Give this at least 3 chapters... 
 ...okay, maybe 4 chapters... 
 ...come to think of it, go with 5, just to be safe... 
 3.5 stars. I can't remember where I got hooked, but it took a short amount of time. But when it happened, I was all in. It was sort of like when I read Graceling and felt like the story didn't really start until Katsa and Po hit the road. That's what happened to me with Assassin's Curse. Things start to pick up when Annabanana (uh...or something like that, her name was similar) gets into a scuffle and saves a MOTHEREFFING ASSASSIN'S LIFE. Yep. The girl saves the bad-ass, scarred assassin. From a snake. 
 Hence, the curse. You know the, "oh crap, you saved my life, so now I'm bound to protect you" curse? Which makes this hi-lar-i-ous because he was supposed to off her. 
 But, enough summarizing of the first few chapters (you know me, I'll never spoil anything that happens past the first small section). Let's break down the writing style. This reads like a subtle fantasy. Sure, there's magic and assassins and mystical, far-off lands...but no amount of swashbuckling and faux middle-eastern adventures is hiding the cutesy romance. I honestly expected this book to lean more on the guy-appeal side. Now, this isn't to say that guys can't/won't appreciate the book, but I do think there was quite possibly more swooning and pining than anticipated for an adventurous romp about an assassin being cursed. Although, I can admit to being (just a little bit) girly, so I will never turn down a chance to swoon inside of my head at the mysterious, scarred, bad-ass man. 
 "Scars don't spontaneously emerge overnight, Ananna. They come from somewhere." 
 So much of the book was spent on a journey, that I think the story suffered a slight hiccup during some of the time spent 'just surviving.' Don't ask me what I'd change because I couldn't tell you. Maybe I just want my travel time to be wrought with Percy Jackson-eseque adventure. Who knows? 
 There was enough that I did enjoy about Assassin's Curse, so I'll gladly continue with the series. 
 Strong Points : 
 ~ Unique setting. Bonus points for the fantasy version of a historic middle east, as well as the pirating/high seas adventures. 
 ~ Likable characters. Nobody's perfect in this tale. 
 ~ Unique magic system. 
 And he started to dissolve, turning into shadows like the ones I'd seen the first time he attacked me. 
 The room got darker and darker and his tattoos glowed brighter and brighter. 
 Weak Points : 
 ~ No real grip on a language style. Some of the descriptions were lush and fell in line with traditional fantasy storytelling, while other descriptions and speech felt almost crude and post-apocalyptic in nature. The lead female has moments where she speaks like someone out of Blood Red Road. I was taken aback for a second when the word 'bullshit' was thrown in. It's a fantasy world with other forms of words being used for slang; I'm not sure why there would be a modern-day swear word thrown into the mix 
 ~ The story seemed to flounder in parts, while we waited for things to happen. When the action happened, it was great. When it wasn't happening, not much else was happening. 
 For me, the strong outweighed the weak, so I will call this book a good time. I'm guessing the next installment will be even better. 
 This book was provided from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.