Cover Image: Cursed

Cursed

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Member Reviews

Cursed
by Thomas Wheeler and Frank Miller
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lady of the Lake is an enchantress in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and legend associated with King Arthur. She plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father. At least two different sorceresses bearing the title "the Lady of the Lake" appear as separate characters in some versions and adaptations since the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently Le Morte d'Arthur.

Now comes another adaptation from two of the most creative minds ever..

Synopsis:

A DARK MAGIC
A POWERFUL WARRIOR
A LEGENDARY QUEEN

Touched by darkness, Nimue is an outcast to her people, forced to repress her magic. But when her village is slaughtered, the darkness begins to resurface.

Tasked by her dying mother to reunite the Sword of Power with the sorcerer Merlin, she must save a terrorised Kingdom. Nimue's mission leaves no room for revenge, but the growing power within her can think of little else. Hers was not the only decimated village and others face a similar fate.

With the help of the rogue mercenary Arthur, Nimue must battle the armies of a corrupt king and, be it in victory or on the edge of a blade, discover the truth about her destiny once and for all.

My Thoughts:

Cursed is a bold retelling of the Arthurian legend, created by award-winning artist Frank Miller and acclaimed screenwriter Tom Wheeler. An original Netflix series starring Thirteen Reasons Why star Katherine Langford is set for release in Spring 2020.
Amazing, amazing, amazing!! The highlight of my year is this book and the upcoming Netflix production of it!! I couldnt get enough of Merlin and Nimue. By far my most favorite adaptation of the Arthurian Tale!!
A story about legendary Arthur character Lady of the Lake. Nimue is her characters original name before becoming Lady of the Lake and she was brave, and strong, and loving. Regardless of having great power, Nimue was also touched by evil... The marks on her back tell the story even though everybody knows especially since her father had left her. However she would be the one person with the power and strength to save them all from The Red Paladins.
She is the giver of King Arthurs Sword, the enchanter of Merlin, and the savior of Lancelot. This is her story. Well written with amazing graphics from Sin City artist and producer Frank Miller!! Wheeler and Miller made the perfect team for this amazing retelling and I cant wait for the Netflix showing, I only hope it is half as amazing as the book!!

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Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read and review Cursed.

It's another twist on Arthurian legend, which is nothing new. It keeps it's freshness in by bringing Nimue front and center. I believe this is going to become a tv show and I will defo be checking it out.

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I was really excited by both the cover and premise of this book when I first saw it appear on Netgalley - let's also not forget that Frank Miller's name was attached to the project. However, the book just didn't do it for me. The characters are nothing like the characters I've grown up hearing stories about and I found myself bored by 20 percent in. I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it when it continually skipped from one scene to another without any clear indication that we were moving to follow other people or jumping ahead in the story.

I'm hoping that the Netflix series does the story better justice but as for the book, I'm ready to jump into something else.

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Cursed was such an interesting and spectacular novel filled with gorgeous and intriguing illustrations! I can't wait for the Netflix adaptation for this novel!

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The story is about Nimue who is part of the Sky Folk who are a Fey clan. She has the ability to connect to The Hidden, which leaves her as sort of an outcast. Her mother is the Arch Druid of her clan until an attack by the church leave Nimue with the Sword of Power (aka Excalibur, but not). She is on a mission to see Merlin regarding the Sword of Power, when along the way she realizes that she can do a lot of damage with said sword. It has a very One Ring vibe to it (she could hear it call to her), and I kept waiting for her to call it her preciousssss half way through the book. In her journey she meets Arthur (yes, that Arthur), Morgan (his half-sister), and other Fey clans. The Fey clans are being exterminated by the Church, and Uther Pendragon, the king at this time, is doing nothing about it because he’s useless. Oh, and Merlin was his right-hand man until he was not. Nimue becomes Queen of the Fey as she encourages the Fey to fight back.

Character wise, I felt that Nimue had the most growth in this book, but it did really focus heavily on her. Arthur was a side character, and although he has his own personal little journey of the self, we don’t really see it until he goes against what he’s normally done all his life. We see the destruction of Nimue’s family and clan through her eyes, and we see as she struggles to become what she feels she needs to be for her people. The Sword of Power speaks to her, and she feels invincible with it. She’s 16, clueless, and is trying to play at Queen. If Wheeler was trying to show her as anything else, he failed. You could see just how of her league she really was, even with the help of her friends. In the end, it ends up biting her in the ass, but that’s giving the story away.

