Published: June 18, 2013
Pages: 330
Source: For Review from Strange Chemistry/NetGalley
Rating: 3.5 Stars
After setting out to break the curse that binds them together, the pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves stranded on an enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword and their wits. But Naji has unseen enemies, and Ananna must face the wrath of the Pirate Confederation.
Together, they must travel afar, defeat their foes and break the mother of all curses. With all this going on, falling in love would be such a bad idea... All of this and much, much more await, in the swashbuckling sequel to The Assassin's Curse.
Together, they must travel afar, defeat their foes and break the mother of all curses. With all this going on, falling in love would be such a bad idea... All of this and much, much more await, in the swashbuckling sequel to The Assassin's Curse.
In short: While The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke wasn't quite as engaging as The Assassin's Curse, it's still a worthwhile story with charming characters.
In The Assassin's Curse, I was OBSESSED with Ananna and Naji's burgeoning romance. It was just oh-so-swoony, but also entirely frustrating in a good, addicting way. But I found that the spark had faded in The Pirate's Wish and that their frustrating-but-fun romantic tension had become more frustrating and annoying. There was just a ridiculous amount of tired romantic drama that seemed so silly and unnecessary to me. The romantic tension and drama in The Assassin's Curse was delicious; the romantic drama in The Pirate's Wish was overwrought.
The conclusion to the story was definitely anti-climactic, as well. Things seemed to have been set up so well at the end of The Assassin's Curse to make way for a truly exciting and epic sequel. But what we got in The Pirate's Wish was a meandering plot and way too easy answers. My expectations of finales is that they should go out with a bang, but the conclusion of The Pirate's Wish was resolved way too easily. And not only was it too easy, but the final resolution was just plain absurd to me, and completely illogical to my left-brained mind.
Okay, okay, I should talk about all the good stuff now, lest anyone think I disliked The Pirate's Wish. I did enjoy it on the whole, after all. It's hard not to enjoy Cassandra Rose Clarke's incredibly easy-to-read writing style and lovable characters. I still love head-strong and sometimes vulnerable Ananna. And of course I loved the manticore - who really ought to get her own story, I think. There were also some pretty noteworthy pirate ship battle scenes that were amazingly well done and exciting. Overall, The Pirate's Wish wasn't as good as its predecessor due to the overwrought romantic drama and the anti-climactic conclusion, but it was still a fairly worthwhile story helped along by Cassandra Rose Clarke's charming characters.
Previously, my review of The Assassin's Curse.
Other Reviews:
The Daily Prophecy
My Precious
Small Review
Author Links:
Website
Goodreads
Hmm, I wasn't too crazy about The Assassin's Curse to begin with and since you thought the sequel wasn't as good, I'll probably be skipping this one, Aylee. I'm not a fan of ridiculous endings or romances where there's lots of drama just for the sake of creating some tension. Thanks for the review though!
ReplyDeleteAw, sorry to hear that the ending was anticlimatic :(
ReplyDeleteAw, it's sad that this one isn't as good as the previous one and your expectations were not met. Nonetheless, this was an amazing review, girl!
ReplyDeleteSarika @ The Readdicts
Eugh that's such a let down! I agree conclusions should definitely be one of the highlights of series, I mean endings are so important, and if your last impression is anti-climatic... Great review, really appreciated your reasoning :)
ReplyDeleteI still need to read the first book in this series. I'd like to.
ReplyDeleteHOw's your move going?
It's going okay, thanks for asking. Well, the original lease that I signed was for August 1, but the landlord changed it at some point without my knowledge to September 1, but it's not like I'm homeless or anything so it's not the worst thing. I will be saving one month's rent, at least.
Delete"While The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke wasn't quite as engaging as The Assassin's Curse, it's still a worthwhile story with charming characters." <-- Ahhh. This verdict seems to be one that I've seen in several, several reviews. I don't think I've read a single one that said the sequel was better -- but that's just me.
ReplyDelete"so I have to imagine I would have like it better if I had read it at another time." <-- Well, maybe you can return to it later and do a comparison review? But I know what you mean. That's partially why I don't read as much as I used to - I don't want to force it. I hope that whatever's stressing you out gets resolved soon!
"But I found that the spark had faded in The Pirate's Wish and that their frustrating-but-fun romantic tension had become more frustrating and annoying." <-- I have read this in other reviews, so I don't think it's just you. I'm a huge fan of romance, so it's a huge shame that the tension becomes overwrought in the sequel.
"My expectations of finales is that they should go out with a bang, but the conclusion of The Pirate's Wish was resolved way too easily." <-- That sucks. A lot of people seem to tout this series because it's a duology and didn't expand for the sake of it, but even still it sounds like that didn't fully work out for this book.
It's good to know that you were a huge fan of the Assassin's Curse though. I still have to read that one, and then get onto this one, so there's still some motivation to get on that...
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ReplyDeleteI haven't read The Assasin's Curse, but I really want to :)
ReplyDeleteSucks to hear that this book isn't as good as the first, sorry that it didn't live up to your expectations. Great review!
Asma @ IceyBooks
I can't comment as I haven't read any of these books...regardless, sorry you weren't too thrilled by the conclusion in this one. Always a let down. It's nice that there are some good moments though, like the awesome main character. :)
ReplyDeleteI just love the covers on these books, but I'm still on the fence about reading them because they sound a little uneven.
ReplyDelete*sigh*
At least it was good, if not great.
Too bad this one wasn't quite a good as the first one. I still really want to read this duo though!
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of your review, Aylee! I gave this book the same rating, but I was hoping that it would be a little higher. I also thought the romance had lost it's spark in this installment, which was a shame, as it was so brilliantly subtle and charged in the first. The manticore was a good edition, though. Overall, this book was quite fun, but it probably could have been better. Lovely review, hon!
ReplyDeleteOooo Aylee look at your blog!!!! It looks so pretty! Love the new design:)
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame that the romance kind of fell apart for you in this one, I hate when that happens. I'm a mood reader too, and I'm normally a person who puts off reading sequels no matter how much I actually want to read them because I worry that the couple I loved in book one is going to be pulled apart to create drama, and it seems like that's sort of what happens here with all the unnecessary tension. Still, overall a 3.5 is a solid read, so I'm glad you enjoyed for the most part. Fabulous review:)
Ohhhhh Ayleeeee, what a pretty design <3 I love the P in your header and the stars everywhere <3
ReplyDeleteI agree about this book. I didn't care for the romance, but the easy writing-style made it such a quick book.
Mel@thedailyprophecy.
I'm glad you loved The Assassin's Curse as I'm currently reading it. I haven't decided if I love it yet but so far, so good. Too bad you didn't love this one as much though.
ReplyDeleteAwww, I hate when the conclusion to a series is a bit of a letdown :( I'd heard that this one was a lot less impressive than book 1, but I was still hoping you'd have better luck with it! Though I am pleased that you still manage to enjoy it as a whole, I'm bummed that it felt quite underwhelming compared to The Assassin's Curse. To be fair though, I'm quite the mood reader too so I can definitely relate to sometimes just not reading the right book at the right time! Lovely review Aylee ^^
ReplyDelete