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samgalanor's review against another edition
4.0
Pirates and Assassin’s sounds like an awesome book.
It is sadly not that epic as it sounds.
The writing style is ok. Not great and not terrible bad. Mixed with the slang the female main character Ananna speaks it becomes more sloppy, even through it is a stylistic device to show that she is not high educated. But she is the only one who speaks like this, even her parents speak “normal”. So this stylistic divide ends up being just unnecessary.
Meanwhile the story is great and full of unpredictable twist and turns. If you think they’ll lift the curse at the end of this book and have their happy end, you’ll be surprised. Furthermore the characters are simpathic and likeable, from the very beginning and the world building is great for a duology.
The love story is evolving slovenly and believable from both sides, although the book is written in first person perspective.
There is a certain double morality in the books. Everyone is disgusted by Najij because he is an assassin. But every sailor or pirate kills more people in this book than he does. Even Ananna actually kills and no one comments on that, but beware the evil murderous assassin.
A funny, adventures and fast read.
It is sadly not that epic as it sounds.
The writing style is ok. Not great and not terrible bad. Mixed with the slang the female main character Ananna speaks it becomes more sloppy, even through it is a stylistic device to show that she is not high educated. But she is the only one who speaks like this, even her parents speak “normal”. So this stylistic divide ends up being just unnecessary.
Meanwhile the story is great and full of unpredictable twist and turns. If you think they’ll lift the curse at the end of this book and have their happy end, you’ll be surprised. Furthermore the characters are simpathic and likeable, from the very beginning and the world building is great for a duology.
The love story is evolving slovenly and believable from both sides, although the book is written in first person perspective.
There is a certain double morality in the books. Everyone is disgusted by Najij because he is an assassin. But every sailor or pirate kills more people in this book than he does. Even Ananna actually kills and no one comments on that, but beware the evil murderous assassin.
A funny, adventures and fast read.
amiascah's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I really tried to like this book but there was an energy, feeling and maturity that I was missing the whole time I read it.
'The Assassin's Curse is book one in its series by Cassandra Rose Clarke. It begins the tale of Ananna of the Tanarau as she is dealing with an arranged marriage that she does not want. At her first opportunity to get out of this marriage she does and fleas. Unfortunately her intendeds family is not happy with their son being jilted and so they send an assassin after her. Over a few near misses with the assassin Ananna ends up saving his life.
Spoilers
I can't even think of where this all took place, the world building is so lacking I don't know the names of much. This read kinda like a first draft. It wasn't all bad it just was missing so much. It also felt so rushed. There was no build up to the arranged marriage, there was easing into Ananna's character, we started off on a run, away from the marriage, which quickly became flight from and assassin and before you can draw a breath, they were acting like they had been on the road together for awhile and had built up some trust.
I unfortunately very much did not enjoy this and will not be reading the series further.
'The Assassin's Curse is book one in its series by Cassandra Rose Clarke. It begins the tale of Ananna of the Tanarau as she is dealing with an arranged marriage that she does not want. At her first opportunity to get out of this marriage she does and fleas. Unfortunately her intendeds family is not happy with their son being jilted and so they send an assassin after her. Over a few near misses with the assassin Ananna ends up saving his life.
Spoilers
I can't even think of where this all took place, the world building is so lacking I don't know the names of much. This read kinda like a first draft. It wasn't all bad it just was missing so much. It also felt so rushed. There was no build up to the arranged marriage, there was easing into Ananna's character, we started off on a run, away from the marriage, which quickly became flight from and assassin and before you can draw a breath, they were acting like they had been on the road together for awhile and had built up some trust.
I unfortunately very much did not enjoy this and will not be reading the series further.
allofeternity's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book so much!!! Definitely recommend. I did have a couple issues with it, which is why I took off a star. I'll hopefully be writing a full review for this one soon and discuss in depth!
anxieteaisme's review against another edition
4.0
Ananna is a very headstrong character, who is far from perfect. She isn’t the prettiest of people, she is rather stubborn, and she doesn’t like admitting she’s wrong, but she’s a very good pirate. When she ran away from her marriage she did it as a spur of the moment decision, which is probably the only thing that really annoyed me about this book. Yes, it does show she is rather impulsive, but I don’t like how she just saw a camel and went, ‘I bet I can use that to get away from marrying the irritating twat,’ and then runs for it. That I find irritating because an important decision like that should take a lot more time than that.
