Book Review: Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers

Members of the Vise Library were selected to review Assassin's Heart.  We received a copy of Sarah Ahiers' book for an honest review.

About the book:

With shades of Game of Thrones and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a tale of love, lies, and vengeance. Fans of Kristin Cashore and Rae Carson will devour the flawlessly crafted action and inventive world building.

Seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana is a trained assassin. She was born into one of the nine clipper Families in the kingdom of Lovero who lawfully take lives for a price. As a member of the highest-ranking clan, loyalty to Family is valued above all, but that doesn't stop Lea from getting into a secret relationship with Val Da Via, a boy from a rival clan. Despite her better judgment, Lea has fallen in love with him; but she's confident she can anticipate any threat a mile away.

Then she awakens one night to a house full of smoke. Although she narrowly escapes, she isn't able to save her Family as their home is consumed by flames. With horror, she realizes that Val and his Family are the only ones who could be responsible. Devastated over his betrayal and the loss of her clan, there's just one thing on her mind: making the Da Vias pay. The heart of this assassin craves revenge.

Lea Saldana is living the life her family has been called to:a clipper assassin for the Goddess of death.  Her family has always been the top assassin family, until recently anyways.  Their numbers are no longer what they once were and another assassin family, the Da Vias, is the sworn enemy to the Saldana Family.  Lea has a secret though: she has been secretly dating a member of the Da Via family, Val.  They are in "love" or so Lea thinks until the night her entire family is killed by the Da Via Family.  Lea doesn't know if Val is involved but she decides that the whole Da Via Family must pay for the murder of her family.  Lea survives the attack and flees to another area to plot her revenge.  She seeks out an exiled member of her family (her uncle) in order to gain secrets of the Da Via Family.  Her plans do not go exactly as planned: her uncle refuses to help, a lawman has it out for her, she is being hunted by multiple assassin families and she meets someone posing as a clipper.  

Assassin's Heart is a very thought out world and the concepts are very interesting.  There is a lot of tension and action to make this such an enjoyable read!  Lea is very good at her job, but she also isn't perfect.  She has to think through her plans and constantly adapt.  There are so many twists and turns to this book about faith and loyalty.  I think readers will enjoy the world building and character development of this book.  This book releases in February!  Make sure to check our Popular Collections shelf for this one; you wont be disappointed!

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

I was born on a February afternoon 2 minutes before my twin sister. Angels wept or something, I suppose.

After a happy childhood filled with fun and family, I obtained a BA in English with an emphasis in fiction writing from the University of Minnesota, during which I was a bookseller. I also spent a semester as the fiction editor of The Wayfarer, the literary magazine for the U of MN.

I am currently enrolled in Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and am repped by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media

I live in a suburb of St Paul, MN in a house I own with my twin sister. We share the house with our brother, 3 dogs, 4 guinea pigs, 2 cockatiels, fish and occasional foster animals from the shelter.

Besides writing and reading, I enjoy dogs, animals, my family, board games, yard games, video games, cooking, gardening and dressing up for the MN Renaissance Festival.

Connect with the author:
Twitter

   Website