The Queen of Cursed Things

While this book has an intriguing premise, it moved at a snail\’s pace and the main character is completely useless. The plot seems to inch along, days getting jumbled; the storytelling is inconsistent. One chapter will address a day or two, but then suddenly tell you you\’ve actually moved through a week or two with no evidence to back it up. It feels like the author had no sense of time. In all, it feels like maybe 2-4 weeks pass in the book, and almost nothing gets accomplished. Too much of the storytelling is the main character whining about her life, how angry she is, or how scared she is of her power; the worst is when she\’s mooning over a prince she\’s spent 20 minutes with. Too stupid to live doesn\’t cover this broad. Not only is she useless in a fight despite her training – cosntantly dropping her sword or being thrown around and \”unable\” to get up (seriously, there was one fight scene near the end where she was tossed around at least 3 times and struggled to get up, and that was basically her contribution to the fight) – but she\’s also a grade A idiot. \”Like, omg, my captors want to kill me? I had no idea they would want to despite the fact they\’ve been killing people for years so the King can have their magic. So surprising! But oh my, isn\’t that prince hot! He makes me all trembly with just a look.\” Literal wtf here. But let\’s ignore that first capture and look at the ones after where she\’s asking for help from her captors. Specifically Sylvan, who tries to blackmail her into it. I say tries because she had options, she\’s just too weak and lazy to take anything but the easiest path, which is giving in to his blackmail and pretending like it\’s going to be all right. So when he betrays her in the next book, she can be surprised. Girl is an airhead to the extreme and then instead of tackling her issues head on, decides to avoid them like they\’re going away. Too scared of everything but her own stupidity and actual enemies. I, for one, don\’t like main characters who lack common sense, fall instantly in lust with a pretty face and lose their heads in 5 seconds flat, and who are essentially useless outside of their need to be rescued and the fact that they have a special snowflake power.

I found this book to be slow, yet interesting, until about 50% through. By the time I hit 50% I was bored with the slow pace and barely skimmed the rest of the book in the hopes of seeing something interesting. The Queen of Cursed Things seemed to recycle the same things you\’ve seen before, but this was no up-cycle. The FMC is an orphan who doesn\’t know much about her heritage. Her male best friend has been loyal since childhood and is not so secretly in love with her. Her female best friend doesn\’t bring much to the table, until the very end of the book. Then we have a mysterious and handsome stranger who may or may not be trustworthy as her love interest. I think this story would have benefited greatly by some heavy editing and chopping down in size. At almost 500 pages long there isn\’t enough in terms of plot or action to keep you interested to the end of the book, let alone the other 2 in the trilogy.

This is a story about a girl who is hated and feared since conception for no reason other than being who she is. It could easily have gotten preachy or overly PC with a protagonist who must hide who she is and pass as a lesser citizen in a community of rejects but it doesn\’t. Instead we are given a strong heroine who struggles through discovering who she is while falling in love with an unlikely ally. This is the first book in a series, and as such includes a fair amount of world building but the action picks up as it goes along. This book does contain a full story arc, but leaves the reader with far more questions than answers at the end, piquing interest in what will come next.

And I am really glad I got to read it. Loved the clan markings btw! Oh there were some incorrect words used (bare instear of bear) and a typo here and there but mainly it\’s a good solid story. For me the world building went on too long but I am just impatient. To me, again, it seemed like the action, when it finally came, was all smooshed together into a few pages at the end That is not going to stop me from getting my hands on book 2 tho. I eagerly, impatiently await the continuation of this wonderful tale. Oh and for honesty, I received an ARC for an honest review.

**WARNING! CLIFFHANGER ENDING!** Alaya is one of the forbidden serpent clan, despised by the rook clan, rulers of the Sundolian empire. When she is captured by the Rook Kings men, she finds herself teaming up with the heir to the throne, who wants to overthrow his father, and rid the empire of the evil magic he practices. There is a lot for Alaya to learn, the secrets of her past will come to haunt her, and lead to betrayal. As the first book in this trilogy, it is set up to introduce both the world and the characters to the reader. In true epic fantasy style, the reader journeys with the characters through magical locations, facing trials and tribulations, and a secret past. Its an entertaining trip, and at times an emotional one, running the gamut from joy to despair, though its an engrossing storyline. If youre a fan of traditional or epic fantasy, then you will enjoy this book.

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