4.5/5 Stars

Author: Francesca Flores

Publisher/Imprint: Wednesday Books

Edition: Hardcover, 392 Pages

Publication Date: January 28, 2020

*Thank you to the publisher for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley. Although I received an e-ARC, this review is based on the finished hardcover edition due to technical difficulties with the e-pub file. These are my honest opinions. Thank you.*

‘Even if a lion dresses in silk, it will always be a lion.’
-Francesca Flores, Diamond City

Initial Thoughts:

Wow! What a blast! Diamond City is Francesca Flores’s debut novel, and it was SO entertaining to read! Was it perfect? No. But it kept me hooked all the way through, which is exactly what I wanted.

This is an assassin story that actually delivers on what it promises: action, assassins, blood, and diamonds. The prologue jumps right into the action and grabbed my attention immediately! I was desperate to learn more about Aina, the main female character, and what drove her to become an assassin.

The setting/world-building in this novel is refreshingly unique in my opinion. It is a gritty, industrialized fantasy world that also has a bit of a dystopian feel. The descriptions of the world sucked me in and largely contribute to the mood of the story as well. The people who are at the top of the social ladder are called Steels. A group called the Diamond Guards is essentially the police force under the authority of the city’s oligarchy. Inosen are the people (often from the lower classes) who believe in magic and worship two goddesses. The Steels often persecute the Inosen due to a civil war that resulted from a clash between industrialization and religion.

I liked that the author explores the themes of poverty and toxic relationships in this novel. I think she does a good job painting a picture of Aina’s struggles. Aina struggles with a lot under the surface of her fierce exterior.

The pacing is overall done very well. Diamond City is fast-paced and absolutely action-packed! I wasn’t ever too bored or disinterested. There was always something exciting happening that pulled me through the story. There are wolf-sized spiders and daring prison breakouts! At the end of each chapter, I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next! But sometimes I had to stop reading to get some sleep :D

If she was good at anything, it was survival, and she refused to let anyone take that away from her.
-Francesca Flores, Diamond City

Characters & Romance:

Here is a brief overview of some of the characters and the romance(s). I really appreciated that the author created characters with real flaws, which made the people seem more real and relatable.

Aina is, of course, our main female assassin. She struggles with a lot of internal conflict due to her traumatic past, as well as some decisions that she currently she faces. When she was a child, her parents were murdered before her eyes, yet she herself regularly takes human lives. Will she go through with her current assignment? And what happens when that assignment goes horribly awry? Maybe Aina isn’t a perfect human being, but she undergoes a good character arc throughout the story.
Kohl Pavel is Aina’s boss, the Blood King. He finds her when she is a young orphan and gives her a place to stay if she agrees to become an assassin. He trains her well, but perhaps doesn’t have her best interests at heart.
Teo is Aina’s good friend. He, too, is an assassin. But unlike Aina, he is his own boss and chooses which marks to take out. He only kills in order to make a living for his sickly mother. He is willing to do almost anything for Aina, and his loyalty is so endearing!
Ryuu is a rich Steel and the brother of Aina’s most important assignment. Aina’s path becomes tangled with his in a way she doesn’t expect. I’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers.
One other thing to mention is Aina’s potential romance(s). Aina’s relationships get COMPLICATED. Aina has at least three – and maybe a fourth – potential love-interests, which is kind of a lot. I usually prefer when there is only one or two love-interests to keep track of. It seems like she sort of feels attracted to all of them, but isn’t really sure. Aina doesn’t choose at the end of this book, but maybe she will choose in the sequel.

‘You still have a chance to do good in the world, Aina. You’re not a lost cause.’
-Francesca Flores, Diamond City

Final Thoughts:

A few scenes here and there may feel slightly rushed due to the action-driven writing style, but I really enjoyed the action. It kept me at the edge of my seat! Sometimes, I didn’t feel the emotional connections between characters as much as I wanted to. But overall, I’m rating this book highly for how entertaining it is! Happy reading :)

*Content warnings: Intentional self-harm (blood magic + glue/drug addiction); LOTS of action violence, blood, gore, knife and gun fights, etc.*

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Spoiler-Free Review

The premise hooked me straight away. Aina's story of being an orphan on the streets, forced to do anything to survive, fostered by the head of a gang who had ulterior motives. The Blade, Aina was an assassin, doing the gang's wet work for hire, fearing what would happen if she didn't do it, while also so desperately needing the validation, needing to make him proud.

