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    Death Sworn
    Death Sworn
    Death Sworn
    Audiobook7 hours

    Death Sworn

    Written by Leah Cypess

    Narrated by Cris Dukehart

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When a young sorceress is exiled to teach magic to a clan of assassins, she will find that secrets can be even deadlier than swords. Teen Vogue proclaimed, ""It's impossible not to fall deep into the dark yet alluring world of sorcery and secret assassins."" A dangerous and eerie fantasy about murder, shocking discoveries, and fiery star-crossed romance that readers of Cinda Williams Chima and Robin LaFevers won't be able to put down.

    Ileni is losing her magic. And that means she's losing everything: her position as the rising star of her people, her purpose in life, and even the young man she loves. Sent to the assassins' cave hidden deep within the mountains, she expects no one will ever hear from her again. The last two sorcerers sent died within weeks of each other. Accidents? Or something more sinister? As Ileni navigates the dangers—both natural and human—of the caves, she'll discover secrets that have been kept for decades. And she'll find an ally in Sorin, the deadly young man who could be the assassins' next leader. With Sorin determined to protect her, sparks—magical and romantic—will fly. But will even he understand the choice she must make in the end?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 4, 2014
    ISBN9780062299826
    Author

    Leah Cypess

    Leah Cypess wrote her first short story—in which the narrator was an ice cream cone—at the age of six. She has degrees in biology, journalism, and law, and has traveled to Iceland, Israel, Jordan, and Costa Rica, among other places. She now lives with her family in Maryland. She is also the author of the acclaimed fantasy novels Death Marked, Mistwood, and Nightspell.

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    Reviews for Death Sworn

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    • 3/5
      Interesting new fantasy world, in which a young sorceress is condemned to a life underground, teaching a group of deadly assassins magic, and trying to stave off the loss of her powers as she attempts to solve a mystery.

      It's a little too histrionic for me, frankly, on the drama-and-romance front, but I appreciate the strong pair of protagonists and deft murder mystery.
    • 3/5
      Another impulse read, and well, it's left some very mixed feelings.

      On the one hand, the text is riveting. Ileni's struggles are very real; the danger she's steeped in, very poignant. Given a task that most see as amounting to a death sentence, she manages to blunder through, not generally elegantly or subtly, but with a panic and urgency that captivates.

      Plot wise, if you read the back cover, everything plays out as expected. Not many surprises there, maybe one or two.

      It's this latter point, but mostly the leaden feeling left by the end of the book that questions whether to brave the sequel. Touching on a messy area of preemptive war and the ethics of assassination and calculated sacrifice, Death Sworn really drives home the bleakness of destruction in the dynamic between Ileni and he who is her only friend, Sorin.

      Romantic fulfillment? Eh. Star-crossed lovers? Not really. Two individuals forced to sacrifice for their different paths? Perhaps a bit more like that.

      Essentially, it can be a quick, yet draining read, without much emotional benefit to be reaped for the effort.

      Understandably, it is a first of three books, so...things might perk up. Maybe.
    • 4/5
      A true fantasy story that was well paced and intriguing. Death Sworn has strong characters and an story that keeps the reader wondering right to the end. The tale ends with Ileni leaving for more adventures and one hopes there will be a sequel in the works.Ileni is just what a good fantasy novel needs: a strong female protagonist. She is likable, determined and just a bit mysterious. The fact that she is more experienced in the world than the assassin, Sorin, is a well balanced twist.I very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it! I hope Leah Cypess is planning on a sequel as I feel the story has just begun.
    • 5/5
      4.5 stars. The worldbuilding is very very limited (but the end promises more to come) and the romance moved a bit too fast, but oh this had most everything I love in YA high fantasy and I loved Ileni a lot.
    • 3/5
      Ileni was at the top of her game when she had all her power as a sorceress. Unfortunately, her power is fading and with it her place in society, her family, her future, and the man she thought loved her no matter what. Now, to get rid of her, she’s been sent to be the teacher to assassins in a distant cave where the prior two who were sent died. One had only been there 2 months. She’s tasked with finding out how they died and who killed them, before her powers fade completely into oblivion. While there, she meets and eventually befriends a few of these assassins, but it’s hard to know where she stands. She has her beliefs and the way she was raised in exact opposition to what these people believe. As she works to uncover the truth, she becomes even more tangled in the masters web.

