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3.07 AVERAGE
3.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm a sucker for Arthurian legend so I was slightly skeptical of the ability to tell the story but give it a twist. But I was pleasantly surprised. There were moments where the writing felt somewhat incomplete but this was a brilliant retelling of the story we know and love. And Nimue doesn't feel unrealistic. You feel her youth but also how much she's grown throughout the span of the novel.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The narrator though <3<3<3
Cursed definitely had it's ups and downs but overall, it was interesting enough to hold my attention. The pacing in the beginning does start off a bit slow.. but then the book weaves in and out of random pacing throughout the entire book. Not going to lie, I mostly wanted to dive into this because it's becoming a Netflix show! So yeah, I was excited for that part.. I just wish the overall book was on the same pace and a bit more exciting at times.
In it, you will meet Nimue. Eh, she's an okay character but mostly reckless. At one point, I started to like her more than I started off to. Then there are the character's that she meets along the way.. and they were eh too. Merlin was interesting but I feel like people always play around with his character when it comes to King Arthur-ish books. Or it could just be me?
Other than that, the romance was okay but didn't really motivate me to ship anyone. It was just kind of there and in the way. In the end, I'm glad that I took a chance on it.
Cursed definitely had it's ups and downs but overall, it was interesting enough to hold my attention. The pacing in the beginning does start off a bit slow.. but then the book weaves in and out of random pacing throughout the entire book. Not going to lie, I mostly wanted to dive into this because it's becoming a Netflix show! So yeah, I was excited for that part.. I just wish the overall book was on the same pace and a bit more exciting at times.
In it, you will meet Nimue. Eh, she's an okay character but mostly reckless. At one point, I started to like her more than I started off to. Then there are the character's that she meets along the way.. and they were eh too. Merlin was interesting but I feel like people always play around with his character when it comes to King Arthur-ish books. Or it could just be me?
Other than that, the romance was okay but didn't really motivate me to ship anyone. It was just kind of there and in the way. In the end, I'm glad that I took a chance on it.
I struggled trying to decide what to rate this one, but I have to say it’s a solid 3.75/4 stars for me. Also, let me preface the rest of the review by saying that this book made me realize I did not know as much about Arthur as I previously thought (apparently Magic Tree House didn’t stick with me 16 years later).
At first, I was not into it. I was confused about what was going on, Nimue kinda annoyed me, and I just wasn’t really sure if I had made the right choice choosing this one for my class this week. That being said, when Arthur came in and Nimue got the sword it really started to pick up for me.
Some things I loved about this book:
I loved Arthur, Nimue actually ended up being a really cool heroine, I actually did like Drunk Merlin, I appreciated how complex the Weeping Monk was, and I LOVED Squirrel (I wish he had had a bigger part throughout the story). It had a nice fast pace throughout, Wheeler didn’t get bogged down in world building but still did a really good job establishing 14th(?) century England. I also love the politics of early European courts, so seeing the Vikings vs Urthon vs The Church vs the Fey kind was a lot of fun, especially when it all came to a head at the very end.
Some things I didn’t particularly enjoy:
I don’t mind a POV switch throughout a book, but sometimes the constant switching both between chapters and in the middle of chapters could feel a little chaotic and left me feeling confused at times. Like I said earlier, I got bored with it at the beginning, but that wasn’t a huge deal as it did pick up. It also wasn’t entirely the story I was expecting. I don’t know how true to the original myth of Arthur it was (minus of course the sword not choosing Arthur), but I guess I was thrown off by how dependent on magic it was and it wasn’t the feminist tale that I was expecting (I don’t really know what I mean by this because Nimue was a great heroine, but in some ways it just wasn’t as in your face about her being chosen as queen over a man as I was expecting?). And with almost every other review listed on here, I did not like the illustrations. They were weird and felt out of place to the rest of the story to me.
Overall, I liked the book a lot more than I was expecting to and I’d definitely like to read the next one when it comes out and I’m excited to see what they do with it in the Netflix show!
At first, I was not into it. I was confused about what was going on, Nimue kinda annoyed me, and I just wasn’t really sure if I had made the right choice choosing this one for my class this week. That being said, when Arthur came in and Nimue got the sword it really started to pick up for me.
