I ain't never been one to trust beautiful people, and Tarrin of the Hariri was the most beautiful man I ever saw."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 enjoyed some aspects of this book, others not so much. The premise itself felt forced, but I did like reading about Ananna's adventures at the beginning. The thing was, she immediately ran away, before the reader got enough time to get to know her and her parents. Also, the way that the assassin becomes bound to her is just stupid (she saves him from a snake). I think that was kind of the point; because of one simple act, their lives are changed forever.
And yet, I didn't end up enjoying this one that much. For the part of the book that I read I was just as confused as Ananna was (her name didn't help). I had no idea what exactly was going on, and I really did not like the assassin, Naji. Not at all. He was kind of a jerk, and he wouldn't tell Ananna anything. The two of them didn't work together or separately. This is a book that I was really glad that I avoided buying. Sometimes you check things out of the library and you wish you had bought them, and sometimes it's the other way round, but not this time.
The narrative voice was interesting, but unlike Blood Red Road, it didn't really work for me. There were random English curse words thrown in, and I didn't find what's-her-name's dialect very absorbing or realistic. The world was somewhat interesting, but it could have been developed much, much, much better. The blood magic wasn't all that impressive either; it's supposed to be all dangerous, but I merely felt...bored.
The only redeeming thing about the book that I could see was the cover, which was kind of nice.
I can't really speak for the book past 100 pages. Maybe it gets better, but I couldn't get through it. If you think it does get better later, let me know.
Read The Assassin's Curse:
- if you like fantasy
- if you like books with pirates
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