      I liked the cover and the mystery of the world it created in my mind. I had so many questions just from seeing it. Then, I read what it was about and was excited since it’s about assassins and it’s fantasy genre. The storyline is compelling and the world is intriguing. The downside is that the entire book minus 2 chapters is set in that cave the assassins live in. With one place as a setting, it means that the plot and character depth has to take on a lot to keep the reader intrigued. Overall, the world building was nonexistent. You were told about a world and got to be described the cave.

      The characters could use some work too. I am told that Ileni’s powers are dwindling and I can understand her frustration, but it’s as if she’s not even questioning why or trying to fight for her old life. I wasn’t very intrigued by her since she’d given up and basically expected to die from the first moment I met her. However, her wit and banter because she expects to die gives her character an edge that makes me like her. Then, there’s Sorin who is supposed to be mysterious, but he’s just as blindly following orders as the other tools. He’s complex enough to draw me in, but naïve enough to make me draw away. I don’t want a naïve assassin, doesn’t mix well for me.

      There are some moral questions that readers can take away from reading this book. However, some twists and turns were highly predictable. It is also short for a fantasy book. This means that many objects of the book are told to you instead of explained for you to imagine them yourself. The ending felt rushed and I feel that it almost was a break in character. I am intrigued enough to give the second book a go, and I hope it gets better.
    • 3/5
      Ileni has been exiles from her people and forced to travel to the mountains where she will become the teacher of sorcery to a group of assassins. The last two teachers died suddenly and mysteriously while working with the assassins and everything points to them being murdered. She is determined to find out why they died. The one thing that no one except Ileni knows is that her own magic is very limited. Something has drained her of her power, and as each day passes, she can do less and less magic. Her magic is the only thing protecting her from the group she has to tutor and she cannot let them know that she is almost powerless.
    • 4/5
      Death Sworn is a quick, entertaining read with a tight plot and intriguing world, even if we only get to explore a small piece of it. I wasn’t enamored with the love interest; Sorin’s character fell flat for me. But I absolutely adored the main character, Ileni. She’s smart, bold, brave, confident, and sharp-tongued, despite her fear and grief. Her feelings for Sorin aren’t simple or immediate or definite. It’s so refreshing to read about a heroine who can have feelings for a guy without being completely lovestruck. I really, really liked her. Overall, Death Sworn is a so-so entry in the crowded young adult fantasy genre - enjoyable, but not spectacular. For me, though, Ileni’s character made it worth the read, and I loved the ending. I’ll probably read the second book, just to see how her story concludes.
    • 4/5
      I've been a fan of Leah Cypess's writing since her 2009 release Mistwood, and picked up Death Sworn expecting interesting world building, intrigue, a subtle romance, and a hint of magic. On most of these points, Death Sworn did not disappoint. We follow Ileni, a sorceress who has had her life torn away from her with the loss of her magic. Resigning herself to banishment and certain death in the assassin's caves, she wavers between fatalistically accepting her fate and struggling to survive another day. Surrounded by enemies, her main companion is Sorin, the handsome assassin assigned by his master to protect her while she performs her duties. Sorin views the Assasin's Caves as his salvation from a life on the streets and is devoted to the master of assassins and his cause: the destruction of an evil empire. It's not surprising they have romantic chemistry. I felt this relationship was pretty well done. Sorin does not get out much and lives in a cave: his primary contact with the outside world involved killing his assigned target. Ileni is literally the first woman he's been around in a while. Ileni is in constant fear from the threatening people all around her, with the handsome Sorin the only one who's invested in keeping her alive. They have belligerent sexual tension from the start. The interesting part is the clash of their very different world views: Ileni's pacifism versus Sorin's belief the ends justify the means. As far as world building, Cypess avoids the pitfall of excessive exposition dump by filling in the backstory of the world in bits and pieces : Ileni reflects on the life she lost among the magical Renegai and Sorin mentions the empire as the source of their targets. This and the fact that the book is set entirely in the Assasin's Caves prevents a more extensive view of this original world and left me wanting more. The plot, while starting strong with an endangered Ileni with a murder mystery, drags towards the middle as she abandons the case to focus on hiding the rapid disappearance of her powers from the assassins surrounding her. She also checks in to her own personal pity party a couple times. This, while understandable, slows the narrative down and feels repetitive. As far as intrigue, the ending threw a curveball that was counter to my expectations and did a lot to redeem the slowness of the middle of the book. Ileni's character develops to a point where she finally takes action, Sorin's loyalties are tested, and the next book is set up nicely, with opportunities to further explore this particular fantasy world. I'm looking forward to it.
    • 5/5
      Fantasy fans prepare to have your hunger sated. Death Sworn managed to hit all the high notes for me without nary a fumble!

