Reviews with content warning for Blood - Curse of Shadows and Thorns

Such great world building, and such interesting characters. It was a bit slow to get into, but it really picks up and then I couldn't put it down! Just a little spicy, just a little romantasy, just a little beauty and the beast, all together perfect! Can't wait to read the rest of them!

Content Warnings

mlangwrites3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this book and the entire Broken Kingdom series. I love the Beauty and the Beast vibes and the Viking elements that make this a unique fantasy read.

Content Warnings

bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There is a steep learning curve here and you really get thrown into the pool without a floatie with terminology and lore about the history of the land. It tapers off as you familiarize yourself with the world. One of my least favorite tropes in fantasy novels is having silly terms for the passage of time. Here, years are turns and minutes/hours/seconds are clock ticks.

The slow start builds to a steady pace and by the end, events are flying by. I was concerned I’d have a DNF on my hands but I’m so glad I stuck it out and was rewarded for my diligence. I particularly loved the build up of Elise and Legion’s relationship. It has some enemies to lovers vibes without them ever truly being enemies. Every victory felt earned and I have no doubt this will continue in the next installment.

Below I have listed many content warnings and provided some context for them in the spoiler tags. I highly recommend checking that if anything listed is a trigger for you before proceeding to reading.

Content Warnings:
Blood (on page):

Several injuries throughout including Elise getting stabbed, one character experiences severe bloodlust.

Confinement (on page):

A “witch” is imprisoned, Elise is briefly captured roughly 2/3 through the book

Death/Murder (on & off page):

Off page murders of the original royal family. On page murders of Agitators, an ally, lots of enemies, regicide.

Injury (on page):

Lots of people get stabbed or shot with arrows or crossbow bolts, main character is purposefully injured by allies to stave off bloodlust.

Incest (on page, not explicit):

As royals do, lest anyone taint the bloodline. Cousins intended to marry.

Sexism (on page):

Women are not allowed to do many things, like travel, and we are reminded many times that their worth comes from a good marriage.

Sexual assault/violence (on page, not explicit):

When Elise is captured, she is tied to a bed and has her skirt lifted. She is threatened with a forced marriage then marital rape but is rescued before these threats are carried out. The language used is less explicit but the intent is clear.

Sexual content (on page):

The language used is non-explicit but the acts are clear. In one scene, Legion briefly performs manual sex on Elise. In another he does the same to completion and she does the same for him.

Slavery (on page):

The book term is serfs but it’s pretty clear they’re not free to leave. The king also enslaves anyone with fae powers.

Suicide attempt (off page):

Brief mention that when Legion becomes the beast he seeks blood at all costs and will turn to his own if nothing else is available. It is mentioned that Tor has seen him try to die in his bloodlust but he cannot die so it all continues.

Torture (on page):

Innocent people are captured and tortured on page prior to their attempted execution.

Violence (on page):

See all the other warnings

Content Warnings

celestialfoxxy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

l absolutely loved reading this book! It's full of plot twists and cliff hangers that left me unable to put the book down once I got to the halfway point. The characters are generally witty, intriguing and their dialogue and interactions with eachother were generally very captivating. The plot was a little bit predictable but I was caught off guard a few times as well. The world building was very unique and interesting and the author did a very good job of describing the scenes in the story in a way that was completely immersive and left me able to invision the setting as though I was there with the MC. The love story between the FMC and her love interest was everything I look for in a fantasy romance. Morally grey mysterious love interest meets stubborn rebellious and undeniably good love interest. Forced proximity. Enemies to Lovers. Forbidden love. High stakes romance. *chef's kiss*

My only big issue with this book is that the end of the book felt almost too rushed and I feel like they should have added more to almost every scene at the end of the novel. There were some BIG plot moments that I felt fell flat because they just weren't given the time or wordcount they deserved in the story.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it kept me very engaged, interested and I could not put it down. It made me feel all the feelings and I would recommend that you read it.

Keep reading for an explanation of why I feel that way and a more spoiler heavy review.

To start I want to just repeat that I absolutely recommend reading this series. That said there were a few things that really frustrated me in this book towards the end.

