I wish it were not so, but it was so tiring reading The Curse of the Blessed by C for Tarkington. It was an interesting premise, but it was so repetitive and tedious. There was no action really for the first 80% of the book, and then the last 20% was where things kicked into high gear. But when you are only doing 5 MPH, even 25 MPH can feel like warp speed.

So in a kingdom where Maela is raised to think she has to keep her magic a secret, it turns out not to be the case. She ends off being whisked off to the kingdom to compete for the Prince. And, while she doesn’t want him at first… well, if you read any YA fantasy you see where this is going.

The intrigue? Amounts to Mae overhearing 3 conversations. Or really, the same conversation 3 times. The catty other girls and servants, really amount to a few comments about how she dresses and her size. It was all so anti-climactic, shallow, one-dimensional, and frankly not very creative. I felt like I read the same thing multiple times. I even checked at one point to make sure my kindle wasn’t malfunctioning and I wasn’t literally re-reading the same stuff over and over.

The formality was boring and gelt like it was being included to merely increase the word and page count since there was so little of everything else. So little plot. So little mystery. So little intrigue. So little character development. The only thing there was a lot of was the same boring mantra of what a Pooh country bumpkin Mae was. Oh, and typos. Even for an ARC (thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this), it felt like there was an extraordinary amount of typos.

Bottom line, not sure if I care enough about this story to read a sequel, should there be one. Unless there is the promise of significant improvement.

I like the concept of this book, but the characters are so frustrating! How is it that Mae is supposed to be this like back-woods girl but is the wisest of all of them and always knows what to do and is beautiful and perfect and powerful. Ugh. Don't even get me started with the savior complex of the prince.

3.5 stars Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

The story was interesting but felt like your average YA fantasy novel which is exactly what I expected. The plot felt very slow and picked up towards the end. The characters were alright I like Mae and points other times she was a little too annoying. The prince was good until the end I didn’t like his character as much.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is not a dark fantasy, it is an airy fantasy but seems to be lacking depth and development. Would work for middle school readers.

This book was... lighter than I think it would be looking at the cover. In a good way. More of that below.
I know we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I couldn't help but thinking "dark fantasy" when I saw this book. Turns out it was not. TCotB was more cozy fantasy, perfect for fairytale fans who wants a casual read. The romance is there and it's relatively clean (only kissing) so I think it's good for younger readers. Plot could be tightened up a bit around the middle because I think some parts were dragged a little too long, but overall it was cute casual read! Wish Cade would overcome his fear and be happy with Mae! Looking forward next book :)

(Goodreads ISBN didn't match for some reason, so I put the link below)

The book was very well written. I spend most of my time reading fantasy, and fiction novels; however, the novel was not fully interesting to me when I began reading. I do think that there may be some children in my 6th grade class that would enjoy the novel.

There are so many ways that this book screws itself over. I skipped a lot of chapters. This book needs an editor. It had way too many boring bits. The POV that it's written from is painful, because it made a bad story worse.

I couldn't care by the first 3 chapters, I was struggling and I tried to push myself but nope. The worst part is that the parts of the book that had potential got thrown around and mistreated in a way that is so disappointing. It needs to be rewritten, completely. quite a shame it has already been published.

Due to the fact I could not finish the book, I will NOT be sharing my review on my other accounts.

I did not finish this book and, therefore, will not be posting my review to Goodreads. I didn't enjoy the tone or style, and it failed to capture my attention enough for me to continue. It just didn't fit my personal preferences. I also felt like the dialogue was very odd. The characters didn't speak like real people. It felt very robotic. I didn't read enough to warrant posting a full review, but this is my opinion of the first few chapters.

I have to admit, I had higher hopes for this one, but it didn’t all together disappoint. It was a bit slow at first, but once it picked up it was pretty good.

4.5/5
I really loved this book. It was a lovely slow burn enemies to lovers,, cozy romance, and coming of age story. The story follows Lady Maela as she tries to save her people from being drained of resources by the capital city. She goes to the city to participate in a magical competition to choose the love interest, Prince Cardel’s, future wife.There was a really interesting world building aspect to this novel, not quite regency/medieval, but it gave off those vibes. The magic system was also really well written and I liked the way it intertwined religion and corruption. The underlying theme running through the story was that believing in who you are and sticking to your morals is your greatest asset.. Following Mae learning to trust in herself and others was truly heartwarming. There was also a very unexpected sapphic plot line which made me literally go, aweeee, after reading. This is a great option for anyone who loves the Netflix adaptation of Bridgerton, but found Julia Quinn’s novels harder to get into. Prince Cardel gives of MAJOR Duke of Hastings/Antony vibes. His and the King’s backstories were super heartwarming, as well. I think it would be a good idea to have put a trigger warning at the beginning. There was a rather surprising mention of sexual assault that caught me off guard. I also would have liked the author to have given more explanation of the “alliance” in the first book, although I expect the next in the series will hopefully have some answers on what Mae’s uncle is up to. I always know a good book when I reach the last page and go WHHHHAAAATTTT ITS OVER, and that totally happened here! 4.5/5

I love a fantasy romance, and as the start of a series, the synopsis for The Curse of the Blessed has a lot of promise!

