Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally (Flashback Friday #6)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

I picked this novel to review this week for a couple of reasons, but mostly because I've been pining after the companion novel to this story, Stealing Parker, so I figured I'd make you all pine with me! ;)

Title: Catching Jordan 

Author: Miranda Kenneally 

Rating: 4/5 Stars 

Catching Jordan was the perfect mix of just about everything! It was a cute and utterly fun read that had me rooting for Jordan and Henry the wholee way through. Yes, even before Ty came into the picture. 

Jordan is THE tom-boy. Her father is a major league football player and she herself is the captain of the football team. You'd think this would make her the ladies man; yet, despite being beautiful, she's never been kissed. The closest she's ever been with a guy is Henry, her best friend for the past ten years. When Ty, a new quarterback from Texas moves in, Jordan can't help but feel attracted to his lazy smile and Chace Crawford looks. But why can't Jordan let herself be with Ty? Why is her life, that used to be so perfect, spiraling out of control? That too just days before the biggest match of her life?

I loved Jordan. Although she was brave and strong, her break downs felt utterly relate-able and her decisions were realistic. I loved her evolving relationship with just about everyone - her parents, her team mates, other girls at school, Ty, and, of course, Henry. There was a lot of chemistry in this book - not the scientific kind, but not the romantic type either. There was chemistry with her friendships - the ease she had with her team mates, yet the difficulty she had in truly confiding to them. There was chemistry with her class mates - girls who she never really spoke to but came to trust and confide in. There was chemistry with her parents - her father who had never encouraged her to pursue football but finally found a way to express his love for her. Of course, there was also chemistry with Ty, her boyfriend, but more than that, there was chemistry with Henry, her best friend. An easy and friendly relationship that blossomed into something more without Jordan even realizing.

I think the best part of this book was the lack of a love triangle. Yes, there were two amazing guys in Jordan's life, but she chose who she wanted to be with pretty quickly. No long, drawn out drama. The difficulties came in overcoming hurdles to be with the guy she loved. That type of romance is so hard to come by in a society where YA Fiction is all about lust driven protagonists who want two guys at the same time. Not only that, but how can you not love the typical best friend romance? Kenneally writes from a fresh, realistic point of view that was fun and easy to read, yet managed to break your heart as well. Also, she managed to make me love football - a feat that half a dozen gym teachers and years of skipping the SuperBowl have failed to do(;

I devoured Catching Jordan in one sitting and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Needless to say, I'm eagerly awaiting the two companion novels to this one. If you're looking for something fun and easy to read with love-able characters and a heart-wrenching love story, Catching Jordan is the book for you!

Review: Chime by Franny Billingsley (Flashback Friday #5)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Chime by Franny Billingsley 

Title: Chime 

Author: Franny Billingsley 

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Briony Larkin has grown up hating herself. Before her stepmother passed away, she told Briony a secret: Briony is a witch. Briony is wicked. Briony is responsible for hurting her sister Rose. Briony is guilty. Briony must not tell her father. Briony must not tell anyone. If Briony tells, she will be hanged. Thus, Briony believes in her own inherent evil - she despises herself. Yet, when Eldric, a boy who is as different from her as sun and moon, arrives from London, Briony starts to question everything she's ever been told. Slowly, secrets begin to surface - secrets about Briony. Secrets about her life. Secrets she doesn't know.

Chime is dark, haunting, and utterly original. Billingsley's writing style can be strange at first, but it soon grew on me. I found myself devouring the pages, unable to stop reading until late into the night.

Briony, despite her own self-loathe, is an intelligent and self-reliant new heroine, able to fend for herself. Furthermore, she does everything she can to take care of her twin sister, Rose. Rose lives in her own world, acting like a child after an accident that affected her mind when she was young. She tells Briony that she has no birthday although they are twins, doesn't allow her to listen to the clock chime twelve, and has a plethora of secrets of her own. Although Briony often doesn't want to take care of her sister, she does anyway, showing an admirable sense of loyalty. Briony has so many notable characteristics that one cannot help but love and sympathize with her even though she despises herself. She is intriguing and, as the narrator, provides a refreshing new perspective.

