Brutal Curse

De: Casey L. Bond

Narrado por: Amy Melissa Bentley, Rudy Sanda

From Carey L. Bond, a fairy tale retelling where Alice in Wonderland meets Beauty and the Beast

Prince Carden of Tierney lost his home, family, and claim to the throne in one fell swoop when he rebelled against his father for a cause he knew was right. Instead of wallowing in despair, he embarks on a new journey, starting a new life on the Southern Isle. When he finds himself caught in a web woven by the famously ruthless fae queen, Coeur, he insults her and she vows to teach him the most difficult and heart-breaking lesson he will ever learn: that humans are incapable of love, and that hearts are beastly things.

Arabella wasn't really living, she was existing and surviving as best she could. A chance encounter with Carden changes everything for her, but the deadly game he's dragged her into might cost her life. Still, she agrees to play. The rules the fae queen gives them are vague, and it's obvious there are things Queen Coeur isn't telling them. She's sure of it. But what she does know is that together, she and Carden must pass a series of tests and trials. If they fail, game over. But if they succeed, she just might be able to restore her family and carve out the life she's always envisioned.

©2018 Casey L. Bond (P)2019 Tantor

everything is great except ending

,**SPOILER IN REVIEW**
I loved this story. The plot is good and the characters are even better. They are a good mix of strong and vulnerable and I love the growth they go through during thier hardships. I have kne complaint though. is that Bella kept her memory's and dint restore his memories. I don't get the point in that at all. It felt shady and dishonest somehow. I just thought after everything they went through and how he faced his past and came to term with it. after everything in general she dint have the right to betray him this way. I felt like all the growth Bella achieved during the story just evaporated. It cheapened Bella as a character. That is why I dint give it 5 stars. it's wrong because she is restarting thier relationship with hidden truths and you don't do that to someone you claim to love.

Ending was "meh" and the villain underdeveloped

So I actually really got into this story. I liked Carden and Arabella and Rule was also an interesting morally grey character. However, Queen Coer was rather overthetop evil. We get a brief backstory for her at the very beginning, seeing that she got her heart broken, but it really didn't real sufficient to explain just HOW cruel and sadistic she was to absolutely everyone. She wasn't a character you love to hate, but one where you just go, "She did WHAT now?! How did it even OCCUR to her to do that?" It was too much, IMHO. She reminds me too much of the villains from children's stories who are evil just because. A good villain should have sufficient motivation for their actions that they make sense with what we know of the character. But Queen Coer's character is hardly developed at all. We know hardly anything about her other than that she's the evil and sadistic fae queen who once had her heart broken by a human.
In spite of the poorly developed villain, I did still enjoy the story, as Arabella's character was much more developed and she was likeable and sympathetic.

The ending though -- it sucked. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ENDING:


We went all the sudden from Arabella and Rule having won a COSTLY victory over Queen Coer to suddenly Arabella having the perfect life, with Cardan somehow back from the dead and no one but her remembering anything. And all of the sudden we find out that Rule was the true mastermind behind everything. That part did make sense, but instead of it being a big reveal with an explanation, it was almost like an afterthought, just briefly mentioned at the very end, after her getting her perfect life. It just didn't feel believable and it completely ruined my willful suspension of disbelief.

Beautiful

Thought it was a great book, well worth it! Loved the mix of Beauty and the Beast and Alice and Wonderland, two of my favorite stories.

Dark Tale

This dark fairytale mashup is quite twisty with an unexpected ending that will leave you smiling. There were monstrous moments that were frightening and maddening moments where I wanted to throw the book. That's the hallmark of a cleverly crafted book. Those little and big happenings that you're not certain can attain a redemption. Those befuddling scenes were we're left uncertain about the main characters and their choices. But in true storyteller fashion by the last page, all was made right with a brand new adventure calling upon the winds. And no one writes like Ms. Bond.

Twisted Fairytale

This book is a twisted fairytale retelling with twists and turns around every page. Good narration