Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by thebooknerdscorner
Theater of Curses by Catherine Stine
3.0
Luna Finley is a supernatural investigator with wings and tail who is ready to dive into the mystery surrounding the local conservatory and the mysterious presence that seems to be haunting its halls. . .
"Theater of Curses" follows Luna, a paranormal investigator who just so happens to be a mermaid. After successfully solving her first case alongside her partner Celestine, she moves onto another mystery, this time surrounding Tim Calhoun's Conservatory of Theater Arts. Strange happenings are occurring within its walls such as grisly attacks, terrifying graffiti, and strange red notations appearing in the actor's scripts. It's up to Luna to discover how to stop the Red Specter before it injures the students, destroys the theater, or worse. . .
As a student involved in theatre, I was super excited when I learned the premise of this book. I enjoyed the fact that much of it took place inside a conservatory for the performing arts and that much of the mystery surrounded the playwright and their past. However, this wasn't in actuality a major part of the story, but I found it fun to experience nonetheless.
I came to realize as I read this one that the main reason I loved the first book in the series ("Guardian of Monsters") is due to the protagonists, Celestine and Oryn. I found that I didn't love Luna nearly as much; I found her to be less interesting, though her backstory and powers are still neat. The love interest Tim on the other hand, did not work for me. I don't even know exactly why I didn't like him, but I just couldn't find myself connecting to him in anyway. I also felt the romance between the two wasn't nearly as organic as Celestine's and Oryn's. I know that playing the comparison game isn't super fair, but that's what I felt myself doing throughout the majority of this book.
I didn't dislike the story plot in this one, but I found myself often loosing interest when Luna and Tim worked to dig deep into the past and bring the origins of the 1811 play "The Romance of the Recording Angels" to life. I was interested to know details such as who wrote it, why does the Specter hate it so much, and how it connected back to Tim himself. The other details I cared less about, but I didn't feel like it drug too terribly.
Overall, "Theater of Curses" was a fine read, I just didn't like it nearly as much as the first one. The romance didn't exactly work for me, the side characters fell more flat, and I found myself not caring as much about what was happening in the long run. It was still a fast read with fun mystery and fantastical elements (plus there's baby goats!). I may not have loved reading this one, but I feel future installments in this series could really shine if Luna and Celestine get to act as balanced protagonists sharing the same amount of time on the page. Plus, I'm still desperate to learn more about Oryn's past. I will be waiting for the next installment in this series and hoping that it is even better than the ones before it!
"Theater of Curses" follows Luna, a paranormal investigator who just so happens to be a mermaid. After successfully solving her first case alongside her partner Celestine, she moves onto another mystery, this time surrounding Tim Calhoun's Conservatory of Theater Arts. Strange happenings are occurring within its walls such as grisly attacks, terrifying graffiti, and strange red notations appearing in the actor's scripts. It's up to Luna to discover how to stop the Red Specter before it injures the students, destroys the theater, or worse. . .
As a student involved in theatre, I was super excited when I learned the premise of this book. I enjoyed the fact that much of it took place inside a conservatory for the performing arts and that much of the mystery surrounded the playwright and their past. However, this wasn't in actuality a major part of the story, but I found it fun to experience nonetheless.
I came to realize as I read this one that the main reason I loved the first book in the series ("Guardian of Monsters") is due to the protagonists, Celestine and Oryn. I found that I didn't love Luna nearly as much; I found her to be less interesting, though her backstory and powers are still neat. The love interest Tim on the other hand, did not work for me. I don't even know exactly why I didn't like him, but I just couldn't find myself connecting to him in anyway. I also felt the romance between the two wasn't nearly as organic as Celestine's and Oryn's. I know that playing the comparison game isn't super fair, but that's what I felt myself doing throughout the majority of this book.
I didn't dislike the story plot in this one, but I found myself often loosing interest when Luna and Tim worked to dig deep into the past and bring the origins of the 1811 play "The Romance of the Recording Angels" to life. I was interested to know details such as who wrote it, why does the Specter hate it so much, and how it connected back to Tim himself. The other details I cared less about, but I didn't feel like it drug too terribly.
Overall, "Theater of Curses" was a fine read, I just didn't like it nearly as much as the first one. The romance didn't exactly work for me, the side characters fell more flat, and I found myself not caring as much about what was happening in the long run. It was still a fast read with fun mystery and fantastical elements (plus there's baby goats!). I may not have loved reading this one, but I feel future installments in this series could really shine if Luna and Celestine get to act as balanced protagonists sharing the same amount of time on the page. Plus, I'm still desperate to learn more about Oryn's past. I will be waiting for the next installment in this series and hoping that it is even better than the ones before it!