A review by michellesantiago
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
3.0
I had very high expectations going into this Of Curses and Kisses. I enjoyed Sandhya Menon's debut novel When Dimple Met Rishi and I absolutely LOVED There's Something About Sweetie (one of my favorites of 2019). So, when I heard of Of Curses and Kisses, I was excited--a Beauty and the Beast retelling set in a boarding school featuring an Indian princess? Yes please!
I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of the novel from its publisher, but I waited to read it until the novel officially released out so I can listen to the audiobook. This ended up being a good decision because if I was reading it on my own I might've ended up not finishing it. But, the audiobook was excellently narrated by Shiromi Arserio and Jason Carpenter. If you're going to pick up this book, I highly recommend reading it via audiobook.
Anyway, Of Curses and Kisses ended up disappointing me. I didn't hate it completely, but I was expecting it to be a four- or five-star read. I ended up giving it three (maybe even 2.5) stars.
Let's start with what I liked--
I really enjoy Sandhya Menon's writing and her voice and this was also true in Of Curses and Kisses. Her writing is very readable. I also liked how she took the Beauty and the Beast tale and put her own modern twist into it. There were also some cute nods to the Disney version of the story throughout the novel that made me smile.
I liked the sister relationship between Jaya and Isha. They both loved and cared for each other. Jaya... she... I'll get to her later, but I really liked Isha. She's the fun, carefree little sister but very smart.
I liked Grey. He doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone and kind of built a forcefield around himself to keep people away, but with the curse hanging over his head and his daddy issues I get why he was the way he was.
The friendship group that formed between Grey, Jaya, Rahul, Leo, and Daphne.
The twist on Caterina's character. I really liked the girls supporting other girls theme.
Now for the things I didn't like--
Jaya. I did not like her and she never grew on me, which was unfortunate because she's half the book! Her plan was to make Grey fall in love with her so she could break his heart as revenge because she believed he leaked the pictures to the media that caused Isha's public humiliation. When it became evident early on that Grey couldn't have leaked the photos to the gossip rags both to Jaya and us the readers, she kept going with her plan anyway. And then there was the fact that she didn't want her sister to do science and engineering because it's unladylike. What?!
And because I didn't like Jaya, I couldn't really get behind the romance. I thought Grey deserved better. Actually, I didn't know why he was so into her in the first place--why she was able to penetrate his forcefield with her awkward "flirting" when Rahul, Leo, and Daphne have been trying to bring him into their friendship cirle for years. If anything, she was kinda hot and cold with him. I didn't feel there was enough chemistry between them and I feel like their romance fell flat.
The drama between Daphne and Caterina and Alaric. Like I said, I did like the twist on Caterina's character and girls supporting other girls theme aspect of this secondary plot, but I didn't care for that whole drama. It slowed down the main plot (actually, it kind of took over the main plot) and I was bored with it.
In conclusion--
I didn't completely dislike Of Curses and Kisses, but it did ultimately disappoint me. If you like reading modern retellings of fairy tales and a dash of magic in your contemporary YA romances, you might still want to give Of Curses and Kisses a try. I do highly suggest reading it via the audiobook, which is excellent. I am still very much looking forward to Sandhya Menon next release, though, which is a follow-up to Dimple and Sweetie.
I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of the novel from its publisher, but I waited to read it until the novel officially released out so I can listen to the audiobook. This ended up being a good decision because if I was reading it on my own I might've ended up not finishing it. But, the audiobook was excellently narrated by Shiromi Arserio and Jason Carpenter. If you're going to pick up this book, I highly recommend reading it via audiobook.
Anyway, Of Curses and Kisses ended up disappointing me. I didn't hate it completely, but I was expecting it to be a four- or five-star read. I ended up giving it three (maybe even 2.5) stars.
Let's start with what I liked--
I really enjoy Sandhya Menon's writing and her voice and this was also true in Of Curses and Kisses. Her writing is very readable. I also liked how she took the Beauty and the Beast tale and put her own modern twist into it. There were also some cute nods to the Disney version of the story throughout the novel that made me smile.
I liked the sister relationship between Jaya and Isha. They both loved and cared for each other. Jaya... she... I'll get to her later, but I really liked Isha. She's the fun, carefree little sister but very smart.
I liked Grey. He doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone and kind of built a forcefield around himself to keep people away, but with the curse hanging over his head and his daddy issues I get why he was the way he was.
The friendship group that formed between Grey, Jaya, Rahul, Leo, and Daphne.
The twist on Caterina's character. I really liked the girls supporting other girls theme.
Now for the things I didn't like--
Jaya. I did not like her and she never grew on me, which was unfortunate because she's half the book! Her plan was to make Grey fall in love with her so she could break his heart as revenge because she believed he leaked the pictures to the media that caused Isha's public humiliation. When it became evident early on that Grey couldn't have leaked the photos to the gossip rags both to Jaya and us the readers, she kept going with her plan anyway. And then there was the fact that she didn't want her sister to do science and engineering because it's unladylike. What?!
And because I didn't like Jaya, I couldn't really get behind the romance. I thought Grey deserved better. Actually, I didn't know why he was so into her in the first place--why she was able to penetrate his forcefield with her awkward "flirting" when Rahul, Leo, and Daphne have been trying to bring him into their friendship cirle for years. If anything, she was kinda hot and cold with him. I didn't feel there was enough chemistry between them and I feel like their romance fell flat.
The drama between Daphne and Caterina and Alaric. Like I said, I did like the twist on Caterina's character and girls supporting other girls theme aspect of this secondary plot, but I didn't care for that whole drama. It slowed down the main plot (actually, it kind of took over the main plot) and I was bored with it.
In conclusion--
I didn't completely dislike Of Curses and Kisses, but it did ultimately disappoint me. If you like reading modern retellings of fairy tales and a dash of magic in your contemporary YA romances, you might still want to give Of Curses and Kisses a try. I do highly suggest reading it via the audiobook, which is excellent. I am still very much looking forward to Sandhya Menon next release, though, which is a follow-up to Dimple and Sweetie.