mid overall i think it had an interesting premise but lacked editing. i think the characters could have been more explored. this is definitely a interesting story so it pains me to say the writing and editing killed it for me.

"Cursed Under London" is a fantasy novel set in 16th-century London, and it’s quite unique as I don’t recall encountering a fantasy set in the past before. The style and language are refreshingly accessible, unlike many books from that era. While some might see this as a drawback, preferring more authentic period language, I found it beneficial. Old-fashioned texts often make me focus more on comprehension than on enjoying the plot.

The story centers on two men who, cursed at the moment of their deaths, are rendered immortal. They embark on a quest to uncover the truth behind their curse, facing numerous challenges along the way. Though it’s an easy read, it’s not something I’d readily recommend. The book’s humor and intriguing plot concept are appealing, but overall, it felt like a series of random events strung together. There was little suspense, and the storyline was quite predictable.

This is a queer historical fantasy set in an alternate Elizabethan London where supernatural beings roam the twin cities of Upper London and its underground counterpart, Deep London. 

The plot centres around Lazare; a theatrical Frenchman, and Fang; a jaded traveller running from his dark past, who both find themselves cursed with immortality and curious new powers. As the two men set out to cure themselves of their mysterious ailment they, rather reluctantly, find themselves in the thick of a dangerous plot involving rival gangs, royal Swan guards, thespian vampires, stolen fae weapons and an adorable dragon sidekick. 

I really enjoyed being thrown into the derelict streets of an old-timey London. The concept of a divided city being inhabited by different fractions of supernatural beings was really unusual and intriguing. 

The chemistry between Fang and Lazare was surprisingly sweet and realistic considering the unusual circumstances they found themselves in, however, I felt a bit disconnected from the main characters. They felt a little flat and I wasn't entirely invested in their predicament until the last few chapters of the book. There was a lack of urgency throughout and I often found my attention wandering.

However, I did enjoy the 'found family' element of this book a would have loved more time to explore the dynamics of this dysfunctional little group of loveable miscreants.

This a cute, queer, alt-history romance, wrapped around a mystery, with a heavy dose of humour woven in. Absolutely adorable on so many levels (pun unintended), the characters are well written and wholly believable - not an easy feat when they include a werewolf, several vampires, assorted dragons, and a police officer who is… well, I’ll let you find out about the Captain for yourself. Our trio (or possibly quad) of main characters are all lovingly rendered, and their stories are told with passion and joy. It definitely feels like Hutchison Crouch was having fun when she was writing this book.

The will-they won’t-they romance is played out wonderfully, and the sort-of cliffhanger ending absolutely has me wanting the sequel - to a book that doesn’t officially come out until 4th July!

This book was so different from anything I'd ever read before in the best way possible. It felt like a cozy fantasy while still somehow being an urban slightly dark fantasy. It was overall a fun easy read that had me laughing out loud at times. I also thought that the found family within the book was so wholesome and cute. I also absolutely loved our little sidekick dragon Amber.
Will most definitely be continuing this series, can't wait.

Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch is a fun and quirky start to an Elizabethan romantasy series. Set in an alternate version of Elizabethan London, the story follows Fang and Lazare, who wake up from death only to find themselves cursed and not quite human. As they navigate the shadowy world of Deep London to break the spell, they uncover a larger plot that threatens their existence.

The book is filled with humor and charming characters, but the frequent narrative shifts can make it hard to follow. While the premise is intriguing, the plot feels underdeveloped and the historical setting could have been more pronounced. Despite these issues, the witty dialogue and unique setting make it an enjoyable read for fans of urban fantasy and lighthearted adventure.

I recently finished a book that I found to be quite a quick and easy read. The story is set in an alternative Elizabethan era and centres around a romantic fantasy theme. The main characters are Fang and Lazare, two unique creatures who join forces with apothecary Nell and a small dragon named Amber to break a curse. While the story has its humorous moments, the frequent transitions in the narrative may challenge readers to keep pace with the unfolding events. I found it difficult at times to follow the narrative due to these frequent shifts. Moreover, I felt that the plot was lacking and in need of further development. Exploring a more nuanced and elaborate plot could have added depth and complexity to this already captivating storyline.

This book was so much fun. It was excellently paced and made this alternate world of a magical Elizabethan London feel so real. (A+++ use of real historical figures BTW. Kit Marlowe coming back as a zombie is freaking hysterical!).

Despite the book taking place over a short period of time, I quickly fell in love with all of the characters and adored that the cast was so diverse. I appreciate that Fang and Lazare didn't end up together in the end as that was unrealistic with the amount of baggage that Fang was carrying.

Crouch also made a good decision to tone down the comedic portions of the book as the conflict became more serious. It was to the book's benefit that there weren't clashing tones.

