Reviews

An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason by Virginia Boecker

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_catinabox_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nooneyouknow's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. Better than average plane read. Twelfth Night with Catholic/Protestant tension as the backdrop.

karenholmes's review against another edition

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5.0

Love in the times of Shakespeare, a tragedy of course, surrounded by some comedy and always love. Spies and betrayals and a play set up as a trap. I really enjoyed this one! So much fun!

syl_val15's review against another edition

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4.0

4/5 Stars

Pre reading thoughts:

This book has all the ingredients I never knew I needed to see gathered in one book:

Elizabethian era ✔️
Girl disguises herself as a boy ✔️
Takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War ✔️
Plotting an assassination against Elizabeth I ✔️
Both protagonists have to perform in a Shakespearean play, presumably "Twelfth Night" ✔️
Young spy ✔️
Revenge ✔️
From enemies to lovers (probably) ✔️

What I liked about this book:

-Basically everything, most of them I mentioned in my pre-reading thoughts.
-The Dual point of views was great, because if it were only from one POV it'd have leaned on the dull side. Plus it gave us the chance to see more insights on the characters' purposes.
-The politics and the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, and significant historical events alike have always fascinated me.
-Seeing or more like reading Shakespeare as himself being a part of the book.
-Most of the things that happened in the book were based on true events, thus the author didn't make all of this fictional except the main protagonists.
-Katherine became braver, straight-forward and open minded while disguising herself as boy. Being Kit made her know what she really wants and how she should handle things around her without being a damsel in distress like most women were during the medieval era.
-The play that both Toby and Katherine were acting in started colliding with their lives outside the play. Meaning: Both Viola (from Twelfth Night) and Katherine disguising themself as boys and their ''opponents'' starting to have feelings towards them. The entire book felt like I was reading a Shakespearian plot with crossdressers and star-crossed lovers.
-The author's note is a MUST if you read this book. Seriously, do not skip that part.

What I didn't like:

I can't really give a particular reason, but...
-The reason I didn't give this higher than 4 stars was because of the ending. I was satisfied with it, however I wanted a full closure on each and every character.
-Not getting enough flashbacks on Toby's past.

Spoiler

For example: Jory was training to become a priest, but he was the one who tried to kill queen Elizabeth. (Who planned that? How he managed to get the exact same clothes as Kit's? What happened to the men Katherine aka Kit started working with in plan of assassinating the queen?).

-The novel could've added more details about the religious aspect along with Christopher Marlowe.
-The entire ending felt a bit rushed to me.