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adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Curse of Ophelia (The Curse of Ophelia #1) by Nicole Platania
The war is over.
The curse is lifted.
Malakai is gone.
Rating: *****
Feels: Determined, Inspired, Brave, Strong
Style: Fantasy, Romantasy, Mythology , Magic, High Fantasy
First published February 7, 2023 : 370 pages, Kindle
I absolutely loved this adventure. The story was rich and the world was breathable. The world is full of myth and secrets which you get to uncover as we follow Ophelia and her friends on their trek. I really enjoyed all the characters in this story and the unique magic system as well as origin of the different peoples of the world. There are definitely dark times in this book, and struggles that they have to overcome which made the read so much more captivating. I can not wait to continue this series !
Favorite quote: “I was not made for skirts, Father. I was made for swords.”
This book has:
Strong FMC (Stabby)
Morally Gray MMC
Chosen One
Angels
She saves him
Hidden Identify
Found Family
Revenge Plot
Magic
The war is over.
The curse is lifted.
Malakai is gone.
Rating: *****
Feels: Determined, Inspired, Brave, Strong
Style: Fantasy, Romantasy, Mythology , Magic, High Fantasy
First published February 7, 2023 : 370 pages, Kindle
I absolutely loved this adventure. The story was rich and the world was breathable. The world is full of myth and secrets which you get to uncover as we follow Ophelia and her friends on their trek. I really enjoyed all the characters in this story and the unique magic system as well as origin of the different peoples of the world. There are definitely dark times in this book, and struggles that they have to overcome which made the read so much more captivating. I can not wait to continue this series !
Favorite quote: “I was not made for skirts, Father. I was made for swords.”
This book has:
Strong FMC (Stabby)
Morally Gray MMC
Chosen One
Angels
She saves him
Hidden Identify
Found Family
Revenge Plot
Magic
A excellent debut that features a badass FMC, witty side characters, and intriguing world building.
Nicole does a wonderful job of setting up Ophelia a strong but grieving FMC. She lets you sit in her grief, while at the same time really allowing Ophelia to come to grips with the loss of her childhood sweetheart. It was harrowing and empowering to read.
I really loved the side characters in this story. They were a unique group that checked my boxes for comedic relief and found family. I need more Tolek!!
The plot is suspenseful with solid pacing. I liked how Nicole weaved the worldbuilding throughout and kept expanding it as the group traveled.
Can’t wait to read more.
Nicole does a wonderful job of setting up Ophelia a strong but grieving FMC. She lets you sit in her grief, while at the same time really allowing Ophelia to come to grips with the loss of her childhood sweetheart. It was harrowing and empowering to read.
I really loved the side characters in this story. They were a unique group that checked my boxes for comedic relief and found family. I need more Tolek!!
The plot is suspenseful with solid pacing. I liked how Nicole weaved the worldbuilding throughout and kept expanding it as the group traveled.
Can’t wait to read more.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
I picked this up because I can't resist the allure of a mythology-inspired story, and I was hooked from the moment I began reading. Platania does an amazing job with the world-building, and characters that are so real they practically step off the page. You can't help but fall in love with Ophelia, she's an amazing MC, flawed in her own way, but still strong and determined. The story itself moves along smoothly, without any major lulls, so you'll find it hard to set down for even a moment. I cannot wait for book two, and a chance to explore more of Ophelia's world, and get to know her and the others better. Cannot recommend enough if you're looking for a NA Romantasy to get hooked on.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A lot of unnecessary details and fluff. The first 20% are a constant repeat of the same 3 things: Ophelia likes to drink, constantly beefs with her family and she really, really wants to be a warrior, to the point where anything else is wholly irrelevant to her. That’s nice and all, but that setup doesn’t need to drag on for so long. I started zoning out when she described in detail the chores she partakes in within her family household. I’m not interested in domestic housekeeping montages in my high fantasy books, same as how I don’t need a full paragraph on how you put your armor on. Or repeated, detailed descriptions of dresses and outfits that take up whole pages. That stuff can be summarized.
