Review: You don't need to be a history buff to love this story.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2014
Assassins, Knights Templar and a holy war sets the scene in the Crusader States of 1180. I didn't have a lot or any knowledge of this time frame in history but that didn't diminish from my enjoyment of the story.I love stories with strong female characters that take the tragedies that happen to them in life and turn them into something else. Zayn is that girl, the last thing she ever wanted was to grow into a woman because then she would have to marry and be caged and trapped forever.Warning: There is a rape in this book. I generally do not like rape in YA novels as sometimes I think authors just throw the threat of sexual molestation into their books for shock factor...however in this book it fit with the story line and the was done in the least graphic way possible. The death of Zayn's mother and her subsequent rape are the driving force for her training to become an assassin and really necessary for the character development she goes through.--  "Zayn, you are here only because of me. You will face great adversity from everyone - the Assassins, the Franks, the Saracens. No one wants you, a headstrong girl reputed to have supernatural abilities. They would all rather see you dead, for in death you cannot threaten them or their beliefs about the world.Because Zayn comes from a Muslim culture I think the rape hits her a little differently than if she were Anglo. It is deemed her fault and she struggles with being unclean and filthy because of it. Someone right after makes a comment like `why haven't you died of shame already'. She must overcome cultural biases as well as gender roles in her training as an assassin.After her training is complete and she is sent on her mission into the gentry where she lies in wait to kill the man who ruined her simple life. There she becomes fast friends with the Lady Marguerite. I adored Marguerite's character she is feisty and wants nothing more than to learn all the things that men do as well. She is tired of embroidery and other useless tasks. I loved that Zayn was able to make a female friend and there wasn't that caddy girl angst that seems prevalent in YA novels today.--  "If only I were a man." Zayn said to Marguerite when the two of them were alone again. She paced the solar, her fists clenched.Marguerite smiled. "I used to wish that as well, not too long ago. But I see the advantages of being a woman now - we are underestimated, and therefore, have much more power over men."Even though there is the mention of religions multiple times in the story it is never preachy and is used more as a debate on the morality of killing and the driving forces of the frictions between the apposing Assassins, Templars and Saladin.There is a small romance in the story as well but it never takes over the plot and there isn't any insta-love from across the room happening. I really liked the love interest and how he saw Zayn and the world around them. He is just as stuck as she is but for entirely different reasons.This would be closer to a five stars but the magic of where Zayn gets her power and the lore behind it where never well explained although I'm sure if there is another novel it will be explored more completely. I also wasn't a huge fan of the flashbacks to childhood that Zayn and Earic had.Super fun story that once it got going moved quickly other books sort of like this with a different setting are Grave Mercy, Throne of Glass and Assassins Creed (based on the video game).