Cursed

The story:

Cursed is the sequel to Gilded and if you haven't read that first part yet, I would definitely recommend that you do so first before you continue reading this review.

In Cursed, we continue to follow Serilda's story almost immediately from where Gilded ended. Serilda is still in Castle Adalheid, and outside of the game she is playing with the Erlking, she is also trying to play a game against him. In deepest secret, she and Gold are trying to find out what the Erlking's real plans are and why he wants to capture the seven goddesses. After all, he only needs one to bring back his beloved Perchta. Time is running out for Serilda and Gold, but also for the other souls trapped in the castle, and who they want to give back freedom.

The characters:

What makes it quite easy in this book is that you follow the same characters as in part 1. You've already met everyone there, so you only get to know them better in this book. Because there is only one really new character in this book. Of course, the seven goddesses also play a slightly larger role, but they are well portrayed and as a reader you immediately know what they are like. Although not only the humans, but also the goddesses hide their secrets from you.

In this second part, the characters are all going after their own goal and because not much time has passed between the two parts, you still know them very well. Each of them is again strongly portrayed and as a reader you can therefore tell them apart very well. You easily know which character something is about, since they all have their own personality and this is also developed further and further.

My opinion:

Cursed is the second part of this duology and is set just as strongly as part 1. It follows a piece of a fairy tale, which is skipped in the original story. This gives the author a lot of room to put their own creativity into it as well and this author has done that very well. This story contains all the aspects you would expect from the second part and also includes some good plot twists.

The writing style is nice and easy to follow and therefore as a reader you are quickly back in the story. The characters live for themselves and you know as a reader that everyone is working towards their own goal, but you don't know exactly from everyone what that goal is and that makes you as a reader often enough surprised by things that happen. Even if you are convinced that something is about to happen, it can suddenly turn out to be just a little different.

Here and there I found that it was a bit slow before we really got to the important points in the book. For me, sometimes more could have happened and not all events made sense. I did like the ending though. All your questions seem resolved, yet there is still a hint of mystery in there. The ending is pretty much a fairy tale within a fairy tale. And I find that the author did a really good job with that.

I am really happy that I discovered this new author through these books and I loved to read how the author has transformed this fairy tale and I definitely plan to read their other books and discover how the author has incorporated other fairy tales into the stories. In any case, I have heard a lot of good things about the other books as well.

Overall, I think this duology is incredibly strongly written and I enjoyed reading and following these characters in their journey. I thought the ending was totally fitting and I also laughed a lot during this book. Really worth reading if you already liked this author or if you just want to read a retelling.

Conclusion:

Cursed is the second and final part in this duology. The duology is definitely recommended to all people who already love fairy tales or just like a different take on the well-known fairy tales. This story is incredibly strong and the writing style is nice to read. The books fit well together and if you enjoyed reading part 1, this one is definitely a must-read.

Let's finish with one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"That is one of the great things about being a storyteller. We get to write our own story, too."

- Marissa Meyer, Cursed.

{I received this book as a review copy, wherefore I thank the Dutch publishing house from this book, but this doesn't influence my opinion on the story}