I.need.more! It's been a long while where a story ended and I was t ready to fully let go. Absolutely blown away by the writing style and character development!

I was able to read Cursed by Thomas Wheeler for free from Netgalley via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. From the cover and the description it seemed that the story was going to be about a strong female protagonist. This book in on high demand and I wanted to be in the 'know'. I tried and I was unable to get into the story.

Book: Cursed
Author: Thomas Wheeler
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with this ARC.

I went into this one with really high expectations. I mean, look at just how much it has going for it. However, I do feel like this book was just made for the screen and the screen alone. I don’t know what is it about taking a script and turning it into a book just makes everything fall apart. I think this would had been much stronger in script form.

The plot was really basic. This is pitched as almost being a female King Arthur, but it doesn’t come out like that. Arthur is still a male. It’s fine, I guess, but the plot as a whole just wasn’t as fleshed out as it come have been. Thomas uses a lot of techniques that other fantasy authors use, but it just doesn’t work here. I think he had done something different and really fleshed out the story, then things may had worked a little bit better. Again, I bet it will work on the screen.

I liked the reinventing of some of the characters, but others, no. For example, our lead character, Nimue is not my favourite. She’s supposed to be this great thinker and all of that, but she doesn’t come across like that. The author is trying way too hard to make her into something she’s not. This creates a lot of problems in the overall presentation of the story. Merlin was also very poorly done. He should had been the most interesting character here, but he wasn’t. The minor characters were great and I wish we could had gotten to see more of them.

The artwork, I thought, was really unnecessary. Whenever I saw this was illustrated, I thought it was going to be done a little bit more tastefully. Normally, I do love illustrations in books, but the ones in this one just kind of annoyed me.

Overall, I am very disappointed in this one, but I do think I will give the show a try. This book comes out on October 1, 2019.

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/0QG_IKzwtAc

Cursed is a YA retelling of the King Arthur told from the point of view of Nimue, a female Fey whose village is viciously ransacked. The aftermath leaves her orphaned with a final mission given to her by her mother, get the sword to Merlin. Its not my normal cup of tea, but i'm sure for those who are into this genre it would be a hit. Was just a case of not the book but my issue in regards to it. Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

High schoolers and above will probably like this book, not appropriate for middle school and below as it's very violent. I'm going to forget it's supposed to be an Arthurian retelling and precursor to a Netflix show because it reads like a script. Based on the written work only, it kept me reading, I was invested in the main character, but as mentioned earlier it is violent with slightly graphic depiction. Nobody is truely good or sacrificing in this, they all have their agendas. The bad guys are really easy to hate and to cheer for their demise. So the written work was an okay read, however the art work leads a lot to be desired. There are full illustrations and those were okay, but the line drawing looked like a middle schooler did it with computer graphics and a mouse, and I actually collect lowbrow art and comic books, so to say it's disappointing was putting it mildly. My biggest pet peeve was the cliffhanger ending of all the major characters, everyone was left hanging by a thread.
Aside to the book itself, it only came as an adobe restricted reader download which made pages load very slowly breaking the flow of the story, and the artwork took forever to load. I had to keep going to my desktop to see if it was glitches or if it was art work that was hanging the program up. I would suggest to the publishers to allow this to be reviewed in other options in the future. I do thank the authors and netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Unfortunately the arc was missing pages so I was unable to read it. Can't wait to read it once it's published! I love Frank Miller works, so I'm sure it will be great.

This book would be perfect to add to my library collection in my high school. I believe it is an interesting story very suspenseful and exciting and the students in high school would enjoy reading. The characters are clever and well developed. I very much enjoyed reading this book

I love the idea of this book!!! Cursed by Thomas Wheeler is definitely a book that needs more. More work, more character development , perhaps even more plot development. Reading Cursed was a bit jarring to be honest, the sentence structure and transitions were abrupt.

I know that this book is made into a series for Netflix....so I hope that in directing the shows more attention will be paid to the writing and the structure.

<b>.5 stars</b>

<i>This review is based on an ARC ebook received for free from NetGalley. I am not being paid to review this book and what I write here is my own opinion. My rating scale is below.</i>

<b>brief summary</b>
A deeply disappointing reimagining of Arthurian legend with Nimue as the protagonist.

