Today I’m here to discuss the book that got me out of the said horrible reading slump- The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz, the first in the Devil of Roanoke trilogy. Simply put, it is a perfect example of a historical fiction meets paranormal fantasy genre mix up. The trilogy is inspired by an amalgamation of two real historical incidents- one being the Lost Colony of Roanoke, which was the first permanent English colony in the New World, famous to have witnessed the disappearances of the settlers, making the incident to be one of the many speculative mysteries in American history. There are rumours that the settlers died because of starvation or because of some other natural calamity but nobody knows what really happened.

The second historical reference was from the legend of Tschäggättä mask figures of Switzerland. These were traditionally dressed men in skins and masks to frighten others. Some believe that tribes would wear these masks to ward of evil spirits or to steal things from other localities but their origin is unclear.

The author, Katie Hayoz did a wonderful job putting the two historical legends together and modifying it to cultivate this beautifully addicting fantasy trilogy! If I were you, I’d already be interested in the book and add this to my tbr but just for the sake of being professional, let me give you a gist of the book we’re talking about and my personal experience reading it.

The story follows three main characters- Redd, John and Eleanor- the first two based in the present timeline while the third’s story dates back to the history.

Redd lives with her mother and there’s nothing normal about either of them. Redd can taste emotions and her anger does things, horrible things. She doesn’t know why. Her mom never tells her anything. Not about why she’s supposed to duck her head underwater every morning and practice staying there as long as possible. Neither about the reasons why they keep moving places, every year. Not about the strange flower that grows only where they live that they must protect at all costs, and certainly not about the box that keeps appearing every year on Redd’s birthday.

All she knows is that she can’t trust people (not even her mother because she often senses lies in whatever her mother tells her) and the reason why they keep moving is because someone might be looking for them. Someone really, really bad. And, that she must never open the box she gets sent every birthday.

So, she does exactly that. She opens the box and soon enough, a sexy, mysterious tourist, John Smith comes in town. He speaks funny and she can never sense his emotions like she can do for others. This intrigues her and when she finally line the dots together, she realises that John Smith maybe the someone her mother had warned her against. But Redd has questions that only John can answer; questions that she knows her mother have always been lying about; answers she had been hiding.

And that’s the only reason she chooses to go along John Smith to the place that he tells is where her true home is. But the question still lingers in her head- should she really be trusting John Smith? Is wherever he’s taking her really the bad place that her mother had kept her safe from?

Read the book and find out, my friend. It’s worth it!

Now coming to my opinion, at first, I was a little lost because I had no idea what was happening. Like I was totally immersed in Redd’s point of view and could understand everything that was happening but John and Eleanor’s story was a little tough to get into. I guess, it was when John was finally sent on the mission to find Redd was when it all started making sense together. The prose is good, easy to understand. It was the right amount of everything, not too descriptive but descriptive enough to visualize everything.

The plot was nicely structured. Right things happened at the right time. The timing and the worldbuilding was on point. The worldbuilding specifically was done exceptionally well, unlike many other fantasy books where there’s paragraphs and paragraphs just filled with exposition, making sense of the world and the fantasy magic system.

I really loved Redd’s character because you get to sense the confusion she’s facing and the questions she has- like should she trust her mom or this stranger called John Smith who is willing to give her the answers she’s wanted to know since so long. She was also the most relatable character out of all three of them, if that counts! There is also insta-love thing happening between Redd and John, which to be honest, I didn’t buy because it just felt too rushed and pushed and very unrealistic. There should have been more bonding and more emotional progress before their very first kiss, in my opinion. It just felt very abrupt and out of the blue.

There’s another thing that I absolutely hated but also loved about this book and it was the fact that the book ended with a cliffhanger……and the second book isn’t even out yet (It comes out at the end of this year).

AAAAAAAAAAA….I literally screamed when the book ended. I was like, “What do you mean, end of book 1?????”

Anyway, overall, this book in my opinion centers around morals mostly. It’s about choosing to do the right thing and how evil just begets more evil. It’s about having regrets, feeling guilty but still choosing the easy way to steer clear from the cost you’re supposed to pay for all the wrong. If you like my-life-was-a-lie trope to go together with paranormal mythical beings like satan and it-was-all-a-trap trope, then you shouldn’t wait any longer and just go buy the book. It’s already available on amazon. Just go. RIGHT NOW.

