BLOG TOUR: Knight Assassin by Rima Jean: Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Regina | 2 Comments

BLOG TOUR: Knight Assassin by Rima Jean: Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Knight Assassin by Rima Jean
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pub. Date: March 4, 2014
Pages: 216

Find it: GoodreadsAmazonBarnes & Noble

Knight Assassin

Seventeen-year-old Zayn has special powers she cannot control—powers that others fear

and covet. Powers that cause the Templar Knights to burn Zayn’ s mother at the stake for

witchcraft. When a mysterious stranger tempts Zayn to become the first female member of

the heretical Assassins, the chance to seek her revenge lures her in. She trains to harness her

supernatural strength and agility, and then enters the King of Jerusalem’s court in disguise with

the assignment to assassinate Guy de Molay, her mother’ s condemner. But once there, she

discovers Earic Goodwin, the childhood friend who still holds her heart, among the knights—

and his ocean-blue eyes don’ t miss a thing. Will vengeance be worth the life of the one love she

has left?

If you’re reading this review than you are a ROCK STAR. Thanks for checking out my stop on the Knight Assassin blog tour organized by Rockstar Book Tours. After my review, you can ENTER TO WIN a $25 Amazon Gift Card for one lucky winner from the US!

You can check out what the author, Rima Jean, had to say about my KA cast here.

I LOVE stories about REVENGE. But I love stories that show me something in a new way, and stories that take me to a new historical place even better.  Rima Jean just got added to my “author-to-follow” list. Knight Assassin was BAD-ASS and I think it deserves its own graphic novel.

In Knight Assassin Rima Jean takes us on an empowering tale of revenge through the eyes of Zayn, a 17 year-old Saracen girl who has struggled every day to mask her extraordinary powers within her ordinary life. All of her efforts end up being in vain when a cruel boy from her past becomes the villain of the present and lights the proverbial match to a series of events that change the course of Zayn’s life.

Gemma Arterton as a possible Zayn.
Gemma Arterton as a possible Zayn.

Zayn is a passionate and strongly defined character that I immediately empathized with. The revolutionary undertones to her personality played out in a satisfying way that challenged her circumstances.  At the beginning of this story, Zayn is a victim of her own sex and unique qualities. By the end of it, she is the master of her own fate and defies what is expected of her kind. Set among the Crusader States of 1180, the author delicately presents a brutal and tragic event that sends Zayn into the heart of the Holy Wars and a secret society of Muslim assassins against the Knights Templar. Zayn is given the opportunity to train as a Faithful One, a special assassin, to help take down Templar Knights, but she has her own agenda.

Zach Roerig as a possible Earic "Fair Boy".
Zach Roerig as a possible Earic “Fair Boy”.

Earic Goodwin is the literal knight in shining armor in this book. A childhood friend of Zayn’s, he leaves a lasting mark on her heart when he defends her and offers himself up for punishment in her place one eventful day in their youth. It would be five years before Zayn would see Earic again, but we become familiar with him as Fair Boy during the story through Zayn’s memories.   Earic’s character is everything I want in a knight. The events that bring him and Zayn together again play out perfectly when they discover they have more than a long-lasting desire for each other in common. Earic’s character reminded me of  Matt Donovan from The Vampire Diaries. His loyalty, love and chivalry know no bounds when it comes to Zayn.

Saladin's Palace- A place visited in the book.
Saladin’s Palace- A place visited in the book.

The setting of the story was stimulating and a welcome change from the books I usually read. I’ve never read a YA a book set in this locale, or even one that deals with  issues of diversity as related to gender, identity, and sociocultural position in this time period. The Knight’s Templar have always been presented to me in a flattering and heroic way, so it was interesting to ”see” them from Zayn’s POV, as enemies in this story. The mystical and supernatural aspects to this novel pushed it into FIVE STAR territory for me. Knight’s Assassin is shown as a stand-alone novel on Goodreads, but I would LOVE to see it become a trilogy/series. I recommend this action-packed, emotionally charged tale of vengeance, discovery, acceptance, and love to any fan of YA literature with strong and heroic female leads.

Tour Schedule Week Two:
3/10/2014- MEReadALot– Review
3/10/2014- A Backwards Story- Interview
3/11/2014- Closet Geeks and Slow Mo– Review
3/11/2014- Mom With A Kindle– Guest Post
3/12/2014- Curse of the Bibliophile– Review
3/12/2014- Kindle and Me– Guest Post
3/13/2014- Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace – Review
3/13/2014- Fiddle Fadle – Spotlight
3/14/2014- Rally the Readers– Review
3/14/2014- Mythical Books– Guest Post
About the Author
RimaJean-240x300Rima Jean received a degree in archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania. After a dismal law school experience, she floundered a bit before accepting her calling: storytelling. She resides in Houston with her wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters, where she writes, edits, and dabbles in digital art.

 

 

ENTER TO WIN

1 $25 Amazon Gift Card US Only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Divider

2 responses to “BLOG TOUR: Knight Assassin by Rima Jean: Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.