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The Butterfly Assassin Kindle Edition

by Finn Longman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
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WINNER OF AN ABA AWARD. Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin’s attempt to live a normal life. Don't miss the second book in the trilogy, The Hummingbird Killer, out now. 

'An electrifying debut!’ Chelsea Pitcher, author of This Lie Will Kill You

Trained and traumatised by a secret assassin programme for minors, Isabel Ryans wants nothing more than to be a normal civilian. After running away from home, she has a new name, a new life and a new friend, Emma, and for the first time, things are looking up.

But old habits die hard, and it’s not long until she blows her cover, drawing the attention of the guilds – the two rival organisations who control the city of Espera. An unaffiliated killer like Isabel is either a potential asset . . . or a threat to be eliminated.

Will the blood on her hands cost her everything?

From award-winning author Finn Longman, an exhilarating voice in YA fiction, comes an addictive trilogy for fans of global phenomena The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Killing Eve and The Hunger Games.

PRAISE FOR THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN:

'This dark, enthralling thriller is a compulsive debut' The Guardian 

'An immersive, fast-paced thriller' The Irish Times

‘A heart-in-your-mouth thriller that grips you from the first page until the very last.’ Benjamin Dean, author of The King is Dead
 
'A bold, jagged and uncompromising thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.’ Tom Pollock, author of White Rabbit, Red Wolf

‘Sharp and layered, with a bright beating heart. The Butterfly Assassin will lure you deep into a fascinating and dangerous new world.’ Rory Power, author of Wilder Girls

‘An utterly addictive story. I told myself "just one more chapter" well into the night.’ Emily Suvada, author of This Mortal Coil
 
‘Fierce, thrilling, and impossible to put down. Packed full of amazing friendships, plot twists and a desperate fight to survive’ C. G. Drews, author of The Boy Who Steals Houses
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    350 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Children's UK
  5. Publication date
    May 26, 2022
  6. Reading age
    14 years and up
  7. File size
    4596 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09FKGTSDS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Children's UK (May 26, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 26, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4596 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 41 ratings

About the author

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Finn Longman

Finn Longman

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Finn Longman is a queer disabled writer and medievalist, currently based in Cambridge. By day, they’re a library assistant; by night, they kill (fictional) people in their YA and Adult novels. With a degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic and an MA in Early and Medieval Irish, they spend the rest of their time having extremely niche opinions on the internet.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
41 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

ken Hopper
5.0 out of 5 stars This book will make you cry
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
Don’t read this book thinking it will be just another YA book with a badass protagonist and a revenge plotline. This book is so much more. Its a heartbreaking tale about the price of war, trauma, and abuse,with an ending that will make you sob. The writing is poignant and beautiful, so much so that I read this in 2 days. The characters are complex and intriguing, and all I want is for Isabel to be happy, and I hope to see that in the sequel.
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Laura
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting!
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2022
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This book is awesome!!!
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Schizanthus Nerd
5.0 out of 5 stars “No mercy, no hesitation, no witnesses.”
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2022
I finished reading this book two weeks ago and I’m still having trouble figuring out what to say about it. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it. I did. I flew through it. It’s not that I didn’t love the characters. I did. So much! It’s that practically everything I want to say about this book wanders into spoiler territory and I don’t want to ruin it for you.

Isabel Ryan is trying her best to reinvent herself as Bella Nicholls. Isabel was trained as a contract killer by Comma, one of Espera’s two guilds. Bella is an ordinary high school student, a civilian.

“She’s seventeen, she’s safe, and she got out.”
One day maybe that will feel true.”

Isabel is one of the best badass characters I’ve ever survived. She’s resilient, surprisingly vulnerable and all kinds of lethal when the situation calls for it.

‘It’s my trauma. You don’t get to tell me how to deal with it.’

Emma is one of the best friends you could ever hope to meet.

“She smiles like it’s nothing. Show her how she can help, give her the knowledge to do it, and there it is: joy.”

Grace is a librarian, which made her one of my favourite characters even before I knew anything else about her.

‘All I can offer is books and friendly advice, I’m afraid.’

This is a book about surviving against the odds. It’s about extricating yourself from the past when it’s holding on for dear life. It’s about control: being controlled, losing control and taking it back.

Isabel’s past is essentially layers of trauma and her present isn’t any easier. Not only is she trying to cope with the physical and emotional fallout from her life in the guild, she’s doing her best to create a new life for herself in hopes of having a future. Although not specifically identified as such, the portrayal of PTSD was authentic.

I loved that the chapter titles were in Esperanto as well as English. I loved the worldbuilding. I hated being constantly worried about the safety of my favourite characters but loved that, despite the darkness of this book, there was enough light to find them in the first place.