Briony and Eldric's blossoming romance was captivating and - dare I say it - something that had not been done before. Eldric calls himself a resident "bad boy,"; yet, he is unlike any other "bad" boy we have come to know in YA literature. Eldric is a gentleman who is kind, honest, friendly, and funny. He becomes Briony's friend first and Briony, believing that she in incapable of love, does not see him as anything more than that for much of the novel. It is evident to the reader that Eldric likes Briony very much; however, as the novel is told from Briony's perspective, we cannot help but doubt him and question Briony's own feelings towards him as she does not know them herself. Eldric is so easy to fall in love with and, despite his evident weaknesses and flaws, has become one of my favorite male characters in YA literature.

To be honest, I was originally very skeptical about reading Chime. The cover is gorgeous and I wanted to like it so badly, but most reviewers had simply been unable to read it because of the writing style. I didn't want to be one of those readers. Thankfully, I was sucked in my the writing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything about this book is unique - its characters, its plot, its romance. Although it seems like just another paranormal romance, it is so much more. It is thought compelling, strange, and beautifully written. Certain scenes are written with such poise that they stand out, immediately making this novel one with writing that may not necessarily be poetic or beautiful, but certainly striking.Billingsley's talent for writing is evident throughout the story as she never makes Briony come across as whiny or annoying for hating herself - she truly develops and adds depth to her personality. Some authors are simply good, Franny Billingsley however, has true talent.

Chime may not be a novel that everyone may necessarily like, but it is haunting and deserves to be read. If you are looking for something that will completely blow your mind away, leaving you pondering the novel long after you are finished with it, read Chime. You won't regret it.

Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley (Flashback Friday #4)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley 

Title: Graffiti Moon 

Author: Cath Crowley

Rating: 5/5 Stars

The only mistake I made in picking up Graffiti Moon was to start it nearly at midnight. I was planning to quickly read a few chapters and go to sleep, but I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the pages and by the time I was done, it was well past two in the morning. Needless to say, I found myself dreaming about warm cozy beds for much of my day, but Graffiti Moon was totally worth the late night (or should I say early morning?) read.

Graffiti Moon is told in alternating perspectives, shifting from Lucy, Ed, and occasionally Leo's point of view. The story starts out with Lucy pedaling on her bike as fast as she can to see Shadow, a graffiti artist whose work she loves and, who she believes, just may be the guy of her dreams. When Lucy misses Shadow by five minutes, she is forced to meet with her best friends Jazz and Daisy and watch as Jazz decides to hook up with Leo and Daisy with her boyfriend Dylan, leaving Lucy with Ed, the guy whose nose she broke in tenth grade. Just as Lucy is about to regret her all-nighter decision, Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow. What follows is a late-night adventure and blooming romance, but Ed may not be the guy Lucy thinks he is - he may be more.

I absolutely fell in love with the story of Graffiti Moon. Crowley's writing is flawless and sucks you in so that you feel as if you, not Lucy and Ed, are walking the streets of Australia. The perspective shifts are done with ease and although some scenes are re-told from either Lucy or Ed's POV, the story-telling never becomes cumbersome. One of my favorite things about this book were the poems that were scattered in between Lucy and Ed's thoughts. They were not only beautifully written, but gave a remarkable amount of insight into Leo's mind in a unique and perfectly presented manner.

