Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke



Everyone loves a good pirate story, right? Well, The Assassin’s Curse was one of the best.

            Ananna of the Tanarau has only ever wanted one thing: her own ship. But when her parents try to marry her off to the beautiful Tarrin of the Hariri, she knows that she must get away. Escaping into the city of Lassiri, she knows that the Hariri will send an assassin after her. Assassins practice a rare type of magic, blood magic, and are supposedly impossible to defeat or escape from. When Ananna ends up saving Naji’s (the assassin) life, a terrible curse binds them together: Naji must protect Ananna from physical harm. When she goes too far away from him, he gets a headache and when she gets injured, he feels her pain, too. However, Ananna and Naji are being chased by more than just the Hariris; the Mists, the people of the Otherworld, are also chasing them. Will they defeat the Mists? Will Ananna and Naji be able to cure his curse, or will he be stuck serving her forever? Read to find out!

            Ananna, the main character, was amazing. From the first few pages of the book, I knew that I would grow fond of her. She didn’t just do what she was told; she took her life into her own hands and dealt with the consequences without complaining. Ananna was a pirate, so she spoke like a pirate. I thought that the dialect that Clarke used for Ananna was very convincing; it really added to the story and helped me get into it more. Another thing I liked about her was that she was sneaky and smart; she could steal anything and not be caught. Lastly, Ananna doesn’t just let the men fight for her; she fights for herself, but she also admits when she needs help, so she’s not stupidly tough.

            Naji, the assassin, was also amazing. I liked him instantly. He was serious, with an undertone of humor. He never smiled with his mouth, but he always smiled with his eyes. He was brave and thoughtful and smart. Right after the curse was put on him, he gave Ananna his protective necklace and left himself without protection; he risked his life for her because the next moment they fought someone from the Mists. Another thing about Naji: he can turn into a shadow. He uses blood magic, which is awesome by itself, but he can actually turn into a shadow. THAT IS SO COOL.

            Now for the plot/writing: I got caught up in the story right away. It pulled me in immediately and I liked Ananna right away. It always kept me guessing and the anticipation was killing me. It didn’t help that the end of the book was AMAZING and now I really need the next one right now.  But anyway, there was a lot of really funny sarcasm in this book and I love me some good sarcasm! I actually laughed out loud at some parts and I found myself smiling throughout the entire book. As I said before, Clarke did a great job with keeping Ananna’s dialect as rugged as she did because Ananna was a pirate, who never had any type of education. I thought that there was something amazing about Ananna and Naji’s reactions; they seemed real and I could imagine them in my head. There was something really true about the way they acted towards each other. Another good thing about this book: NO INSTA-LOVE. There was absolutely no insta-love whatsoever, which was FANTASTIC. As a matter of fact, Ananna punches Naji in the face about ¾ through the book.

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this book. It was simply amazing.

I fell totally and completely in love with this book. 5 Smileys!


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