Reviews with content warning for Child death - Cursed

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. While Gilded was repetitive and slow, Cursed had many different events that caused the plot to move forward. I also loved the unraveling mythology and world building that occurred. Its poeticism strikes well within the more old setting presented. In mythology, there’s also a specific interest in promises and the value of words. Words are measured carefully yet people can still plot what that can mean. This is also shown in a delightful way in this book, with the main character being a storyteller.

However, although I mention the benefit of many different plotlines, this also created a surplus where not every one of them was explored. In particular, they have been dangling this idea of a romance ever since the previous book and that continues here. However, this continues to just be bait and never forms to be concrete. On one side, I think this was the correct decision but on the other I wonder why this was added in the first place. Ultimately I believe this added tension was done simply to help quicken certain slow scenes, as banter is an entertaining form of dialogue. While I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it, it did feel unnecessary though when there was nothing about it that mattered.

Serilda I also enjoyed a lot more in this book although only in the sense that I found her less annoying. I find this aspect perhaps the most unfortunate. Although the book was a lot better in terms of moving the plot along, there really was no character development with the exception of perhaps Erlking, where even there it falls short for me. I enjoy Gild in general a lot, but perhaps due to the information plays that happen or lack of perspective we have of him, he really is more of a plot device than an actual person. This in turn makes the romance fall flat for me because I need to be adequately invested in both people to enjoy the tension or care about the romance. But there was no push or pull in between the two or for the relationship, besides the common trope of miscommunication.

I did like the callback to the original mythos when it occurred here, and I was charmed by the general atmosphere that Meyer has here as it is a significant personal departure for her. The mental battle here was also intriguing. Although I did have my complaints on different aspects, in general I still enjoyed this book.

Content Warnings

kyleighf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

This book did not miss, and was written in true Marissa Meyer fashion where everything clicks into place like the goddess Wydrith themselves has written and told such a tale. I am not good at reading series’s, even duologies, as I prefer stand-alone, but this series was certainly worth it! The beginning was slow and full of exposition as you’d expect. As well, I was afraid that I would not recall what had happened in the previous book as it was about a year ago that I read it, but Meyer did a great job reintroducing the concepts that were vital to be carried over from the last one. It was not in an obvious way, but a subtle one, just enough to jog your memory. As I said, the beginning was a lot of setting up the story, but once it found a pace, it did not hesitate to run with it. The ending was worth every page

Content Warnings

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

this took me SO long. the first half dragged terribly, and the constant “twists” just felt like Serilda being so slow on the uptake it was out of character. I wouldn’t call her clever by any means in book 1; she mostly walks right into every trap set for her, but shes new to magic and does try to untangle the Erlkings web.

In this one she just straight up does not look before she leaps to an extremely unrealistic degree. She knows the consequences and yet let’s her guard down EVERY time. Every time she acted shocked by an evil thing the Erlking did i facepalmed; I’ve never seen such a sharp decrease in intellect in a main char between books before. Maybe the baby was rerouting oxygen from her brain? She’s blessed by the god of stories and lies but can’t pick apart very clear threats and lies said directly to her face? she does all this “investigating” but somehow never realizes the literal underworld gate is under her home? She realizes her “power” but continues spouting off bullshit that gets everyone in trouble? Her characterization is just incredibly weak in this book; there’s no way a “skillful liar” is that stupid? book 1 was okay but this one was just a total slog

also imma be real there was a gratuitous amount of child death in these books, and the use of the rumpelstiltskin name trope was incredibly cheesy and out of place. the ending was so cobbled together it doesn’t make sense! as someone who loved the lunar chronicles I am baffled that these books came from the same planet let alone the same author. just 0 interesting character development and a fascinating universe with no consistency

Content Warnings

monicatm's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional fast-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? No

4.5

Content Warnings

writer_egreene's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

soupymsc's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

The first book was arguably better as the ending felt very rushed as they didn't defeat the big bad till the last 20 pages and then also tried to fit in the curse and ending... Could have been better but was entertaining at least.

Content Warnings

sp00ky_n3rd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This was a good, strong YA fantasy. I really liked how Meyer flew right by every point I would have imagined things working out and managed to keep me on my toes with the story. She built a good world that I'm sure many stories could take place in.

Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I enjoyed this book. I think it was a good sequel. This is a dark fairytale retelling. The characters are entertaining and there is come character development. The relationship between the characters is interesting. The plot is a little predictable though I did enjoy it. The writing style is lovely.

Content Warnings

More...