This is a spoiler-free review! The Divine and the Cursed is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.
This book is the best thing Stuff Your Kindle Day has ever given me - it had me absolutely gagged the entire time, and the only reason I did not finish it in one sitting was because my eyes could not stay open any longer. I have been searching high and low for a new fantasy series to get into, and The Divine and the Cursed delivered everything I could have imagined, and so much more.
I loved the premise of this story, and the characterization of our female lead, Arianna, was fantastic -- she is strong and stubborn, and truly made a great protagonist to follow. Not to mention Rion, more commonly referred to asThe Demon, who immediately had me giggling and kicking my feet over. A general feared by all, with such a complex backstory accompanying well-paced development, he is one of my new favorite male leads in fantasy.
The relationship between Arianna and Rion was something so interesting to see unfold, and Reed does an excellent job at pacing their development so that the reader is truly able to see them individually grow alongside one another. Both characters have such tortured pasts, and watching them both have to come to terms with what they have been through and how they are connected to one another made an entertaining read. Side characters provided a great sense of support to the story, and the friendship between Arianna and Zylah was so important to Arianna's character growth and understanding of the consequences of war. I will admit, Talon got a little on my nerves, mostly because he reminded me so much of Chaol Westfall, and I have beef with that man. However, he completely changed my mind by the end of the book, and I have to say I will be rooting for him to find happiness and leave his crush on Arianna behind him.
As a lover of multiple point of views, this book was feeding me well, especially since they were in third person perspective - my preferred style of writing. In addition to having Arianna and Rion's perspectives, we get to see the story through a number of supporting characters, which in my opinion was a pretty good choice for this story. We as readers were subjected to seeing the plot from our main leads for the majority of the story, but the addition of more perspectives towards the end of the book really allows readers to get the full picture.
The action and battle scenes were great to read and easy to follow without leaving the reader confused on the sequence of events -- the elemental abilities of the characters makes excellent scenes. Watching different characters become one with their magic and form such strong senses of self as they utilize their abilities made the story even more intriguing.
Personally, I had so much fun reading this book, and after being in a major reading slump, this was exactly what I needed to knock some motivation into me to stay on track with my reading goal. This was a great first installment to a series, and I have not had this much fun reading a fantasy book in a long time. The potential for this story is certainly there, and I will definitely be continuing with Arianna and Rion's story to see it to the end.
For fans of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, this is certainly the series for you -- while it is not high fantasy, the action and subtle romance binds the story together that closely resembles a similar feeling and storytelling.
You can add The Divine and the Cursed on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment