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Assassin's Heart
Assassin's Heart
Assassin's Heart
Audiobook10 hours

Assassin's Heart

Written by Sarah Ahiers

Narrated by Khristine Hvam

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

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.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateFeb 2, 2016
ISBN9780062447241
Author

Sarah Ahiers

Sarah Ahiers spent her childhood running around outside with her siblings, drawing pictures, and writing stories. Now, as a grown-up, she has an MFA in writing for children and young adults, and while she does less running around outside, the writing has held fast. Her books include Assassin’s Heart and Thief ’s Cunning. Sarah lives in Minnesota with three dogs and a houseful 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. To learn more about her, visit www.sarahahiers.com.

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Reviews for Assassin's Heart

Rating: 3.6760563859154924 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

71 ratings11 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Slow start, decent finish, though with a literal deus ex machina. Should be a stand-alone, but will probably end up as a series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Drama like you’re watching an episode of Days of Our Lives, bloodshed like it’s Game of Thrones. Set back in the day (when there were assassins and horse riding was a top means of transportation), Assassin’s Heart leaves little to be desired. It’s all here.The drama and the romance.The strong female heroine and the male sidekick.The betrayal.The romance.The action. So. Much. Action.Poisons and swords and creeping on rooftops.Family.I loved it all.For a while, towards the beginning, I almost hated Lea. She would not stop whining about Val and his missing touch, yada yada. I was over it and hoping she’d put her big girl pants on and focus on the real problem.And she did, finally. I’m not holding that against you, Lea. (Val, you scum!!)Above all, my favorite thing is a book that sucks me in and makes me miss precious sleep just to see what will happen next. And from about 40% in, that was me. Curled up under the sheets way past my bedtime, waiting to see if Lea made is past the monastery or if she got eaten by an angry ghost (legit spooky).I loved the different Family’s throughout the kingdoms and I wish they may have been elaborated on more. Assassins Heart is a nonstop thriller of a novel. Original and spellbinding, you won’t be able to put this one down!REVIEW AT YABOOKSCENTRAL.COM
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lea Saldana is left a hunted orphan when the Da Vias attack and kill her family. Lea's family were number one in status of the nine families of assassins who murder as a form of worship for their goddess Safraella in the city of Lovero. She was having a secret relationship with Val Da Via and feels guilt that she might have given him information his family could use to ambush her family. She swears that she will have her vengeance on the Da Vias but first she has to escape to a place of relative safety to plan and search for allies.She flees across the dead plains which are haunted by angry ghosts to the town of Yvain in search of the uncle who was exiled before her birth. Since the uncle had been married to a Da Via, Lea hopes to recruit his assistance in her vengeance and find out the location of the Da Via's secret home. But Yvain isn't like her home city. They don't worship Safraella. Lea attracts the attention of a corrupt police officer before she manages to track down her elusive uncle. First she meets Alessio who is an orphan boy that her uncle has partially trained to be an assassin. He offers to help her with her vengeance when her uncle does not.This was an excellent story with great world building. I was fascinated by the assassins who murder as a form of worship for their goddess who promises rebirth for those who are killed in her name. Lea is a very devout daughter of her goddess and is rewarded by her goddess in quite a surprising way. I also enjoyed Lea's conflict between family and Family which is at the heart of this story and its major theme.Fantasy lovers will enjoy this debut novel because of its interesting setting, intriguing plot, and great characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Assassins and Ghosts abound in this dark, tragic tale of revenge. This novel reads like a standalone. It has good parts and bad parts but overall I enjoyed this morbid story.Opening Sentence: I squatted quietly on the sloped, tile roof of a bordello, cloak pulled around my body for warmth, bone mask secured against my face.The Review:Assassin’s Heart is a young adult debut novel from Sarah Ahiers. This is a book for fans of fantasy. I felt like this novel was a tamer, young adult cross between the TV show Into the Badlands and Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series. Assassin’s Heart is part of a series but my ARC read like a standalone so you can pick this one up without having a nasty cliffhanger. After reading this novel, I felt the synopsis could be really depressing. It is, but too an extent. I appreciated how this novel portrayed some really heavy issues, especially the wide acceptance of murder.I’m going to start off with the world building. This is such a crazy/complex world without feeling like I was overwhelmed by a lot of information. After everything, I felt the world could have used more but I’m kind of glad it was conveyed in a simpler form or else it might have been too much. The one thing that surprised me the most was the use of ghosts. Ghosts are bad….really bad. The gods of this world are very real and have no problem interfering in the lives of those who worship them.Lea Saldana is a clipper. As a clipper, she is hired to kill people. Sometimes those people hire her themselves because they want to die. The kingdom where Lea is from worships a goddess who is the god of murder and reincarnation (plus a few other things). This goddess helps keep everyone in line because anyone can hire a clipper to kill your enemy, on the bright side you will be granted a quick rebirth. This god also helps keep the ghosts away at night, which allows the clippers to do their jobs.Lea is in love with a fellow clipper, Val da Via. The two families are rivals as the #1 and #2 Families in town. They even share territory until the night the Da Via’s kill the entire Saldana Family, or at least they think they do. Lea survives and quickly surmises a way to kill the entire Da Via Family. In order for her to fulfill her plan, she needs to find her long lost uncle. She finds her way to another kingdom who worships an entirely different god, because of this ghosts roam the streets at night. Lea strikes up a quick friendship with Alessio. Les agrees to help her with her plan if she will train him as a clipper.Lea is quite angsty. She often cries about her predicament. (I would too, if I lost my entire family.) She only has her eyes on the prize and that is the death of the entire Da Via Family. She is also selfish and hotheaded. When she lets herself settle down long enough to think about what she’s really doing then the story really gets good.Alessio is exactly what Lea needs. He is a bit of reality in her terrible situation. He forces Lea to sit back and think on her situation and what she is doing. He is the complete opposite of Lea. Les is the kind of guy whose attraction is a slow burn, you don’t realize he’s hot until one day it just hits you. “Bam!” I liked his banter with Lea because he really did seem like the only sane one in their relationship.Assassin’s Heart does have some slow moments but for the most part I was really into the story. I wanted to know how her revenge plan was going to end. I did find part of the story predictable but overall I was really surprised how the story wrapped up. It didn’t feel like a part of a series but a standalone. I am very interested in where the story would go from here.Notable Scene:Behind me, I heard a noise, like a puff of air, or a loud exhale. I turned.A ghost floated at the entrance to the alley, staring at me.My blood froze and my hand instinctively dropped to the sword strapped to my hip. Not that the sword would do anything.The ghost charged, its high-pitched shrieks bouncing off the walls and filling the alley.I grabbed my bags and ran. After the dead plains I knew the ghost was faster than me, but the alley ended at a canal, and maybe a crooked bridge stood nearby.I reached the canal. My boots slid to a stop at the edge. I looked left. Right. No bridges. Nothing. I was trapped. The ghosts couldn’t cross the water, but neither could I.The ghost’s screams reverberated loudly. My head pounded with the beat of my heart.In the middle of the canal a boat floated listlessly, loosely moored to my right. It was far. Too far to reach, but I had no other choice.I whipped my bags across the water. My shoulder burned with fresh pain, but both bags landed in the bottom of the boat with a loud whump.I jumped.FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Assassin’s Heart. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 stars for this one. Assassin's Heart was definitely enjoyable. It reminded me of the writing style of Rosamund Hodge in Crimson Bound, but without the fairytale aspect to it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Complicated, frustrating, fantastic. The world got under my skin and I couldn't shake it. An anti-heroine with her own amoral morality, sleeping gods and mafia assassin families doing business in the dark. Reminds me strongly of the Gentleman Bastards series, but mostly that's because it's a thief's tale and you don't really know who's pulling the strings until the very end.

