This book was everything I hoped it would it be.
I was hooked quickly and completely unwilling to put this down. I devoured this book in just one sitting. I have no regrets and can’t wait to read more by this author.

A fantastic, action packed book that feels fresh in every way. It's hard to summarize my feelings about this blood-stained story nevertheless about the dangers of violence, which reinvents the current YA obsession with 'dangerous teen girl' into an honest discussion on just how bad that is. Actual mental health thoughts still mix with nonstop action and spy-like thrills, leaving the reader unsure just how dark this unassuming book will go. Fantastic.

The Butterfly Assassin is EVERYTHING you want in a book. Killers, flawed characters you love, characters you hate and it’s fast-paced has a very original plot that keeps you hooked and draws you in from the very first page. We read the entire thing in one sitting…. It’s a must read. LOVED it!

“No mercy, no hesitation, no witnesses.”

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 include child abuse (emotional, medical, neglect, physical, verbal), foster care and mental health. Readers with emetophobia may have trouble with some scenes.

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

Full of twists and turns, a wonderfully crafted debut by Finn Longman that kept the pages turning faster than I could read.

This is an exciting and engaging read. It had a lot of intriguing things going on. Unfortunately I am not in the right head space for it. Will probably come back to it

Unfortunately a DNF for me. Just could not get into the story sadly. I'm quite a demanding reader and need to be hooked from the get go

What a fantastic start to a new series! One of the most intriguing and original YA thrillers I've read in the recent past. There have been many versions of the teenage assassin character, but Finn Longman has done something different with it. I saw one of the twists coming early on, but there were others that defied the usual tropes and formulas. I'm waiting with bated breath for the next one.

While I take away half a star becase Isabel's tendency to blame herself for everything became annoying after the first few dozen times, I will put it straight back in for casual, no-nonsense diversity in the book.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

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 finsihed 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 teenagers and adults everywhere, especially those who have their own experiences of pain and illness. I also 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.


Congratulations, Finn Longman, on an incredible debut novel.

This is such a fast paced book it’s incredible! It had me hooked right from the start, the story is amazing the characters are great and relatable, there’s so much action and adrenaline throughout this book it’s next level. I couldn’t put it down from the very first page and that’s everything I look for in a book. I can’t wait to read the next!

I dont think this book was for me. I thought the premise sounded interesting but I just couldnt get into it. Not saying its a bad book just dont think it was meant for me.

Gripping from start to finish. The Butterfly Assassin follows Isabel Ryans, an ex-child assassin on the run from the Guild that raised her, but no one can run forever and her past is quickly catching up.

The Butterfly Assassin was a thrilling ride. I found the use of Esperanto fascinating and endlessly cool. Isabel too was a great protagonist to follow, full of drive and vulnerability.

Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin’s attempt to live a normal life. There is SO MUCH happening here!… gripping and full of suspense and twists. And that ending is shocking. I never saw those reveals coming…

The Butterfly Assassin is one of those books that I will be throwing at everyone I know. This is a unique, memorable and brilliantly complex book that shatters every expectation.

Longman’s world-building was exquisite, with a detailed hierarchy of Guilds, spies and assassins. It felt so fleshed out and immersive, allowing me to sit back and be pulled into this layered world. The plotting was also spot-on, with a constant increase of tension and suspense. Longman throws in some emotionally devastating plot twists and really does not pull their punches. They do not hold make on making you fall in love with these characters, only to throw you for a spin in the next breath. That emotional core and focus provides the shining star of the book for me in the exploration of guilt, trauma and abuse. Longman really goes in deep here with a thoughtful, nuanced and empathetic portrayal. You can feel how much heart and soul has gone into this, as it always feels delicately and carefully presented. The real horror and impact it has on Isabel is unrelenting and truthful.

Isabel was the absolute highlight of the book for me. Longman’s portrayal of an ace, disabled woman was something that really struck a chord with me. The disability representation rang so true in the way Isabel deals with pain. She was such a complex protagonist, messed up in so many ways and a killer to boot. That being said, I loved her anyway. Her fractured, flawed viewpoint was fascinating and your heart aches for the child that was warped and broken time after time after time. Longman’s character development was exquisite. This was accentuated by the ticking clock and impending sense of doom that hovers over the entire book. Combined with the emotional investment you have in Isabel’s attempts to forge a new life for herself, you have an extremely fast-paced, inventive and emotionally intuitive book.

The Butterfly Assassin stunned me with its compassionate, brutally honest and dark heart, though there are glimpses of hope woven into this bleak tale. This is going to be a book that everyone talks about.

The Butterfly Assassin by Finn Longman is an upcoming super compelling YA thriller that follows Isabel, a teenage ex-assassin, who escapes the Guild she was raised in and her corrupt parents, only to find that her escape wasn't as easy as she hoped. Trained & traumatised by a secret juvenile assassin programme, Isabel runs away in search of normal, but old habits die hard and soon her new identity is blown, drawing the attention of two guilds.⁠

One aspect that really spoke to me was Isabel's experience with pain - the trauma of former injuries and a new illness, how she copes or doesn't cope. The way that you learn to keep going and fight through despite your body screeching at you. And so it's really quite a pacifist novel with a strong core of disability at its heart, while also taking the reader on an exciting ride through Isabel's desperate attempts to have a new life of her own.⁠

It was such a pain to rip myself away from this book as I just needed to know how it was going to end. Certainly very entertaining although I was dissatisfied with a few of the events and how certain things unfolded. A bit too much injustice, some things felt a little rushed and too easy and occasionally the main character got a little repetitive but I did really enjoy reading it and I’m excited to see more from this author and where the story with Isobel is headed.

Overall a really really good book

The Butterfly Assassin an intense thriller about a teenage assassin trying to leave her past behind her and live something of a normal life. With subtle world building and a lead character that I almost accidentally started to like, it was a hell of a read.

Darker than I expected based on the cover (which doesn't really fit the vibe at all!) the book did have some parts that felt a bit out of place or seemed a bit inconsistent. Otherwise it was a great story!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fire! But the good kind. A whirlwind of suspense, tension and assassin drama. I was on tenterhooks for the entire time and with the main storyline, it made for a very intense follow along and wow, I did not foresee what the plot of this book would be like but I loved it.

It was not what I was expecting but this was even better than the idea I had in my head of what this was going to be like. It by far surpassed my expectations and was so much more than I thought it would be.

It was dark, had a real ‘against the clock’ impending doom feel to it which had you on the edge of your seat, tearing through the pages to see what would happen. Once I’d gotten to grips with the gangs and the rivalries and the set up to the story, it was easy to follow and such a thrilling read.

It was such a pain to rip myself away from this book as I just needed to know how it was going to end. Certainly very entertaining although I was dissatisfied with a few of the events and how certain things unfolded. A bit too much injustice, some things felt a little rushed and too easy and occasionally the main character got a little repetitive but I did really enjoy reading it and I’m excited to see more from this author and where the story with Isobel is headed.

Thank you to the publishers for early access to this book.
This is a YA book for teenager readers. I found it an ok book, about friendship, obligation and doing what you must. If you can suspend your disbelief about teenage assassins then you may enjoy this book.