Favourite no context quote:
‘A candle can’t do much against a black hole.’
‘So light another candle.’

Content warnings are included on my blog.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children's UK for the opportunity to read this book. I need the sequel immediately!
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Top reviews from other countries

Linked Soul
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a teen assassin who does kill people!
Reviewed in France on October 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
Such a good book! I enjoyed everything about this: Isabel's characterisation, her internal conflict in the middle of the Guild's scheming, the fact that this is a book that doesn't shy away from being harsh but still delivers a lot of hope and softness.... definitely a must read if you want more teen assassin books that are done thoughtfully and don't just wave the trope around for the plot.
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Jeanette Everson
5.0 out of 5 stars A new author to watch out for
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
I read an early copy of this book.

Although this is far from my usual choice of reading I was hooked from the first pages. Finn's writing is exquisite, and their storytelling ability no less than their skill with words. This is an easy crossover book into adult fiction, and will appeal to a broad range of readers.

I was quickly invested in Isabel's world, and my heart ached for her throughout the book. I kind of wish Finn had thrown a little more happiness at her, but I guess that wouldn't have made such a good book.

Isabel is caught up in a dystopian world of rival factions, killing, and revenge, but ultimately her story is one of being backed into impossible corners, and being let down by those who should look after her. The story artfully explores themes of child abuse (physical and mental, more than sexual), family loyalty, illness, lonlieness, and anger.

Isabel has so many barriers up around herself that even when friendship is offered to her, by Nick and then by the lovely Emma (another character who is so well-portrayed and tugged at my heartstrings), Isabel is skeptical and distrusting. Meanwhile, the past she is running from catches up with her when she kills someone who harasses her. Scared, sick, alone, she has no choice but to open up and seek help, but this only pulls her new friends into her world of danger. The novel is quite fast-paced, but also slow enough to build the world and characters extremely well. It's quite a rollercoaster as Isabel seeks the lines between family, friendship, life, death, trust, distrust, and when these overlap, experiences fresh heartache and destruction. So many times through the book I wanted to reach into its pages and give Isabel a hug, tell her she's safe.

I found myself feeling slightly sad as I finished this book - not just for Isabel and her pain and loss, but also because I could have happily stayed lost in Finn's writing for much longer. I look forward to reading more of their books, and highly recommend this one to older teenager and adults everywhere, especially those who have their own experiences of pain and illness. I alos found the commentary on society poignant and slightly unnerving - the human experimenting, the world of factions and fighting, seems all too possible in our current world, and, in the footsteps of such books as 1984, this book felt a little too close to 'probable future if not already happening' to be entirely comfortable. It's a thought-provoking book with messages and characters that will linger.

When I read the author's note, the pain and anguish of the story became more understandable, and to revisit the story with that author's explanation of their own batttle with chronic illness in mind put a slightly different slant on how I related to Isabel's story.

I did find myself questioning the believability of a 17-year-old renting a flat by herself, but, weirdly, this was the only part of the story that I didn't quite buy into! Teenage Assassin, human experimenting, etc, I had no problems buying into at all!

Congratulations, Finn Longman, on an incredible debut novel.
4 people found this helpful
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PaperFury
5.0 out of 5 stars Fierce and Thrilling
Reviewed in Australia on October 11, 2022
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Fierce, thrilling, and impossible to put down. Packed full of amazing friendships, plot twists and a desperate fight to survive. Absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the sequel.

It has traumatised teen assassin (who is gluten FREE; this is important), asexual rep, platonic the grump x the sunshine friendship pairing which you cannot help but love so hard, and it’s set in a walled city ruled by assassin guilds. It is super dark and super stabby, and it will absolutely steal your heart. Isabel is so messed up and I love this little disaster. It’s also such a thoughtful, raw, and realistic unpacking of what it actually would mean to escape from the horrors of being a teen assassin, instead of romanticising it like a lot of assassin books do. It’s a story of being robbed of autonomy — and the fight to reclaim freedom.
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Curly
5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent teen fiction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2022
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Fluently written and thrilling tale of a teenage assassin, set in a alternative world. Well drawn characters, powerful and thought provoking. The book is hard hitting and examines some important themes; innocence, abuse, revenge, obedience, loyalty, friendship and love to name a few. This book, despite the swearing, is far better written than some of the other YAF available, with gripping action and short chapters typical of the genre. I look forward to the next one.
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Tim
5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2022
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A wonderful novel, with a gripping plot, but it's true success is how adeptly the auther get you inside the head of Isabel, a can't-look-away tale of trauma and recovery in a fantastic setting!
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