A review by heiroffire1989
A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet

5.0

Loss never really left you.

New beginnings also meant endings.
Hope was what you found on the other side of suffering.

Will I ever get my fill of this world, these characters? I think not! No, what am I saying? I know for sure I won’t ever get enough of this world and these characters.

Gods, how long I’ve been aching to get my hands on this story. Amanda didn’t loosen up much about this story, so that was no fun hahaha (Yes, I pestered her about it on a frequent basis, lol). Felt like absolute torture, waiting for this book to arrive *But of course I still love you to bits and pieces Amanda hihi.

I never made it a secret; I absolutely loved loved loved every single page of the kingmaker chronicles books so far… I was, and am still & will always be, obsessed, really. Cat & Griffin’s story was a-ma-zing. But I’ll tell you; I’ve been so hooked on the bits and pieces of Flynn & Jocasta that were thrown at us in the prior three books that they were probably already my fave ‘hopefully to be-couple’ before I even started this book haha. What do I say? Even before I even knew Amanda was going to write this book I was already so desperate for this book to come to fruition. So yeah, safe to say my expectations were a bit high *no pressure @ Amanda, lol* when jumping into this.

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If fear rules your life, you’ll miss out on the rest.

As always, Amanda just doesn’t disappoint. This book is everything I was hoping it’d be and more. I love what Amanda did with not only with the romance between Jocasta & Flynn, but the story development itself as well. The story contains everything you’ve come to expect in a kingmaker chronicles book; friendships, family, sexy romance, fantastic banter, awesome Greek mythology elements, all wrapped up in an epic adventurous quest for the ages through a writing style that was yet again so easy to lose myself in and left me craving more instantly after finishing this book.

The romance…
You might think beforehand that you know how everything is going to develop between these two, but Amanda added so much more depth to it and took it to a higher level. The chemistry and attraction… this book turned me inside out in the best way possible. The added scenes we never knew that happened before the events in book 1-3, like the prologue for example; Such a good way of adding more background and depth to the romance developing now. Suddenly it’s not ‘just a romance’ anymore, but so much more because Flynn and Jocasta are just ‘so much more’ and always have been *sigh*!

Characters
Flynn’s history regarding everything that happened to him and his family and the results of that being him not daring to hope and want for a love and family for himself… Heartbreaking! But Amanda wrote it so incredibly beautiful; that development of him opening up and trying to find a way to get the future they both deserve. His character gets so much more depth and development in this book, and whilst I was already maddeningly in love with him since his introduction in book 1 I am now even more besotted with him which I didn’t think was possible, lol.

”Why am I still here when so many others aren’t? I haven’t done anything worthy of being spared.”



*come here Flynn, baby, and let me hug you and show you all the love you deserrrrrve.*

Jocasta was also really well developed I think. We knew she was a strong and feisty character, but everything we’ve seen of her up to this book, was just the tip of an iceberg. So many more layers to her and I loved exploring them!

And the minor characters like Carver, Bellanca and Prometheus for example, are ones you can’t get enough of either. Their presence during the adventures happening in this book also made this book what it is; a thrilling ride and give you more reasons to fall in love with this world and characters.

Family wasn’t only who you were born to, but who you chose, and those you fought for.

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Conclusion
This book was one addictive read from the first sentence to the very last sentence. Story-wise, there’s so much happening and there’s so much room for ‘more’ after this and I am ready for it! I could've easily read an entire trilogy with these characters smack dab in the middle... For now, I’m going to treasure this yet again amazing reading experience. This was an #Allthefeels read for me and I can’t recommend this book and this series in its whole, enough. It had me smiling, swooning, crying and more.

If you’ve loved the prior 3 books, you’re going to fall head over heels in love with this one as well. Many of the beloved characters make appearances but there’s a ‘freshness’ present as well, which keeps it so exciting! And as always; Amanda's way of storytelling is unparalleled if you ask me.

So all I will say for now is:
Happy reading in advance! Go pre-order this beautiful book; it comes out in October!

”I claim you, Jocasta. You will be the sun I orbit for the rest of my days. I will be your home, wherever we are and wherever we go. I will protect you. I will love you. I will always be yours.”