Review: The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

• Pub. Date: June 18, 2013
• Publisher:Strange Chemistry
• Pages:336
• Series: The Assassin's Curse #2
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

After setting out to break the curse that binds them together, the pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves stranded on an enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword, their wits, and the secret to breaking the curse: complete three impossible tasks. With the help of their friend Marjani and a rather unusual ally, Ananna and Naji make their way south again, seeking what seems to be beyond their reach.

Unfortunately, Naji has enemies from the shadowy world known as the Mists, and Ananna must still face the repercussions of going up against the Pirate Confederation. Together, Naji and Ananna must break the curse, escape their enemies — and come to terms with their growing romantic attraction.

First Line: "Do you feel that?" Naji asked.

Review: So The Pirate's Wish picks up exactly where The Assassins Curse left off. Ananna and Naji are still stranded on the Isles of  the Sky in hopes of being rescued by Marjani. While still stuck on the island we get to meet an awesome new character the Manticore who Ananna makes a deal with and in a way develops somewhat of a friendship with the human flesh eating manticore who wants to help Naji break the curse also but only so she can eat him. I was a little upset that her character wasn't there for the entire book.

There is one other character besides the two main ones that deserves her own spotlight and that would be Marjani. She rocked in the first book and was even more amazing in The Pirates Wish. I loved learning more about her and who she was and where she came from, oh and her relationship with not just some everyday average person but with the Queen, that came out of no where but I was totally rooting for Marjani the whole time.

Now on to our main chracters Naji and Ananna. I still loved Ananna for her badassness but I couldn't stand how she was treating Naji. And then she was just so angsty it did get annoying at times. As for Naji well he was Naji, still insecure about that scar on his face and still our brooding hero. As for the relationship between the two the book definitely started with a whirlwind of tension between the two seeing how one of the first curses to be broken was a true loves kiss in which one didn't return the affection right off the bat. And the way it ended between the two, well it was different...did it end the way I would have wished it did? nope, but when you get to know the two characters and how determined and passionate they are about what and who they are the ending made sense.

Overall I really enjoyed The Pirate's Wish and the series as a whole. There was a ton of action and fights along with pirates battling it out on their ships. There was actually a part where there were talking sharks it took a little getting used to since it was so unexpected. If you haven't picked up this series which is a duology I highly recommend it.

Review: Pantomime by Laura Lam

Pantomime by Laura Lam

• Pub. Date: February 5, 2013
• Publisher:Angry Robot
• Pages:400
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilization long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Review: It is going to be so hard to write this review without giving away spoilers. And seeing how the blurb was obviously purposely made to be misleading to hide a major twist in the story i'm going to also do my best to stay all secretive and not give anything up.

The story is told in two povs Micah in the present who has just joined the circus and Gene in the past who is the daughter of a noble and very unhappy with her life. I loved Micah and Gene, amazing characters who were very well fleshed out and I felt a world of sympathy for them and their situation. Honestly all the characters in the book were done amazingly well and one of my favorites besides Micah/Gene who stood out was Drystan. He had his own secrets as well and I liked the friendship he built with Micah although there is still some mystery surrounding him that I can't wait to find out about in the next book.

I loved every bit of the circus it was eerie and fascinating all at once. Then there were the "freaks" of the circus that Micah worked with and Lam did a really great job in making them very diverse and unique in their own ways. Also there was magic involved in Pantomime unfortunately it was a little disappointing since we just get a little glimpse of it here and there and the author doesn't go deeper into that aspect of it in this book but it's obvious that we will definitely learn more about it in the second novel.

Overall Pantomime was very unexpected and just different in many ways from what I normally read  and Lam was not afraid to take this novel in a direction not to many YA books have gone. The world building, writing and the main characters were done very well and I am looking forward to see how the second novel develops especially with that huge cliffhanger at the end

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Review: Broken by A.E. Rought

Broken by A.E. Rought

• Pub. Date: January 08, 2013
• Publisher: Angry Robot-Strange Chemistry
• Pages:384
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

SPOILERY  BLURB : Would not recommend reading.
Imagine a modern spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where a young couple’s undying love and the grief of a father pushed beyond sanity could spell the destruction of them all.