As far as the story goes, it was fun in some parts, but it didn’t engage me like I thought it would. I found myself falling asleep during my lunch break while reading it. It wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t captivating either. I actually took a day to let the story sit with me, to savor it in my head before giving a proper review of it. Yet, I find it a bit unmemorable. It didn’t stick with me like other books have. I didn’t have the urge to read it when I had down time. It was forgettable to me, even with the ending which leads me to believe there will be another book. I wanted more. It felt as if this story has been told just better.

There are illustrations throughout the book by Frank Miller (of the 300 and The Watchmen fame), and they were atrocious. I hated his illustrations, and the book would have been better off without them.

I definitely will say that it deserves a read. I’m always for young girls kicking butt and taking names, especially when it comes to the injustices of the world. Nimue is a fun character, and if there is a second book, I’ll definitely read it to see what happens to her story.

I was given this ARC for an honest review through NetGalley.

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I'm all for twisted fairytales but there are so many great things that have been done in the genre that this one fell flat for me.

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Many times has the story of Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin been told. Arthur is nearly always the receptor of the magical sword that makes him the one true king. This time around the sword belongs to a girl, Nimue.

Nimue is a member of the Sky Folk clan, an ancient Druid group of Fey. When her village is attacked by the Red Paladins and Father Carden, her mother tasks Nimue with bringing the sword to Merlin. Along the way Nimue befriends young Arthur. Even Lancelot makes his appearance. Nimue, as the keeper of the sword, feels bound to protect the ancient Fey clans even at the cost of her own life.

This retelling of the old tale gets the new twist with the sword belonging to a girl, a teenage girl with magical powers and a fearless heart. For today’s readers, it’s a nice change to have the protagonist of the story be female, and Arthur to be a supporting player, rather than the other way around. This is simply the first book in what should be a good series to come.

I enjoyed this story. It’s definitely filled with blood, gore and violence, but also has a lot of heart. Nimue has her flaws, but she’s a tough cookie up to the challenge of being a leader. Wheeler has done the classic tale a true service in focusing on Nimue and letting her have a turn at being the one true “king.” Merlin shows cracks and a little bit of humanity in this version, and Arthur is the less than perfect sword for hire. It’s a fun romp through medieval England.

3.5 stars on Goodreads

This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com close to publication date.

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I enjoyed this book, but it didn't captivate me. While I love twists on Arthurian legend, I felt this story didn't twist enough away from the source material. I will enjoy seeing it adapted on the small screen though.

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After Nimue’s village is destroyed by the Red Palatins, her mother gives her a task to carry a powerful sword to Merlin. Others like Arthur, Morgan, and Gawain join her quest.
This novel was not very well-written. The story included scenes and characters that were not related to Nimue’s story. The characters and Nimue’s herself are one-dimensional and lack depth. The story seemed rushed especially in the middle. The ending was abrupt and had no closure. Overall, it had a great premise. It was not executed well. Still, I recommend this for fans of BBC’s Merlin.

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I always hate when I'm really excited for a book and it turns out to be a massive disappointment. <i>Cursed</i> by Thomas Wheeler and illustrated by Frank Miller was that kind of book for me. So much so, in fact, that I'm not even sure if I care to watch the Netflix series coming out soon anymore. As an avid fan of Arthurian stories and retellings, <i>Cursed</i> missed the mark for me in <i>so many ways</i>.

Meant to be somewhat of an origin story for the <i>Lady of the Lake</i>, <i>Cursed</i> follows young Nimue as she responds to the desecration of her home and her people. The Druids are under attack from a religious order of Paladins who seek to wipe her kind from existence. When the sword of power, as it is called in this novel, falls into Nimue's hands she is instructed to bring it to Merlin. Instead, she begins a war.

To start with, <i>Cursed </i>was really difficult to get into just from the beginning. I don't know if it was the dry writing or the fact that I just did not care at all about any of the characters, but something was off with it. What's worse is that I felt that way through pretty much all of the story. <i>Cursed</i>, to put it simply, read like really bad fanfiction from someone who had minimal knowledge of the Arthurian legends and decided to spin his own story whilst using the names of the original characters.