Still, the thing I loved most about Graffiti Moon was it's love story. Ed and Lucy are both unique characters and their thoughts flowed with such ease and honest simplicity that it felt as if I myself was thinking them opposed to reading them on the page. Furthermore, their love story grew through conversation, a deep appreciation of art, and a special understanding and acceptance of each other. Despite their rocky past, they managed to move on, learning not only from their mistakes, but learning about each other. Surprisingly, theirs was not the only love story in this novel. Jazz and Leo, Daisy and Dylan, Lucy's eccentric parents, Bert and Valerie - I found myself inexplicably in love with all of them and rooting for their romances just as much as I was rooting for Lucy and Ed.

Perhaps the best part of this book is that the romance never took away or overshadowed the serious issues of acceptance, belonging, and family that were prevalent throughout the novel. Graffiti Moon made me laugh, made me scream in frustration, jump for joy, and made me fall completely in love with it. If you chose to read just one contemporary Australian book in your lifetime, let it be this. You'll be utterly sucked in to the story, fall hard for the characters, and I'm sure that you will glean something new with every re-read. It can be said, without a doubt, that Graffiti Moon is one of my favorite novels this year - and perhaps - ever.

Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington (Flashback Friday #3)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Saving June by Hannah Harrington 

Title: Saving June 

Author: Hannah Harrington 

Rating: 5/5 Stars 

Very rarely in my life have I come across a book where it is difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what I liked about it. Saving June falls into this rare category of books simply because it made me feel so many emotions that it is hard for me to go back and find the exact moment I began falling in love with it. Saving June was one of those books that I was so completely invested in that time lost all meaning and I forgot that I was reading a book in my bed and not on a road trip to California myself. Perhaps I loved it so much because it was my first road trip story or because it falls under the category of the few books that have had such a strong focus on music. Perhaps I loved it because I haven't read a book about a sister who committed suicide yet or because this story took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride. Whatever it may have been, I don't think that the proper words exist for me to express my love of this novel; yet, I will attempt to try.

First and foremost, I think it should be noted that I loved this book for all the reasons that other people didn’t love it. I’ve read my fair share of Saving Junereviews and while I respect each and every one of them, I found myself to be in the minority when I recognized that the aspects of this book that drew me in were not quite the same for others. For one, I loved the narration of this novel.Saving June is told from the point of view of Harper whose older sister, June, has just committed suicide. The entire story revolves around Harper’s quest to take her sister’s ashes to California, the one place she wanted to visit more than anything else. Harper’s voice is real, raw, and brutal in a way that isn’t quite likeable. She is moody, upset, cynical, dark, and often sarcastic. She does everything in her power to distinguish herself from her perfect older sister and now, that said sister is no longer alive, she doesn’t quite know what to do. After her parents divorce, it’s always been June who comforts her mother, not her. It’s always been June who gets the perfect grades, not her. It’s always been June who has a large circle of friends, not like Harper whose social life revolves around her best friend, Laney. Harper is far from perfect, but all her imperfections and flaws make her so tangible, palpable, and realistic. I found myself falling in love with the ease of her narration, the brutal honesty of her thoughts, and her intelligent insight. Harper knows that she is a hard person to like and live with but she makes no efforts to change who she is for others. She sees herself as being an emotionless being since she can’t bring herself to cry at her sister’s funeral, but her hurt and pain go so much deeper than any physical manifestation of tears could convey. Although Harper is easy to hate, criticize, and find fault with, she also has so much good in her. Harper is a good person to whom bad things have happened. She is confused, she is angry, and she has every right to be. Her personality is difficult to explain, simply because it is so multi-dimensional and believable. I think Harrington has done a phenomenal job of truly capturing the human spirit, teenage confusion, and adolescent urge of finding who you truly are in Harper. In many ways, I understand why some readers may not like Harper’s narration or her voice, but I completely fell in love with it. It’s nothing like you’ve ever read before and I do absolutely no justice to its brilliance and eloquence, but it manages to speak volumes in all its egregious imperfections and subtle beauty.

