The Curse of Saints: The Spellbinding No 2 Sunday Times Bestseller

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I was hooked from the very first chapter. Fans of Sarah J Maas and Jennifer L Armentrout are bound to fall in love with this fast-paced romantic fantasy' 5***** READER REVIEW

The beginning was heavy with world building. Which, is usually expected but I felt like everything was thrown in and we didn't get much context or depth for a lot of it. I wanted more meat to really feel grounded in the world. (Bonded, talking (?) wolves, magic system, political intrigue). Why didn't the wolf go with Aya? Aren't they bonded? I think it would have been cool to have the wolves play a bigger role in the story. There was so much potential there for the wolves to be a more integral part of the story. Another big issue is with the characters. They’re generals, spymasters, enforcers – these are high-ranking government officials that are powerful, smart (apparently), and dangerous. So why did they act and sound like fifteen-year-olds? We’re told time and time again how “dark,” “edgy,” and “dangerous” Will is, but aside from growling or literally just doing something “darkly,” there was no real grit, danger, or strength to him. In fact, whenever he spoke, I just ended up rolling my eyes (how many times can one person growl or “grin darkly” in a paragraph? And if he says, “Aya, love” one more time…). And I really have nothing to say about Aya other than that she was not a compelling protagonist and was poorly written. i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.Each POV and voice had a clear differentiation and made me fall in love with them just that little bit more. For instance, we spend some time in the first part of the novel learning that Visya’s have wolf companions that are bonded to them, something that is historically sacred within the religion that rules the realm. We even learn the names of both Aya’s and Will’s bonded wolves, only to never hear of them again. I do hope this is an element that is explored further in the rest of the series as it could definitely result in an intriguing layer to the story, because honestly – who doesn’t love an animal companion? I wish I could read it again for the first time. You will fall in love with not only the characters but the story itself, absolutely breathtaking' 5***** READER REVIEW Forced by circumstance to work together, Aya and Will struggle to come to an uneasy truce. But when tragedy strikes, Aya instinctively reacts, unleashing a power that hasn't been seen in over 500 years. Shaken, she's confronted with an impossible truth: one that threatens the precious grip she keeps on her control. One that forces her to work with Will to discover who―or what―she really is. And one that could turn her into a weapon in a war she doesn't know how to win.

I did find it a bit slow in the beginning and the magic system was a little confusing as it was so detailed - but one I wrapped my head around it all it was great and I was hooked. I'm definitely keen to see Aya and Will again in The Curse of Sins. I also wasn't convinced by the whole enemies to lovers thing because the characters are supposed to be allies; they work together and have to protect the kingdom together, and besides some little stuff that happened in their childhoods, they didn't really have a valid reason to hate each other. I saw them as rivals who didn't really like each other (at least from Aya's pov) but they are supposed to be be working together for years now so..... I also didn't really feel any chemistry between them besides Aya saying that Will had "a darkness that answered to her own" and Will calling her "Aya, Love."

The premise of this one was interesting, and I was hoping to see the author take it somewhere compelling. Unfortunately, everything about this read felt generic and bland. And this is classified as “Adult Fantasy,” but was more YA than many of the YA fantasies I’ve read. Every interaction between Aya and Will made me squeal and I am obsessed with them' 5***** READER REVIEW My last complaint is petty, but I'll still talk about it. Some of the characters (e.g. Aya) in this fantasy world have wolves they're bonded to. This could've been a cool plot element. Imagine this wolf companion following the characters around... Only it wasn't like that. The wolves only show up twice, if I remember correctly, and they were irrelevant to the story. To be fair, they're used as a plot device once, but they could've been replaced there. So what's their point? I think the author just thought they'd be a good element to make the book seem edgier.

They're all gifted with magic from the gods and called Visya, who are meant to protect the humans. You'd think this would make them scarce and only in certain areas - wrong! I think there was maybe 1 non-Visya they interacted with, and I can't be sure of that either. What's the point of a race of people to protect humans if it seems even the bartender of a crappy bar has powers too?? I knew next to nothing going into this book, except maybe some vague plot points (enemies to lovers, dark magic etc) I wouldn't categorise this as enemies to lovers, Aya and Will are on the same side, if anything I'd say maybe rivals to lovers, however their banter is top tier and is what kept me reading. The POV writing was also poorly done. With regard to Adrian, his POV is clumsily introduced for the first time after one third of the book has already taken place. When I first realized we were getting a third perspective, I paused my audiobook and asked myself, why?? Why do we care about this character we don’t know, whom we have no connection to, to justify him having his own perspective? By the time I reached the end, I was even more baffled. The twist ending featuring Adrian would have been all the more impactful if we hadn’t already seen his hand by peering through his eyes for half the book. It didn’t make sense and would have been an easy element of the story to part with. and aidon? he just felt coincidental. like the story happened to him rather than him happening to the story. it felt as though he kind of stumbled into a production that was already finished but he insisted on being involved. much like the love triangle trope in here which felt so extraneous. Perfect for enemies to lovers fans . . . with a vast detailed world’ Frances White, author of Voyage of the DamnedThe ending felt so hopeful. Aya and Will may not be heading off to a happy ending, but they’re together, they’re being honest with each other, and they’re ready to take it all on. But that epilogue. It hit me right in the gut and left me spiralling. This read points the finger consistently and we don’t know the true villain until the end of the story. The character building is pretty good, and I felt connected to all of them. Even the ones who appeared shady. I also loved how the main character, Aya, wasn’t the only one to be deemed ‘special’ or ‘uniquely gifted with powers’ in this read. The spotlight wasn’t always on her, which allows the reader to be able to really get into the world and have empathy for more than one character. The book opens with Aya throwing her slight weight around, so it initially seemed like she would be the usual tiny but fierce FMC. However, the reader soon learns that Aya is more apt to process information and respond accordingly.