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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
I DNFed this at 55%. I didn’t love the first book but I was hoping to enjoy this one more but I just couldn’t. I think I’m getting tired of the MMC keeping things from the FMC and then it causing the FMC to not trust him. I just can’t deal with that trope rn in any of my books and I tried to get past it but when it happened again I just couldn’t see past it.
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
4.5 ⭐️ 2 🌶️
Multiple Pov in 3rd person
This story picks up immediately where the first book left off. I really enjoy Will and Aya together, the tension and chemistry between them is perfect. Cant wait to see where Aidon's story goes.
I can't wait for book 3 after that ending!!
Thank you for the eARC, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House & Netgalley
Multiple Pov in 3rd person
This story picks up immediately where the first book left off. I really enjoy Will and Aya together, the tension and chemistry between them is perfect. Cant wait to see where Aidon's story goes.
I can't wait for book 3 after that ending!!
Thank you for the eARC, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House & Netgalley
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Whilst I hadn't read book 1 in the series, I didn't struggle too much with keeping up with the main plotlines and characters development.
Aya and Will are essentially committing reason against their Queen for the good of their realm. The Queen is on a power-trip and claiming to hear the voices of the banished Gods (never good when someone is hearing voices!). They have only just made new allies with Aiden and his sister Jodie. It's hard work overthrowing cruel and corrupt despots!
But now they have to attempt to fit back into their lives, keeping their new found romance a secret and try to find ways to save their realm. I have to say Gianna is a complete dictator and she had no compunction torturing Aya's friend for her own ends.
The plot is windy and twisty and I did get confused a few times. However the pacing is good and I enjoyed the variety of characters. There is representation for LGBTQIA+ and a few of them could also possibly be neuro-diverse.
I did find Tova quite hard to like, even after being tortured! Similarly Lena was a bitter pill but I quite liked her brother, even when they were on opposing sides. If Aya is going to be a SpyMistress, she really needs a lesson in subterfuge and subtlety - she is sometimes as subtle as a brick to the noggin! LOL
Aya and Will are essentially committing reason against their Queen for the good of their realm. The Queen is on a power-trip and claiming to hear the voices of the banished Gods (never good when someone is hearing voices!). They have only just made new allies with Aiden and his sister Jodie. It's hard work overthrowing cruel and corrupt despots!
But now they have to attempt to fit back into their lives, keeping their new found romance a secret and try to find ways to save their realm. I have to say Gianna is a complete dictator and she had no compunction torturing Aya's friend for her own ends.
The plot is windy and twisty and I did get confused a few times. However the pacing is good and I enjoyed the variety of characters. There is representation for LGBTQIA+ and a few of them could also possibly be neuro-diverse.
I did find Tova quite hard to like, even after being tortured! Similarly Lena was a bitter pill but I quite liked her brother, even when they were on opposing sides. If Aya is going to be a SpyMistress, she really needs a lesson in subterfuge and subtlety - she is sometimes as subtle as a brick to the noggin! LOL
Libro.fm June Librarian ALC
Okay, lots of mixed feelings with this one.
The last 15% was suuuper rushed. I almost wanted to stop the book with 2 hours left because it felt like a satisfying cliffhanger. Because, why did we resolve that so quickly?Aya didn’t even have a full chapter to believe that Will was dead, before she was given that kernel of hope and rushed off to Milsaio. I would have preferred she find some excuse to still sail over there as the “reinforcements” or aid of some kind, still believing Will dead. Then book 3, chance encounter 20% in: you’re alive! That whole emotional plot point was just too close to the end to make any sense. I get that the cliffhanger we do end off on was more impactful, but I can’t help but feel like there was a way to rearrange some things to make the first cliffhanger the end of book 2, and move this book’s ending to book 3’s. The rollercoaster graph of how a story’s momentum “should be” structured was just thrown out the window there.
I did like this book much better than book 1. I didn’t hit a weird slump in the middle, I actually wanted to keep going. Probably because this had a better flow, though after the whiplash of the last 15% I can’t remember anything else from this book. I think Aya and Will were in Tala for the majority? But doing what I can’t remember. 20 hours was a lot and kinda unnecessary for this story, and thankfully I was able to understand at 3.5x speed, but I still think this could have been split across 2 books to really hit those emotional beats right.
Rapid fire things I liked: the narration (like Julia Whelan for fantasy, hello??), Liam entering the scene, seeing more conflict between Aya and Will, and the prose for being so easy to get into. I’m actually so energized to read now, this has put me in the opposite of a reading slump!
Okay, lots of mixed feelings with this one.
