Sarah Ahiers Books In Order

Publication Order of Assassin's Heart Books

Sarah Ahiers is American bestselling author of Young Adult, Children’s and Fantasy novels. She lives in Minnesota with her three dogs and a collection of steampunk hats. When Ahiers is not writing, you will catch Ahiers with good food, good games and spending time with her friends and family.

The author has Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Young Adults and Children from Hamline University. Sarah Ahiers debut novel is Assassins Heart published by HarperTeen in February 2016. The novel is the first book in Assassins Heart series a Young Adult Fantasy. It themed on group assassins that lawfully kill people in the Kingdom of Lovero, but one brave 17-year-old Oleander Saldana sets out on a path of revenge against the most powerful assassin family. The sequel to the Assassins Heart novel is a book titled Thief’s Cunning published in 2017.

Assassins Heart (2016)

Assassin’s Heart is the first book in Assassins Heart series written by the bestselling author of Young Adult Fantasy Sarah Ahiers. It is set in the kingdom of Lovero, where nine different families of assassins murder people so as to honor the goddess of Ravenna who promises a new life to the people killed and also protects the city from the evil things that lurk outside its walls.

“Clippers” as the assassins are commonly referred are respected by the commoner because their coins at the time of death is what guarantees resurrection. So if you die with the Clippers coin, you became a ghost and lost forever.

The book also introduces the main character, Lea Saldana who is a highly skilled member of Saldana family, the number ranked family of the assassins, until one day when she wakes to find her house on fire and her family dead as well. Who could be responsible for this inhumane act? She finds out that Da Via family, the rivals to her family are responsible. The Da Via family is the second-ranked, and her secret lover Val belongs to this family. So when she learns of Val’s betrayal, she vows to kill everyone in Da Via family and sets out to find revenge.

The first installment is a fantastic read; first here are the things that you will like about the novel. You will love the book’s plot, it starts out slow, but as you read, it picks up in the most unusual and unique manner. The author’s world-building is excellent, and in his world, ghost and gods are real. Lea travels many places, and you will love the different places that she visits since each has a different tone and feel as well. If you love reading about political maneuvers between assassins’ families with some religious aspects, then this novel is the ideal selection for you.

There are many fight scenes, and each of them was a great one and was all fun and made sense.

Leah serving the role of the lead character is brings out all the fun in this novel. Lea is the short form of Oleander. She is a clipper- an assassin in the modern world. She is also a member of the most influential family which is ranked #1 out of the nine killer families. Lea’s family operates in the city of Ravenna; a territory which they apparently share with their rival family Da Vias ranked #2 out of the nine Clipper families.

Lea does not share the rivalry that exists because she is seeing Da Vias son named Val. However, however family comes first, and that is why when one night she wakes in the middle of the night and finds out that their family has been discovered and that they are in the midst of an attack. She tries to save her family members but to no success.

Lea is depicted as a brave and courageous young girl. She does not express any emotional pull despite the fact that her family was murdered. She sometimes made some mistakes that you would not expect an assassin of her caliber would make, but however, maybe her pursuit for justice is what made her make such mistakes.

For the antagonists, the author has crafted them in such a way that they perfectly fit their roles as intended. Val is the antagonist; he betrays Lea which leads to the killing of Lea family. The ending is quite open and will leave you with many unanswered questions that are answered in the second book of the series Thief’s Cunning.

The author, Sarah Ahiers did an amazing job with the world building. It is beautiful to see how she has incorporated the setting, religion, history and the facts of the world together.

Thief’s Cunning

This is the second book in Assassin’s Heart series by Sarah Ahiers. This novel is action packed with the fantasy that Laura Ruby- the winner of Printz Award said will keep you perusing pages all night long. The book picks up 18 years after the first book and talks about Allegra Saldana as she discovers the secrets related to the line of killers that she descends from.

Allegra knows how to look over her shoulders. She is the niece of the famous Clipper Leah Saldana, and she is used to hiding from people that want her dead. The Saldana’s once the strongest of the clipper families in the kingdom of Lovero; being hunted now is what’s left of them. Their first biggest threat is the Da Vias, who have been retaliating for almost two decades.

However, Allegra is getting fed up with everything being kept secret from her – including the identity of her parents. However, when she finally learns the truth relating to her family and that she is a Da Via- her world shatters.

After feeling betrayed by the very people she trusted most, Allegra turns to Nev, a young traveler boy whose presence only makes her feel alive in the ways that she is ever dreamed of. However, getting caught in the boy’s world has some consequences that Allegra never foresaw.

In this dark and captivating series, the fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah Maas will devour, Allegra must decide whether she is destined to pay for the wrongs of her family or if she gets to write her future.