    The only thing I could use less of is the main character's annoying tendency to brood on how everything's her fault, which admittedly is perfectly reasonable for a teen audience. Romance is an integral plot point in this one, but not the focus of the book.

    Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ***Spoilers ahead you’ve been warned***The world building is really well done with different Families pitted against each other and each one wanting to rise up in the ranks to gain more influence and power. There’s elements of fantasy, as it also involves deities and Gods (each city has their own patron deity). Lea has Safraella for example, who happens to be the Goddess of her city and protects her followers from the ghosts that frequent outside during the night. I loved this concept as it kept the world interesting and played a large role in Lea’s character.Speaking of Lea. I really enjoyed her as a character. She’s fiercely loyal, headstrong, and her skills are on point. She’s a survivor and once she sets her goals, she does it. Despite all she goes through, she continues to keep going. I love her devotion to Safraella. It may seem fanatical to some but it’s what kept her advancing into her plot for revenge. (Also, she wouldn’t have the drive to go find Les and Marcello)Although I rather liked Lea and Val together but well he just had to go ahead and do that thing didn’t he but well, Family before family right? Les and Lea were all right. Not the ideal chemistry that I thought she had with Val, but it’s still sweet nevertheless. I can’t say I enjoyed reading the romance in the book though. It felt awkward and out of the place (do we really have time for this when revenge is priority??) and I didn’t care too much for reading about that. I preferred the plotting and surprises that were in store for Lea with the Da Vias. Aside from the awkward moments of romance, the plot itself was great. It’s got good amounts of action and drama to keep the reading going, and the excellent world building really helps in this case. I especially liked the encounter with Lea and the Goddess Safraella herself. The last third part of the book closed nicely (bwahaha! Revenge was sweet!!!!)I’m looking forward to the second book, I’d like to know what happens next considering what Lea chose to do.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 stars for this one. Assassin's Heart was definitely enjoyable. It reminded me of the writing style of Rosamund Hodge in Crimson Bound, but without the fairytale aspect to it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! This Author is a mastermind at creating a unique world filled with danger, intrigue, magic, and love. I was captivated by the descriptions and intrigued by the haunting plot. This world is unlike any other I've ever read about. It's a world where hunters stalk their prey at night wearing masks of bone with intricate details in the color that represents their family. It's fantasy meets horror. It's honor meets fear.