<b>full review</b>
The best word to describe this book is disappointing. The prose is simplistic, almost juvenile, and pairs well with the illustrations. For those who picked up this book excited by Frank Miller's involvement, prepare to be disappointed. The illustrations look like the sort of artwork a middle school student might doodle on their notebook if they were forced to use Microsoft Paint and a glitchy mouse to do so. However, since the text reads rather like the sort of quasi-fanfiction a middle school student might write after deciding the Arthurian tales needed more genocide and lepers, the illustrations and the text are well-matched, with neither able to redeem the other. The upside to the immature prose is that it makes for very fast reading, so one need not linger on this unnecessarily lengthy book overlong.

Part of what makes the prose so off-putting is that it seems to be a completely different story which the author could not sell on its own merits, and so decided to replace key names with figures from the tales of Arthur and his knights and call it a reimagining. No single character in this story bears the slightest resemblance to their namesake, to the point where it becomes cringeworthy to even claim a connection between them. The naming conventions, aside from those lifted from Arthurian lore, are jarringly inconsistent with regard to origin and bespeak a haphazard approach to research that carries throughout. As with the eventual involvement of Norse raiders. Guinevere turns out to be one of these, despite the fact that she has a very French name.

Plotwise, there is a leading lady (seemingly arbitrarily) named Nimue who was raised by Druids and Feyfolk. She performs a weirdly emo version of a frolic through the text, wielding a mythical sword that behaves like a bloodthirsty version of Tolkien's One Ring as she gathers Fey followers who see her as a prophesied Chosen One. She meets other name checked Arthurian characters and deals with each of them utterly inconsistently. She leads a rebellion of the Fey against Uther Pendragon (who, honestly, didn't seem to care about her and the Fey one way or another until she forced his hand) and the Red Paladins, who are a religious order bent on the destruction of the Fey and her original enemies. The (plague-ridden) Pope comes to Wales to personally oversee the genocide. Merlin is involved, but he's a magicless sot who turns out to be almost as superfluous to the story as the Leper King, who might be Fey, might be a crimelord, and really only exists to pad Merlin's bits of the story. Merlin also turns out to be Nimue's father, because of course he is. He even gets all paternal and proud of her childish Good Guy decisions toward the end.

It would be impossible to recommend this book to anyone in good conscience, except as evidence of the use of namedropping and rehashing classics in the publishing industry. Do not buy it. Do not read it. You will be Disappointed with a capital D.

A good Arthur legend retelling which places the Lady of the Lake center stage! I am not really all that familiar with the Arthur legend (just a lose understanding). So this story encouraged me to do some research into the legend.

The illustrations added a dark, heaviness to the story. The style isn't my cup of tea but I do appreciate the dark, foreboding feel that they create.

I don’t think I’ve been as excited about an Arthurian book since Mists of Avalon! Cursed introduces a whole new take on the old legends of King Arthur and focuses on Nimue, the Lady of the Lake or, in some versions, Merlin’s lover. We first see Nimue as a child, living in a nurturing environment still following the old ways of the Druid. The first chapter is a violent introduction to the unconscionable acts of cleansing and conversion carried out by Christian priests and monks in the Dark Ages. The violence is startling, made especially so by the immediate change in tone in the second chapter as the storyline fills itself in, then pushes forward with Nimue as warrior and defender of the old ways.

All the expected characters appear, but in clever and fascinating new ways. The narrative itself moves fast and holds you tightly as you read page after page, oblivious to time because you just have to know what happens next. Complemented by magnificent illustrations, the story wraps around you until you can’t think of anything else. Arthur fans will devour this, but so will Game of Thrones fans missing that world. Highly recommended.

"Cursed" eBook was published in 2019 (October) and was written by Thomas Wheeler. This is Mr. Wheeler's second novel. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in medieval England. The primary character is Nimue, though Arthur, Merlin, and others from the traditional tales of King Arthur are there too. 

In this version of the story, Nimue, whose mother is an Arch Druid, ends up with the famous sword of power. She has also grown adept at very powerful dark magic. Her mother along with everyone else in her village is killed by the Red Paladins, a militant group of the Catholic Church. The Red Paladins seek any and all of the Fey folk they can find. They want to purge their souls through torture and death. They also want the sword of power Nimue carries. 

King Pendragon is another force that wants to hold the sword that he will become the one true king. Complicating matters is the Viking Ice King who is also after the sword. Nimue and her friends must survive this lethal field of adversaries, while she tries to survive and save the Fey. 

I enjoyed the 10+ hours I spent reading this 416-page fantasy. While I liked the overall plot, the familiar characters have little to do with the history we have all grown up with regarding Arthur. I think I would have liked the story better if there had been no effort to tie it to the Arthur legend. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

I will be purchasing this when it is available in print because I love the artwork. The story is interesting and makes use of a normally minor character in the King Arthur legends. I am looking forward to the series and I hope that this becomes an audio book soon!

