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A review by bibi_reads_writes
A Cursed Son by Day Leitao
4.0
3.5⭐ rounded up to 4. Although I LOVED this book when I started listening to the audio version, the plot was sacrificed very early on to leave room for romance, and there were way too many of the FMC’s inner thoughts for my liking.
Note: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.
❤️ There’s a DARK unicorn named CHERRY CAKE
❤️ The “princess doppelgänger” storyline
❤️ FMC has purple (not white or silver!!) hair
❤️ Interesting worldbuilding, lore, and court intrigue
❤️ Sexual tension and dream-connection smut
❌ MISCOMMUNICATION GALORE
❌ Plot sacrificed for romance very early on
❌ Only surface information of the (interesting) worldbuilding and lore
❌ Too many of the FMC’s inner thoughts
❌ Flat writing style
Trigger warnings: violence, blood and gore, death, kidnapping, forced marriage, emotional abuse, death of a parent, death by fire (mentioned, off-page).
Plot:
As part of the elite guard, Astra’s role is to act as a doppelgänger for the princess in the human kingdom of Krastel. Her life is not her own, and her only comfort is a dream connection to her kindred soul. During a mission where she takes the princess’s place, Astra and the Krastel prince are ambushed by Marlak, the Crystal Court’s powerful, but disgraced prince. It turns out he’s the man in her dreams... and he wants to ask the king for her hand—her hand, and not the princess’s. But this man is nothing like the one in her dream, and Astra has a dark, dangerous secret.
There’s a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, forced proximity, forced marriage, dream smut… and tons and tons of miscommunication. If you enjoy these tropes and “romance over plot” high fantasy, you’d probably enjoy this one. Unfortunately, it’s not my cup of tea and I feel like this book didn’t live up to its potential. I’m curious about Marlak’s backstory, but not enough to read or listen to the second book, unfortunately.
Characters:
Yet another obliviously-superpowered not-like-the-other-girls FMC with a dark secret! Hey, at least she has purple, rather than white or silver, hair! I wasn’t crazy about Astra, but I really liked Marlak and some of the secondary characters, like Nelson the purring Fae and Cherry Cake the dark unicorn. I was also very intrigued by the Krastel prince and would have liked to see more of him. Even if it’s a character-driven book, I think that we could have seen more character growth and depth with dual POVs and less miscommunication.
Writing:
The writing was alright, but not exceptional. Some parts were beautiful and evocative, others very flat. Most of all, there was simply too much of Astra’s inner thoughts. Most of the books felt like internal ramblings, and there were so. many. questions. Why is he doing this? What does this mean? It was repetitive and annoying, especially since the answers were pretty obvious most of the time. Astra just sounded naïve and clueless, almost dim.
Audiobook:
The audio was fine, but I’ve heard better. It has nothing to do with the narrator; I simply think I’ve grown accustomed to multi-POV books where there’s more than one voice actor, and it helps keep me interested.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes
Note: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.
❤️ There’s a DARK unicorn named CHERRY CAKE
❤️ The “princess doppelgänger” storyline
❤️ FMC has purple (not white or silver!!) hair
❤️ Interesting worldbuilding, lore, and court intrigue
❤️ Sexual tension and dream-connection smut
❌ MISCOMMUNICATION GALORE
❌ Plot sacrificed for romance very early on
❌ Only surface information of the (interesting) worldbuilding and lore
❌ Too many of the FMC’s inner thoughts
❌ Flat writing style
Trigger warnings: violence, blood and gore, death, kidnapping, forced marriage, emotional abuse, death of a parent, death by fire (mentioned, off-page).
Plot:
As part of the elite guard, Astra’s role is to act as a doppelgänger for the princess in the human kingdom of Krastel. Her life is not her own, and her only comfort is a dream connection to her kindred soul. During a mission where she takes the princess’s place, Astra and the Krastel prince are ambushed by Marlak, the Crystal Court’s powerful, but disgraced prince. It turns out he’s the man in her dreams... and he wants to ask the king for her hand—her hand, and not the princess’s. But this man is nothing like the one in her dream, and Astra has a dark, dangerous secret.
There’s a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, forced proximity, forced marriage, dream smut… and tons and tons of miscommunication. If you enjoy these tropes and “romance over plot” high fantasy, you’d probably enjoy this one. Unfortunately, it’s not my cup of tea and I feel like this book didn’t live up to its potential. I’m curious about Marlak’s backstory, but not enough to read or listen to the second book, unfortunately.
Characters:
Yet another obliviously-superpowered not-like-the-other-girls FMC with a dark secret! Hey, at least she has purple, rather than white or silver, hair! I wasn’t crazy about Astra, but I really liked Marlak and some of the secondary characters, like Nelson the purring Fae and Cherry Cake the dark unicorn. I was also very intrigued by the Krastel prince and would have liked to see more of him. Even if it’s a character-driven book, I think that we could have seen more character growth and depth with dual POVs and less miscommunication.
Writing:
The writing was alright, but not exceptional. Some parts were beautiful and evocative, others very flat. Most of all, there was simply too much of Astra’s inner thoughts. Most of the books felt like internal ramblings, and there were so. many. questions. Why is he doing this? What does this mean? It was repetitive and annoying, especially since the answers were pretty obvious most of the time. Astra just sounded naïve and clueless, almost dim.
Audiobook:
The audio was fine, but I’ve heard better. It has nothing to do with the narrator; I simply think I’ve grown accustomed to multi-POV books where there’s more than one voice actor, and it helps keep me interested.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes