A review by katmullen
The Curse of the King by Winnie Lyon

5.0

Thank you Parliament Press for the review copy!

As a theatre kid and a Buffy fan I had the BEST time reading this book.

It does deal with some serious themes, but in such a relatable way. The writing is exactly my type of writing because it’s how I think and write. I was obsessed with the premise the second I read it. Theatre! Witches! Vampires! Queers! Shakespeare! The whole thing gave me such Buffy season 1-4 vibes and I LOVED that.

I wrote 5 pages of notes while reading and had no idea how to turn them into a coherent review. So I hope I’ve done that below :P

Relatable to Theatre Kids

There were so many moments I read and was like ‘hella relatable’ or ‘that’s such a theatre kid thing.’ During my high school musicals we were rebels and went around the theatre screaming ‘MACBETH!’ just to spite the curse, so it was funny seeing the gravitas put on it here (though seeing as the curse is 100% real in this world, makes sense). I felt so much nostalgia when they were sitting in a circle of stage reading through the script. I miss those days!

So many moments where I just said ‘me.’
Laura getting cast: “I didn’t expect to get this far” - me with my Big Brother Audition sitting in the second the last round.
“Oh my god, he’s a vampire” - legit would be my actual reaction
‘I’ve always been scared of drowning’ - yep, me too.

And the theatre kids moments! ‘Once the props crew gets their shit together’ and
- demon threatens to kill her - "I actually have a performance in a few weeks, so it would be really inconvenient to recast" had me cackling!