Assassins : Discord

Kindra’s moral compass has never pointed north, but that’s what happens when you’re raised as an assassin and a thief. At sixteen, she’s fantastic with a blade, an expert at slipping through the world unnoticed, and trapped in a life she didn’t chose. But nothing in her training prepares her for what happens when her father misses a target.

In the week-long aftermath, Kindra breaks rank for the first time in her life. She steals documents, starts questioning who their client is and why the target needs to die, botches a second hit on her father’s target, and is nearly killed. And that’s before she’s kidnapped by a green-eyed stranger connected to a part of her childhood she’d almost forgotten.

Kindra has to decide who to trust and which side of the battle to fight for. She has to do it fast and she has to be right, because the wrong choice will kill her just when she’s finally found something worth living for.

Gr 9 Up-Kindra has never had a normal life. Instead of revolving around school and friends, her life consists of training and targets—the tools of her family's trade. With her parents, who have always been more like commanders than mom and dad, and her younger sister, Sera, Kindra carries out professional kills. But when her father misses a sniper shot for the first time in her life, everything starts to unravel, and the teen has to decide if she can trust anyone, even her own family. Cameron begins this action series with a story populated by powerful women and featuring a diversity of sexuality (Kindra is comfortably bisexual, and the supporting cast includes gay and asexual characters). Despite the interesting cast, the book doesn't find its footing until halfway through. The plot suffers from overly complicated espionage that loads readers with nonessential background information. These dull passages seem especially weak in comparison to the novel's exciting and well-crafted action scenes. It also requires an extra suspension of disbelief to imagine that any assassins, married or not, would involve children in their delicate and dangerous operations. Readers who can look past these faults long enough to reach the second act will enjoy the appearance of the potential love interest (also a girl) as well as some delightful plot twists. VERDICT An uneven but promising start to a series that provides a female-led alternative to popular titles like Robert Muchamore's "CHERUB" books.-Amy Diegelman, Vineyard Haven Public Library, MA