However, Harper, despite being the main character, was not the only person in this book to make it tick. Laney, Harper’s best friend, is the type of best friend you want to have. She is loyal, understanding, and portrayed in a very realistic manner. The dynamics between her and Harper felt very real to me and quite typical of any close friendship. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t as if they fought either. They had their casual tiffs, their small misunderstandings, and their difficulties understanding what each other was going through, but isn’t that was friendship is truly about? Furthermore, Laney isn’t simply there as Harper’s friend. She has her own problems, own difficulties, and own tragedies that she has to cope with and, being her best friend, they affect Harper too. The manner in which their lives overlapped despite experiencing different obstacles made their relationship take on an extremely realistic quality that simply made it all the better, stronger, and firmer.

I fear I’ve been using the word “realistic” far too much in this review, but when I think of Saving June, that’s the first word that comes to mind. So much of why this novel was a success to me was because of its relate-ability, it’s power to suck me in and make me forget that I wasn’t Harper myself. Contemporary novels are meant to be believable, and although they often are, they don’t quite make you forget that you’re reading. Saving June on the other hand, completely made me forget that I was reading a fictional world with fictional characters in it. Each and every character was so well thought out, well developed, and their personalities were all so reasonable that I could not help but be in utter awe of Harrington. As an aspiring author, I would love to see her pre-planning for this novel because there had to have been a great deal of thought put into these characters for this story to have been so enjoyable.

Speaking of enjoyable, didn’t I just enjoy meeting Jake! ;) Jake seems to be your typical male protagonist: swoon-worthy, sings, plays guitar, and pulls off a fedora perfectly. Yet, he is so much deeper than that. I think what surprised me the most about Jake’s personality was that it was just as flawed as Harper and Laney’s characters were. Jake can be impossibly sweet and understanding, but he can also be unreasonable and angry. He can be passionate about music and lecture for hours about incredible bands, but he can also clam up and refuse to answer your questions if he wants to. Usually, the male protagonist tends to be aloof at first, then becomes completely sweet, then aloof again after a misunderstanding, and then romantic once the novel is ending. Jake however, was cranky, rude, and annoying at random moments in the story, all while being kind, sweet, and humorous at other times. This quality about him not only floored me in its realism, but it also made me love him all the more. Jake isn’t a perfect human being and he is bound to lash out at others and say things without thinking at times. His arguments with Harper were not simply witty banter, sometimes they were genuine arguments. I don’t think I’ve loved a relationship as much as I loved the one between these two because it was slow, building up on the tension between them, and occurred only after a complete understanding of each others personalities. A lot of their relationship was very one-step-forward-two-steps-back, but never in an annoying or irritating way. It was that way because of Harper’s mixed feelings, her confusing thoughts, and her unknown decisions regarding everything in her life. Another aspect of their relationship I loved was that Harrington never shied away from teenage sex and furthermore, she never made it romanticized. It was awkward, it was cute, it was what it was. I could very possibly go on gushing about the relationship between these two – the way in which they understand each other perfectly, the way in which they see something about the other that they can’t see themselves, the way in which they can change each other for the better and inspire each other – but we’d be here forever. Just know that this is a relationship that won’t disappoint and it’s slow build-up is a thrill to read.

That being said, I realize that I still haven’t spoken about the most important aspect of this novel: June’s suicide. To be perfectly honest, I want to just skip this subject entirely, but that wouldn’t be fair to this book. June’s suicide is a large and integral part of this story and there are very few moments in the book where Harper doesn’t think about the death of her sister. Saving June is, in many ways, more than just a road-trip book. It is a book about trying to find the answers to why people commit suicide and I think it succeeds completely in this aspect. Does that mean that this novel comes up with one definite reason for which people take their own life? No, absolutely not. In fact, the ending almost seems like a cop-out because of the lack of certainty about anything to do with June. Yet, that was what I liked the most about it. No one knows why other people commit suicide and, as human beings, we can’t know or find out. For each person it is different and all we can do is come to terms with it, like what Harper did throughout this novel. As the reader, we think that Harper’s journey is taking her closer to the truth behind her sister’s death, but in reality, it is taking Harper closer to her own acceptance of this tragedy. By the end of the novel, we do not know why June committed suicide, but we do know that it was no rash decision on her part and that she is in a happier place. We know that Harper is stronger than June ever was and to me, those lessons of strength and hope and persevering on are what make this book a truly incredible read.

