marcello to train him fully. Unlike in Lovero where assassination by the clipper Families is a legal, highly respectable field, murder is unacceptable in Yvain. Lea agrees to continue Les’s training in exchange for his help in her quest for revenge. 

Then the romance begins, because this is a YA novel and Lea and Les must have romance. As sickening as Lea/Val was at the start of the story, Lea and Les’s romance develops slowly and gradually. It is not like at first sight. Far from it. Lea is not about to let anything distract her from avenging her Family’s death. Family before family, or blood, as the saying goes. Les only wants to help her, and along the way, prickly Lea begins to care. The development of the romance is slow and it actually feels natural, a rarity among YA novels. 

I loved this book. Its fast paced and exciting. And then came the deus ex machina moment that just about ruined my enjoyment of the story. 

The best part was the world building. Rich and imaginative, Ahiers creates a compelling world where death is a form of worship, assassins are revered, and Gods and Goddesses are not just myths but reality. This is a stand alone novel but I would eagerly read more stories set in this world. 

Cover: 5/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters/character development: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Overall: 4.4/5