Our main character, Maela, is a determined and strong-willed woman that wants to be able to choose her own fate. She was ‘cursed’ with magical abilities, that, if discovered, will force her to be taken from her home and family to live in the capital.

I really liked her determination and ability to speak her mind. However, at times she gave me mental whiplash. She would change her attitude and mindset in each chapter it felt like. I also feel like there were one too many supporting characters, and they made so many appearances that I struggled keeping them straight. The dialogue between these characters felt pretty constant and repetitive, with them repeating themselves often. It also felt very proper and robotic at times, which disrupted the natural flow of conversation.

The prince, Maela’s love interest, was my favorite character, which makes sense since he had the most backstory and personality by far. However, his choices at times did really frustrate me. The set up and premise of the story was very interesting and was a unique spin. My closest comparison would probably be The Selection with the whole dating aspect, however this had magic and more ins and outs to the politics.

The ending wrapped up the character arcs nicely, and was a good conclusion to the story. I feel like it is probably turning into a series, so I’m interested to see how the author would further develop the world in future books. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

I am usually a big fan of YA fantasy but I just could not get into this one right now. The cover is beautiful, the premise is interesting, and I was excited to enter this world, but felt the pacing was very slow and dragged a bit. Sometimes I need to be in certain moods to read certain books, so I certainly don't blame this book for my inability to continue reading. I intend to come back in a few weeks and pick it back up.

A charming YA coming of age story set in a fantasy world with elements of magic, mystery, and a little bit of romance.

Mae has lived her whole life hiding powers she believed to be a curse and watching her land and people grow weaker every year. After an event where members of the High Holy Council witness the strength of her magic, she is convinced to go to the palace and vie for the princes' hand in marriage against other women with similar gifts. Mae does not wish to be queen but sees this as an opportunity to train her magic and help solve her land's problems. Once she arrives, she realizes there are many more challenges she has to face and gets involved with more problems than she may be able to handle.

This was a coming of age story with an interesting plot and sub plots that really peaked my intetest. I enjoyed the world building that the author created for the story by giving the background of the kingdom and incorporating the social struggles between the different cities of the kingdom.

The characters were loveable and made me root for them to win throughout the book. Mae goes through not only external problems she has to face but also internal struggles with her magic, who she is meant to be, and figuring out her destiny. Some struggles of the other characters are also very interesting and make for excellent side plots to the main story.

The book is medium paced and covers a lot of different twists and turns throughout the plot and sub plots. I also particularly enjoyed the other elements of this story including the side mystery and romance aspects that added really well to the main plot. The ending was a little disappointing but only because this seems to be leading up to a follow up book or even a multi-book series as the ending is left fairly open for some of the plot points.

The Curse of the Blessed is a wonderful YA fantasy read with a lot of story elements and world building. I would recommend it for an easy read that transports you into another world and provides a little bit of something for everyone.

Rating: 3.75/5 stars!

Themes: coming of age, identity, destiny, fantasy, magic

Story Elements: mystery, romance, 3rd person POV

Thank you NetGalley and C Tarkington for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Our main character, Mae, is a strong-willed, Merida-esque character that wants to choose her own fate, is solid in her ways, and isn't afraid to speak her mind. I really liked that about her. But that's about all I liked about her. Her personality was fun to read most of the time, but my gosh it was giving me whiplash with how she changed from QUEEN energy to "oh no I'm so humble" to "oh feel sorry for me" to "yeah I'm the hero" in almost every chapter.

There was also a clear cycle of people she would interact with in every chapter, which was grating after a while. This poor girl couldn't walk 4 feet without 8 characters wanting to talk to her in a row, even I was groaning and exhausted just reading it. There were hardly any breaks between the dialogue which was pretty flat and the same conversation most of the time. It felt like it was very recycled with the same characters having the same dialogue, as if they had never had that conversation before or didn't have anything else to talk about. The dialogue also felt very tense and wayyyy too proper and robotic (saying "do not" instead of "don't" etc.) and made it seem even longer to read since it didn't flowl.

The prince had the most backstory out of everyone, which makes some sense I guess, but I felt more for him than I did any of the other characters. Kind of crazy how the people we originally were supposed to not really like I ended up liking the most because they had the most story around them, even more so than our MC. I enjoyed every time he showed up in a scene and he's what kept me reading, honestly. Lord Aimon was also written very well, I didn't expect some of the turns with him AT ALL and I really liked his character.