I remember thinking yesterday that maybe I should turn down the rating for this book by a star or at least half-a-star, but this book deserves the full five-stars it’s getting. Not only were the characters realistic, their development inspiring, and the themes hopeful, but the writing was beautiful and touching in a way that few things ever are. Saving June is a book that wraps you in grief and laughter and worry and joy and sorrow and happiness all at once. It’s never boring, it never over-whelms you with sadness, and it keeps you on your toes, not only in terms of the destinations along the road trip but especially during the romance. In some ways, Saving June is almost the perfect kind of contemporary romance; the type that affects you, yet keeps everything real and believable and slow and achingly sweet. I fell in love with nearly every aspect of this book and I would read it again in a heartbeat. In fact, the only thing I could think after finishing it was how beautiful it was, how real, how true…Harrington creates characters that are hard to understand, that are wrought with flaws and imperfections, yet she breathes life into them, making them lovable, realistic, and gorgeously perfect despite their tragedies and misgivings. I can only hope that others too will enjoy and cherish this book just as much as I did. Thus, I will leave you with a short, rather cryptic, but memorable quote from this beautiful novel: don't let the bastards grind you down. ;)

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee (Flashback Friday #2)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: Angelfall by Susan Ee 

Title: Angelfall  

Author: Susan Ee

Rating: 5/5 Stars 

Susan Ee, I salute you. Please do mankind a favor and send a copy of your book to every author who has ever written a book about angels - maybe they'll finally understand that they're not going about it right. You are. 

This is how you write a book about angels.
This is how you write a post-apocalyptic book.
This is how you write a kick-ass heroine.  
This is how you write a gut-wrenching romance. 
This is how you write a torn family. 
This is how every book deserves to be written. 

Angelfall begins in a post-apocalyptic realm where angels have taken over the Earth and are ravaging and destroying everything. Penryn, caught up in a raging battle for survival, must take care of her crippled seven-year-old sister and her mother who is bordering on the verge of complete lunacy. When Penryn witnesses the cruel ripping apart of an angel's wings, in what she can only guess to be violent angel politics, she is thrust under the spotlight of these inhumane beings. Now, her sister has been kidnapped and her only hope of finding her is Raffe, the angel whose wings she just witnessed being brutally cut off. The two strike an unlikely compromise, but the world where Penryn lives is teeming with danger and finding her sister may put more on the line than Penryn originally believed...

From the moment you crack open the spine of Angelfall, Susan Ee doesn't give you a moment to breathe. This is a story that completely sucks you in, keeping you frantically flipping the pages for more. Ee's writing is beautiful, flowing with such talent that it is surprising this is a self-published novel. Furthermore, Penryn's voice is refreshing, strong, and driven. She has quickly become one of my favorite female protagonists of all time and I found myself warming up to her stubborn will, dedication to her family, loyalty to her friends, and vulnerability all at once. Penryn, like so many characters before her, must hold the weight of her family on her shoulders, but she does it in a way that makes you immediately sympathize and admire her. Her mother, who is single-handedly responsible for putting her seven-year-old sister in a wheelchair, is far from stable and my heart broke over just how quickly Penryn must have had to grow up and assume the role of adult. Their relationship is a rocky one at best, but it is original, unique, and I find myself hoping against hope that it improves.

