The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1) in The Assassin's Curse Re-Read

Jan 05, 2014 Doroty Ellis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, fantasy, romance

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 c
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?). ...more

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Dec 02, 2013 Lace rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, ya

I have to say that, aside from some children's books (and One Piece, of course!), this is the first pirate book I have ever read. I'm not gonna lie, it was nice to take a break from distopian novels and paranormal romances and finally read some fantasy again. However, I soon learned that, while the main character is indeed a young pirate, the characters' journey takes place primarily on land. Which isn't a bad thing, especially if you find ship scenes tedious. Really, it wasn't my new favorite b I have to say that, aside from some children's books (and One Piece, of course!), this is the first pirate book I have ever read. I'm not gonna lie, it was nice to take a break from distopian novels and paranormal romances and finally read some fantasy again. However, I soon learned that, while the main character is indeed a young pirate, the characters' journey takes place primarily on land. Which isn't a bad thing, especially if you find ship scenes tedious. Really, it wasn't my new favorite book, but aside from a few drawbacks, The Assassin's Curse is a captivating tale with a fascinating premise and colorful setting that I haven't seen in YA novels in a long time.

The story begins immediately with Ananna's wedding and her escaping into the desert, only to learn that she is being pursued by an assassin (they're magic-wielders in this universe) by Chapter 2. Quickly, she gets help from a strange shopkeeper, who gives her a magic spell that will send him into the Otherworld. But instead of harming the assassin, Ananna accidentally saves his life from something else that was attacking him, activating a curse that binds them together. Now, with the assassin as her reluctant protector, Ananna must travel across the world, searching for a way to fix the curse.

While the plot itself was refreshing, this story's setting was what held my interest. Set in a Middle Eastern type of land, from deserts, to markets, to stormy seas, to floating islands, The Assassin's Curse has a warm, outlandish feel to it. The world building was fairly incomplete (partially because it's only the first book in a series), but Clarke's rendition of magic and sorcery is interesting, especially the fact that her world's assassins are dark magicians as well as expert swordsmen. Her vivid description of the Isles of the Sky as well as the people of the Mists also caught my attention. I hope she does more with both in The Pirate's Wish.

As for drawbacks--I've seen better writing. Ananna's pirate talk was forced, and there were several traveling chapters that dragged. And, just as a heads-up, the beginning IS awkward and hard to get into. However, I strongly encourage you to keep reading, because both the writing and the story get better with each chapter. By Chapter 5, I plunged right into the story and couldn't put it down.

The biggest drawback is that Ananna and the assassin DON'T actually begin working on relieving the curse via the three impossible tasks until close to the end.

But still, the book was fast reading, making it hard to actually get bogged down in the slow parts. And, of course, the characters were what kept me reading. Ananna is a bit hard to connect with at the beginning, but as the story progresses, she becomes very likable. She's spunky and brave, but has many character flaws that us readers can relate to. After a while, I was longing for what she wanted and sulking about her current circumstances along with her. Naji...not so much. While I got his whole distant, unapproachable demeanor (what else would you expect from a person who'd spent his whole life killing people for a living?), he wasn't quite as interesting as the others. Although, his magic WAS pretty sweet. And I was surprised at how interesting the minor characters were, having their own quirks and backgrounds despite how short their parts in the story were.

Overall, in spite of my complaints, this was a pretty decent book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, The Pirate's Wish, as well as her ".5" and ".6" books in the series.

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Nov 13, 2013 Raina Lie rated it liked it · review of another edition

ringan dan seru. agak terganggu dengan kecenderungan penulis menggunakan kalimat-kalimat dobel-negatif tapi bacanya tetep asik kok :D Pingin baca lanjutannya...

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Aug 18, 2013 Lyra rated it really liked it

Pretty decent book. It starts out kind of slow, but towards the end I feel more connected to the characters. It's a continued story, so be ready to purchase the next book(s) in the series to see the main conflict actually get resolved. ...more

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