On the side, Aina was the go-between in diamond smuggling, between its point of origin and the fence where it was fashioned into something else at the jeweler. In the world building, I was slightly shocked over how many diamonds go missing on a daily basis for a teenage girl to be in on the game.

The setting is during an industrial revolution, in an area where there is a diamond mine, the industry similar to the turn of the twentieth century. However, I couldn't place the time nor the location, especially with the paranormal magical elements added in. The setting and world building were fascinating to me, steampunk meets illegal magic/religion, but how it was presented wasn't to my taste.

There was excitement, action-packed scenes of pure violence, spying and slinking around, and many bodies on the floor, so many bodies I was confused as to how the city wasn't losing its population with how Aina wasn't the only assassin running around. In such a short span of time, we're talking hundreds of people dying and left to lie where they fell, by gangs worth of assassins.

As for the emotions, loyal friendships were important to Aina, but it was her need for validation from the man who groomed her that hit the hardest.

Aina was a solid heroine. Loyal, willing to do anything to survive, but also fiercely protective of those who she called friend. I'm all for not having a guilt-stricken heroine who hems and haws over what needs to be done, but I find it hard to believe that on several occasions Aina murders most of the guards and staff in the same house... like how did they get replacements so quickly? An entire household emptied of occupants. Twice? Thrice? By the end of the book, Aina had single-handedly executed an upwards of a hundred souls.

For someone obsessed with how her parents died and left her an orphan, Aina has no issue of creating dozens upon dozens of innocent orphans, if their parents merely get in her way. Like charging in the front door, slitting the necks of innocent maids and guards, who no doubt had children at home. All those new orphans have more of a reason to loathe Aina than Aina had to loathe the government for executing her parents, who were practicing acts that were widely known to hold a death sentence. Aina's parents were criminals (no matter if the law was ridiculous or not) but these random innocent maids and such did no one any harm.

An assassin by trade should be able to sneak around and only inflict death upon the ones they were hired to kill. It would be bad for business to take out entire households, several times over.

As I said, I don't want a guilt-stricken heroine, but I find it hard to swallow that she's killing so indiscriminately, as if all those people are worthless, meaningless, because she needs some coin for a "single" target. People who are also from the lower classes, who are just working to eat. Was she really good at her job if she takes out so many innocents while doing it? It's like using a nuke instead of a flyswatter for a single fly.

Where I struggled the most with the novel was the writing style. There was just something about the way the perspective was written that kept me from being able to fall into the story. My interest waned during monologues from the past, where dialogue and action from the past weren't italicized to show that it wasn't happening in the present time, the lack of transition confusing me and tearing me from the story itself. The flashbacks weren't denoted, and there were many flashbacks to be had, filled with info-dumps and meandering inner monologues that slowed the pacing.

As an avid reader, especially of all the elements within Diamond City, I struggled to read, taking me well over a week what should have taken an afternoon. I was curious to what the outcome would be, but the writing style, the way the perspective was written, and the execution made it difficult for me to be entertained.

Curious to see where this goes, I'm willing to give the next another try. If not, I'll have to pass on the author, due to the writing style not being my cup of tea.

Young Adult age rating: 14+ due to on-scene graphic violence.

Aina works for Kohl, doing his bidding for a portion of the money he collects while she saves to open her own operation. Aina is a ruthless character because she kills people for the bounty on their head. The main problem I had with this story is that you never hear from the main bad guy, the person Kohl is working for. Aina is great at what she does. She has several friends that have her back and help protect her along the way. One of her hits, what she thinks to be her last, goes horribly wrong and now she needs to fix the problem while she has a bounty on her head. Fast paced, unfortunately the world building was lacking for me to get pulled in. Not sure I'd continue with book two.

