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The Perfect Assassin
Jan. 22nd, 2020 06:12 pmThe Perfect Assassin, K.A. Doore.
Disclosure: I came into this with a bias towards liking this book, because Doore is the wife of the little sister of one of *my* little sister's best friends when she was small. Not exactly a personal acquaintance - I wouldn't recognize her in a room (I really wouldn't recognize her, because when I got the book I flipped to the back to see the author bio and the library had put their security sticker right over her photo. I know she has a left shoulder but that's not a very distinguishing feature) and I'm sure she's never heard of my existence, but she still falls under the umbrella of "younger people I feel vaguely avuncular about", by virtue of being married to someone I remember as an adorable toddler. (I believe they now *have* an adorable toddler - my mom is still good friends with my sister's friend's mom, and I always get to hear who has new grandchildren.)
Anyways. I really liked the worldbuilding - a neat setting on giant platforms up above a desert, a water-based economy, men who wear face veils and have emotions about revealing their faces (I was so there for this aesthetic). And I also really liked the main character, who is an assassin-in-training who enjoys being part of a secret parkour-and-weapons club but has some reservations about actually murdering people, which felt like a very relatable emotional take on the assassin trope. The plot was a little convoluted - a lot of backstory, and a lot of people saying things like "you need to solve this" but then withholding illuminating information - but had a couple of good action sequences. Apparently the next one in the trilogy switches viewpoint characters and jumps forward in time, and it sounds like the third one will again, so it's more like three related standalones than a obligate trilogy. I would like to read the next one - it's also apparently f/f, so, hey.
(Is there a thing now of m/m first books getting f/f sequels, or is it just this and Witchmark? I should note that while there is some UST in this, the protag is mostly ace/aro, so don't take the comparison to Witchmark to mean that you'll get realized m/m romance.)
Disclosure: I came into this with a bias towards liking this book, because Doore is the wife of the little sister of one of *my* little sister's best friends when she was small. Not exactly a personal acquaintance - I wouldn't recognize her in a room (I really wouldn't recognize her, because when I got the book I flipped to the back to see the author bio and the library had put their security sticker right over her photo. I know she has a left shoulder but that's not a very distinguishing feature) and I'm sure she's never heard of my existence, but she still falls under the umbrella of "younger people I feel vaguely avuncular about", by virtue of being married to someone I remember as an adorable toddler. (I believe they now *have* an adorable toddler - my mom is still good friends with my sister's friend's mom, and I always get to hear who has new grandchildren.)
Anyways. I really liked the worldbuilding - a neat setting on giant platforms up above a desert, a water-based economy, men who wear face veils and have emotions about revealing their faces (I was so there for this aesthetic). And I also really liked the main character, who is an assassin-in-training who enjoys being part of a secret parkour-and-weapons club but has some reservations about actually murdering people, which felt like a very relatable emotional take on the assassin trope. The plot was a little convoluted - a lot of backstory, and a lot of people saying things like "you need to solve this" but then withholding illuminating information - but had a couple of good action sequences. Apparently the next one in the trilogy switches viewpoint characters and jumps forward in time, and it sounds like the third one will again, so it's more like three related standalones than a obligate trilogy. I would like to read the next one - it's also apparently f/f, so, hey.
(Is there a thing now of m/m first books getting f/f sequels, or is it just this and Witchmark? I should note that while there is some UST in this, the protag is mostly ace/aro, so don't take the comparison to Witchmark to mean that you'll get realized m/m romance.)
