An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason

Some YA books speak to a wider audience than teenagers and new adults; this isn't one of them. There is just too much adolescent wish fulfillment going on, requiring a suspension of disbelief that I couldn't quite summon. The heroine, Kit, a sheltered 17 year old girl from Cornwall, learns almost overnight how to navigate the rough streets of London disguised as a boy and manages to get herself hired as the lead in the debut production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She also singlehandedly convinces a group of adult conspirators to let her take the lead in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, despite the fact that she has no experience in subterfuge or fighting. Then she falls magically in love with the hero, Toby, who is the Queen's spy and also an amazing actor as well as the guy who helps Shakespeare correct the weaknesses in one of his best plays. Sorry, couldn't buy it, and the resolution was especially incredible (not in a good way). On the plus side, Boecker is a strong writer and I enjoyed the spirited (albeit anachronistic) dialogue between Kit and Toby. I'm sure if I were 17 I would have loved this book but unfortunately I'm about 40 years too late.