    Lea is the main character and a clipper. Her job is to murder for Safraella. She knows her poisons and takes pride in her kills. By placing a coin on the deceased' tongues she can give her victim a chance at life again. She is a kick *ss heroine with a tough persona. However, her heart is set on the forbidden. She loves a guy from another family... Each night they spend time together on the rooftops or dining in privacy. They know it's dangerous, but can't stay away. It's takes tragedy to tear them apart to the point of no return. Lea's home is burnt to the ground with her family inside. She is the lone survivor and desperately seeks revenge. She doesn't know it, but the revenge she seeks may just be against the person she loves most. Through her feelings of guilt she presses on to take down the family that took hers away. She seeks out a long lost family member to help and he is quick to shove her away. The boy living with him however is intrigued by her presence. They strike up a deal and end up using one another to get what they want. A new love blossoms, deaths occur, and in the end belief and love is their resurrection.

    This book had so many awesome points. The magic laced within the pages really brought the fantasy feel I crave. There was no choice but to leave reality behind when reading... It brought unique characters with unique stories. I was held captive by the twists and turns and couldn't wait to see how it all played out. The romance was unconventional and for that I am thankful. Talk about a swoon worthy couple. Les and Lea were the best book couple ever! There was kindness in him and fierceness in her. Together they protected one another with their lives. It was very romeo and juilet and I loved it.

    Overall, I can't say enough wonderful things... I enjoyed the book and how it was different from all the other fantasies I've read. I can't wait to read more by this Author.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    “I closed my eyes. What hurt more? The death of my Family, or the cold betrayal?”I love books about assassins, and I love a bit of romance. Throw the two together and BAM! It should make quite an interesting tale, right? Right. The basis of Assassin’s Heart is a twisted Romeo and Juliet. Lea is our Juliet from the Saldana family, and Val is our Romeo from the Da Vias family. Both are the biggest and strongest families of assassins in Lovero, but while some of the families have some kind of truce, the Saldana and Da Vias are rivals. That doesn’t stop Lea and Val from having a little secret behind their families backs, until Lea’s entire family is taken out by the Da Vias.I have to start of with the world building. If you love world building, you could get lost in this. There’s a deep rooted history and tons of religious elements built into the world, not to mention a ghost filled plane that borders nations. The people of Lovero know about the nine assassin families and actually treat them as royalty, because in some twisted way the assassinations are part of their religion. Lea can be annoying as a character, and fall flat at times, but I can still see how she makes some of her decisions based on the situation she’s in. She can come out as a bit whiny, but then again her entire family died and her boyfriend may have had something to do with their mass murder, so I think assassin or not, she’s a teenage girl and has permission to be a bit mopey. Val is a charming guy, for a full grown pit bull that acts liked kicked puppy that doesn't know it did anything wrong. Poor thing. Seriously, I don’t know if the guy had mental issues, a psychopath, or is very desperately in love. Lafevre is a minor character I couldn’t help but mention. He’s a police man sent to tail Lea after she makes it out of Lovero and starts working with an assassin-wanna-be, Les. Lafeyre reminds me of Javert from Les Miserables in the sense that he pops up everywhere at the most inopportune moments to arrest her. I nearly wanted to start breaking out in song.Les is the character that provides balance for Lea. He makes her question her ideals as he starts questioning his own. The storyline was great. I loved the inner turmoil as Lea struggled with herself and the outer turmoil as she fought her way through assassins and ghosts, but the story could have also but cut much shorter in some areas. At times it was just Lea repeating the same notions over and over and that really bugs me in books. Overall, Assassin’s Heart is an enjoyable read with plenty to look forward to, you just might end up skimming a few pages.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.