First, I love MOST of the characters in this book. Elise gets on my nerves sometimes for reasons I'll get into in a minute. I absolutely fell in love with Legion. His guild of shade also grew on me very very quickly and I think I probably love Halvar almost as much as Legion. Elise's friends fall a little flatter for me in this book (however I have started the second book and my opinion there does change). As for the villains of the story....I wish that we had seen more of the king before he was killed. There was never any doubt in my mind that he was evil but it would have been cool to explore his character. He felt more like a vague ominous presence in the background than a major villian. Runa made me hate her in every scene that she appeared in, so did Calder. The kings assassination did take me by surprise but the fact that they were the ones to do it absolutely did not. Jarl also never sat right with me. He said everything Elise wanted to hear some of the time but most of the time made it clear he didn't want her because of who she was, he wanted her as a means to an end and to fulfill a fantasy that could never be real. He liked the idea of having a woman of her station and the more she pushed him away the more he wanted her. His ego was his ultimate downfall. Interestingly I think, Elise's mother was a character that held my attention more than most. She was very rarely every actually IN the scenes of the novel but Elise thinks of her often, usually not in a very flattering way but the one scene we do see her speaking it's in defense of Elise against the king, pleading for forgiveness for her. I think the contrast between the opinion we see Elise has of her and the actual evidence of her character through her actions is so interesting and I'm excited to see more of her in future novels because I think she will turn out to be a better person than Elise thinks that she is.

I also think the world building was done very well. There's a unique political system, unique magic system, the social etiquette and expectations are clearly defined, there is an expansive world described by the author without being too overwhelming to understand and it's expanded on as we need to learn about it. I do wish that the way Fury works was explained a little better. I understand what it is but not why it is or exactly how it works.

As for the plot...I have so many mixed feelings here regarding the plot and the writing of it. As I said before it was a bit predictable for me. I clocked pretty early in the story that Legion was likely the wraith and then again that he was the night prince. It was pretty clear Siv would betray Elise. It was obvious that her sister, jarl and Calder were working together to plot something evil. That said I didn't predict the coup happening when it did, learning how the managed Legion's curse was devastating and learning that the guild didnt know who they truly were caught me by surprise but confirmed my suspicion that Legion must be the night prince. My biggest issue with this book and the reason it didn't get a 5 star rating from me is that I truly feel like the end of the book was lacking so much detail and was executed poorly in some ways. Starting with the coup, Elise's best friend dies and then it's just...not really mentioned again? It feels like her character was sort of just put there to die. Before her death she's just in the background shrinking in fear every time there's a fight around her and then she dies and everyone gets over it pretty quickly. The level of grief we get to see isn't nearly what it should be for the death of someone who was cared so deeply for. Her death had the potential to be gut wrenching and instead fell flat because it just happened and then was forgotten. After she dies Elise needs to make a magically binding promise with Legion. She does. After learning he is the blood Wraith she no longer has the free will to leave his side. Instead of revealing the truth to her and letting her make an informed decision they just stand there repeating there isn't time and force her into this knowing she doesn't know what she's doing. Loyalty who? Legion can coorce a promise while betraying her trust in the same breath but she can't leave his side because it would be disloyal? make it make sense. And then she finally sits down across from him because she has no other choice. Instead of just telling her the whole truth he insists she asks him questions and he will answer honestly. Just...tell her???? Why does she have to ask? You know what she needs to know, tell it to her. The way I was yelling at my kindle the whole time I was reading this for them to just TELL HER instead of dancing around it and making everything worse was insane. So she's so angry with him that she ends up fleeing the first chance she gets and is taken captive and then saved. Woohoo. Could all have been avoided if for once someone just communicated with her. Then we have Siv's betrayal. Again, I don't think Elise was angry with her long enough or strongly enough. This, I think, is the most frustrating part of this book. Elise is written as this good, generous, forgiving and gracious character....but this sometimes translates to her not experiencing the full range of emotions she should be feeling. I want to see rage and anguish and hurt. Instead she forgives the people who betrayed her in such major ways without them ever having to work towards redemption or prove they should be trusted and forgiven. There's redemption over and over again without a redemption arc. Now at the end of the book we see Legion sacrafice himself to save Elise and this breaks his curse. Such an awesome moment in the story...but then he remembers he's the night prince, makes a vow for revenge on the people who killed his family....and promptly abandons the woman he just tried to DIE for. Out of pocket behaviour truly. (I will say, having read the second book his actions are explained and his reasons left me less irritated with him).