Although Penryn was a completely kick-ass and self-reliant protagonist, she was no match for Raffe, the warrior angel. Raffe is self-assured, witty, and gorgeous - everything you can expect from a typical male protagonist right? Wrong. Raffe is a much deeper character than any usually featured in Young Adult novels and I fell for him - hard. Raffe has a long and mysterious past, which I am yearning to find out more about, but he is also compassionate, loyal, caring, trustworthy, and sweet beyond measure. His relationship with Penryn progresses slowly, steadily building up in a way that simply increased the passion between them. The romance in no way detracted from the pounding pace of the plot and took a glorious backseat, but it was present and subtle and beautiful all the same. It's the type of romance that leaves so much more imagination, for interpretation and for growth that I couldn't not envy Ee's easy way of incorporating it into the tale. 

Susan Ee honestly makes writing look flawless. I couldn't find a single complaint, a single plot hole, a single something I didn't like about this book - and I'm a picky reader. This is hands down one of the best books I've read this year. It has everything you could possibly want in it: an indomitable heroine, heart-pounding action, a swoon-worthy and slow romance that leaves you yearning for more, a well-fleshed out plot, and most importantly, a post-apocalyptic universe that keeps it real. Ee doesn't gloss over the ugly aspects of human nature and the desperate means people resort to live by - if anything, her descriptions of these events only add to increase my respect for her and my love for this story. 

If you haven't picked up Angelfall yet, then stop everything you're doing and go pick it up now. I surprised myself by finishing this in a matter of hours and I am more than tempted to order this online and read it again once it arrives at my doorstep. In fact, I probably will. I need more Raffe in my life ;) Either way, I will be amongst the first people to get my hands on this sequel when it comes...this was just so bloody brilliant I have no words to express its perfection. So what are you still doing reading this? Go! Go buy this book now and revel in its beauty!

ARC Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Flashback Friday #1)

Flashback Friday was originally an idea I came up with - or thought I came up with at any rate. Since I'm a new book blogger with dozens of reviews on GoodReads, I thought Flashback Friday would be a great way to feature some of my older reviews on my blog. However, it turns out that there are tons of different bloggers out there who feature a Flashback Friday of their own. So, I am taking ideas from two such bloggers - Clean Teen Fiction and Skyla11377 - and meshing them together to create my own version of Flashback Friday - a version which features some of my favorite books from the past year and provides a review for them. You don't have to be a new blogger to participate in Flashback Friday though. This is simply an opportunity to showcase novels we've read in the past and enjoyed, even if there is no written review for it, so feel free to grab my button or make your own and participate! :)

Today's Flashback Friday Pick: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke


Title: The Assassin's Curse

Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke 

Rating: 4/5 Stars 

Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

This, ladies and gentleman, is how you write a spectacular debut novel. Clarke’s first book is a masterful mix of imagination, thrill, suspense, and a subtle, but underlying, romance. Although I do have my own qualms with this book – which I will get to in a little bit – I can’t deny that it kept me entertained, forcing me to devour it all in one sitting. I fell in love with the character interaction and rich world that Clarke had created and I am already eagerly anticipating the sequel of this fantastic story. In fact, my only complaint at having received this as an ARC is the fact that I have to wait longer than anyone else to get my hands on the sequel, but you can bet that I’ll be one of the first ones to do so.

Seventeen-year-old Ananna, the daughter of a rich pirate lord, wants nothing more than to become captain of her own ship, sailing the seas with a crew of her own. However, when she is forced into marriage with a boy she does not love and barely trusts, she does the only thing she can think of – she runs away. Pirates, however, are not known to be forgiving people and before she knows it, Ananna has an assassin on her trail. Yet, Ananna’s assassin is no ordinary killer and when Ananna unwillingly saves his life, she finds herself bound to him in a way she never wanted. Naji, the enigmatic assassin who is sent to murder Ananna, is victim to a terrible curse causing him to live his life protecting Ananna and forcing him to experience severe pain when she is away or injured. Thus, is it with reluctance that the two of them embark on a journey to find a cure to Naji’s “impossible” curse. Yet, as time will tell, there is more to fear on their adventure than pirates and assassins and their deadliest threat may come from what, to Ananna, is completely unknown…

