A review by thebookishmama
The Cursed by Harper L. Woods

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

These covers are just so darn stunning. Unfortunately, for me, the story isn’t my fav or even near fav. I liked The Coven decent enough although I had some issues with the plot. But I was hopeful the series would kick it up in book 2 and I’d be sucked in. But, I was left wanting more with this book 2. I was honestly confused when the book didn’t end after one of the biggest plot twists and then was again surprised it ended when it did because it just felt lackluster. I like the world and the different magical beings and I would honestly love more of that and less of the other stuff to really build up this series. And listen, I love smut and steam, I really do. This book nearly crossed a line for me in the first 20% and then again a bit later. It left me a little uncomfortable and tbh had this not been an audiobook I think I wouldn’t have continued on. The way he handles a couple of the sexual encounters was very iffy for me, even though I knew it was a dark romance. Some things I did enjoy was the dual POV and the inclusion of more characters in the story as well as the ole enemies to lovers spin. I’m undecided on if I’ll continue the series.

As for the narration, I liked each narrator for their own character but when the female narrator spoke for Gray I nearly wanted to stop listening, it drove me bonkers and took me out of the story a bit. It doesn’t reflect my rating of the actual story but wanted to make note.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early access!