The story was interesting, in how it's set up and how it all comes about. Think of The Selection series (the bachelor kind of thing) but with magic and a lot more characters and political connections to keep track of. I'm not usually a fan of "the bachelor" type stories but this one I didn't mind reading, I think it was fairly well done.

Overall, the ending honestly had me hooked and wanting to read more about what happens next, it's probably the better-written part of the book, but I'm not sure if this is turning into a series. If it's not I won't be heartbroken, but it did seem to set up for a second book. We'll have to see.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review!

This book was balanced in its plot structure, well written, and engaging. The main character Mae is intelligent, kind, and often lets her mouth run away with her. I found her to be much like the character Danielle in the film Ever After. It is nice to see when the ‘Not like other girls’ trope is done well. I absolutely loved the secondary character of Leanna, who starts off guarded and judgmental of the higher born people of the kingdom. Watching her come to terms with her own prejudices and self-correct without anyone forcing her to examine herself was refreshing. I think she may be one of the strongest characters in the novel.

The romance element of the story was an important part of the plot, but not the direct focus. I enjoyed the prince’s reluctance to like Mae at the beginning. I’m pretty sure that her lack of filter even when faced with royalty, was what got through his distaste for the competition to become his bride.

The plot itself was both familiar and refreshing all at once, but the magic system was a little underwhelming. There was really no development or explanation of how it worked besides one statement telling the characters learning magic to ‘use their imagination’ during training. I would have liked a little bit more development there, as both the main character and the reader are learning about how it’s supposed to work.

The conflict of the different villages being bled dry by those who should be protecting them was really the backbone to the whole story, but this book did not resolve the issue. When I picked it up, I wasn’t aware it was supposed to be the first part of a series, even though there are no outside indications that it is. I feel like it may frustrate the reader when they get to the end of the book and find there is so much story still left to be told.
I really enjoyed this story and I do plan on continuing to read more from this author, especially if they come out with a sequel. I want to know what happens next!

Novel tropes include but are not limited to: Not Like Other Girls, Refreshing Honesty, Commitment Issues, Chosen-One, Forbidden Romance, and Gone Horribly Right.

3.5 stars.

This wasn't the worst book I've read. In fact, it started out strong, even if it definitely felt like the characters were lacking. The world building was beautiful. But eventually I could not stand Mae and the book did get a little boring. I wished there was a little more oomph with the plot.

This book had everything going for it. The cover is gorgeous the synopsis enticing. But sadly this book fell flat on soooo many levels.

There was serious lack of world building and back story. Or if there was, there was a lot to be desired. The writing style was flat and lacked maturity. The writing was very juvenile. But I never write off author due to their lack of writing. So high hopes for more and better next time.

The main character Mae drove me nuts. She acted like a child a got so upset in the first couple of chapters it just turned me off. To continue she acted like a spoiled, ignorant teenager. I couldn't stand her.

Felix? was he a friend like a brother? or did he secretly have a crush on her? Their relationship didn't seem like just a friendly brother/sister relationship.

The prince was alright, he didn't bother me but I couldn't connect with him either. His character personality didn't flow, it as well as Mae's kept giving me whiplash however I will say that the Prince was better written than Mae.

The best written character was Lord Aimon. I liked him a lot and kept reading for him. I liked him. His character flowed steady and nicely, he seems like someone I would want to be friends with. Which made certain twists and turns surprising! I didn't expect him to turn out the way he did.

Overall the writing wasn't the best, the characters lacked as well as the world building.

TW: SA, Homophobia, Xenophobia.
It's been a minute since a book has been able to hold my attention. This was well written and nicely paced even if the dialogue did make me roll my eyes from time to time.
Our MC, Mae, is a totally baddie. Part noble lady, part country girl, all amazing. She has magic that she has had to keep hidden as she believes harm will come to her and her family if she shows it. After one accident, her life is forever changed when her uncle gives her the opportunity to travel to the capital to try and win the crown.
Mae makes many interesting friends on her journey to the capital and while staying in the palace. She doesn't go because she wants to be a princess, she goes because she wants to save her people that suffer badly for the benefit of other lands. However, it seems destiny has other intentions for her.
The only thing I did not like AT ALL (and I'm not trying to spoil anything here but it needs said) was the trope of "oop, my kid is gay, I'm gonna pay people to abuse them until they are straight." I hate it so much! I know it does happen from time to time in real life, but who could be so evil??? Grr. I'm big mad. I hope the poor victim lives happily ever after or else >.>
I'm really excited to see what happens next because there has to be at least another installment, right?!?!?

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it through the first half of the book. I do intend to pick it back up at a later point and see if it captures my attention the way I had thought it would when I requested to review.

Above average YA Fantasy that kept my attention until the end.

Sometimes I find fantasy characters tedious but was pleasantly surprised by the author's ability to capture their individuality.

Romance is my thing so I was not disappointed.

Thank you for providing an eARC for my honest review.