DNF and I really wanted to maybe its the timing and I'm not in the mood to process a whole new world building like the one in this story. So much is going on at once I couldn't grasp what was valuable information or not. I enjoyed the action pack and bloodiness of it all. I just couldn't get passed the lack of magic and why there is lack of magic and how they pertained to the mothers or government. Maybe at a later time I will give this book a third try because I'm slightly still intrigued I know sometime sequels are better than the first.

Action Packed from page one!
I enjoyed the world building. It was like The Professional meets West Side Story. There is definitely room for improvement. The timeline transitions could have been a bit better defined with breaks or something. The romantic shadows were a bit frustrating. There were a few elements that were a bit over done in my opinion. But it was a good story and I am looking forward to book two.

As the first book in a new series, Francesca Flores has taken the time to build a city, Diamond City, and paint it in black and white for us to "see". She has populated the city with several differing communities, including the main community of assassins. The main character is a young woman who was "saved" when she joined the assassins' group. As she grows and matures, we learn more of the back story and in turn, can see where this flawed community is destined to help save the world. It will be interesting to see where the next book takes our heroine.

I enjoy the female assassin story. The story takes her through many struggles which is sparked by a botched assassination. She also struggles with her feelings about her mentor when he abandons her. She continually holds onto her feelings for him even though she learns increasingly bad information about him. I had trouble with that. Otherwise the mystery and intrigue kept my attention. A good setup for the series.

3.5 stars

You can read all of my reviews at https://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.com.

This was an entertaining first book in a new YA fantasy series.

Aina Solís was an orphan living on the street when a brutal crime lord takes her in and trains her to be an assassin in a city built by magic and ruled by tyrants. As she climbs the ranks in the organization she dreams of striking out on her own and starting her own assassin club. Her boss gives her an impossible task - kill one of the most protected citizens in the city. If she completes the job, she will be given a huge payday and be free to open her own club with her bosses blessing.

Aina is laser focused on the job, but complications arise that will change her life forever. I can't say more, otherwise it will spoil the story. I liked Aina and the other characters in the book. She was tough and kicked ass, but was still capable of having feelings for people and a sense of morality. The story was interesting and fast paced. There is an element of magic in the story and clearly there are more mysteries to uncover. I will definitely read more books in this series.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3.5/5 Stars

**I received an advanced copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I thought I would. I found, as I was reading, that the cons of the story largely outweighed the pros, which was disappointing because I felt that this book had plenty of potential.
For cons, I felt that the author was extremely repetitive and there were way too many flashbacks, most of which were way too long (some taking up almost entire chapters at a time). An occasional, relevant flashback is okay, but there was one of significant length almost every chapter and the chapters are pretty short. Both of these things also contributed to the large information dumps that would happen often as well. The book was just too wordy. The biggest issues I had though was the abusive relationship the main character, Aian, is in. It's not a romantic relationship, though sometimes I'm convinced she wants it to be (thank the gods that didn't happen!). But she is so dependent on this man...or so she thinks she is. She constantly has the same exact internal conversation with herself saying that "he made me who I am" and "I can't get any where without him" or "I wouldn't be anybody if it wasn't for him". None of them are true and it takes her the whole book to realize that. It was so frustrating to have to keep hearing those thoughts. Especially when she had a group of amazing people helping her and she planned on betraying one of them anyway. Girl needs to get her priorities in check and keep them that way.
Anyway, the pros: The characters were pretty well developed. They all grew as people (even Aina). She was a strong, but dependent woman when the book started and ended a strong independent woman, which I'm so happy about. The world building was also done very well. There's lots of history (repeated several times), but it's there.
Overall, would I read the book again? No, but I would read the next book because I am curious to see if Aina sticks with this new found independence.

I enjoyed this book immensely! Sadly, I couldn't really connect with the characters, which made it a bit of a struggle to get through.

3.5/5 stars

I had really high expectations for this book, and in some ways they were met. It was a fast-paced adventure story about a brutal assassin who does what she has to do to survive, taking on a job that's a little too big, a little too impossible, and sends the cards in her carefully constructed house tumbling.

