Title: Assassin's Heart
Author: Sarah Ahiers
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publishing: February 2nd, 2016
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | TBD
Rating:

Goodreads blurb:
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.
Assassin's Heart was magical and out of this world. The way Sarah Ahiers described the cities and all the locations/places this story takes place in was so fantastic and wonderful. I felt like I was traveling alongside Lea! 1000 points to Ahiers for making me experience it. 

The story revolves around Lea Saldana and her revenge for the murder of her family. In Lovero, Family is always above family. There are assassins families in this city and they all kill for money. I loved the idea of this story. Plus a pretty badass and strong female lead made it so much better for me. You want to be liked by Lea Saldana and you don't want to be her enemy. If you were living in Lovero, you would definitely don't want to be in her black list. The Da Vias family is in that list. And Lea wants only her revenge above all. 

She takes this amazing journey throughout the cities in the search to get help from her missing uncle and take that revenge in the name of her family. She encounters new enemies, old enemies, new friends and old ones. This book has love, secrets, passion, blood and many, many amazing assassins. 

Ahiers's writing is easy to get into. It has a sort of soft but yet passionate feel to it. You can feel the anger Lea holds. Her grieve. You can see her mind working and setting up goals to get what she wants. When something gets in her head, she never backs out. I cried with her, for her - I smiled and laughed whenever she felt everything was starting to become better. Lea Saldana is such a great character and I wish more from this story and her.


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.