In fact, all of the characters came across as caricatures of their former selves. So much so that it's laudable this is even considered a retelling. Barring the names, the characters can barely be considered shadows of their inspirations. Nimue was annoying through and through, Arthur was <i>massively</i> disappointing, Merlin was a <i>disaster</i> in so many different ways that I'm honestly somewhat ashamed of how much he was butchered in this tale, Uther was pathetic and disturbing rather than powerful and cruel or misguided, and honestly, I won't even get into the mess that was Guinevere, Squirrel, Percival, Morgan, and Gwain.

And the romance. Why was that even included at all? It was so forced and eye-roll inducing. Then we move into how the "Excalibur" of this story corrupted those who wielded it, Merlin's past with the sword, Arthur's desire for Nimue to get rid of it, and Nimue being influenced into declaring herself a Queen and I just found myself really frustrated with basically everything that the story contained.

Ultimately, there was almost nothing about this book that I could even bring myself to like just a little bit. Even the artwork, which was half the reason many people even talked about this book in the first place, was immensely disappointing. In the end, there is only one moment in which I'll give credit where credit is due, and say that ending bordered on the spectacular. I really appreciated the way the book concluded Nimue's story, even if the story itself was a disaster.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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This book was a lot darker and heavier than I expected. (I totally get why Netflix thought it would make a great series). I was surprised by how many different pov's we got. Nimue's was, of course, my favorite but I've also gotten really attached to Morgan. I sure hope there's a sequel because this book definitely didn't have a closed ending. I thought it was a great read and look forward to seeing the adaptation.

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This book was received as an ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing - Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have loved every sign pieces, page by page, cover to cover of this book. The drama, the suspense, the legends are really captivating and will leave you glued to the book from beginning to end. After reading this book, I am very curious to see how the Netflix TV Show will turn out and I really hope it is just as exciting as the book was and not another flop like other comic based TV Shows. I have always been a fan of King Arthur and Camelot and having the drawings at the end of each chapter be done by Frank Miller was such a nice additional treat.

We will consider adding this title to our YFantasy collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

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Unfortunately, this King Arthur re-telling pales in comparison to others. It's marketed as a retelling of the famous myth with the Lady of the Lake at the front and center and shows what happens when the sword of legend chooses a queen. While this seems appealing, Wheeler fails to delve into the character and her development to make a true female-centric re-telling.

The story follows Nimue, who comes from the Sky Folk. She has always lived as an outcast because of her connection to dark magic, which the villagers view as a 'curse'. Her mother is the head druid and at one point, Nimue is chosen to succeed her. However, the villages reject this and Nimue leaves her town behind for a little bit, but comes back when the Red Paladins, who work for the Church, slaughter everyone in the town.

Her mother dies with a request: take a mysterious package to Merlin. It is revealed to be the Sword of Power and as the story progress, Nimue wields it and meets familiar faces as the political turmoil of the land increases. There are several contenders vying for the throne, including Uther Pendragon and an Ice King, who Merlin dangerously pretends to ally with. His true goal is to reclaim the Sword of Power and give it to someone worthy, but it has already chosen Nimue, who must fight to keep it.

While the story seems promising with a female lead and perspective, I felt that the author really did not develop Nimue as a character. She has a pretty solid backstory but as the story progresses it falls to the wayside. It often feels overlooked with a focus on other character's perspectives, including Uther and the Weeping Monk. Furthermore, I find it problematic that Nimue's friend, Pym, dies off-screen pretty much (I went back and searched the document for her name and couldn't find the actual death scene - please point it out if you know where it is). The illustrations were nice, but it could not make up for the flat characterization of Nimue and even Arthur, who I wanted to be more evil in this version.

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This is a great introduction for young readers into the world of King Arthur and his knight. This is book one in what I hope will be many books by Thomas Wheeler and this story will soon be a Netflix movie. Nimue is a fay who's villages and people are being slaughtered by the Red Palidins. Her mother's dying words are to take a powerful sword to Merlin so the rightful king could protect them. Along the way she meets many of the knights and folk that surround Arthur from Guinevere, Gawain, Lancelot and more. Lots of gory action that will satisfy readers who like adventure and video combat games. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher. The publisher requested that reviews not be released until a month before publication, which is in October 2019, but since Amazon-owned Goodreads already has nearly sixty reviews as of this posting, I don't see any harm in publishing mine and getting it off my lengthy to-do list!

