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A review by abby_ace_of_books
Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool
5.0
"'I don't know any of those cursebreakers,' Adrius replied easily. 'I know you.'"
Garden of the Cursed is single-handedly convincing me that I sometimes have good luck. Not only is it yet another incredible by Katy Rose Pool, but I ordered a used copy and ended up with a signed, exclusive edition? My dreams have come true (and it's so beautiful).
This is yet another one of my fantasy-mystery reads where we join Marlow as she tries to break a compulsion curse on her ex, Adrius. I'm not usually a fan of second-chance romances or fake dating, but this book has proven to me that there are good examples of those tropes. There's so much angst and I'm here for it. I love all of the twists and turns and red herrings. The only thing I have any issue with in the plot is that most of the scenes are just party scenes with a bit of drama, and I'm hoping to see maybe a bit more action in the sequel but that's my only complaint.
I love all of these characters so much. If Swift doesn't get a happy ending, I'm going to riot. There's also Toad, the magical cat, and I love her. Most of the other side characters are designed to be unlikeable, so I wasn't really fond of them. But Marlow and Adrius? They're one of my favorite book couples and I love Marlow's personality and Adrius's sense of humor. They're amazing.
The last time I reviewed this, I said "I apologize for the person I will become when the sequel comes out," and guess who just got an ARC of the sequel. I love this duology so much and cannot recommend it more, and I am so unbelievably excited for one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.
4.5/5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe that's all love was. Handing someone a knife and trusting that they wouldn't cut your throat."
I firmly believe that Katy Rose Pool is incapable of writing a bad book.
There Will Come a Darkness is one of my all-time favorite series, so when I found out that Katy Rose Pool was releasing a new duology, one that's a mix of fantasy and mystery, I was ecstatic and it was 100% worth the wait.
A murder mystery filled with so many twists and turns that I managed to call only one of them, agonizingly angsty romance, loveable characters, a unique magic system, and a cat named Toad? What more could you ask for?
I read this entire book in basically one day. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire thing, annotating the heck out of my poor e-book because I felt that everything was noteworthy.
Marlow is an incredibly cool protagonist and Adrius is one of my favorite love interests. I love Swift and Toad and the vibes of the story as a whole.
110% will recommend to everyone I speak to for the next 24 hours, and I apologize for the person I will become when the sequel comes out.
Link to My Annotations
Garden of the Cursed is single-handedly convincing me that I sometimes have good luck. Not only is it yet another incredible by Katy Rose Pool, but I ordered a used copy and ended up with a signed, exclusive edition? My dreams have come true (and it's so beautiful).
This is yet another one of my fantasy-mystery reads where we join Marlow as she tries to break a compulsion curse on her ex, Adrius. I'm not usually a fan of second-chance romances or fake dating, but this book has proven to me that there are good examples of those tropes. There's so much angst and I'm here for it. I love all of the twists and turns and red herrings. The only thing I have any issue with in the plot is that most of the scenes are just party scenes with a bit of drama, and I'm hoping to see maybe a bit more action in the sequel but that's my only complaint.
I love all of these characters so much. If Swift doesn't get a happy ending, I'm going to riot. There's also Toad, the magical cat, and I love her. Most of the other side characters are designed to be unlikeable, so I wasn't really fond of them. But Marlow and Adrius? They're one of my favorite book couples and I love Marlow's personality and Adrius's sense of humor. They're amazing.
The last time I reviewed this, I said "I apologize for the person I will become when the sequel comes out," and guess who just got an ARC of the sequel. I love this duology so much and cannot recommend it more, and I am so unbelievably excited for one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.
4.5/5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe that's all love was. Handing someone a knife and trusting that they wouldn't cut your throat."
I firmly believe that Katy Rose Pool is incapable of writing a bad book.
There Will Come a Darkness is one of my all-time favorite series, so when I found out that Katy Rose Pool was releasing a new duology, one that's a mix of fantasy and mystery, I was ecstatic and it was 100% worth the wait.
A murder mystery filled with so many twists and turns that I managed to call only one of them, agonizingly angsty romance, loveable characters, a unique magic system, and a cat named Toad? What more could you ask for?
I read this entire book in basically one day. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire thing, annotating the heck out of my poor e-book because I felt that everything was noteworthy.
Marlow is an incredibly cool protagonist and Adrius is one of my favorite love interests. I love Swift and Toad and the vibes of the story as a whole.
110% will recommend to everyone I speak to for the next 24 hours, and I apologize for the person I will become when the sequel comes out.
Link to My Annotations