SO having said all of that..I still couldn't put this book down, the series of emotions it pulled from me while reading was intense and I 100% recommend reading this series. I think if I could pretend this book and the second book were one single book I would rate it 5 stars but on its own with the way the ending was written it gets a 4 star review from me.

Content Warnings

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

koistyfishy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book is what you get when you take a pinch of Viking lore and mix it with a dash of Beauty and the Beast. From an enjoyment point of view, I did like this but I wish this book was a little longer. It’s short, it’s been a long time since I’ve read a book this short… I think this is what kept it from being great and settling it on just good. There wasn’t enough put into the character development or plot to take it to that next level that it had the potential to be so it feels like it’s missing something.

This story is about Elise who is the second daughter of the Kings sister. On the night of her sisters formal engagement to her cousin (the Kings son), the King announces that he is opening up dowry negotiations for Elise. Elise wants nothing more in life than to NOT be married but after the King threatens her deadly-ill father’s treatment she has to accept the negotiations. Due to her fathers health he cannot do the negotiations and the King does not have time to do it either, so he assigns the task to the incredibly gorgeous and mysterious Legion Grey… Legion has secrets (and unknown to her but known to the reader he is cursed) and after events unfold Elise finds herself needing to make an impossible choice that could save Legion but comes with a great sacrifice.

The main issue I had with this book is the writing. The characters were fantastic and the world building showed great potential but because these are dependent on the writing something was amiss.

Firstly the writing is a little topsy turvy. Whist at times it’s pretty easy to read and flows naturally, there are words and aspects thrown in that seem to have been taken from the Victorian Era that are not as commonly used. On the first page I had to open up the dictionary to figure out what things meant, which took me out of the story too easily - this then contradicts with the rest of the style chosen and how Elise describes the world (since this book is from her POV)

Second the pacing felt off and sometimes things aren’t clearly described or explained. I found myself having to reread sections because with the first pass I’d somehow “miss something” and when that something was elaborated on I had to go back and reread the section to infer that “something” more clearly in the second pass.

The second half of the book moved VERY fast as it was so action packed it jumbled and mixed together that following along (especially at the end) was a little confusing, but I stuck with it and hoped things would clear up (and they did).

The worldbuilding also seems strange. I still don’t think I fully understand how the Fae and their magic tie into the story or how their magic works. A lot of their history is told, not shown through actual “history lessons” disguised as journal entries. And all I can see when I read the word Ettan is two headed giants, not people who have magic. The name of magic is also called fury but then it is given multiple other names and it becomes blurry.

The world/area where the story takes place also feels big but then incredibly small. The characters “ride for what feels like hours” to get somewhere but then Elise manages to get back to her home on foot within a day. The castle is a long ride away from where she lives but it can always be seen in the distance from other areas. I really struggled to envision how the world looked as it read as a country at times or as a small city in others.

My last peeve with the writing was the fact that all the other characters could be referred to by their first name ALONE. But LEGION GREY is 90% of the time mentioned with his full name. There are 74 instances in the book where his full name are mentioned (I read this as an ebook so could easily count the search)… a few instances of a full name are fine, but after about 13 my skin started crawling when I saw it.

The romance is sweet, I really like how the relationship develops between Elise and Legion and the fact that Legion shows that he cares about Elise’s opinions and what she thinks, in a world where her opinion does not matter according to society made me smile. Legion is by far my favourite character as he is the most complex and developed and the things he says and does are swoon inducing. Elise is a little annoying as her behaviour and actions are sporadic. She is shown in the start to be rebellious, reckless and brave, but at the times she needs to be brave she almost appears naive, weak and acts as a “damsel in distress” that needs saving.

The plot was very predictable but it didn’t distract from the fact that I was enjoying reading the story. There is a reason I read books with the same tropes constantly, so it’s almost expected on some level I know what is going to happen.

The tropes I enjoyed in this:

Enemies to Lovers😏
1 Horse 🐎
Touch her and you die ☠️

Overall this start to a series show’s promise and I am intrigued and interested in seeing where this goes. As mentioned I really did enjoy the overall book so am going into book 2 with optimism 😎

Content Warnings

fool_ofabook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Though predictable and a bit cheesey, this book was very well written and had heart. I found myself in love with the loyal side characters.

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