This was written like a movie and it didn't work. A novel needs to be written like a novel, but I understand this was conceived as a multimedia project and I think that was the problem: we really got a sort of a movie script translated into a novel. I understand Netflix has plans to televise this next year, but I won't be watching. I can only hope they do a better job in the writing, because although I was intrigued by the plot and I tried to like this, I couldn't get with it and DNF'd it at just over 25%. Initially, when I'd seen Frank Miller's name attached to it, I'd thought it was a graphic novel, but it isn't. It's a really long book which goes nowhere fast, and Nimue is sadly-lacking in anything to appeal to me in a main character

Having grown up in Britain, I'm familiar with the Arthurian legends, but I'm far from expert in them and I didn't realize, initially, that Nimue is one of several names that are given to the Arthurian Lady of the Lake. The thing is that in this novel, she was such a non-entity that I wasn't impressed with her at all. She's a changeable, inconsistent, weepy little brat of a girl who is all over the place.

Her mother's dying wish is that Nimue take this magical sword to Merlin, who will know what to do with it, but at one point very shortly afterwards, Nimue is considering selling the sword for some cash so she can escape! This is after she supposedly feels really wretched that all of her people are dead, and despite the guilt that she carries over a fight with her mother before her mother died. Shortly after that, when a guy wants to take the sword from her, she suddenly decides she wants to keep it from him and cuts off his hand! Way to keep a low profile Nimue.

What really turned me off this novel though, is how this guy Arthur (yes, that Arthur, apparently), moves in on her, starts stalking her, and suddenly she's getting the wilts and the vapors whenever she's near him. He takes over and Nimue loses all agency, becoming totally dependent upon him in true YA fashion. Barf. That's when I call "Check please, I'm done here." Why even have a female lead if all you're going to do with her is make her subservient to a male? Why even call the male Arthur? Just call him Jack and be done with it. That's the most over-used name in literature for the alpha male, so go with it, and forget about making your story original.

The book - in the portion I read anyway - completely abandons all Arthurian legend, just FYI. I didn't worry too much about that, because it was supposed to be different, but a nod and a wink to it here and there would have been appropriate. And in the end it wasn't different from so many others I've read. It was an Indiana Jones from medieval times: Arthur Jones and the Very Lost Crusade. That said, the whole thing about Arthurian legend is that it's always presented wrongly - with knights in shining armor. The people who gave rise to these legends never were those knights. Arthur was at best a tribal leader, dressed not in chainmail but in a leather jerkin and leggings.

Most of the writing, while shallow, was serviceable, but some of it was downright bad. We got the trope of the flecks in the eyes, which is so rife in YA that it's nauseating. Usually, it's gold flecks so kudos to the writer for going with green, but it's still flecks! That wasn't even the worst part though. The worst part was when Nimue noticed these: she was, for reasons unexplained, practicing sword-fighting with Arthur. It was night. They were hiding in a copse off the road, to avoid being seen, and at best had a small fire so how, in the virtual pitch dark, is Nimue going to see green flecks - or any kind of flecks - in Arthur's eyes? It doesn't work! Let's quit it with the YA flecks.

Did you know that 'whicker' describes movement? Well that's not surprising - because it doesn't! A horse whickers when it makes soft whinnying noises. It has nothing to do with movement - except movement of the lungs and larynx! Yet this writer has this: "He whickered his horse down the road at a trot." What the hell does that even mean? Did the horse whicker as it trotted down the road? That's not what he's saying here. Maybe he means the horse moved down the lane like the late Alan Whicker, the globe-trotting and much imitated British television presenter? That could work, I guess: "As the Kaleidoscopic Knights ride reverently along the rocky road, we have wonder why the nefarious, nincompoop Nimue isn't with them...."