The last 15% was suuuper rushed. I almost wanted to stop the book with 2 hours left because it felt like a satisfying cliffhanger. Because, why did we resolve that so quickly?
I did like this book much better than book 1. I didn’t hit a weird slump in the middle, I actually wanted to keep going. Probably because this had a better flow, though after the whiplash of the last 15% I can’t remember anything else from this book. I think Aya and Will were in Tala for the majority? But doing what I can’t remember. 20 hours was a lot and kinda unnecessary for this story, and thankfully I was able to understand at 3.5x speed, but I still think this could have been split across 2 books to really hit those emotional beats right.
Rapid fire things I liked: the narration (like Julia Whelan for fantasy, hello??), Liam entering the scene, seeing more conflict between Aya and Will, and the prose for being so easy to get into. I’m actually so energized to read now, this has put me in the opposite of a reading slump!
adventurous
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
While it did take me a minute to get back into this world and refresh my memory, it was easy to follow along until it all came back quickly. That I have to say really goes to the author’s writing style and it helped bridged any gaps i needed to fill in the little time before I caught up. I also loved seeing the romantic relationship develop between Will and Aya, it was perfectly paced and well planned out, as they had some rough patches, some great times, and overall such an emotional rollercoaster as they figured out the Queen’s plan!
The fantasy storyline of this book developed so well from book 1 and I loved seeing the growth in Aya’s powers, the demise of the Queen, and the long lasting effects of Aya’s new powers regarding the war! This book set up book 3 so well, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
The fantasy storyline of this book developed so well from book 1 and I loved seeing the growth in Aya’s powers, the demise of the Queen, and the long lasting effects of Aya’s new powers regarding the war! This book set up book 3 so well, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
I will admit I didn’t reread the first book before jumping into this, so I definitely had to look up multiple reviews to remember. The book takes off right from where the first book ends. The beginning is looking at the repercussions of what happened in the last book, and how this affects the characters moving forward.
There is so much betrayal and suspicion within the storyline that it was difficult to truly know who you could trust and who was acting. I felt a bit of the middle book syndrome with the middle portion. It was a bit slow with plot and heavy on political intrigue. The ending got wild and I gasped a few times while listening.
Honestly with this story the characters and their interactions keep me more invested than the magic system, which I think is a bit convoluted. (Maybe I would understand the magic system more on reread). I absolutely love the characters and their interactions with one another. The author does a good job in making me love and absolutely hate characters. There was good development of themselves and relationships with each other. The romantic angst was real in parts of this story. Aya and Will are one of my favorite couples to follow, because they at least talk to each other sooner rather than later.
I am so excited to see the conclusion of the story, but am disappointed it isn’t going to be out anytime soon. In terms of the audiobook quality, I really enjoyed the narration and it was very compulsive to listen to.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the early access to an audiobook in return for a review.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Audio and ebook review
The Curse of Sins pretty much picked up where the first book ended. A lot went down in this installment - action, intrigue, political machinations, betrayal, deceit, sexy times and so much more. One of my fave things was the growth in the characters. I liked seeing their vulnerability and them being a bit more comfortable with who they are and who they are becoming. I enjoyed listening to and reading it simultaneously. I think the narrator did an awesome job. I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
Copies provided by publishers through NetGalley
The Curse of Sins pretty much picked up where the first book ended. A lot went down in this installment - action, intrigue, political machinations, betrayal, deceit, sexy times and so much more. One of my fave things was the growth in the characters. I liked seeing their vulnerability and them being a bit more comfortable with who they are and who they are becoming. I enjoyed listening to and reading it simultaneously. I think the narrator did an awesome job. I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
Copies provided by publishers through NetGalley
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you’re here, this probably means you enjoyed The Curse of Saints enough to see if book 2 is worth reading. And I would say yes. If you enjoyed the first book, you’re likely going to enjoy the sequel.
That said, the problem with books where two storylines are interweaving is that inevitably one of them is more interesting than the other. Unfortunately for me, The Curse of Sins was no exception to this. And even more unfortunately for me, the storyline that interested me the most was the secondary story, where we got to follow Aidon and Josie and how they are coping with his sudden ascension. Spoiler, not well.
Aya and Will’s storyline dealt with a lot of miscommunication (and by that I mean deliberately keeping information from each other) that I didn’t love. But in the moments that they were working together instead of against each other, it really brought back all of what I loved from the first book.
I am really excited to see where things progress in the final book.
If you love audiobooks, the narrator is the same as the first book and continues to do an excellent job bringing the characters to life!
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an audio arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Torture