My only criticism is the vast number of anachronisms that threw me out of the story despite this being a magical setting. (Like discussions of gluten in 16th century England?)

All in all, I had a great time reading this book and feel it is a unique story that I can't wait to continue.

Dear Reader,
My thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy of Cursed Under London, via Netgalley.
Cursed Under London is an adventure comedy with a splash of romance. Set in an alternative version of Elizabethan London, filled with vampires werewolves and other fantasy creatures. Despite their immortality, Fang and Lazare are a mystery, not quite human, not quite supernatural. Thrown together by their strange curse, they set out to reverse it, and are drawn into an even bigger mystery and the shadowy supernatural world of Deep London.
The concept of this book sounded amazing – historical fantasy with supernatural creatures and queer characters. I ended up feeling a little disappointed. The historical setting felt secondary to the rest of the plot and world-building as neither the language nor settings felt particularly Elizabethan or Tudor to me. It almost felt like an excuse to make the characters walk everywhere.
I enjoyed some of the relationships between the characters. Tem and Fang had such sweet interactions, and Nell and Amber were great characters. The female characters seemed to have slightly better personalities, weirdly considering the two main characters are both male. What I found less believable was the relationship between the two male leads, which seemed only to be based on Fang being attractive – as the two barely had an honest or interesting conversation. The parts with Honkensby were just irritating, and made the book drag for me!
The plot was exciting and had a couple of enjoyable twists. I did think, however, that the resolution was slightly unsatisfying as it felt rushed. Especially given how late in the book the ‘big bad’ was introduced.
The pacing was a little slow in the first half but did pick up after the midpoint. I raced through the book's second half after the plot picked up a bit.
This book is so fun if you want a casual supernatural read. If you don’t mind a miscommunication trope in your romance, you’ll love Fang and Lazare’s will-they won’t-they romance. Cursed Under London would be a great read for anyone from Young Adults upwards as the romance wasn’t too explicit. I enjoyed reading it despite how this review might sound. If you pick up Cursed Under London, I hope you enjoy it!

Really wanted to love this book but for me there was waaaay too much Information thrown at me in the first few pages, dragons, vampires, not vampires, characters, confrontation, old windy streets with wet walls... My head struggled to conjure up any imagery to set the scene and picture the characters. It was overwhelming for me. Id like to give it another go one day, but at the moment I unfortunately can't finish it which im sad about

I want to start off by thanking NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for allowing me to read this!

I went into this deeply fascinated with the concept and being in Elizabethan London where monsters exist like Vampires, dragons, and even Zombies.

However I felt deeply unconnected from the story. Sometimes I even felt lost. I had a very hard time wanting to continue to read it honestly. I was left feeling bored of the setting created. I also had a very hard time with the dialogue for some reason. That I could chalk up to possibly just being a me problem.

I can say I did still love the characters within the story and the romance between Lazare and Fang. Although, it did feel possibly too fast? It just felt weird how much they came across disliking each other and then just, romance.

I loved the concept of the book; it just didn’t feel executed correctly. I still feel lost honestly after finishing.

2.5, rounded to 3 stars.
Final rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Cursed Under London" by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch is a delightful start to a historical romantasy series set in an alternate Elizabethan London. Fang and Lazare wake from death to find themselves not fully human, teaming up with apothecary Nell and tiny dragon Amber to break their curse. There is lots of humour, witty dialogue and engaging characters. Though the stakes might feel low and the historical setting could be more pronounced, the story is fast-paced and heartwarming. A must-read for urban fantasy fans who love humour and adventure.

Cursed Under London left me with mixed feelings. It was a fine read and I enjoyed it, however it wasn’t a favorite and I don’t know that I would recommend it. There was a lot to love about this novel. The worldbuilding was massive and struck a good balance of giving the reader the detail they need not to be confused (and it’s a lot of detail) without getting bogged down in exposition dumps. The fictional setting was very creative and original, and I was wondering at times why the author bothered to call it London given how little it resembled the real world. I liked the characters and their interactions/dynamics, particularly the side characters. Amber, the dragon, was delightful.

There were also a lot of things I didn’t love as much. My biggest complaint would be related to the plot structure; from the readers POV the characters seemed to just mostly float from event to event without there being a clear goal, or plotline. I realize the plot was “lets break the curse”, however somehow the events of the novel seemed disjointed at times (I’m not sure how else to describe it). I enjoyed the journey, but I was never clear on where we were going. This might have been made worse by the wild worldbuilding as I didn’t know that anything (characters, locations, settings) existed until the characters got there, so I had no way of predicting/expecting where things would go next. The big reveal at the end was definitely interesting and made a lot of sense, but also served to further reinforce the lack of agency I had been feeling for the characters. Maybe this was on purpose, and expertly done, but it didn’t quite work for me. If there had been foreshadowing or something of that sort to set up the big reveal it may have worked better. This lack of agency for the characters was particularly stark in how the conflict was resolved at the end; I wont spoil the details, but I found it incredibly unsatisfying.

