Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

   Title: The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse #1)

Author:  Cassandra Rose Clarke

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Publisher: Strange Chemistry
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Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.

To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks--all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic... And the growing romantic tension between them.

After recent encounter with a few disappointing books I just wanted to relax with a fun book.
I thought that The Assassin's Curse was the one, and boy was i right.
I mean just look at the blurb, who can resist pirates, assassins, adventure, magic and all in the same sentence!!!

In the beginning there is a young pirate girl in the desert with a camel. You ask why is a pirate on land, much less in the desert? Well, Ananna is running, running from her parents, from her arranged marriage and running from everything she has ever known. 

Her biggest dream is to own her own ship and sail as captain, but it's impossible since men don't sail under women, but she has plans about that. Until it self destructs when she saves the man (assassin) sent out to kill her, triggering the curse that binds them together. Fun, right? Naji, the assassin, is a sorcerer specializing in blood magic, also targeted by evil from another world. Stuck together they must work cheek by jowl to get out of this mess, preferable alive .

There is nothing i like more then a feisty heroine, and Annana is plenty feisty also sassy and blunt. What on her mind that out her mouth before you can say Ongraygeeomryn, a true pirate. But, underneath the tough exterior still lies the fragile heart of a young girl .

 "Yeah. Beautiful people, things are too easy for 'em. They don't know how to survive in this world. Somebody's ugly, or even plain, normal-looking, that means they got to work twice as hard for things. For anything. Just to get people to listen to 'em, or take 'em serious. So yeah. I don't trust beautiful people."

Naji a surly young man with a scarred face and a scarred soul.Its clear from the beginning that he doesn't trust people. And  its hard to do so when one look at him (and his face) sends even the toughest pirate running. The fact that he kept things from Ananna and did things on his own annoyed me at first, but then i realized that he didn't know any different.

The two made a great pair. Where Ananna was brass Naji was careful, they complimented each other in ways they didn't even realize. Also, he left her to fight her own battles even if it pained him, allowing her the freedom of choice, and didn't act like the testosteroned Alfa-male(I'm so accustomed to). In turn she pulled him out of the shell he hid under, made him face the world. He is also completely oblivious when it comes to her feelings, which is a breath of fresh air in recent YA  books where the heroine is the one being oblivious. It was fun watching them interact with each other.

The only thing that bothered me was the lack of interaction between the characters, since its told from Annanas point of view, she retold most of the story, and i wanted more communication between character instead of the usual; he said, she said.


It was amusing reading this book, i had fun with the characters and the setting of the world was masterfully done. Before i even realized i had finished the book, and it was 4 am, fun times!

If you're like me, and love a heroine with spunk and courage to face her destiny instead of winy bitches that wait around to be rescued, then pick up this books, and you're gonna get action, and adventure for free (did i mention the pirates?).