A Girl with a Knife: Hearts and Sails Book 1 - Adventurous Historical Fiction

A Girl with a Knife: Hearts and Sails Book 1 - Adventurous Historical Fiction

by Alina Rubin

4.5 (1,407)

4.5 stars from 1,407 reviews. Top 86% of Literary Fiction books we track.


$2.99KU50% off peak

Last checked: May 1, 2026

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Perfect for you if...

  • You love historical fiction with a protagonist who schemes and lies her way into spaces she's not allowed to occupy.
  • You're drawn to stories about women breaking into male-dominated fields and the constant terror of being discovered.
  • You appreciate meticulously researched settings where the period details feel lived-in rather than decorative.

Maybe not for you if...

  • You prefer faster-paced plots where the central conflict resolves within the first half of the book.
  • You're looking for a straightforward romance where the love interest is developed as richly as the main character's ambitions.
  • You want a triumphant ending that wraps everything up neatly without moral ambiguity.

About this book

A Girl with a Knife follows Ella Parker, who loses her mother and suffers a cruel attack from her father before deciding that dishonesty serves her needs. She escapes her wealthy but lonely life and meets an eccentric ship surgeon who, impressed by her quick-thinking and empathy, allows her to assist during surgery. Compelled by Ella's intelligence and interest in medicine, the doctor prepares her for a medical career. However, in early 19th century England, women cannot attend universities. To pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, Ella disguises herself as a young man. Under her new identity, she performs dissections, conducts experiments, and cares for patients. She tutors a struggling fellow student named Oli but must remain isolated to avoid discovery. As Ella excels in her studies and saves a patient's life, she becomes a top contender for an apprenticeship with a renowned professor. Facing constant fear of exposure, she must choose between truth and lies, and determine who she can trust, before her disguise is revealed. This debut novel won the Illinois Soon To Be Famous Author Contest and was a finalist for the Goethe Award in Late Historical Fiction.

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Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

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Free$3.00$5.99Mar '22May '23Apr '24Feb '26
Free$5.99

Currently on sale at $2.99 — 50% off peak. Price has dropped 12 times over the last 4 years. Goes on sale roughly every 128 days. Typically stays discounted for 1 day.

Sales Rank

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#14#205,310#410,606Mar '22Jul '23Oct '24Apr '26

Currently around #169K in the Kindle store — a niche title. Sales have softened 81% recently.

Rating & Reviews

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3.5★4.3★5.0★May '23Jul '23Mar '24Feb '26RatingReviews

Currently 4.5★ from 1,407 reviews

Gaining approximately 31 new reviews per month. Steady word of mouth growth. Rating has remained stable at 4.5 over the tracking period.

Sale Prediction

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Free$3.00$5.99Mar '22May '23Apr '24Feb '26PredictedMay '26

Actual Predicted

This book is currently discounted at $2.99. It typically returns to around $5.99.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.

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Alina Rubin

1 book on Vagrant Press

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