I would like to thank Netgalley, BooksGoSocial and the author, Katie Hayoz for giving me the wonderful opportunity to read this book as an ARC and review it. I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend this book to anyone. It’s fast paced, it has a good story, it has satan in it. Need I say more? I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It could have been an easy 5, had it not ended with a freaking cliffhanger, but oh, well…

Thank you so much for reading!

Full review to be posted soonish. I'll update review with links to socials.
I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and Katie Hayoz for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book sadly wasn’t for me, but I can see why others may enjoy it more.

I picked this one up because of my fascination with the lost colony of Roanoke. This book weaves the original story in with the Devil himself and creates a unique story of what happened to the colony. It follows three different people that all have different relationships with the colony. I thought that the author did really well separating the chapters and making each POV have a completely different atmosphere than the others. However, I didn’t really come to care for the characters, especially Redd.

This is an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t love the writing in this one either. It seems that the author told us a lot of things instead of showing them, which made the story feel weaker. I feel bad that I didn’t enjoy this one more, because I’m sure that lots of people would. I recommend it to dark fantasy fans.

This one wasn’t for me, but it definitely has it’s audience. I enjoyed the characters, but found myself confused with the world-building. I kept asking questions about the world and never really got any clear developed answers. I’d recommend this to fans of multiple POVs and fantasy.

Katie has written another amazing book. This was my first novel that she wrote, but i love it just as much as I loved The Quartrefoil Chronicles. I cannot wait for book2 and follow more of the story of Redd, John and Eden. This book is complicated but in a way that keeps you on your toes as the mystery of Redd's family history and the history of Eden begin to unfold. Loved it. Already anxiously waiting for what happens next!

This dark and mysterious tale captivated was not what i was ready for but damn it was so good. i am a brit and so didnt know much about the main theme of this book. but it was so well researched and written if i was to look in to Roanoke Island i would find most of the information in this book matches.

but i am glad i was picked to read this book as it is one that will keep me going back as i loved how creepy it was and its the perfect read of those night were you want to fear scared. .

This dark and mysterious tale captivated me from the start. The different perspectives added intensity to the story. Can’t wait to read more books from this author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy to review. This book was not my favorite and I just could not get into the plot or connect with the characters. This was a DNF for me

3.5, but rounding up because I enjoyed the writing style a lot!

This was a really interesting book! I've always been fascinated by Roanoke, so it was cool to read an alternate history with a magical twist.

The multiple POVs were well used here, although John was my least favorite if I had to pick. It very much feels like the first book in a series, as a lot of it is a slow burn set up of the world and its more supernatural elements. I would've been annoyed by this if I wasn't so fond of the writing style and intrigued by the world. I'm definitely interested in picking up the sequel when it comes out to find out what happens!

Anything about the lost colony of Roanoke has always interested me so when I heard about The Curse That Binds Us I was anxious to dig in! Author Katie Hayoz tells this story from 3 POV's and they come together in such unexpected ways. How does the story of Roanoke and the power of evil combine to show us just how far you would go to protect the people you love? And this is the first book in a series so there will be more to this story!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a long read. Normally long reads don't bother me, but it also started out slow so i felt like I was slogging through it to get to the meat of the story.Maybe it was the different points of view? It did pick up and redeem itself towards the middle for me. Can't see what comes next.

Thank you netgalley and the author for this arc. it's a brilliant reinvention of the history of the Roanoke settlers. There's humor and romance and the creepiness is there as well. There was some confusing world building. The multiple POV was done very well. Overall a good book indeed!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story because of its marriage between a true historical event and fantasy. I’m not a history buff so learning about it via a fictional medium was very entertaining. It’s a typical coming of age story starting Redd who knows absolutely nothing about herself the gifts she possesses. The story changes narrators with each chapter so you can see how John and Redd are twined together by the past created 400 years ago when Eleanor Dare was forced to work with the devil to survive Roanoke Island during the early years of American colonization.

Wow, I didn't think id enjoy this as much! While fantasy is my go-to, I just wasn't sure in the beginning. Took me a while to let the book guide me, to let the story unravel without expectations. Such a brilliant blend of different timelines, that was wonderfully distinctive, Characters, story and worldbuilding were captivating, dark and kept me going! Highly recommend this!

A good read, this book hooked me in with a good premise and strong characters. While not being a big fan of American Colonial History or Small Town American life, this book kept me hooked and I still very much enjoyed it despite those things being the main themes. I can imagine it being a huge hit for many readers and I would say it would be a good pick for a book club.

