Assassin’s Heart (Assassin’s Heart #1) By Sarah Ahiers [Review]

RELEASE DATE:  February 2, 2016 
AUTHOR: Sarah Ahiers
GENRE:Young-Adult, Fantasy, Romance.
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
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.

MY REVIEW: 

I’ve read this book with low expectations but it turn out to be a satisfying read. There isn’t much of a world building in it but what I really liked the most was the storyline which was quite interesting to read. The synopsis sounds like a mind blowing read but does it totally lived up to it? Nope, not entirely but it was a great read though. I must say, it was quite a refreshing read and I haven’t read something like this before. Yeah, it does say Romeo and Juliet meets Godfather but there are unpredictable twists in the plot that you don’t see coming. I think it’s a great debut and will definitely look forward to the sequel.

In the Kingdom of Lovero, there are nine assassin families who worships and kills in the name of death goddess named Safraella. Each nine assassin families are recognized by their bone masks color. Black for Saldana, red for Da Via, orange for the Accurso, gray for Bartolomeo, purple for Caffarelli,  yellow for Maietta,  brown for Addamo, blue for Zarella, and green for Gallo. The Saldana’s ranks the top among the nine assassin families whereas Da Vias helds the second position. Both families are rivals to each other but share the same city called Ravenna. In Lovera, the assassin’s are called as clippers who are hired to kill. Seventeen Year Old Lea Saldana, is a highly skilled assassin of the saldana family who was having a secret romantic relationship with Val, Da Via’s son. When Lea finds her whole family burned to death in her house, she feels guilty that she was somewhat responsible for their deaths.  Lea feels betrayed when she learns that Da Via’s are the one responsible for all of this. She is the only Saldana that survived the flames and vows to seek vengeance against the Da Via’s and travels to Yvain to search for a man who might help her.

I really liked Lea! She is strong, loyal and quite confident in her skill. She might be a tough badass girl with lots of confidence but there’s also a vulnerable side to her and she wasn’t entirely cold-blooded assassin as I thought. Even in the rage, she didn’t take any impulsive actions towards Da Via’s because she was clever enough to admit herself that alone she isn’t able to kill the whole clan. Val is both arrogant and charming guy but I didn’t liked him much. He is quite loyal to his family and after finding out what his family done to the Saldana’s made me hate him. Les aka Alesso is another love interest in the plot and I really liked him. He is a wannabe clipper who is kinda cute, sweet, stubborn and brave. Lea and Les are definitely great together. I’m glad It wasn’t insta-love otherwise it would’ve become messed up and there is a triangle but it wasn’t annoying with frustrating emotional drama.

The plot was interesting and unique. The interesting story line with twists and it’s fast pacing made the book more enjoyable and easy to read. The writing was simply great and very easy to understand. The world building was pretty much unique with gods and Ghosts existing in it. It wasn’t mind blowingly amazing but still it was pretty good and I liked it.

Overall, it was an intriguing read and I immensely enjoyed it! Don’t put high expectations on this book you might get disapointed just enjoy the story it was really good. The book concluded with a clean end but I was pretty much surprised to find that it isn’t a standalone and there’s going to be a sequel to this book. I hope it’s going to be a kickass read.

Assassin’s Heart is a unique YA fantasy read filled with action, intrigue, thriller and a light romance. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

MY RATING:  [4/5 Stars]

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