Published: October 2, 2012
Pages: 320
Source: For Review from Strange Chemistry
Rating: 5 Stars
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.
And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.
In short: With an instantly compelling plot, loveable characters, and a completely engaging romance, The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke is one of the most engrossing books I've read this year.
The standout of The Assassin's Curse for me has got to be the romance between the pirate, Ananna, and the assassin, Naji. And I think that says A LOT because I am by no means a romance fan. In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt so passionately about how a romance played out in a book. But with Ananna and Naji's relationship, I was fully invested. I loved seeing stubborn and head-strong Ananna fall for Naji, adored her attempts to wheedle out the teensiest of smiles out of his stoic and vulnerable demeanour, swooned seeing how protective he was of her, and became ENRAGED seeing the flirty and manipulative Leila mislead and take advantage of Naji. I was OBSESSED with Ananna and Naji's relationship and I can't wait to see it fully take form in the sequel.
The Assassin's Curse opens with Ananna refusing to go along with an arranged marriage that would mean she would never get to be the captain of her own ship and making her getaway on a freaking CAMEL! It was instant love. I absolutely DEVOURED The Assassin's Curse, it was just THAT engrossing. The characters were perfect and the romance was full of tension-ridden goodness. I HIGHLY recommend The Assassin's Curse, releasing October 2, 2012, as it was one of my favourite reads so far this year. The sequel, The Pirate's Wish, is officially one of my most anticipated reads for 2013!
Other Reviews:
Booknook
Paranormal Indulgence
Planet Print
Authors Links:
Website
Goodreads
This book sounds awesome !! I hadn't heard of it until now so thanks for bringing it to my attention Aylee. I haven't read an assassin book yet but I have Throne of Glass in my pile so I look forward to read this one as well. Thanks for the great review Aylee ;)
ReplyDeleteCool, I hope you end up loving Throne of Glass and it encourages to pick up more assassin books... namely this one!
DeleteWow, what an awesome review. I'm glad you enjoyed the book so much. I'm not sure it's something that would really click with me...not sure. It's always good when you're invested in the romance though, since so much YA seems to just put it in there for no reason.
ReplyDeleteI can understand - it may not be for everyone. But yeah, I really appreciated the romance and the way they worked off of each other and cared for each other. It was nice.
Delete"The standout of The Assassin's Curse for me has got to be the romance between the pirate, Ananna, and the assassin, Naji. And I think that says A LOT because I am by no means a romance fan."
ReplyDeleteWell, this just sold me. I'm a huge romance fan, so I can't wait to give this book a try. And I only have to wait until tomorrow for it to come. WIN AYLEE!!!
YAY!! I would definitely want to hear if you felt the same way about this one than I did, Jenny. I think you would like it a lot hopefully!
DeleteSounds like an awesome book-- I love, love pirates and assassins, so the combination of the two= win. I love the cover as well; reminds me of the Shadow and Bone cover a little. Glad you enjoyed this one so much!
ReplyDeleteI know, right?! And yeah, it's one of my favourite covers, for sure. I tend to love the graphic covers without any characters the most.
DeleteAylee I love your review! You did a great job explaining the awesomeness of the book. It was such a fun read. I can't wait to see how everything turns out either.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks Gina! I'm off to read yours next... I'm glad we were able to discuss this book together on Goodreads!
DeleteThis sounds like an amazing book. I'm all for the assassin's in YA books lately, they are so much fun. I wasn't really sure of this book when I first saw it, the cover was kind of meh for me. But reading your review I need to find out more about this book!
ReplyDeleteOh, really? I am quite in love with the cover, myself. But otherwise I agree - assassins are fun and so are pirates. I hope you love this one, too!
DeleteThis book sounds awesome! xD Pirates, magic, assassins?? YEES! And I am a complete romantic so I for sure know I'm gonna love the romance in this. I'm so glad you loved this one! I'm even more excited to read it. ^__^
ReplyDeleteCool! It really was just so awesome in every way, I thought. There was so much there to enjoy that I couldn't NOT love it.
DeleteI wasn't quite as taken with this one as you, Aylee, but I think that's just because I'm really picky with my fantasy novels. I am looking forward to the sequel too though.
ReplyDeleteAw, that's too bad. Maybe I was just in the very best mood at the time to be reading it and that was why I loved it so much.
DeleteWOW I can't wait to read The Assassin's Curse. After reading your review I'll definitely need to grab a copy this weekend.
ReplyDeleteCool! I really hope you love it :)
DeleteAylee you got me at Romance!
ReplyDeleteI love when that's played out well. And you're right, Assassins might be the next vampire :D
Thanks for such a cool review.
Haha, I thought I might grab people with that. I'm totally cool with assassins being the new vampire!!
DeleteThis makes me hopeful that I'll enjoy The Assassin's Curse and its romance as well. I am also not a fan of romance, especially YA romance. YA romance just makes me feel all sorts of cynical. But I love a relationship of equals with lots of issues before it can become a full-fledged relationship, which is what this sounds like. And I can just tell that Ananna is the kind of heroine that I'm going to love. I'm glad you enjoyed the book so much and I can't wait to read it myself!
ReplyDeleteI think I know what you mean. I guess I tend to dislike the immaturity surrounding teens in love, as natural as that might be. But I don't know, I just felt really passionate about this one. And the tension between them was magnetic!! I would hope everyone would like Ananna because I think she's awesome :)
DeleteOoh this really seems like a fun book! I'm not tired of assassins yet so I think I will enjoy this one. It's also a bonus that the romance was great too. Fantastic review. :D
ReplyDeleteYup, I would say it's a must-read! Bring on the assassins!!
DeleteOoh, this one sounds really good! I'll have to pick it up after my stupid ban is over!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to meet you yesterday!
Yeah, you too! I hope you can get it sometime (maybe from the library?)!
DeleteIsn't it weird how trends come and go? I must say that assassins is a good trend. Who doesn't love a good killer?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen the movie Gross Pointe Blank? If not, you should. Hilarious.
Oh yes, it's an excellent trend. More pirates would be awesome, as well.
DeleteNope, I've never even heard of that movie. But thanks for the rec; I'll have to check it out!
argh, YES! I HATED the way that woman treated Naji!!! She was so unbelievably cruel, but what a great characterization! I want to know so much more about their history and his scars. I felt so so badly for Ananna during those scenes. I love Naji, but I seriously wanted to give him a little slap to get him to see how crazy it was that he was pining over that awful woman when Ananna was RIGHT THERE and is awesome and everything he should need in life. :P
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love your review. I read it on Goodreads and read it again here and I'd still want to read it again. :)
Small!! Thank you muchly :D Agreed, any character that can inspire that amount of hatred in you is great characterization. But I was sure frustrated with Naji, too, and some of the blame needs to be placed on him. Bah, MEN! It was just so painfully obvious.
DeleteI'm sold. Engrossing story, great characters and romance...It sounds so amazing! Ah, I'm excited for this book now :)
ReplyDeleteIncredible review, Aylee!
It really was amazing! I really hope you love it, too. And thank you :)
DeleteI'm reading this right now! Another blogger friend gave it a glowing review a while ago and then I saw yours + Small's on goodreads and thought, "I MUST HAVE THIS." I'm not too far in, but I'm really enjoying it so far and I'm very intrigued by this romance that you enjoyed so much. I can't wait to continue on!!
ReplyDeleteOOH YES! I really hope you end up loving it as much as Small and I did. And I'm SO curious to hear what you think of the romance!
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