Book Review-The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Title: The Pirate’s Wish

 Author:  Cassandra Rose Clarke

Series:  The Assassin’s Curse #2

Published:  4 June 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 336 pages

Warnings: violence, fade to black sex scene

Source: netgalley

Other info: The Assassin’s Curse was reviewed here.

Summary : 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.

Review: The Pirate’s Wish picks up straight after The Assassin’s Curse. Ananna has realised her feelings for Naji, and they set about completing their three impossible tasks. After being picked up by friend Marjani and a manticore (how awesome is that?!), they travel south, trying to find ways of completing these things. As they are chased by pirates wanting vengeance and beings from the Mists,  they wonder if it’s going to be possible to break the curse, and also what they’ll do if they manage it.

I really enjoyed The Assassin’s Curse, and was looking forwards to this one. We spend a lot of time in The Pirate’s Wish in different lands to last time, with visits to manticore societies, and  to courts, and a lot of time on a pirate ship.

My favourite character was either Ananna, who was just as smart and sassy as in the  first book, and learning a little more magic and figuring out what she wants to do regarding all this,  or the manticore, who had a funny retort for everything when we first met her, often regarding eating people.

I loved the fact they just get hold of a boat and command it and the intercrew dynamics are both funny and touching as it really defines  the friendship bond between Ananna, Naji and Marjani.

The story gets resolved in an unbelievable way. Magic comes into it, and it really works for the way it was set up. The very end was a little sad, but I can see a lot of adventures in Ananna’s future.

I said in my review of The Pirate’s Wish that I think Angry Robot should do an omnibus edition of this series. I’m glad that it wasn’t cut down, because the story here is so full and the happennings so good that if we lost it, then it’d be a shame. But  it did seem like The Assassin’s  Curse was just cut off midway, and as this is a direct follow on, I think I’d prefer to read the whole story in one sitting, megabook or not.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fitting end to this series. Looking forwards to more from Cassandra!

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |