Cassandra Rose Clarke
Strange Chemistry
October 2nd 2012
Young Adult | Paranormal
Skin-walker | Benandanti
Strange Chemistry
October 2nd 2012
Young Adult | Paranormal
Skin-walker | Benandanti
Official Blurb -
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.
Waiting.
So much waiting and it wasn't really that nothing was happening; more like not enough was happening in the right directions. A fruitless journey over half of the world only to find three more quests, each as odd and crazy as the next.
No romance. Despite it starting off with an arranged marriage there isn't a lick of romance. Unless you consider one sided longing towards a person who suffers emotional constipation romance. On top of which said constipated individual just so happens to be completely unaware of the other person as a romantic interest. Talk about frustration.
Even though I could follow the reasoning behind Ananna's feeling and actions toward Naji I really couldn't empathize. He is very aloof and rough. There doesn't seem to be a single moment where he isn't straight forward with her about his desire to be free of the curse and her. He wants to go back to his self loathing as soon as possible. The curse itself is odd. I thought I must have missed a page that explained the curse. All we know most of the book is that he is in this strange predicament but has no idea why it could have happened. It wasn't until the very end that we find out what the actual curse is and its origination. It isn't some assassin thing but very particular to him. Even the description is a bit disjointed.
I enjoyed both of the characters. Naji has some really nifty abilities. I have a feeling we have only tasted what he can do. Ananna is really flamboyant yet a bit more of a mouse. I am thinking seeing her take charge would be really nice. That might be just the sort of situation in which real change can happen for the two of them.
The two of the three new quests don't sound all that interesting to follow. Maybe they are too vague for my imagination or even too crazy to seem real. The last quest just fills me with sadness. Naji is so wrapped up in his own misery about his disfigurement and career that he can't see anything else. He will have to undergo some real changes allowing him to open up.
The pirate factor in this book wasn't as cool as I was hoping. For the most part it felt more like background noise than a full-on flavor brightening everything.
Not a bad read. Assassins are always great, then add in some pirates and the party is ready to get started. The two characters are so very different and when thrown together there is so much potential for entertainment. I would love to follow how this relationship evolves but am wary of the odd quests. Guess this will be a wait and see.
So much waiting and it wasn't really that nothing was happening; more like not enough was happening in the right directions. A fruitless journey over half of the world only to find three more quests, each as odd and crazy as the next.
No romance. Despite it starting off with an arranged marriage there isn't a lick of romance. Unless you consider one sided longing towards a person who suffers emotional constipation romance. On top of which said constipated individual just so happens to be completely unaware of the other person as a romantic interest. Talk about frustration.
Even though I could follow the reasoning behind Ananna's feeling and actions toward Naji I really couldn't empathize. He is very aloof and rough. There doesn't seem to be a single moment where he isn't straight forward with her about his desire to be free of the curse and her. He wants to go back to his self loathing as soon as possible. The curse itself is odd. I thought I must have missed a page that explained the curse. All we know most of the book is that he is in this strange predicament but has no idea why it could have happened. It wasn't until the very end that we find out what the actual curse is and its origination. It isn't some assassin thing but very particular to him. Even the description is a bit disjointed.
I enjoyed both of the characters. Naji has some really nifty abilities. I have a feeling we have only tasted what he can do. Ananna is really flamboyant yet a bit more of a mouse. I am thinking seeing her take charge would be really nice. That might be just the sort of situation in which real change can happen for the two of them.
The two of the three new quests don't sound all that interesting to follow. Maybe they are too vague for my imagination or even too crazy to seem real. The last quest just fills me with sadness. Naji is so wrapped up in his own misery about his disfigurement and career that he can't see anything else. He will have to undergo some real changes allowing him to open up.
The pirate factor in this book wasn't as cool as I was hoping. For the most part it felt more like background noise than a full-on flavor brightening everything.
Not a bad read. Assassins are always great, then add in some pirates and the party is ready to get started. The two characters are so very different and when thrown together there is so much potential for entertainment. I would love to follow how this relationship evolves but am wary of the odd quests. Guess this will be a wait and see.
Content:
Swearing: Moderate to Heavy
Violence: Moderate
Moment Divine:
"Yeah," I said. "This is Naji."
"I was expecting a little boy," Marjani said.
"He acts like one sometimes."
