Book Review: The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse #1) by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
320 Pages

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.

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Review:

Well, hello there. Let's talk about how much I loved this book, okay?

The Assassin's Curse was, in one word, phenomenal.

The plot is original and the characters are like none that I've ever read before. This world that Cassandra Rose Clarke creates captivated me and left me heartbroken when it ended, because really… WHY DID IT HAVE TO END THERE? How am I supposed to wait until the 2013 release date of The Pirate's Wish, book two in the series?

Ananna's awful grammar was the first thing I noticed. My first note in the book is: "I hate, hate, hate the word 'ain't.'" I'm strange, and I know it. When I first started The Assassin's Curse, I thought I may have to put it down, but something always drew me back. Ananna's a little spitfire and Naji… Oh, Naji, how you break my heart. The friendship that grows between the two main characters tugged at my heartstrings. I'm so glad I requested this one on Netgalley. I'll admit, I chose it because of its cover. BUT SOMETIMES A BOOK IS AS WONDERFUL AS ITS COVER. (Yes, I do often choose the books that I read by their covers… I'm one of those readers.)

The writing is simple, but perfect for the setting of the book. The prose really sets up the characters brilliantly. Everything just fits. I loved the way the author made the this world easy to understand. There were a lot of new ideas, cities, names, but the author always came back to them so you weren't left in the dust. By the end, I understood everything that was going on, and some author can't do that. I'm sure it's not easy to right your own world and get your points across. I've read quite a few fantasy novels that confused the living daylights out of me. Ms. Clarke certainly does not have the problem. In fact, if anything, I want to live in here world. It's been a long time since I've wanted to be a pirate, but now I'm back at that point in my life! 

The ending and the blurb were the only things I didn't like. The ending wasn't necessarily bad. In my opinion, it just fell flat compared to the rest of the book. It just wrapped itself up. It was an obvious ending, one that lets you know that there will be a sequel. Nothing spectacular happens. (WHAT I JUST SAID GIVES NOTHING HAPPENS BEFORE THE END AWAY. I'm not a spoiler, okay?) The blurb told the whole story. It literally gave everything away. It's a summary of the entire book, instead of an idea of what you can expect to happen and a little detail to hook readers in. So I was never really surprised with what happened. That was a bummer because the book would've been even better if it has some shocking moments.

I will definitely be reading book two. In fact, I wish I had it in my hands right now. I'd be reading it and not writing these reviews that I've never to catch up. That's how much I need the next book. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE. I'm very excited to see what's in store next for Ananna and Naji! They have become dear to my heart in the short time since I was introduced to them.

My advice to you? Go order this book. Now. As soon as possible. Seriously. I mean business.

I received and e-copy of this novel from the publisher through Netgalley for my honest opinion and review.