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A review by flightyreads
A Cursed Son by Day Leitao
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Note: I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
A Cursed Son starts us in a very human world that quickly lets us know how it differs from our world. There’s magic! But human magic bad… except for the main character? This theme is continuously repeated throughout the book, likely to remind us that the main character must unlearn this to succeed. While helpful the first few times, I definitely started to roll my eyes a bit when this continued well through the third act.
Astra is not like other girls even beyond her magic. She has secret purple hair and evil ancestors and is a princess body-double/assassin/guard/prisoner. Marlak is not like other boys, because he is fae. And also evil but not evil. And maybe killed all of his family. But he’s half-hot in more ways than one!
I say all this because the characters and their themes are repeated constantly, yet I often found these characters on a roller coaster with their actions. Something is bad and forbidden-I should do this, it’s right-Something is bad and forbidden. This repeats itself often with Astra.
Despite some characterization complaints, I did genuinely enjoy the overall story. I found myself captured by Marlak’s mystery and Astra’s newfound freedom. I found myself excited when they would make progress on their relationship and reasonably bummed as a reader should be when it sometimes turned into two steps back. I thought the pacing of their relationship genuinely made sense and it was nice to see the strength of this relationship play out in the end. I am definitely going to be reading the sequel when it is out. Although this book is listed as New Adult, I would definitely recommend this more to readers who enjoy a slightly more juvenile narrative with some spice sprinkled in. I would encourage the author to add more action descriptions in the next book when it pertains to fights, arguments, and even just friends reuniting. Overall, I rated this book 3.5/5 stars.
A Cursed Son starts us in a very human world that quickly lets us know how it differs from our world. There’s magic! But human magic bad… except for the main character? This theme is continuously repeated throughout the book, likely to remind us that the main character must unlearn this to succeed. While helpful the first few times, I definitely started to roll my eyes a bit when this continued well through the third act.
Astra is not like other girls even beyond her magic. She has secret purple hair and evil ancestors and is a princess body-double/assassin/guard/prisoner. Marlak is not like other boys, because he is fae. And also evil but not evil. And maybe killed all of his family. But he’s half-hot in more ways than one!
I say all this because the characters and their themes are repeated constantly, yet I often found these characters on a roller coaster with their actions. Something is bad and forbidden-I should do this, it’s right-Something is bad and forbidden. This repeats itself often with Astra.
Despite some characterization complaints, I did genuinely enjoy the overall story. I found myself captured by Marlak’s mystery and Astra’s newfound freedom. I found myself excited when they would make progress on their relationship and reasonably bummed as a reader should be when it sometimes turned into two steps back. I thought the pacing of their relationship genuinely made sense and it was nice to see the strength of this relationship play out in the end. I am definitely going to be reading the sequel when it is out. Although this book is listed as New Adult, I would definitely recommend this more to readers who enjoy a slightly more juvenile narrative with some spice sprinkled in. I would encourage the author to add more action descriptions in the next book when it pertains to fights, arguments, and even just friends reuniting. Overall, I rated this book 3.5/5 stars.