In all honesty, the plot of this story reminded me a lot of Brightly Woven. Both novels feature a tortured male protagonist who is suffering from a curse and a female protagonist who is forced to remain with him, slowly falling in love with him as time passes. Although these similarities were egregiously obvious throughout the story, The Assassin’s Curse threw in something completely different and original that made it stand out. For one, Ananna is an admirable heroine. She stands up for herself, doesn’t back down from a fight, and knows how to hold her own. Although she comes across as young, juvenile, and even quite less-than-kick-ass at first, that quickly changes. I thoroughly enjoyed Ananna’s narration – her quick wit, brilliant humor, and rapid banter made this novel one that I couldn’t put down. Furthermore, she is far from any typical “Mary Sue” character that I’ve come across and isn’t shy to argue or challenge Naji and the predicament they find themselves in.

Speaking of Naji, I think it’s safe to say that I’m in love with him. There is simply something about tortured characters that rips out my heart and tears my soul, making me sympathize with and eventually fall head-over-heels in love with them. Naji was no different. At first, Naji can come across as cruel, strange, and even hard to like. However, Clarke does a spectacular job developing his character as we progress through the story. She doesn’t hesitate to show us Naji’s weak, vulnerable, and ugly sides just as much as she knows us his compassion, pain, and total badassery. Naji, despite being a handsome man, has a scar across his face which disfigures him, causing him to be extremely self-conscious. Although it seems as if taking on so many issues – a curse, an adventure, pirates, assassins, murder – seems too much to do justice to without adding on the classic theme of don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover, Clarke does a remarkable job of balancing everything out. In fact, I think this idea, more than even the curse, truly made Naji stand out to me and revealed a whole other side of him we previously didn’t get to see. What I loved most about it though was how Ananna found it in herself to love him and see him for all his positive aspects rather than his ugliness, murder, and killing. All in all, I feel as if I’ve gotten a truly thorough and complete picture of both Naji and Ananna’s characters after reading this novel and I couldn’t be any happier. The romance in this book is very subtle and slowly creeps up on both Ananna and the reader. I don’t want to give anything away so all I’ll say is that I can’t wait to see where it goes and how it progresses in the sequel!

Gushing aside, I still had a few qualms with this book. First and foremost, it should be noted that this novel takes place in an entirely different world – a world which I still, unfortunately, don’t know too much about. This lack of information did not hinder the story in any manner and was, in fact, probably a very calculated writing maneuver as the narrator, Ananna, obviously knows about the world she lives in, but as a reader I found myself wishing there was more importance given to the world-building aspect of this story. I definitely think we will be getting a lot more information about this world and the multiple detailed intricacies of it in the sequel, but this all goes back to another issue with this novel: the pacing. Now, when I discuss pacing I don’t mean that this book was slow or lagging in any aspect, because it wasn’t. This was a true page-turner. By pacing I mean that there was a flood of information given to the reader during the first few chapters and then the plot took over and there was more information-dumping in the last chapter. I know I would have enjoyed this book more if the intrigue and mystery about Naji’s curse was not revealed to us in the very beginning (or in the synopsis for that matter) and if the world-building had steadily progressed and increased throughout the course of the novel.

Overall though, The Assassin’s Curse is a debut novel you should definitely watch out for. It is entertaining, filled with heart-pounding action and characters that you cannot help but love. Even though this novel comes across as juvenile in some parts, I think it is an excellent addition to the small cluster of good YA fiction out there. Plus, who can resist that beautiful cover? Not me, that’s for sure! I am thrilled to see where Clarke is taking this series and I’ve enjoyed every minute I spent in her world. So, when October rolls around, don’t let it take a curse (or me cursing you) to read this! Pick up this amazing debut – you won’t regret it!(:

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry for providing me with an ARC of this book and giving me the opportunity to read and review it!