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

Title: The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse #1)
Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Publication Date: October 2nd 2012
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Rating: 4 stars

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.

I wasn't so sure about this one until I've seen so many of my friends give this a high rating and a positive review. I wasn't really planning to request this when I saw this in Netgalley, I think I actually kinda brushed it off but when lots of positive reviews started popping out,  I realize what a wrong move I did. So I run off (fast) to Netgalley hoping it was still up there. Fortunately, it was and I was able to request it (Yay!). And boy, I tell you, this book did not disappoint. It is abso-freaking-lutely awesome! :D

Ananna is a very appealing character. She's honest, impulsive and could be so stubborn to sometimes, which in I think just added more to her appeal. She's a brave, caring and compassionate character though she could be harsh sometimes especially with the ways she talks but you can see from her actions that she's genuinely kind. I love how she took responsibility with her actions and decisions and face the consequences with it.

Naji on the other hand was a very enigmatic one. I love discovering more of him and see different sides of him as he let some of it slip. He was a skillful and deadly assassin, kinda aloof but I love that the author let us sometimes see a vulnerable side of him making it more easy to reach and connect with his character. I especially loved it when Ananna gets to be so protective of him when people make remarks with his scar. 

The world-building is wonderfully done. I enjoyed the journey this two had into finding a way to break the curse. It was actually a fun one, they discovered and learned a lot of things, met other people and faced different obstacles. I love how it made us see and learn more about their world. The writing is very well-paced too. It was smooth and very easy to follow. I actually sped through this. The ending though a bit anticlimactic still offered something more for us to look forward in the next book. 

The Assassin's Curse is a very fun and entertaining read. I enjoyed every bit of it, the world, the characters, their journey and all the other stuff with it. I'm absolutely looking forward for more. I highly recommend this.