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A review by gypjet
The Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight
2.0
I'm trying to be more positive in my reviews. Sometimes I don't like a book and that doesn't necessarily mean its poorly written or junk fiction. The Curse of Gremdon has some good themes. It is a novel about people being controlled in every aspect of their lives. They eventually discover that the most important thing is marriage and family. Excellent theme. I like characters who don't take any crap from anyone and this book had that. I also liked the unique take it took on the bad guys and how they dealt with the non-compliant outsiders. (I'm trying to write spoiler free, but it's impossible so from here on there be spoilers!)
*spoilers* I thought it was really original of the author to have the amulets keeping the kingdom "protected." I liked the twist that it was really a control device. That was nice and it kept it interesting since the reader knew something was rotten in Denmark, but not the extent of it. I loved the twist with the Cursed (awesome!).
Now for the issues. Sure this is a romance/fantasy. I love a good romance, but this one kept me gagging. Every five minutes Tardon is dreaming of her "lush breasts" or having an urge to touch her. His firm and pulsing manhood was just too much, I don't know how the dude walked around. It would have read better toned down and spaced out to better fit the story. If you removed every time he dreamed of having sex with her the book would have been 2 pages long. It was a little overdone. I picked up the attraction, please let it grow normally instead of having them yearning for each others bodies every second. Also, when they finally are married and get to be together, they go to a lake and rub 'tonics' all over each other. Really? Tonics? Those are the things my grandparents drank for the 'rheumatism.' Also, what manly warrior is going to rub flowery smelly stuff all over his woman? It may be a female fantasy, but if men can't lick it or eat it off of you it isn't going to happen. The next thing that bothered me was that Ariana was supposed to be a warrior equal to Tardon, but she was completely helpless for most of the book. She was either wounded, or in danger or just whiny. I don't know, but let the girl be strong for crying out loud. Let her kick some ass.
So, those were my issues. The writing didn't flow very nicely either and there were some plot holes and awkward spots where I wasn't sure what was going on. It was an easy read though, and quick, I did want to know what happened, but I wouldn't read it again or any sequels.
*spoilers* I thought it was really original of the author to have the amulets keeping the kingdom "protected." I liked the twist that it was really a control device. That was nice and it kept it interesting since the reader knew something was rotten in Denmark, but not the extent of it. I loved the twist with the Cursed (awesome!).
Now for the issues. Sure this is a romance/fantasy. I love a good romance, but this one kept me gagging. Every five minutes Tardon is dreaming of her "lush breasts" or having an urge to touch her. His firm and pulsing manhood was just too much, I don't know how the dude walked around. It would have read better toned down and spaced out to better fit the story. If you removed every time he dreamed of having sex with her the book would have been 2 pages long. It was a little overdone. I picked up the attraction, please let it grow normally instead of having them yearning for each others bodies every second. Also, when they finally are married and get to be together, they go to a lake and rub 'tonics' all over each other. Really? Tonics? Those are the things my grandparents drank for the 'rheumatism.' Also, what manly warrior is going to rub flowery smelly stuff all over his woman? It may be a female fantasy, but if men can't lick it or eat it off of you it isn't going to happen. The next thing that bothered me was that Ariana was supposed to be a warrior equal to Tardon, but she was completely helpless for most of the book. She was either wounded, or in danger or just whiny. I don't know, but let the girl be strong for crying out loud. Let her kick some ass.
So, those were my issues. The writing didn't flow very nicely either and there were some plot holes and awkward spots where I wasn't sure what was going on. It was an easy read though, and quick, I did want to know what happened, but I wouldn't read it again or any sequels.