There’s also a lot of heavy exposition right from the get go, in form of what I can only describe as “world building lore dumps.” A character will mention some lore relevant term, cue Opehlia’s internal monologue, ranging 1-3 full pages, explaining the world and its terms in great detail. Repeatedly. It’s clumsy and jarring to read.
Also, the world building doesn’t make sense. And I’m personally offended by that because Ophelia literally will not shut up about the damn war and how poor the country is now and how miserable their lives have all gotten. She comes from what would have been considered a noble family, but much like everyone else, they’ve had to cut down on luxuries. She specifically mentions that it got bad enough for them to dismiss all their household staff, interior décor, expensive furniture, etc. Yet Ophelia constantly struts around in silk and lace dresses with intricate gold embroidery, or wears diamond studded jewelry. I’m sorry, but if you’re gonna chew off my ear for 80 pages about how the war has ravaged the country and everyone is poor now, how you can’t afford spices for your food anymore, then please STICK to that logic. Doesn’t make sense for a 17-20 year old character to go out wasting precious money at the tavern every night to drink herself into a stupor, or hoard expensive silk and lace gowns and diamond accessories.
I’m DNFing at 27%, this is mind numbing. It’s so slow and repetitive and grating, and nothing fking happens.
There’s also a lot of heavy exposition right from the get go, in form of what I can only describe as “world building lore dumps.” A character will mention some lore relevant term, cue Opehlia’s internal monologue, ranging 1-3 full pages, explaining the world and its terms in great detail. Repeatedly. It’s clumsy and jarring to read.
Also, the world building doesn’t make sense. And I’m personally offended by that because Ophelia literally will not shut up about the damn war and how poor the country is now and how miserable their lives have all gotten. She comes from what would have been considered a noble family, but much like everyone else, they’ve had to cut down on luxuries. She specifically mentions that it got bad enough for them to dismiss all their household staff, interior décor, expensive furniture, etc. Yet Ophelia constantly struts around in silk and lace dresses with intricate gold embroidery, or wears diamond studded jewelry. I’m sorry, but if you’re gonna chew off my ear for 80 pages about how the war has ravaged the country and everyone is poor now, how you can’t afford spices for your food anymore, then please STICK to that logic. Doesn’t make sense for a 17-20 year old character to go out wasting precious money at the tavern every night to drink herself into a stupor, or hoard expensive silk and lace gowns and diamond accessories.
I’m DNFing at 27%, this is mind numbing. It’s so slow and repetitive and grating, and nothing fking happens.
I really enjoyed The Curse of Ophelia. I love the relationship Ophelia shares with her friends and the banter that goes along with having known them for all of her life.
Team Tolek all the way. Malakai who??
And.. at least someone called her out for designing a fighting leather set that was rather revealing. Hahah.
I enjoyed the story and the world. I'm so interested to know what will happen next. There were a lot of plot threads sewn into the story that I hope to see come to fruition.
Team Tolek all the way. Malakai who??
Spoiler
I rated this a 4.5/5 just because of how the journey to the Spirit Volcano felt like a checklist for every one of her companions getting attacked or hurt in some way to fill her with the guilt of their suffering.And.. at least someone called her out for designing a fighting leather set that was rather revealing. Hahah.
I enjoyed the story and the world. I'm so interested to know what will happen next. There were a lot of plot threads sewn into the story that I hope to see come to fruition.
I dragged a bit reading this but I'm fairly confident it has nothing to do with the book and any other time I would have flown through this. That being said, I think this is setting up for a really interesting series and I'm more than intrigued enough to read the second (when it comes out later this year). The story line was interesting, beautiful written and the secrets were held tight for most of the book which kept you guessing. I do hope we get some more character depth moving forward because they all seem fairly one-note right now. As of now I'm also a big Tolek fan..