This was the most fantastic “what the heck did I just read” novels ever. The beginning of the book was weird and dark and I had a moment where I had to go back to the synopsis to remember what I had gotten myself into. Oh man though, after getting my bearings back this tale unfolded into the most amazing story. There are three narratives going which alternate between Redd, John, and Eleanor in the 1500s. All are crafted beautifully and in a way that there is an ease when switching between them. The characters are complex and well rounded, I loved how relatable they were even in their respective lives and circumstances. I’m not a religious person but I find religious beliefs and practices fascinating and was deeply immersed in the conflict of morals that each of the main characters battled through out the entire book. The world building was great, I found myself having no issue being able to picture both Roanoke and Eden in my mind and letting the story transport me there. This novel deserves every one of my 5 stars for originality, creativity, depth of characters, and tangible settings. I am fully invested in this tale surrounding one of the greatest mysteries of early colonists in North America, and I cannot wait to see where books two and three take Redd and John.

This was an intriguing read with a twist on a curse and magical world. The ending left you hanging a little more to my liking, but overall a fun young adult read.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion of the novel.
I was very interested in the premise of this book, which is why I decided to read it. The world is well constructed and I really liked the ending, where the reasons behind many aspects of the novel are revealed. I also liked the main characters, both Redd and John. Although it is true that the romance is not one of my all-time favorites, I overall enjoyed it. I think the motivations of the characters were clear and I liked them separately. Still, by the end of the novel, I wish there had been more. Not necessarily because I was dying to keep reading, but because I felt there were some very repetitive and superficial parts. I think this novel leaves a lot of potential open for the next one. I recommend it if you want to read a somewhat dark YA fantasy with an easy level of English.

Hayoz uniquely weaves the mysterious historical events surrounding the lost colony of Roanoke with the Devil himself. What if the desperate survivors made a pact with the devil to sacrifice innocent blood in order to live a life that seems and feels like paradise? Even the place they live given by him is called Eden but guarded with hellhounds and demons.

The story shifts from three first person POVs, Redd – a girl living in the present day who is gifted with a special ability to taste emotions in others and is constantly on the run from a mysterious box thanks to her mother, John – a boy from “Eden” who is torn between doing what he feels is wrong in order to save his people, and Eleanor – a woman from the past who cannot run away from the devil and did not resist Evil and temptation, thus bringing down the curse on the survivors of Roanoke.

Hayoz accurately changes the tone and prose according to the character’s respective time and culture. I felt annoyed with Redd for being rather repetitive in her responses to surprise and shock, as well as my usual problems with the common portrayal of teenage/YA romance and attraction. I was mostly unsure of John until the last third of the book (as he’s struggling with being the “bad guy” since he had to <spoiler> kidnap Redd and return her to Eden). The kidnapping and sacrificing of children is slowly revealed as the source of Eden’s life force. </spoiler>

The best I can say for this is that it’s brutally honest in its portrayal of people, as they are, without the courage and faith to do what is good and right, in the desperate choices of survival.

It’s an intense, sad, and disturbing read. (So disturbing due to the lack of a positive, moral force for good that I stalled out halfway through reading and only finished it because of my agreement as a Netgalley reviewer.) This first book ends on a cliffhanger, but at this point I can only expect a rather humanist conclusion in which John will try to save Redd because he seems to be choosing to do what is right and may have found a way to break their curse. Yet, I cannot but feel that God deserves His place in such a story as this, in which Satan is personified, since it would be only accurate that mere humans cannot defeat evil by their own strength.

Overall, this is an interesting and dark exploration of the sin nature and the consequences of greed and selfishness, but this story makes no mention of the true hope for salvation and grace that is found in Christ alone. I hope the rest of the series will improve in wrapping up this point.


If this was a movie, I’d rate it: R for strong language, sexually suggestive content (including a few fade-to-black, but those are not X level, which I was grateful for), disturbing elements, and mature topics

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz tells the story of Redd, who has a mysterious box that appears every year on her birthday, which her mother refuses to allow her to open!  But this year, she's going to open it, and starts a chain of events!

John lives in a village that is both lovely and has a dark secret.  He's sent to find Redd.

Eleanor leaves England in 1587, pregnant, and ready to become a settler, but there are a number of horrible decisions that she has to make along the way.

These three stories go along together, with flashbacks to Eleanor making the current events make more sense.

This was the first in a series, and so sets up a number of questions that I'm sure will be answered in later books.  It was entertaining, with darkness that becomes more apparent the further on in the book you go.

The Curse That Binds Us was published on 15th December 2021, and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can follow Katie Hayoz on Facebook, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to BooksGoSocial.