On the other hand, there were some things I didn't love — it was almost too action-packed; my favorite moments were the strategizing moments, the ones where things slowed down and the characters became a little more introspective. Those were few and far between though, and this book was a mega adrenaline rush at all time otherwise.

In places it seemed like the characters' allegiances shifted quickly and with little reasoning or set-up.

All told, it was an enjoyable story about a super morally gray female character (which I appreciated), but it didn't quite live up to the expectations I'd built for it.

Amazing character development. When you thought you had figured out a character, there was a twist to prove you wrong. Definitely recommend to people who enjoy fantasy and adventure.

I found this book very interesting I enjoyed reading about a female assassin. I always enjoy a badass MC. The other characters also fairly well developed and complex it has a bit of romance weaved into the story but it feels a littel forced (to me) but I do rather like the slower burns they feel more natural for story progression.

This fantasy is pretty violent Aina becomes an assassin to survive and she does so with vivdly intense fight scenes but she does have dimension to her character and although she is a very good assassin she isn't unfeeling or cold blooded. She lives in a kill or be killed world navigating it with a dogged determination to survive. I enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next book in the series. I receved this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an honest review.

This seems to be the author's first book with it catching my eye. It intrigued me to read about a female assassin and why the job. You are given the why with the present unraveling before you. The other characters also catch your eye. Now Diamond city is another thing that will swallow you up. Follow Aina as she faces the biggest challenge with it pulling at us as she does. Romance is woven into it also with it making this even more of a nose to the page turner. If you love one with magic this is the stop then. Hope to catch this author again.

This fantasy is one bloody one. Aina becomes an assassin to survive, and she's really good at it. Her fights are movie-ready (I could totally picture myself watching this book as a movie), full of action and bloody.

I love magic stories and this one is really good. It also shows another perspective on blood magic: none of the main characters can do magic, but their lives are still tainted by it.

Book 2 will be AWESOME, I'm so sure of it, since book 1 ends with a lot of promises (not a spoiler).

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Diamond City was a suspenseful, action-packed read that explored themes of love, loyalty, and freedom. Aina may be an assassin, but she's not really a cold-blooded killer, just an ambitious and desperate survivor in a world where it's kill or be killed, sooner or later. Her character growth in recognizing the toxic ideas that kept her tethered her boss Kohl was satisfying to watch, as was the change in her goals to orient toward the bigger picture and the possibility of justice in a corrupt and oppressive society. I enjoyed the shifting and complex relationships between Aina and the supporting characters, especially Ryuu, who made an excellent foil to Aina, with his combination of privilege and idealism. The big reveal of the evil at the heart of the city was impactful because of how believable/realistic it is, with the real world parallels to consider. Though the beginning felt a bit slow and aimless in terms of the overarching stakes beyond singular missions, the latter half brought the crucial pieces of the story together nicely enough to compensate. I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel and seeing how Aina's quest for revenge and justice plays out.

I really tried with Diamond City. Magic, assassins, crime syndicate? Sounds great. Except, for me, it wasn't.

I'll start with Aina, the main character. I found her unlikeable. Not to mention lacking in the stealth and precision usually associated with a top notch assassin. I knew that I wouldn't be getting further in the book when she got injured and I didn't care.

My other problem with the book was the random and unexpected flashbacks. While I understand the purpose, to provide background and information, I felt they were often poorly timed. And the transition from the present day of the story to a flashback was jarring at times.

I finally had to call it quits. I just couldn't bring myself to go another further. I know some people loved this book. I just wasn't one of them.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me a free advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. Diamond City debuted January 28th.

I requested an ARC for Diamond City because I’m a Sarah J. Maas fan, and (flawed though it may be) I think the conflicted lady assassin trope is pretty fun. The first chapter or two of Diamond City started in an okay spot, but it unfortunately went swiftly downhill from there. Where Maas was able to make her main character assassin mostly work, Flores unfortunately flounders; the MC in this book often wonders things like, Would my parents be proud of me even though I kill people for a living? or Do you think this cute boy and I might have a romantic future even though I tried to kill his older brother?