There were some other little things I disliked. There was constant switching of which character’s head the narrator was in, which I found strange and more difficult to follow. The ending of the novel seems to be setting up sequels or a series, which is fine, but it left a lot of subplots unresolved and future details teased which I might never get to see the payoff for. The bad persons big master plan was neat, but left me with a lot of questions on some of the finer details.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 39%. Not for me. I accidentally fell asleep while reading and though I continued again afterwards, I was sadly not any more interested in the story

In an alternate version of Elizabethan London where supernaturals live in Deep London and humans live in Upper London Fang wakes up to realize that while he died, he did not stay that way. Imagine his surprise when he is introduced to Lazare, a fellow with same undead affliction. The two men realize that despite both coming back to life, that’s where the similarities of their conditions end and that places them firmly in the “unknown” category of supernaturals.

Increasingly suspicious that they are under a curse, Fang and Lazare, joined by the charming and hilarious Amber the Dragon and Nell the apothecary, set out to find a way to reverse the spell. As the story unfolds, Fang and Lazare’s relationships starts to grow into something more, and when they realize their curse is just the tip of the iceberg. This rag-tag group of heroes refuse to give up on the mission or each other.

This book does a great job of being a cozy fantasy novel with dashes of romance and humor thrown in. I thoroughly enjoyed my journey from Upper to Deep London. The concept for this book, a story set in an alternate london where supernaturals and humans are separated into different sections was one of the things that drew me to request the ARC and it did not disappoint. Get ready for a ride y’all, Cursed Under London surprised me in the best way. This story was so fun, the characters were cute, heartfelt (I’m looking at you Fang, we love an empathetic king), and downright funny.

I’d recommend this book for fans of the Amelia Peabody series (and if you haven’t read those, you need to). If you’re looking for a cozy, delightful, and intriguing read then this is the book for you!


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Farrago Books for allowing me to write an honest review of the ARC for Cursed Under London!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5

My review was posted to Goodreads and Instagram on 5/27/24.

Amazon review will be submitted on 7/4/24 when it is available for review and will posted on my profile within 48 hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and Duckworth Books for the ARC!

I unfortunately couldn't get into this book. I DNF-ed it at 37% because the story failed to catch me entirely. I wasn't able to connect to the characters (except maybe Nell, she was quite fun) or the storyline.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this book. It was absurd, funny, confusing, and sweet all at different times. It reminded me of some very funny satirical fanfiction o read a long time ago. A lot of lines that could have been followed by a ba-dum-tish. That satirical veneer kind of prevented the more serious aspects of the book from taking shape, though.

I did love the found family trope, that was really lovely. And Amber the mediocre dragon was a treat.

One thing, though: were the guards ACTUAL birds? I got so confused.

Two not-quite-dead people, a small dragon, and a Welsh apothecary are thrown together in a fantasy version of Elizabethan London. (That's where I left off, about 16% into the book.) It's a fun premise, but I found the character development to be thin and the plot disjointed. I'm not sure what the author felt was resonant about this setting, but the style and language certainly aren't suited to it. I think they're going for a Discworld vibe, but without Pratchett's deft touch. This one just isn't for me.

I REALLY liked this one folks! I mean, did I have issues with figuring out what perspective it was meant to be from… yes… but if you put that to one side (i managed to do this about 33% of the way through) I adored the story, characters and humour of Cursed Under London.

It’s been a while but entering a world of vampires, dragons, zombies, ghouls and alchemists was exactly what I needed. There was a cleaverness and whit to the writing style with quipy nods to Shakespeare and Marlowe that has me laughing out loud. The characters had layers to them that made you want to keep reading and, of course, there’s even a little bit of romance tucked in there to!

Cursed Under London created a whole second world where the rules of our society no longer existed and what was right for the undead rang true. The woven LGBT+ undertones of Shakespearean London was pushed to the surface in a way that made me wish that societal norms of the time had been different. And the writing style dealt with this perfectly.

But that’s all I’m saying… I don’t want to risk a spoiler and if I get into the details of our 3 protagonists and how they well and truely have a place in my heart now I can’t promise I’ll keep this spoiler free. Cursed Under London has my stamp of approval, in this world and the world below our feet.

This one was one of the first fantasy books I’ve been introduced to, and I enjoyed reading it. I really liked the plot of this book, and the character’s names and personalities. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.