Alexis:
If you’re looking for a fun, mysterious YA fantasy set in a gritty world, you might like Garden of the Cursed!
Synopsis:
Garden of the Cursed follows Marlow, who works as a cursebreaker in Caraza City. When her ex-friend, Adrius, asks her to help break a curse cast on him, Marlow reluctantly takes on his case. While she works to break Adrius’ curse, she begins to uncover what happened to her mother, who mysteriously disappeared a year ago, and she is drawn into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies.
What I Liked:
Worldbuilding
I found the word to be really interesting. The Five Families, a group of powerful and corrupt families who control spellcraft, run Caraza, which makes the city itself feel very mysterious and dangerous. The world definitely gave me Six of Crows meets City of Nightmares vibes. There’s a lot of gangs, fighting, and talk of corruption and power.
I’m also a huge fan of curses in stories, so I enjoyed learning about the magic system, which features cards, and how Marlow breaks curses.
Plot
I found the plot to be very fast-paced, fun, and mysterious. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think the different plotlines worked well together.
What I Didn’t Like As Much:
To be honest, I liked pretty much everything about this book! Yes, at times, the dialogue is a little too on the nose. But I like Marlow’s gumption. I obviously liked the world. I like that there’s a cat named Toad and commentary on social classes and power. There’s even fake dating.
The one aspect I’m not a huge fan of is Adrius’ character. He’s supposed to be charming and flirty, but I honestly thought he was just annoying. It made the romantic subplot a little lackluster for me.
VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you’re looking for a YA fantasy filled with curses, gangs, plot twists, mysteries, and a lot of parties and balls, then I recommend Garden of the Cursed!
takes two to book review 