The Assassin's Curse

I thought as soon as I read the first paragraph that I was going to fall head over heels for this book.

I wasn't wrong.

The voice is unique, witty, and wonderful to read. The writing itself is a delight, and the characters - oh, how I adored the characters. Ananna is my favourite pirate in the entire world right now. I loved how capable she was, how she wasn't afraid to run into a fight, and how she wasn't afraid to allow weakness in, missing her family, fearing the assassins. I truly, truly love her. But Naji is my favourite character in this book, in any book that ever existed, and for my love of him to go above and beyond my love for Ananna is really something. He's so grumpy and intimidating and wonderfully, heartbreakingly broken. And he just wants to be loved. Falling off a cliff would hurt less than reading this book.

I would have loved The Assassin's Curse for its characters alone, but the story is a goddamned delight and made this one of my absolute favourite books of all time. It is vivid in its imagery, imaginative in its story and characters and world. I was invested in Naji's curse and finding a cure before I even knew it.

I loved literally everything about this book - the pirates, the ships, the desert, the magic, the dark threat, the floating freaking island of terror, the little hut. *wistful sigh* *heart eyes*

My only complaint is this book is 300 pages long, and I require it, by law, to be 3000.

(I went straight into the sequel upon finishing this, and I've already read a quarter of it, and I am quickly running out of book. I'm going to cry when I've read all the Assassin's Curse stories)