At one point - during her ever-changing attitude toward the sword - Nimue declares, "I have to bring the sword to Merlin." Actually she has to take the sword to Merlin. I know in modern usage, people say 'bring' and it's bad grammar, but it's what people do. The question is, would this modern parlance have been in use a thousand years ago? I doubt it, and this is emblematic of another problem with the story - the modern lingo. I don't expect the writer to write it in medieval English, but I do expect at least a nod and a wink to cadence and modes of expression back then, yet here, the language is completely modern in every regard. Disbelief is not only not suspended, it's hung, drawn, and quartered, and dead and buried.

This inattention to what was being written sometimes comes back to bite the author such as in, "She realized that whatever was inside her darkness had made her come, had somehow drawn her there," which made me laugh out loud the first time I read it. It was merely bathroom humor I'm afraid, but the real problem was that I had to read this sentence twice more before I properly understood what he was saying.

That's not a good thing, and it wasn't the only time, but fortunately it didn't happen often. The damage was done though and the problem was that the unintended humor in that sentence made me keep thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and having lines like "...if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!" running through my mind didn't help to take this seriously, especially since I was having trouble taking it seriously to begin with! So while I think the basic idea for this story was a good one, the execution of if left far too much to be desired for my taste. I can't commend it as a worthy read.

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When I saw the premise for this book, I was very intrigued. I'm a sucker for a good retelling of Camelot and will read anything that illudes to those stories. While I did enjoy this book, the plot felt a bit jumbled in parts and was a bit hard to follow. But it was worth reading and I look forward to seeing it on the screen as I think it will lend itself well to television.

Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy of this book in excitement for my honest review.

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I need more. I need this released now so the fandoms can start. I need Tumblr posts with more art, I need memes, I need more...Netflix movie can not be her quick enough either.

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This re-imagining of the Arthurian legends will appeal to graphic novel enthusiasts due to the illustrations throughout. All of the main characters from the legends appear but not in a way you might expect. Some readers will be captivated by the new spin on the old tales. I appreciated the strength of the female characters as well as their doubts. The beginning of the novel was confusing with so many different things happening, but that mirrors the action and the feelings of the characters. They don't understand all that is happening either. The middle of the book is more clear and then the ending is again muddled as secret alliances come to light. It is a very violent story which I didn't particularly enjoy, but I know some readers will like the book better for that. I would recommend it to more mature readers, not middle schoolers, because of that.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Cursed by Thomas Wheeler appears to be a retelling of the legend behind Arthur and the legendary Excalibur. We will receive a visionary version of this tale from Netflix next year. I look forward to seeing the interpretation of this tale on the screen. Nimue is our host on this journey. She is one of the Sky Folk, a Fey. The fey are feared by the Church and are hunted by the Red Paladins. They are murdered, tortured and their homes are burned to the ground. Nimue's mother is the head Druid in her clan and Nimue is feared by her own people over the "Curse" that befell her when she was a child. When the Red Paladins come to Nimue's village, the chaos begins and Nimue must run for her life. Her mother sends her on a quest to find Merlin, the legendary wizard of lore. She is to give him a package, which is revealed to be the Sword of Power, the Devil's Tooth.

Along the way, we encounter more of the Arthurian legend characters such as Morgan, Uther, Gawain, Percival and even Lancelot. Their roles in this drama have changed from what we traditionally recognize from tales like "The Faerie Queen" by Edmund Spenser. There is strife on many fronts from Uther's struggle for control of the throne, the Fey trying to survive and the Church looking for supreme rule of the land through fear.

There are some unanswered questions that will apparently have to wait. As we are left wanting more at the end of this tale.

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3 1/2 stars -

This was a bit disappointing - I typically love the King Arthur retellings, but this one was a bit grim and very violent. I think the overall concept for the plot was quite appealing, and I did like the conflict between the new world and the old. I thought the characters were fine. They had enough depth to keep me reading to find out what happens to them. The writing is well done. Sadly, I didn't really enjoy the illustrations. I've liked Miller's graphic novels, and his participation in this venture was a huge draw for me. But this time, his art didn't grab me.

One reason I took my rating down to 3 1/2 stars is that book reads like the first of a series and ends without a true resolution. If there's more to come, this won't be a bad thing, but if this is supposed to be a stand-alone we needed a couple of additional chapters to tie up the loose ends.

Overall, the book is fine, just not great. It is an interesting take on these well-known tales.

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