This is an accurate portrayal of me after reading The Assassin's Curse: In fact. You know, what? Hit it:Ananna is a pirate, born and raised and on the high seas is where she spends her days. Sword fightin', riggin', stealing your loot. Handy with a lie and a knife in her boot. All she wants is to travel to distant lands, but her mom and pop are plotting marriage plans.She'll take adventure over a relationship, so on the big day gives her fiance the slip.She has no idea just what trouble she's in, turns out he wasn't joking about that assassin.Naji's an assassin with a capital A. He's got a new target, he's stalking his prey.He's the shadow behind her in the dead of night, knows eighty ways to kill, never lost a fight.All covered in blood magic, scars and tattoos. He'll meet her in the desert for a midnight duel.But versus Ananna, he experiences a first: instead of an easy kill they both get cursed.Enemies become allies if only to survive. The Curse is Impossible but they still have to try... Dance Break! I'm sorry. I'm not sorry. This book was so much fun!There are few things I like better than reading about two adversaries forced to become allies in pursuit of some higher goal. When Ananna accidentally triggers a curse binding herself with her would-be assassin, Naji, they quickly become one of my most favorite Buddy Cops of Convenience of all time. The awkward teamwork! The reluctant bonding! The coordinated sword fights! Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter!What makes this particular team so perfect is that both sides of the partnership hold equal weight. You'd think that might be hard to pull off with one side being a legendary blood magic assassin and all, but Ananna is no wilting flower either. In fact one of the most enjoyable parts of the book for me was how often Ananna nonchalantly saved Naji's ass. Perfect heroine is perfect. Etc. Etc.As much as I enjoyed this first book, I can already tell the sequel is going to be even better. I cannot wait to get my greedy hands on it. As is, though, The Assassin's Curse is a gem and has the perfect blend of hijinks and high stakes.Rating: 4/5 stars.Warning: I bought the paperback and the back cover copy includes developments that happen within the last 10 pages or so of the book so just go ahead and stick with the Goodreads summary if you don't want to know the set up for the next book until you get there. This review originally appeared on Young Adult Anonymous.