But I do love her relationship between her and Naji, the assassin, as it starts of as one of pure accident where they are bound together due to the curse. From there it develops into a friendship, where they actually do care about each other, and then more, well for Ananna anyway.
There is also quite a lot of magic in this book, a lot more than thought there would be. I was expecting the odd spell here and there, not for the assassins themselves to be magical beings, and for there to be entirely new creatures who come from a different world. Luckily I think this is pulled off quite well. Yes, it is quite complicated, but it never got in the way of the story.
Overall this is quite a good book, with action, adventure, pirates, assassins, magic, a little bit of romance, and a lot of character development. So, if fantasy and action are your sort of thing then I do recommend it.
But I do love her relationship between her and Naji, the assassin, as it starts of as one of pure accident where they are bound together due to the curse. From there it develops into a friendship, where they actually do care about each other, and then more, well for Ananna anyway.
There is also quite a lot of magic in this book, a lot more than thought there would be. I was expecting the odd spell here and there, not for the assassins themselves to be magical beings, and for there to be entirely new creatures who come from a different world. Luckily I think this is pulled off quite well. Yes, it is quite complicated, but it never got in the way of the story.
Overall this is quite a good book, with action, adventure, pirates, assassins, magic, a little bit of romance, and a lot of character development. So, if fantasy and action are your sort of thing then I do recommend it.
zephturner's review against another edition
3.0
The prose was nice, if a little sparser in some places than I prefer. And the plot began to come together nicely towards the middle of the book - in the beginning I was worried the author was planting Chekov's guns that wouldn't end up being fired, which irritates me. But most of the disparate plot elements introduced ended up playing key roles in the narrative.
The reason it's NOT five stars is that a) I'm honestly sick of girl/boy love stories where the boy's all mysterious and capable and has to protect the girl, it's heterosexist and I was hoping this book wouldn't involve a love triangle but it did, at least briefly, and I'm just sick of that stuff in fantasy aimed at teenaged girls, a genre I otherwise love; and b) the sailor/pirate vernacular was distracting to me. I got used to it towards the end of the book but it felt unnecessary and didn't really add to the plot.
Overall though it was quite a good book and very engaging; I would recommend it to a friend who wouldn't make fun of me for continuing to read YA novels as a fairly serious 17-year-old.
The reason it's NOT five stars is that a) I'm honestly sick of girl/boy love stories where the boy's all mysterious and capable and has to protect the girl, it's heterosexist and I was hoping this book wouldn't involve a love triangle but it did, at least briefly, and I'm just sick of that stuff in fantasy aimed at teenaged girls, a genre I otherwise love; and b) the sailor/pirate vernacular was distracting to me. I got used to it towards the end of the book but it felt unnecessary and didn't really add to the plot.
Overall though it was quite a good book and very engaging; I would recommend it to a friend who wouldn't make fun of me for continuing to read YA novels as a fairly serious 17-year-old.
ceena's review against another edition
4.0
This is a difficult one to review because I enjoyed reading it, but it totally has flaws and if it had caught me in a less generous moment, I probably wouldn't have liked it as much.
Ananna isn't my favorite character in the world since I so dislike how she reacts to Naji. I feel like she is so over the top mean and then towards the end we see that she likes him so... why is she such a jerk? I do like how she calls him out for not telling her anything (one of my pet peeves) and she is generally an interesting character. It is just the interactions between her and Naji that just drive me up the wall. GIVE It A REST ALREADY!! It sucks, just deal with it. And would she stop intentionally putting him in harm???
Other than that, I think the book moves at a decent pace, which then at the end seems so, so slow. I thought things were going to get solved in this book, but no. Totally felt like they could have though. The story though is not the most interesting. It doesn't really start until Ananna and Naji meet. I thought this would be about fighting off assassins and making their own way, BUT it is about removing the curse on them. So, a lot less pirate-y than I thought. Rarely any time on a ship.
Yet, with all this said, I practically raced through this book. I enjoyed the setting and learning about the magic and the pirate systems. I am interested in reading about them getting rid of the curse and I hope that they come up with a plan for what they want to do in the future. I'm interested, I like the writing, hopefully Ananna will get better, and... yeah. I would totally recommend this book to people who like light fantasy, morally grey characters, and want an adventure not so much a destination.
I look forward to reading the next book.
Ananna isn't my favorite character in the world since I so dislike how she reacts to Naji. I feel like she is so over the top mean and then towards the end we see that she likes him so... why is she such a jerk? I do like how she calls him out for not telling her anything (one of my pet peeves) and she is generally an interesting character. It is just the interactions between her and Naji that just drive me up the wall. GIVE It A REST ALREADY!! It sucks, just deal with it. And would she stop intentionally putting him in harm???
Other than that, I think the book moves at a decent pace, which then at the end seems so, so slow. I thought things were going to get solved in this book, but no. Totally felt like they could have though. The story though is not the most interesting. It doesn't really start until Ananna and Naji meet. I thought this would be about fighting off assassins and making their own way, BUT it is about removing the curse on them. So, a lot less pirate-y than I thought. Rarely any time on a ship.
Yet, with all this said, I practically raced through this book. I enjoyed the setting and learning about the magic and the pirate systems. I am interested in reading about them getting rid of the curse and I hope that they come up with a plan for what they want to do in the future. I'm interested, I like the writing, hopefully Ananna will get better, and... yeah. I would totally recommend this book to people who like light fantasy, morally grey characters, and want an adventure not so much a destination.
I look forward to reading the next book.
bookshaihulud's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emleemay's review against another edition
2.0
2 1/2 stars. So, I finally tried the much-recommended [b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] after all this time. I recently tried Clarke's adult novel - [b:Our Lady of the Ice|22907961|Our Lady of the Ice|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421781519s/22907961.jpg|42471430] - and found it painfully slow, but I wanted to see how her YA book compared.
[b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] was not as slow as [b:Our Lady of the Ice|22907961|Our Lady of the Ice|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421781519s/22907961.jpg|42471430] and I was able to finish it, however, I am a little surprised by all the hype. There were some parts that I had to push myself through and I can say I have no desire to read [b:The Pirate's Wish|15714476|The Pirate's Wish (The Assassin's Curse, #2)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352903412s/15714476.jpg|21383294].
Firstly, there is no world-building. Occasionally, I can forgive this when the scope of the novel is small. Like [b:Death Sworn|13549218|Death Sworn (Death Sworn, #1)|Leah Cypess|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372091946s/13549218.jpg|19115106], which takes place within a cave. However, this book moves from the seas, through towns, through desert and swamp, back to the seas and to the dark "Isles of the Sky" and I have no idea what's going on in this world at all.
I've learned nothing about the system of magic, nothing about the laws and ruling system, very little about the geography, very little about the pirates and their ways/customs... very little about anybody or anything.
The story begins with Ananna running away from her parents and her life as a pirate to avoid marrying into another pirate clan. This is a very emotionless undertaking - how does Ananna feel about leaving her parents? How does she feel about their desire to marry her off? Because, honestly, she seems unaffected. She simply runs away.
The pirate clan then decide to send an assassin after her. But, in a bizarre twist of fate, Ananna accidentally saves the assassin's life and triggers a curse - one which forces the assassin (Naji) to become Ananna's protector. Neither of them is particularly happy about this, so they set out to break the curse.
I'm starting to realize that I am not fond of journey books. The kind where the major plot points happen at the start and end of the book and the in between is one long-ass journey between the two. I think it also weakened [b:Walk on Earth a Stranger|17564519|Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer, #1)|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424451210s/17564519.jpg|24498341], though it weakened this book more.
The long journey between triggering the curse and getting to the person who can help them find a cure is so slow. Of course, it's peppered with random bits of action, fights and chases, but it all feels like filler to pad out the book. I had to force myself not to skim read.
Also, I think this type of plot structure *might* work better if the characters were more interesting and had more chemistry. Not necessarily romantic chemistry, but at least some spark of something between them, because pretty much the whole book is made up of interactions between Ananna and Naji, and damn, they are so dull together.
Ananna is more likable if you enjoy cardboard cutout "strong heroines", but Naji is just cold and boring. I never felt any emotion for him.
