Review : The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse #1)
Author : Cassandra Rose Clarke
Publisher : Strange Chemistry
Publication Date : October 2nd 2012
Goodreads - The Book Depository

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.


Personal Thoughts

Pirates.Assassins.Magic.Fantasy. There's nothing I could ask for more in a high fantasy book. Who would have thought that such a combination would bring about a pretty epic book? The Assassin's Curse is a brilliant debut, that swept me away as from page 1. After reading this, I'm convinced that Cassandra Rose Clarke is an author to look forward to!

Ananna's parents are trying to marry her off to pirates of another clan. However, that's not what she wants. She wants something that's pretty impossible ; to captain her own ship. Not wanting to get tied down, she runs off. Soon, the groom's angry family sends out an assassin to kill Ananna. But things don't go as expected when she finally gets to meet Naji, the assassin. By unknowingly saving his life, she triggers a curse that forces Naji to serve Ananna as her protector. Now, Ananna and Naji are forced to become allies so that they can break the curse, but through their journey to break the curse they encounter many obstacles. Together, they must overcome these obstacles so that their lives can go back to normal.

Ananna was such a kick-ass character! Well, coming from a pirate family there was no doubt that she would be this headstrong girl who would be an absolute delight to read about. She was the kind of character who was pretty much fearless and ready to face almost anything. She would never bow down in the face of any kind of danger. Instead, she would fight everything with all the strength she had. In that way, she was extremely determined. At times, she could be a little impulsive, taking actions without really thinking of their consequences, but that was probably because of her pirate background. After all, pirates aren't known to be thinkers! She could also be really funny. I love how honest she was albeit she could sometimes be a little brash. Naji, on the other hand, wasn't a character that I immediately fell for. He was a complex and multi-layered character who wasn't very easy to figure out at first. As the story progressed though, he started to peel off his layers allowing the reader to get to know him at a slow, but satisfying pace. On the outside, he was this heartless killer who appeared tough, but he was so much more enigmatic on the inside. He was an emotionally scarred character who tried not to show the world his inner scars.

The plot was, in my opinion, very original. How often do you find a YA book that has pirates, assassins, magic and lots of chasing? Very rarely. So, I thought Cassandra Rose Clarke's story was very refreshing. Moreover, the book was action-packed from the very first page ensuring that there is never a boring moment when reading. Ananna and Naji faced constant danger making the book all the more exciting. Romance fans shouldn't expect much of a romance from The Assassin's Curse. Instead what you get is a slowly growing relationship that could possibly bloom into something more in the next installment of the series. I, for one, was very happy with that, but I know some people might end up being disappointed. While I thought the plot itself was very interesting, I have to admit that I felt like the world of the pirates and assassins needed a little more work in that more background information should have been given. However, I'm hoping that this will be the case in the next installment of this series. Another minor complaint that I had was the ending. Somehow, I felt like it was rushed and unsatisfactory as compared to the whole book in general. Nevertheless, that didn't dampen my enjoyment of the story. I also thought that the writing was great. One thing you should be warned off is that Ananna makes a lot of grammatical errors when she talks, considering she's from pirate heritage and all. However, that just made her character seem more realistic.

Kick-butt characters, an exciting plot-line and an entertaining adventure all make The Assassin's Curse a fantastic debut for Cassandra Rose Clarke. Tired all the repetitive themes in YA ? Then, I definitely recommend you read The Assassin's Curse because it was just fabulous!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Big thanks to Strange Chemistry for the ARC of The Assassin's Curse.