A review by kingaphrodite
Cursed by Marissa Meyer

mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

 That is one of the great things about being a storyteller. We get to write our own story, too. 

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.
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