Clearly, Clarke is just not an author for me, but I am glad I finally checked this out for myself. I do wonder if I would have enjoyed this book three years ago when it was first released; back when strong heroines and broody assassins were not quite so overdone and would have been right up my alley. Oh well.
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[b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] was not as slow as [b:Our Lady of the Ice|22907961|Our Lady of the Ice|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421781519s/22907961.jpg|42471430] and I was able to finish it, however, I am a little surprised by all the hype. There were some parts that I had to push myself through and I can say I have no desire to read [b:The Pirate's Wish|15714476|The Pirate's Wish (The Assassin's Curse, #2)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352903412s/15714476.jpg|21383294].
Firstly, there is no world-building. Occasionally, I can forgive this when the scope of the novel is small. Like [b:Death Sworn|13549218|Death Sworn (Death Sworn, #1)|Leah Cypess|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372091946s/13549218.jpg|19115106], which takes place within a cave. However, this book moves from the seas, through towns, through desert and swamp, back to the seas and to the dark "Isles of the Sky" and I have no idea what's going on in this world at all.
I've learned nothing about the system of magic, nothing about the laws and ruling system, very little about the geography, very little about the pirates and their ways/customs... very little about anybody or anything.
The story begins with Ananna running away from her parents and her life as a pirate to avoid marrying into another pirate clan. This is a very emotionless undertaking - how does Ananna feel about leaving her parents? How does she feel about their desire to marry her off? Because, honestly, she seems unaffected. She simply runs away.
The pirate clan then decide to send an assassin after her. But, in a bizarre twist of fate, Ananna accidentally saves the assassin's life and triggers a curse - one which forces the assassin (Naji) to become Ananna's protector. Neither of them is particularly happy about this, so they set out to break the curse.
I'm starting to realize that I am not fond of journey books. The kind where the major plot points happen at the start and end of the book and the in between is one long-ass journey between the two. I think it also weakened [b:Walk on Earth a Stranger|17564519|Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer, #1)|Rae Carson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424451210s/17564519.jpg|24498341], though it weakened this book more.
The long journey between triggering the curse and getting to the person who can help them find a cure is so slow. Of course, it's peppered with random bits of action, fights and chases, but it all feels like filler to pad out the book. I had to force myself not to skim read.
Also, I think this type of plot structure *might* work better if the characters were more interesting and had more chemistry. Not necessarily romantic chemistry, but at least some spark of something between them, because pretty much the whole book is made up of interactions between Ananna and Naji, and damn, they are so dull together.
Ananna is more likable if you enjoy cardboard cutout "strong heroines", but Naji is just cold and boring. I never felt any emotion for him.
Clearly, Clarke is just not an author for me, but I am glad I finally checked this out for myself. I do wonder if I would have enjoyed this book three years ago when it was first released; back when strong heroines and broody assassins were not quite so overdone and would have been right up my alley. Oh well.
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rainsynch's review against another edition
1.0
I'm sorry, I started, stopped, and restarted this book so many times. I wanted so badly to like it! And this past time I finally just opened it up and read it straight through.
Despite the story idea and how much I /wanted/ to like it, however, I just couldn't bring myself to do so. I hated, hated, hated the way the book was written - by which I mean the main character's way of speech and point of view mode was so frustratingly badly written. There is a time to use certain grammar or turns of speech to set the mode, and there is a way to do it so it doesn't read like the Assassin's Curse does - badly, and hard to parse.
Even beyond that ever present and severely irritating problem, the characters are poorly written and the plot that sounds compelling on the jacket flap just /isn't/ in practice. Overall, it was poorly done and I'm sorry I wasted my time on the book.
Despite the story idea and how much I /wanted/ to like it, however, I just couldn't bring myself to do so. I hated, hated, hated the way the book was written - by which I mean the main character's way of speech and point of view mode was so frustratingly badly written. There is a time to use certain grammar or turns of speech to set the mode, and there is a way to do it so it doesn't read like the Assassin's Curse does - badly, and hard to parse.
Even beyond that ever present and severely irritating problem, the characters are poorly written and the plot that sounds compelling on the jacket flap just /isn't/ in practice. Overall, it was poorly done and I'm sorry I wasted my time on the book.