As people funnier than me have said, the short answer to both these questions is no. The longer answer is noooooooooo.

I just can’t buy the main character. She’s a badass assassin, but she’s deathly afraid of spiders, opts for knives over guns, and spares key characters’ lives at multiple points in the book. It’s an issue I often see with these types of killer characters: they’re supposed to be oh-so-hardcore, but the author can’t let the characters be their brutal selves on the page because it will turn off readers.

But even beyond the characters, I couldn’t find much to recommend this book. The world-building is a confusing mishmash of heritages and cultures that were difficult to keep straight, all with a vague backdrop of an outlawed religion and magic system that places heavy importance on diamonds–diamonds which are traded at high price on the black market, but actually there are oodles of them around. (???) The language of the book, too, did not help matters; the fight scenes especially were wooden and very “this happened, then this, then this”–not good for a book about assassins where there’s bound to be a lot of fighting. There’s also not much of an artistic or lyrical quality to the prose, and I found myself predicting plot points at every turn, so… without compelling characters, beautiful language, a riveting plot, or engaging world-building, I really came up empty on this book. I do feel bad about the poor review for this debut author, but Diamond City is in need of significant revision and critique.

Aina is a great character that you cant wait to know more about. Her story felt so real and possibly relatable for teen readers. The fact that she wants to give up several times but keeps going after her goals. The world revolving on diamonds brings in so many different parts of culture and society, which is fantastic. Plus the cover is so eye catching!

This was a fast-paced fantasy with a morally-grey, badass MC that I quite enjoyed. It was refreshing to see a self=declared female assassin in a YA book that actually killed people and did bad things (ha). Aina, the MC, is driven to prove herself and become even more powerful than her boss, the Blood King. Only then will she be able to leave behind the homeless, addiction-battling child she used to be. When she takes on a job that promises just that, she is thrilled. All she has to do is kill one man: Kouta Hirai.

She enlists the help of her best friend, Teo, and together they form a plan. But when Aina is seen by Kouta's brother, Ryuu, she becomes the most wanted person in the city. Worse, it seems she wasn't successful in killing his brother after all, and now he's disappeared. When Ryuu attempts to buy Aina's loyalty to help him find his brother, she accepts, but ultimately intends to betray him. She *needs* to kill Kouta in order to get back in the Blood King's good books.

Like I said, I enjoy a driven female character, especially when the stakes are personal. She doesn't want to save the world in a grand gesture - she wants success purely for herself. Overall it was a pretty decent book, but I did have a few issues, the first being Ryuu's intention to hire Aina. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it. He literally watched her cut his beloved brother's throat, then catches her a second time when she comes back to try again, and decides he should offer her money to help him find the same man she's clearly desperate to kill? WHAT. Even if he believed money was a big enough factor that he could trust Aina not to double-cross him, why would he want to work with her? It happened so quickly, too: there's no getting to know her and *then* deciding to ask her to help him. No, he does it immediately. And if I were her, I wouldn't trust him for asking, tbh. Considering that's a central plot point in the book, I feel like like I ought to have been able to believe their motivations a little more.

I was also a little confused about who the love interest was in this book, if in fact there was one at all. Was there supposed to be? I don't know. It seemed like it was Ryuu, and then it seemed like it was Teo, and it kept kind of bouncing back and forth. Perhaps that was intentional, but I was a little lost as to what I, the reader, was supposed to be feeling. If that WAS intentional, say, to reflect the MC's own confusion, then well done. If it wasn't... uh. Well.

Next, the ending. There was a lot going on here, and I feel like the real Big Bad should have had a larger role to play in the rest of the story. I feel like it was supposed to be a real twist when it's finally revealed who was behind the murder plot, but like.... do we even care about this character? As such, the tension just wasn't really there for me, and everything happened so quickly after that, I didn't really have time to breathe and *care* enough. That may be ideal for people who like fast-paced action and really tight plotting, but I personally like things a little more spread out.

Anyway, despite the fact that I like to ramble on about the issues I had with books (lol), I still liked this overall. Just not enough that I'll be clamouring for the second.