Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > The Assassin of Venice

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

I confess I’m obsessed with Veronica Franco, Lucrezia Borgia, and Giulia Tofana. All three of these women were incredible examples of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. The Assassin of Venice takes place roughly a couple of decades after Lurezia’s lifetime, during Veronica’s, but around a century before Giulia’s. Do I really just like Renaissance women and the idea of them making any combination of sex, intellect, power, and/or violence work in their favor? Why yes, yes I do. Am I under an assumption that all the stories are true? No, no I’m not. Let a girl dream.

Alyssa Palombo takes us readers back to the early half of 16th-century Venice, where Honest Courtesans ply their trade and the Council of Ten watch over the city-state to keep it free of any and all outside influence. Venice was a vitally important port city to Italy during the Renaissance and the military security of the country, the Adriatic Sea, and a chunk of the Mediterranean depended on the Italians due to the threat of the Ottoman Empire from the East. Italy was insular and paranoid, with good reason. Political intrigue and the trading of secrets was a national sport.

The plot of The Assassin of Venice is a good one, romantic and dramatic with an almost-cinematic feel to it. It would make a good movie. That doesn’t necessarily mean the book was executed in the same manner. While well-paced, I never once felt concerned for the characters in this story. I never once felt like any of them were in any real danger. I actually felt like they were being overdramatic more than once and not seeing the forest for the trees. There were also quite a few speech anachronisms in the protagonist’s inner narrative that made me wish the editor had done a bit more thorough job.

It’s a diverting read, if not too exciting or challenging. I think you’ll love it if you love your historical fictions heavier on the fiction side and a bit soapier without a lot of accurate worldbuilding or detail. If you’re looking for accuracy and high stakes, then I’d look for another story.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Historical Fiction/Historical Romance