Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Title: The Assassin’s Curse
Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Series: The Assassin’s Curse #1
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Date Published: October 2, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

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.

EDIT: This is an old review. I wrote it many months ago on my old blog. Also there are probably several mistakes in here :P I wasn't too big on proof-reading back then.

The cover was one of the things that really got to me when I first saw  the book. It had the right combination of colors and well the title was very tempting as well. The summary really made me want to read this book though.  I hadn’t read a book about Pirates prior to this one and well I was really excited. Somewhere along the way I forgot about this book because I had a lot of other books on my to read list. Then after a while, I remembered this book as “the one with the pretty cover” and I scrolled through my to-read list until I finally found it. I got it and I read it!

I cannot even write this without smiling like a geek because this book made me that happy.

It was amazing. It has people running away, magic, curses, assassins, pirates etc. What else could one want?

This also happens to be one of the rare books where I love the main character. She has her flaws but there isn’t a point in the book where I want to smack her. Not One . She is funny, she has a sense of loyalty and she doesn’t melt into a puddle of goo! *squeals* (although I wonder how she couldn’t after Naji walks in)

She is also smart, no not book smart but smart. She can take care of herself and doesn’t need someone to look after her. She is a pirate for crying out loud.

Naji. Naji. Naji. I think he is one of the best male characters ever. He has flaws. The author doesn’t show that he has a good side by making him become all nice after falling in love with Ana. Wait before I go further I should mention this. This isn’t a romance no matter what people say. It’s an adventure. Although, there IS chemistry between the two.

Okay going on. He has flaws because he regrets decisions he has made. He has been hurt and he doesn’t like it when people stare at his scar. He is insecure but he doesn’t become a softy. He is still tough.

This book is also infused with a good amount of humor, for example:

“I can’t believe this,” I muttered, cradling the skein of water up close to my chest. “Two weeks in the desert all on account of some assassin who doesn’t know how to look out for snakes.”

“If you hadn’t killed that snake,” Naji said calmly, “I would have killed you.”

“Oh, shut up.” 

I don't know how many times I've read and re-read this book and the sequel will definitely be on my most anticipated list.