Some things I loved about this book:
I loved Arthur, Nimue actually ended up being a really cool heroine, I actually did like Drunk Merlin, I appreciated how complex the Weeping Monk was, and I LOVED Squirrel (I wish he had had a bigger part throughout the story). It had a nice fast pace throughout, Wheeler didn’t get bogged down in world building but still did a really good job establishing 14th(?) century England. I also love the politics of early European courts, so seeing the Vikings vs Urthon vs The Church vs the Fey kind was a lot of fun, especially when it all came to a head at the very end.
Some things I didn’t particularly enjoy:
I don’t mind a POV switch throughout a book, but sometimes the constant switching both between chapters and in the middle of chapters could feel a little chaotic and left me feeling confused at times. Like I said earlier, I got bored with it at the beginning, but that wasn’t a huge deal as it did pick up. It also wasn’t entirely the story I was expecting. I don’t know how true to the original myth of Arthur it was (minus of course the sword not choosing Arthur), but I guess I was thrown off by how dependent on magic it was and it wasn’t the feminist tale that I was expecting (I don’t really know what I mean by this because Nimue was a great heroine, but in some ways it just wasn’t as in your face about her being chosen as queen over a man as I was expecting?). And with almost every other review listed on here, I did not like the illustrations. They were weird and felt out of place to the rest of the story to me.
Overall, I liked the book a lot more than I was expecting to and I’d definitely like to read the next one when it comes out and I’m excited to see what they do with it in the Netflix show!
Didn't love it, didn't hate it. The story is intriguing enough that it kept me invested till the end. I also really appreciated the included art. I'm VERY interested in how the Netflix series will turn out though. I have a feeling this might be one of those rare situations where the adaptation might actually be better than the book.
Well thank god that’s over. That was the most shallow, painful thing I have read in a long time. There was no character development, and very little depth to this story at all. Things kept happening but I felt so disconnected from the characters and the story that I did not care in the slightest when some of them died.
It was a relatively fast read, which is the only reason why I stuck with it. But wow. That...was very bad. It had such potential, but the entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking that I could write a more rounded story when I was in high school. And the fact that this was supposed to be a retelling of one of my all time favorite legends just made it even worse.
I might watch the show just to see what happens—this felt very screenplay in essence, so maybe it will translate to Netflix better than it did to a book. I don’t know. There was just so much wrong with this from the insta love to the fact that no one did anything that made sense and that it felt like it was all done for the sake of the wow factor that I am just exhausted from it.
And the illustrations, I’m sorry to say, added nothing to the story. Maybe it was because I was reading the ARC and they were relatively incomplete, but it just felt like they were unnecessary.
I think this might be the lowest rating I’ve ever given a book, but I seriously have nothing good to say about it other than it’s over. I didn’t really have high hopes for this due to how hyped up it was, but somehow, that made all of this even worse.
Gah. That was just painful to read all around.
It was a relatively fast read, which is the only reason why I stuck with it. But wow. That...was very bad. It had such potential, but the entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking that I could write a more rounded story when I was in high school. And the fact that this was supposed to be a retelling of one of my all time favorite legends just made it even worse.
I might watch the show just to see what happens—this felt very screenplay in essence, so maybe it will translate to Netflix better than it did to a book. I don’t know. There was just so much wrong with this from the insta love to the fact that no one did anything that made sense and that it felt like it was all done for the sake of the wow factor that I am just exhausted from it.
And the illustrations, I’m sorry to say, added nothing to the story. Maybe it was because I was reading the ARC and they were relatively incomplete, but it just felt like they were unnecessary.
I think this might be the lowest rating I’ve ever given a book, but I seriously have nothing good to say about it other than it’s over. I didn’t really have high hopes for this due to how hyped up it was, but somehow, that made all of this even worse.
Gah. That was just painful to read all around.
Meh. Not bad and worth the read before watching the Netflix show (probably) but not wholly original. I also didn't think Frank Miller's illustrations added anything to the book.
I chose to dip my toes into audiobooks with this selection, and I can’t have been happier with my choice! Arthurian legend is one of my favourite genres of books, films & tv, and this version was no exception. I loved hearing all the original names pop up in different ways, and having watched the series first, I could visualise each scene as I listened. Katherine Langford’s voice perfectly narrated this absolute classic!