      Magic and Sorcerers and Assassins, Oh my!
      In this world people are born with magic, almost as if it's a byproduct created within themselves, filling them up and just begging to be used. But in most this is something that's not permanent and completely disappears once they are past puberty. Those individuals that pass tests determining their magic to be permanent are taken from their families and placed into an isolated school environment to prepare them for life as sorcerers. Indeed it seems society in this world is split into varying different classes. The two focused on in Death Sworn are the assassins and sorcerers. Though they all live in the same country, ruled by the same tyrannical Empire, they couldn't be a more different sect of people. One favoring non violence and the other, well obviously are deathly violent.

      A fantasy world I can't get enough of!
      From the opening pages I was completely immersed in this world. Gobbling up each new tidbit about the different classes, the supposed evil empire, and the magic as well as the assassin's culture, I finished this little gem in one sitting. While plenty was revealed to get me hooked you have to keep in mind the entire book pretty much takes place in underground caves where the assassins live and train. Due to this we readers don't see much of the world other than what is described by the characters. The heroine, Ileni, is sent there to be a magic tutor for the assassins and this sets up the perfect opportunity for readers to learn things both through her students and from the things Ileni herself discovers about the assassins. Above all the driving plot points were Ileni's failing magic and discovering who it was that murdered the two previous tutors she had been sent to replace.

      Tension to walk a tightrope on!
      When you are in a situation where you can trust no one, and at any moment there might be an attempt on your life, you can bet your sweet cheeks you'd be as paranoid as our young heroine Ileni. Essentially cast out from the only life she has known, because it was discovered her magic was failing and would leave her forever she has become expendable. What better use to put her to then to send her to teach assassins in magic that her people really don't want them to know a thorough use of anyway? She at times despairs over the loss of her magic but never lets that completely rule her. She has a mission to complete whether she is expected to actually accomplish it or not she is determined to do all that she can, even if it costs her life. She was definitely a heroine I could totally get behind. Indeed I loved her characters. She was a stubborn, strong willed survivor.

      You look deadly enough to eat!
      Of course women love dangerous men, and Sorin is nothing if not that. I dare say I think danger must be synonymous with sexual charisma. Now that isn't what you'll get with Sorin. Am I disappointing you? He isn't all charisma, quite the opposite in fact. He's cold, he's aloof, yet frequently close at all times, and embodies such graceful violence yet would as soon slit your throat rather than kiss you. Doesn't that just make him all the more yummy sounding? To a teenage girl I'm sure that would. So you're thinking now, 'oh another bad boy' right? Wrong - for his people he is good, one of the best students they have. Obedient and loyal to his Master to a fault. But to Ileni, he is a wicked incarnation of all the things her people consider abhor. An exquisite recipe for tormented and forbidden love if I do say so myself.

