Reviews with content warning for Racism - From Bad to Cursed

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

15 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.0

"We glared at each other, the distance between us seeming to thin and contract, pulsing like a heartbeat, as if our shared loathing were potent enough to actually distort the fabric of reality."

➽ From Bad to Cursed is another Thistle Grove romance that follows Isidora 'Issa' Avmarov and Rowan Thorn! There were hints at their bad history in the last book, but this time Issa and Rowan have to team up again because there's someone in town who's cursing other witches. A member of the Thorn family has had their magic messed with and everyone's suspicious of Issa's family for their affiliation with dark, necromantic magic. As representatives of the families Isidora and Rowan are forced to work closely together in order to catch the culprit. This is an enemies-to-lovers romance, as both Issa and Rowan are at odds with each other. Not only because of their history but also because their families have never gotten along. The Thorns are all about life magic, but the Avmarovs dabble in darker stuff.

➽ I liked the romance for the most part, especially with the added complications of their families being polar opposites. Issa is protective of her family and hates how their magic is seen as revolting by other witches! She also struggles with feeling out of place among her tight-knit family, as Issa yearns to become a fashion designer. Right now she's in charge of the productions at their haunted house, but her work doesn't spark joy anymore. Issa has no idea how to tell her family though, as she feels boxed in by their expectations.

➽ In the end, I was a bit disappointed by this book though as it didn't live up to Payback's a Witch. I didn't feel as invested in the main couple, especially as the mystery took over at times. This made it difficult to root for Issa and Rowan, as I didn't feel like we got to explore their relationship as deeply as I wanted. A lot of interesting aspects of the story weren't properly explored. Issa's struggles with her career weren't as relevant as I would have hoped and were so easily resolved. I was excited for the mental health rep, but Issa's panic attacks were only brought up midway through the book and then weren't mentioned again. It was disappointing that the story didn't delve deeper into her anxiety and panic issues, the portrayal was very surface-level. Another iffy thing was the discussion about the prejudice against the Avmarov's magic and how it was compared to racism. The whole conversation was very tone-deaf. The author randomly included the information that Rowan was biracial and I don't think she mentioned it before that. She goes on about how most family have become more racially diverse, but it feels like a token effort to prove that the witch community is diverse. Rowan being biracial and facing racism was brought up a couple of times, but not further explored in any way. I feel like it was just included to make the romance seem more diverse.

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ranbara's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Suffered through the heterosexual b-plot bc I like the world building. Some hamfisted "look how diverse our cast is, I'm not racist!" Main character mess that I'll just overlook and some cringy writing from time to time (as was in the first book) but what do you expect

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katkins's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

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augustar14's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book didn’t hit like the first one. I didn’t like the relationship dynamic of these characters as much, and felt like it developed quickly and incongruously with their behavior towards each other (though I love Rowan Thorne!). The plot was weaker than the last book as well. And while I appreciated that this book brought up racial prejudices, it did so in a way that felt forced. I also could not get behind Issa’s worries in doing something different from her family to follow her heart. Still a fun book, as a cozy, witchy romance should be, but more on the mediocre side.

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haileyhardcover's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I HAVE BEEN DUPED. This is supposed to be my year of only reading books with prominent LGBTQIA+ rep. The others in the Thistle Grove series all apply, so I had ASSUMED when I spontaneously bought up the whole series that From Bad to Cursed would as well… wrong. There are queer side characters, so it wasn’t a complete cishet failure but… I’m still mad lol

In addition to the story really lacking in queer rep for my liking, I just didn’t enjoy this story as much as Payback’s A Witch. This one is more of a whodunit mystery which I do typically enjoy, but I sussed out the WHO early on, and didn’t enjoy the time it took the MC’s to catch up.

Knowing what I now know about the third book in this series (bad non-binary rep) I am even less excited to continue reading them… but I bought them all, and the third and fourth books are short, so I will. But I don’t expect to be keeping this series on my shelf when the year is out.

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