Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers

Series: Assassin’s Heart (bk. 1)

Genera(s): High Fantasy/Romance

Subjects: assassins, murder, revenge, adventure, gods and goddesses, love, supernatural, ghosts, spirits

Setting: The kingdom of Lovero

POV/Tense: 1^st person, past tense: Lea (Oleander) Saldana

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 420 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “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.”

My Review:  I had no idea what to expect with this book. When I first saw it coming out, I didn’t think it would be my kind of fantasy. The cover was kind of interesting. Then I read the description. I was a bit more intrigued. I tried reading it and I was pulled in. This is a really awesome unique fantasy story.

There are assassins, Families, ghosts and gods. Lea’s a Saldana and bear a mask that’s half bone white and half black with a design, like the rest of her Family. She has dirty blond hair and brown eye and she’s a Clipper, an assassin who takes jobs to murder in the name of the goddess Safraella. Lea is romantically involved with a rival Family member, Val Da Via, who’s blonde, sexy and arrogant. This forbidden romance between rival families has the influence of the play Romeo and Juliet.

Lea’s Family is killed in a fire set by the Da Vias and she’s the last Saldana left. Lea wants revenge and meets with the king, who’s a friend of her now dead father. He gives her the location of her only living relative, her uncle. Lea travels to another country full of canals and angry ghosts that haunt the night. There she meets dark-haired Alessio (Les). He’s a wannabe Clipper. She agrees to train him in exchange for his help in making a fire-bomb.

A romance develop between them. I really liked Alessio. I know rightaway her was going to be important, even before we know his name. Just based off the way he was described in the market. He’s funny and sweet. Lea’s a badass and trains him. It made me think of Wren and Callum from Reboot, or other relationships from YA books. I enjoy the humor and banter between them. The ending was pretty good. I found out there’s a sequel that possibly a companion. I’m guessing it’s from another character, maybe in the future (Allegra maybe…)

I recommend this to fans of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, The Young Elites or Legend by Marie Lu, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page, The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Defiance by C.J. Redwine, Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch, and Shadow and Bone by Leugh Bardugo.

Cover Art Review: This cover put me off because I didn’t understand it. Now I read the book and know that’s the holy coin of the Saldanas and not some strange medallion. I like the velvet texture of the paper.

The Death Code by Lindsay Cummings

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: murder, death, love, mystery, action, assassins

Setting: in the future, in Florida, near the everglades in a place called the Shallows, and then the Ridge in Washington

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, rotating between Meadow and Zephyr

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 496 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Greenwillow

Summary/ product description: “With short, fast-paced, alternating point-of-view chapters, The Death Code starts several weeks after The Murder Complex ended. Zephyr keeps the secret about Meadow close—that if she dies, The Murder Complex will be destroyed, too. Meadow, desperate to find her brother, father, and little sister, is determined to fearlessly fight to the end, even if it means sacrificing herself and her friends, new and old. The Death Code introduces a memorable cast of secondary characters and delivers a vivid and scary thrill ride read.”

My Review: The Death Code, the sequel to the Murder Complex is a fast-paced thrill ride. It’s set in Florida’s everglades and then Washington state at the Ridge. The story alternates between Meadow and Zephyr’s point of views. Meadow is very badass and was trained by her father. Zephyr is a patient of the Murder Complex programmed to kill, but would prefer not to.

The Initiative has captured Meadow and is torturing her to get information about the resistance and the whereabouts of her mother. Meadow is strong and doesn’t tell then anything. She doesn’t know where her mother is and doesn’t really care since her mother is the reason why the Murder Complex exists. They decide that using Meadows sister Peri might get Meadow to do what they ask.

When Meadow finally escapes, stuff happens. Around page 150 things are really set into motion by a tragic event that actually may have been good. (If I tell you anything else it would be a spoiler.) Then Meadow and Zephyr head across country to the Ridge, another testing site where Peri and the rest of her family is being held. The Ridge is crazy. It’s the testing site for genetic mutation where the Initiative is hoping to find something called the “Death Code” or the cure to the The Cure (nanites). It’s full of dangers that Meadow never experienced in the Shallows. Can Meadow rescue her family and bring down the Murder Complex before it’s to late?

I love the characters. Meadow reminds me so much of Tris Prior from Divergent. She makes lot of sacrifices and is truly brave and Zephyr is kind of like Four. The world building is scary. People get murdered daily in the Shallow. The murder rate is higher than the birth rate. This story is full of murder and horrible event, sometimes gruesome. I wouldn’t recommend it to the younger kids. This book is bloodier than the Hunger Games. Like Katniss, Meadow has a younger sister that she cares for: Peri. I recommend this to fans of Divergent, The Hunger Games, Legend, Reboot, The Maze Runner, and other action-packed YA dystopian book about survival.

Cover Art Review: I know it’s supposed to by Zephyr. Kind of wish the cover was more interesting.

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Series: The Murder Complex (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: murder, death, love, mystery, action, assassins

Setting: in the future, in Florida, near the everglades in a place called the Shallows, in June

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, rotating between Meadow and Zephyr

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 398 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and now in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Greenwillow

Summary/ product description: “An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.”

My Review:  The Murder Complex is a bloody story filled with action. It’s a fast-paced thrill ride. It’s set in Florida, in the everglades. Meadow, the main character, lives in a boathouse with her family. It’s not a setting that I’ve read before in Dystopian. The story alternates between Meadow and Zephyr’s point of views. Meadow is very badass and was trained by her father. Zephyr seems kind of too-nice, but he’s got a dark secret, some of which he doesn’t even know.

This story is full of murder and horrible event, sometimes gruesome. I wouldn’t recommend it to the younger kids. This book is bloodier than the Hunger Games. Like Katniss, Meadow has a younger sister that she care for: Peri. Meadow’s mother is dead. Meadow’s older brother doesn’t have a job because he didn’t pass his trial. Meadow’s dad is a fisherman.

The world building is scary. People get murdered daily in the Shallow. The murder rate is higher than the death rate. Anyone could be next. People kill for survival reasons as well. Everyone must know self-defense. There’s the government called the Initiative that set four rules for the people within the perimeter. If not followed they could be killed. There’s as The Murder Complex, the organization behind the murders. Not all the murders are random. There’s a deep mystery behind the murder complex that could be linked to both Meadow and Zephyr past.

I recommend this to fans of Divergent, The Hunger Games, Legend and other action-packed YA dystopian book about survival.

Cover Art Review: Bloody looking. I thought that was a drawing and not a photo, but it’s a photo and it’s been photoshopped in some way. I like the cover, but don’t love it. Face covers are so overdone.