      With Magic, Mystery, oodles of death and violence, not to mention a healthy dose of tormented romance, Death Sworn has me counting the months until I can get my eyes on the next book!
    • 3/5
      After reading this book, I just had to look inside myself and wonder if I’m suffering from YA burnout. But now I’ve gone and painted a negative mood over this review, and that wasn’t really my intention at all. It’s just that Death Sworn was in fact a pretty good book – I liked it, I did -- but I don’t doubt for a second I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t already gone through so many young adult novels that displayed similar themes since the beginning of this year.I actually quite liked the premise behind this one. A young sorceress whose powers are waning. A secret society of assassins. When Ileni is tasked by the Elders to tutor a group of killers in the ways of magic, what else could she do? She must do her duty and travel to the caves where the assassins make their home base, and while she’s there she might as well try and figure out what had caused the mysterious deaths of her last two predecessors.But I suppose once you start getting a lot of the same, even the most minor of flaws become more apparent. Right away I noticed a distinct paucity of world-building, though in the author’s defense, this entire story pretty much takes place in a system of caves. While I found the lives and the culture of the assassins fascinating, there was very little context for their place in the world; for all intents and purposes their society and Ileni existed in this bubble far removed from everything else. There’s talk of outside conflict with the empire and their tyranny, but those struggles may as well have been in another universe. Leah Cypess succeeded in getting my attention – but I wanted to know more! This book was relatively short, so I can’t imagine length restrictions had anything to do with it.I also liked the main protagonist well enough, but I wasn’t fully convinced she was someone I could root for. Ileni is the latest to join the swelling ranks of YA heroines that I think really should know better; taking unnecessary risks and falling in love with strange, standoffish boys seem to be a popular trend these days. The romance in particular didn’t sit well with me at all. My frustration with it didn’t originate so much from the insta-love between Ileni and the assassin Sorin, but more with the way it was written.The thing is, insta-love by itself doesn’t always have to be a negative. Sometimes an author can inject so much passion and chemistry into a relationship, it doesn’t matter if the spark ignites and flares over ten years or ten seconds – it just works. However, with Ileni and Sorin I didn’t feel any of that. Their personalities and values were at complete odds to begin with, and in this I think Cypess did her job too well; you could immediately tell (yet understand) why their interactions with each other would be awkward and strained. Then all of a sudden, they were together. It was like one moment, Ileni was still struggling with her inability to make Sorin understand her moral objections to his work and lifestyle, the next she was reminiscing about the night they spent together. I had to go back and make sure this really happened. Not only did the timing feel way off, I also couldn’t believe I was robbed of the sweet, delicious build up to the moment.But make no mistake, there was plenty to like as well. Death Sworn is in part a mystery, following Ileni on her journey to find out what happened to the two tutors who came to the assassins’ caves before her, and the reasons for their demise. You’ll also be led to wonder what her flagging powers have to do with all this, and the answers might shock you as they genuinely shocked me. I was impressed and totally blindsided by the twist in the story; it was impactful and very well done.I’m still undecided as to whether or not I will continue the series. I probably sounded harsher than I meant to be, as this was a good book and a promising start. But I made it a goal and a reading challenge to read more YA this year, but the more I read, the higher the bar is set, and my tastes have no doubt gotten a lot more finicky as compared to the start of 2014.
    • 5/5
      With everything taken from her, Ileni steps toward her death. After spending most of her 17 years obtaining the training necessary of a Renegai sorceress, she enters the Assassins’ Caves an expendable failure, spurred by the distance she put “between herself and all the people who thought she was worthless”. She was sent there by the Elders and sworn to discover why two of their own had died within the past half year.. Ileni was also charged with tutoring the young assassins in magic and uncovering the truth of her predecessors all while trying to stay alive and not revealing her own powerful secret.Along the way, she discovers truths she hadn’t even admitted to herself, finds an unlikely ally, reveals long-kept secrets more fearsome than her own, and learns that the first step toward truth is the hardest.Character I’d most like to have coffee with: The Master, while he is ruthless and coldhearted, his ability to sort through, process, and act on information is legendary... and he always has a reason, even if at the moment it makes sense only to him.I received a copy of the ARC from the author as part of a blog tour. All thoughts are my own.
    • 4/5