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.

The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks. And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks' estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

First Line: Cold seeps through my jacket while I lean on the wrought iron fence, staring at the rows of headstones parading across the lawn of Memorial Gardens cemetery.


Review: I haven't read a retelling of Frankenstein until now and Broken did a good job with bringing the creepiness factor in the second half of the book. I will tell you right now there was no real element of surprise, if you read the blurb ( which gives away to much information ) you already know whats going on and can easily put everything together before it happens. 

Emma who is a very depressed teenager is mourning the death of Daniel her once boyfriend who died tragically right in front of her. She hangs out at the cemetery even though there is no grave for Daniel, but she feels closer to him there since it was their spot. In comes Alex Franks the new guy at school which every girl crushes on but he has eyes only for Emma. Strangely he reminds Emma a lot of Daniel.

The romance and attraction happened a little faster then I like but I'm letting it slide in this one since obviously the reasoning behind it made sense due to the circumstances. As for the characters Emma was sad and miserable for the most part and people calling her horrible names when she actually was starting to move on from her past didn't help. As for Alex he was likeable and was just as damaged as Emma but had good character development throughout the book.

My only real issue was not much happened in the first half or so of the book, well nothing that screamed Frankenstein, it was just Alex and Emma and cliched high school drama. But around the second half of the book things picked up and even though predicable became interesting and creepy, just too bad the focus on the actual Frankenstein bit of the book didn't happen sooner.

As for the writing it had a Gothic style that worked, and Rought is actually very talented at writing certain scenes that will really just get under your skin. Also Rought did do a wonderful job in writing about Emma's grief otherwise I'm pretty sure a depressing character like her would have made me put aside this book midway but the writing was done well and kept me reading and connected to the characters.

Overall I expected a whole lot more from this book but Broken is one of those books even with all the issues I had with it I still enjoyed it.

Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

• Pub. Date: October 2, 2012
• Publisher: Strange Chemistry
• Pages: 320
• Series: The Assassin's Curse #1

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. 

Sidenote: The blurb is not the full blurb and I recommend not reading the full blurb just because it gives away too much of the story.

First Line: " I ain't never been one to trust beautiful people, and Tarrin of the Hariri was the most beautiful man I ever saw."

Review: You know a book is good when every time you step away from it to deal with real life responsibilities all you can think about is THAT book. The Assassin's Curse had that type of hold on me I was truly surprised by how amazing this book was, I had no expectations going in, I discovered the book on netgalley thanks to that awesome cover it got my attention and I had to know what it was about. Pirates, assassins, and impossible curses if any of those things gets your attention you will love this book.

Ananna is a pirate and her parents are marrying her off to an ally pirate clan which lets just say doesn't sit too well with Ananna so she takes her fate into her own hands and ditches them all. I don't want to give too much away but an assassin is hired to kill her off, and a curse is involved which leads her to embark on a whole new adventure.

I want more! I can't begin to tell you how captivated I was with the characters and the world they lived in. Ananna was the type of heroine I like to read about. She was brave and fearless especially in the face of danger, and she was always facing dangerous situations and coming out stronger of a character then before. Naji, I found him to be the most complex character in the book.Once he entered the story the plot became that much more interesting. I love his character but I want to know him better. There are several moments where I want to know what is going on in his head, he is literally a big fat mystery. 

For all you who need romance in your books, this one has a tiny itsy bitsy development of romance and being someone who loves her share of romance also, the little amount that was starting to develop brought enough tension to satisfy my romance needs until the next book.

What I really enjoyed was that Ananna was a Pirate, she could wield a sword and throw it down with a knife with the best of them. I also liked that even though she is such a strong female she is balanced out with her vulnerable moments that lets us know she is still just a girl who is trying to find her way.

Overall if you haven't figured it out by now I highly recommend this book and I will be buying a copy for myself once it hits the shelves.

Memorable Quote

"I ain't so heartless i'm gonna let someone be struck down with pain on account of me. Even if that someone is a murderer and a liar. Hell, murderers and liars used to sing me to sleep."