Adelaide Forrest

I am super torn about it. A lot of that hinges on where the story actually goes because it is not clear from the completely open ending in this one.
Let me first get to a few general criticisms I have.
The insta-lust was just so extreme that it stretched credulity a lot.
Don't get me wrong I am all for an interesting and spicy conflict between mind and body and all that but it just feels like it went too far too quickly too often in this one. Even among the bodice rippers, this falls on the strong side.
Next is the academia setting. This feels tacked on and only seems to serve two purposes. First, the protagonists need some kind of environment to interact in, and being forced to go to some sort of magic college is as good an excuse as any. Well, among excuses. But how about a setting that isn't just an excuse? Nothing in this story actually requires or even uses the academia setting for anything really. Second, it seems to me like the choice of academia was primarily driven by an attempt at baiting the target audience. On the one hand, this comes across to me as cheap if attracting a certain audience is indeed the primary motivation, but on the other hand, it's a good bet that just putting academia into the book leads to a lot more people finding this book that might thoroughly enjoy it.

Now I want to talk about the story beyond the insta-lust and the unnecessary academia.
The book already warns about this but this is not one of these ambiguous romances where the ML is a domineering alpha-hole that crosses lines but is kinda repentant at the end and is more or less redeemed in the end.
The ending of this book very much gave me the impression this could simply not end in any kind of HEA. This book made it actually plausible for this to end in tragedy and I LOVE it.
There are so many possible bitter-sweet endings I could see here but this might be the biggest downfall of this series in the end because the author can't possibly write an ending that even half of the readers will be happy with.
Call me a sadist all you like but I honestly wouldn't mind the FMC making the ultimate sacrifice, leaving the ML alive but mortal in the process, and having the last chapter be just him being eaten up by regret and futilely trying to work for forgiveness for all he has done despite knowing she is already lost to him until he dies.

On a side note, my bullshit radar went off quite a bit because of the wonky world-building. It's all incredibly vague and the author is careful to not establish any hard and fast rules that might get in the way later but despite that, I frequently had this nagging in the back of my head that all this doesn't quite work in terms of world-building or even plot. But I was so deeply invested in the story and the MC in particular that I never got hung up on any of these so I couldn't honestly tell you what was fishy exactly and why. Just be aware that if the story doesn't capture you there might be quite a bit of frustrating bs waiting for you.… (més)

The Cursed by Harper L Woods is the second book in The Coven of Bones duet and is a paranormal romance with a layer of a gothic/dark academia vibe. This continues the story started in The Coven and is much more angst-y and spicy. Tropes include revenge, touch her and die and enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers. This is a book for adults only as it contains explicit content. Please take the content warnings seriously - many relate to the main characters and they’re as bad as they sound. This is a DARK book.

The Lovely: Still loved the FMC and her powers. I would read more stories about her, especially her time growing up. The MMC is dark and at some points over the top in what he does, but that’s how his character is written. And, I love the cat.

Also Lovely: The flow and the tensions were much improved in this book compared to the first book of the duet (which at best was haphazard). The progression was more linear and made sense without feeling rushed. This made the book much easier and more enjoyable to read.

The Dreadful: I didn’t love . . . the ending. I want to be care not to spoil here. I actually pulled up the book online to confirm it was, at least originally, intended to be a duology. Will there be another series relating to future characters? What happens to two characters in particular whose story didn’t get a happily ever after? I don’t mind open items, but not in the final book of a series!

Rating: 4/5 Stars 5/5 Flames

Recommendation: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Looking back, a lot happened in this book, especially for only being 300 some pages. This concise story telling worked so much better. If you like very DARK paranormal romance and witches and demons, I think you’ll like this. If you also like dark academia, the. You will probably love this.… (més)