YA Round-Up
The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.
To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks-all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic…and the growing romantic tension between them.
There is YA for an older crowd and YA that skews toward middle grade and younger, and while I’d say The Assassin’s Curse fits in more with the latter, its category by no means diminishes the fact that it’s a fun, quick, and entertaining read. An aspiring lady pirate, Ananna has spunk and sass to spare, and when she decides to defy her parents’ arranged marriage, an adventure ensues: fending off an assassin (aka Naji); unwittingly activating a curse that binds said assassin to her; and joining forces with her assassin in the quest to figure out how to undo the curse. Clarke keeps the story hurtling forward at a fast clip, but doesn’t neglect Ananna and Naji’s development: the two bicker and squabble, but also build a sure foundation of mutual respect and trust. One critique I have is perhaps the plot. The Assassin’s Curse felt more like “Part One” of a bigger book than a standalone story, and for that reason, some events felt a bit too drawn out. Still, it’s a fun read and I’d pick up the next installment, The Pirate’s Wish.
Shadows by Ilsa Bick
Spoilers for Ashes!
Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love. But she was wrong.
Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.
Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.
When I read the first book in this trilogy, Ashes, I was impressed by the fast-paced, horror/action movie feel of the book, but overall felt more ambivalent about its overall story and character development. This time around, my thoughts are definitely more fixed-but unfortunately, against this series, rather than for it.
One of the main reasons I kept going with Ashes, despite my frustrations with the disjointed structure of the story, is because of the main character, Alex. Tough and resilient, Alex is perhaps more scared of the “monster” she is harboring within herself and her struggle-both with the Changed in the real world and the monster within-is part of what makes this series so compelling. But in Shadows, Ilsa Bick incorporates so many more perspectives that Alex is lost in the shuffle, which is a shame, because most of the new characters I really couldn’t care for (except for Tom, the wounded soldier from Ashes).
Speaking of too much going on, Ashes also falls victim to the “let’s make this action-packed!” trend of post-apocalyptic YA. Similar to my main dissatisfaction with the Divergent series, which inundates the reader with so much violence that it diminishes its importance and meaning, Shadows really pulls out all the stops when it comes to stepping up the action. There are gory scenes of zombies feasting on humans and/or feasting each other; humans torturing or maiming one another; zombies and humans dying slow and painful deaths. The problem is, though, that after all, these scenes follow each other in rapid-fire succession that I started to skim-not because I’m particularly squeamish but because I didn’t really feel that I’d miss anything REALLY significant after a few pages. And when a book feels like it should have a fast-forward button, maybe the author should tone it down a bit.
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.
To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks-all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic…and the growing romantic tension between them.
There is YA for an older crowd and YA that skews toward middle grade and younger, and while I’d say The Assassin’s Curse fits in more with the latter, its category by no means diminishes the fact that it’s a fun, quick, and entertaining read. An aspiring lady pirate, Ananna has spunk and sass to spare, and when she decides to defy her parents’ arranged marriage, an adventure ensues: fending off an assassin (aka Naji); unwittingly activating a curse that binds said assassin to her; and joining forces with her assassin in the quest to figure out how to undo the curse. Clarke keeps the story hurtling forward at a fast clip, but doesn’t neglect Ananna and Naji’s development: the two bicker and squabble, but also build a sure foundation of mutual respect and trust. One critique I have is perhaps the plot. The Assassin’s Curse felt more like “Part One” of a bigger book than a standalone story, and for that reason, some events felt a bit too drawn out. Still, it’s a fun read and I’d pick up the next installment, The Pirate’s Wish.
Shadows by Ilsa Bick
Spoilers for Ashes!
Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love. But she was wrong.
Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.
Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.
When I read the first book in this trilogy, Ashes, I was impressed by the fast-paced, horror/action movie feel of the book, but overall felt more ambivalent about its overall story and character development. This time around, my thoughts are definitely more fixed-but unfortunately, against this series, rather than for it.
One of the main reasons I kept going with Ashes, despite my frustrations with the disjointed structure of the story, is because of the main character, Alex. Tough and resilient, Alex is perhaps more scared of the “monster” she is harboring within herself and her struggle-both with the Changed in the real world and the monster within-is part of what makes this series so compelling. But in Shadows, Ilsa Bick incorporates so many more perspectives that Alex is lost in the shuffle, which is a shame, because most of the new characters I really couldn’t care for (except for Tom, the wounded soldier from Ashes).
Speaking of too much going on, Ashes also falls victim to the “let’s make this action-packed!” trend of post-apocalyptic YA. Similar to my main dissatisfaction with the Divergent series, which inundates the reader with so much violence that it diminishes its importance and meaning, Shadows really pulls out all the stops when it comes to stepping up the action. There are gory scenes of zombies feasting on humans and/or feasting each other; humans torturing or maiming one another; zombies and humans dying slow and painful deaths. The problem is, though, that after all, these scenes follow each other in rapid-fire succession that I started to skim-not because I’m particularly squeamish but because I didn’t really feel that I’d miss anything REALLY significant after a few pages. And when a book feels like it should have a fast-forward button, maybe the author should tone it down a bit.