      I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. Thanks to Greenwillow and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book. This is going to be a duology; the second book is as yet untitled. This was a decent fantasy read, I enjoyed it. Ileni is sent by the sorcerer group she lives with, the Renegai, to teach a bunch of assassins who live underground magic. Ileni has a secret, her magic is fading and the Renegai sent her down to teach the assassins as more of a sacrifice than anything. The last couple sorcerers sent to the assassins as teachers have mysteriously died in accidents. Ileni also has a secret mission, to find out who murdered those previous teachers.Ileni’s assigned protector is an assassin named Sorin. Sorin is loyal to the leader of the assassin's guild who is known only as The Master. However, Sorin does occasionally question the Master's motives. What neither Sorin of Ileni realize is that they are playing roles in a much larger game. Sorin and Ileni do have a romance of sorts, the romance between them is subtle and develops slowly. Ileni is one of the smarter heroines I have read about, she generally makes good choices...she is determined to do what is right and daring when necessary. I enjoyed reading about her. I enjoyed the realism behind some of her decisions.Sorin is a killing machine, but still somewhat conflicted about his duties. He's a complex character that was interesting to read about and I hope we learn more about him and his background in future books in this series. Both Sorin and Ileni are engaging and likable, so they are generally fun to read about.Almost the whole book takes place underground in the Assassin's caverns. The assassin's are trained never to question anything and are strictly disciplined. As a result the characters are fairly isolated from outside events for the majority of the book, this changes a bit towards the end of the book.I would have liked a better explanation of how magic works, it is never really explained why Ileni's magic is fading or why some people have magic and others don't.I also thought the story was a bit isolated and at times this made things a bit boring. We get glimpses of the world outside the assassin’s cave but are never really introduced to it well. There were a few parts of the story that I thought lagged a bit because of this...it also makes the world building come off as a bit weak.Overall this was a good fantasy read. There is lots of intrigue, mystery, magic, some action, and a subtle romance. I wish we had learned a bit more about magic and the world outside the assassin's caverns. Hopefully future books in this series will explain that. Recommended to those who like young adult fantasy.
    • 5/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Death Sworn is an unforgettable, engaging novel with a dark tone and an eerie quality about its setting. This is a smooth blend of mystery, romance, and magic that makes for a story that will blow your mind.Opening Sentence: The first step should have been the hardest.The Review:Ileni is a sorceress who had once been extremely powerful, but her magic is fading rapidly. The Elders gave her an assignment, one that she will fit because she is “expendable”, and that is to train the many secluded assassins that live in a formation of caves. The assassins and the sorcerers have an agreement, after all, and that is that in exchange for the assassins leaving them in peace, the sorcerers will send one of their own to be a mentor to those with magical talent. It’s a dangerous job… not only will Ileni be living in a cave full of assassins that are obsessed with following their master’s will, but the last two teachers that came were murdered for unknown reasons. Ileni also has the burden of discovering who, and why, this happened. Let’s not forget her handsome, seemingly uncaring protector against this unknown predator, Sorin, either!Right off the bat, I could not tear my eyes away from the pages. There are multiple plots in this book: the evil rulers of the kingdom, the assassin’s killer, how Ileni’s powers are fading, Sorin and Ileni’s relationship, and more.I want to tell you guys about the Master. This “Master” rules over the assassins, and his word is law, with no hesitation. In one scene Ileni witnesses, the Master demonstrates his power over them by ordering a young boy to kill himself — unblinkingly, eager to show his devotion, this is followed out. Constantly, it is argued whether he is considered evil, because every order is set to help little by little his master plan to end the empire, and yet some of the things he does are so horrible. Personally, I loved this character! He has just the right amount of goodness, slightly unbalanced by his cruel ideas and playing of his followers like pawns on a chessboard. When you are reading scenes with the Master you want to shiver.The romance between Ileni and Sorin moved very slowly, in subtle touches and quick glances. It never gets boring, though. Sorin’s lack of emotion most of the time makes him showing any emotion a very strong statement. Even though it wasn’t exactly your normal love story, I was still very fond of the pairing of these two characters.There is always a very morbid and sinister feel about this novel as you read it. The dark tone is set very nicely, adding some creepiness to anything and everything. Even the scenes with fun and laughter had an undertone of this scary feeling. The only time I really felt content and peaceful was when I closed the book, but that isn’t a bad thing, because Death Sworn caused my emotions to unravel and swirl.I did have one problem, though. I wish that I had seen more of this “empire” that is considered so horrible and evil, although we did get hints that book number two would give that to us, which makes me even more excited about the sequel. Sadly, I have to wait awhile for that. The setting the whole story through was in the caves (which were very vast, I’ll give you that).I absolutely loved Death Sworn. I can’t rave enough about how fast I read this, or how unique the writing style was. The beginning hooks you in, the middle never gets boring, and the end is explosive and exciting. Definitely add this to your to read list on Goodreads, you will not regret it! Thank you for this masterpiece, Leah Cypress!Notable Scene:That was why he had gone after Bazel. To give her a chance to escape.The door to her prison had been wide open, and she had turned away.Ileni felt her lips twist as she gave him the truth, knowing he wouldn’t believe it. “I was sent here for a reason. I won’t leave until I find out who killed Absalm and Cadrel.”Something passed swiftly over his face, something that wasn’t disbelief, before it went blank again. “Or until you become the next victim?”She turned away from him. “Or that.”FTC Advisory: Greenwillow Books/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Death Sworn. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.