This is such a cool book and from what I have heard soon to be a mini series on Netflix come spring of 2020. This is a wonderful but refreshing tale surrounding the whole knights of the round table, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. This book is non stop action from the start and comes with all the suspense and twists and turns one can possibly fit in this book, and they are awesome and fit so well into the story line. The illustrations are interesting and fit with the story, they tell a story of themselves but still leave a lot to the imagination. It is no surprise this will be one of my favorite young adult books of the year so far, I hope Netflix keeps true to it.



This book will appear on my blog on Oct 1st

I read the first hundred pages before I gave up. At first glance, this seems like a strong female protagonist book, but it's more like "wreckless protagonist sometimes accidentally does the right thing" book. There will be demand for this book, and I know who I will recommend it to, but unfortunately it's not for me.

Okay, maybe I'm biased because I think Thomas Wheeler AND Frank Miller (the illustrator) are geniuses, but this was one of the best books I've read so far this year! Full of suspense and intrigue, this book has it all. My teenage son was enamored as well, and now we can't wait for the series to come out on Netflix. Also, just a side note- the font is wonderful in this book and the illustrations were perfect!

Highly, highly recommended!

5 out of 5 stars for Cursed by THomas Wheeler.

A HIGE thank you to the author and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I was hooked! I can't wait to watch the Netflix show.
Nimue is the Lady of the Lake, whom we know from the legend of King Arthur. In this story, she is a young sorceress touched by the darkness; called to a purpose she could never imagine. Her village is pillaged and as she escapes with a sword she has never seen before, thrust into her arms by her mother, she sets off on a journey to find Merlin.

Along the way, she meets familiar faces from the tales of old, and proves herself worthy to be Queen of the Fey, the Wolf-Blood Witch, and a true example of the strength of women. I so hope that the show is faithful to this source material, because it is a fantastic story and would hopefully give girls another look into strong women and help them believe in themselves..

I requested this book mainly because of the cover art. The fantasy genre is my least favorite to read so I will try to be open minded.
Then I realized the book has been written for a mini series on Netflix. Interesting, right? I’m not a Game of Thrones fan but feel those who are will enjoy the book and series.
Here goes...

The story is based on the King Arthur legend, told through the eyes of Nimue, a teenage heroine with a mysterious gift who is destined to become the powerful (and tragic) Lady of the Lake. After her mother’s death, she finds companionship in Arthur, a young mercenary. They are in a quest to find Merlin and deliver the ancient sword. Over the course of her journey, Nimue becomes an emblem of courage and rebellion against the terrifying Red Paladins, and their conniving King Uther.

Themes include the obliteration of the natural world, religious terror, senseless war, and courage.

Thank so much to NetGalley for this ARC! One of the things I really love about using NetGalley is the access to titles that I would have never heard of had it not been available on their website. I would have seen the show when it came out, noticed it was based on a book, and been so far behind on the times as I tried to read to catch up. Luckily though, I was approved and got to read about Nimue first hand.

As we grow up, we learn about history both fact and fiction. We’re told what wars happened when, what books are considered classic that will never age. One thing that I missed out on as a kid was how the things that all of these tales and lore had in common was that it was dominated by white men. Men were the saviors, men were the kings, the presidents, the end all be all. Women were who nipped at their heels and stayed quiet and demure while all hell broke loose around them. This retelling was such a breath of fresh air because it puts that trope right on its head and puts strong women in the foreground.

Nimue is the Lady of the Lake, whom we know from the legend of King Arthur. We know she gives him Excalibur, and in a few other myths she raises Lancelot or has a brief affair with Merlin. In this story, she is a young sorceress touched by the darkness; called to a purpose she could never imagine. Her village is pillaged by the Red Paladins who are hell-bent on destroyed Fey Kind in the name of God. She escapes with a sword she has never seen before, thrust into her arms by her mother, the Arch Druid, and told to find Merlin.

Along the way, she meets familiar faces from the tales of old, and proves herself worthy to be Queen of the Fey, the Wolf-Blood Witch, and a true example of the strength of women. She fights to free her fey brethren while combatting the rage that lies deep within the iron of the blade. It begs her to kill, and she has to find a way to quench its thirst without losing herself at the same time. It’s such a compelling fantasy, and the best retelling I’ve ever read of the story of King Arthur. I so hope that the show is faithful to this source material, because it is sure to give so many girls the push they need to believe in their own body and soul.

This book kept me hooked. I stayed up all night reading it. I can't wait to use it in my classroom and to see the Netflix show!