I absolutely adore anything Katy writes, including this little gem. The characters, the plot, everything about this was great and I can’t wait for the next book she publishes. I know there is a next installment, and I can’t wait to see where she takes the story and the characters from here. I think this was so creative and I wish I could write a book like this, but I don’t have the skills necessary to pull it off. I am so thankful to have received an advance copy of this, and I will be buying it when it officially comes out in bookstores just to have it on my shelf. I can then properly read and annotate it and post about it on other social media.

Garden of the Cursed has everything I could ever want from a book: an incredibly cool and unique magic system, a compelling mystery that keeps you guessing turn after turn, and an absolutely delightful romance that features ex-friends fake dating. Beyond the brilliantly executed (and delightfully excruciating) fake dating, the rest of the book is filled with magic, friendships, and a girl struggling to find her place in the world. I devoured this book in one day, turning page after page as I followed Marlowe in her journey to unravel a mystery that ends up being bigger than she anticipated.

I admit when I started this book I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because it has a steampunk-ish vibe to it that I’m not generally a fan of. However, I kept reading because it did seem interesting. Now that I’m done reading it, I can’t believe it’s going to be so long before I can find out what happens next. I don’t think I can wait that long with all the revelations that happened in this. I did see a couple coming, but boy I didn’t see all of them. Adrius and Marlow are such a great team, and the heartbreak each feel really got to me. Not only that, the hunt for Adrius’ enemy was a wild ride made even better with all the action-filled scenes along the way. This book is such a great read, I forgot that this isn’t my favorite genre, and I really, really didn’t want to put it down. This is a great urban fantasy/paranormal romance with a great balance of each, full of a rich world, and of course great writing. Bring on the next NOW! Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you so much to Macmillan for granting me an early ARC of this wonderful book.

Katy Rose Pool is a fantastic author and I always enjoy the books she writes. Garden of the Cursed was no exception. The city, and world at large, was well developed and quite intriguing. I loved the magic system being based around spell cards and having magical glyphs that come to life with every use. The magical elements of the city were also a great touch, and it made the world feel real, yet whimsical.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time connecting to the characters and being invested in their struggles. There were elements of Marlow's internal conflict and her personality that felt like they clashed, making it difficult for me to figure out why she was doing/acting the way she was. Her relationship with Adrius is a good example.

There were elements of their relationship I found very cute, but most of the time - especially in the beginning of the book - I couldn't understand why she would ever help him after the way he treated her. I felt like their arrangement was lacking an equal need to use each other for their own benefits. Marlow really held the most power in their arrangement as she was the only one he trusted to help break his curse. However, with how nasty he had treated her after his birthday, it didn't make much sense why Marlow would just decide to help him solely for the purpose of not wanting to leave questions unanswered.

I felt like it would have been more powerful, after Marlow gathered her information from the ship and realized the connections in the Falcrests, for her to have demanded Adrius' help with finding her mother, while helping him break the curse in return. It would have added a nice power dynamic to their relationship, and I just really wanted Marlow to stick up for herself more against Adrius. She is such an amazing character, and I feel like that added strength would have shown Adrius how much she had changed over the last year, but also showing herself how much power she really had within her.

Overall, the story was fun and beautifully written. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have read it early.

This absolutely SKYROCKETED to my favorite books of the year list. WHAT A FRICKIN’ RIDE! I hoped this book would be good after reading the synopsis but holy CRAP it somehow exceed my expectations.

This has everything I could ever want in a book plus some things I didn’t even know I wanted. Katy Rose Pool put SOMETHING in this bc I’m losing my entire mind.

Just SOME of the highlights:
-breaking curses
-Marlow Briggs the woman that u are
-high society families
-ex friends to FAKE DATING like come ON
-a cat!! named Toad!!!!
-amazing side friendships
-Adrius Falcrest u beautiful dummy
-magic and hexes and secrets
-one of the most agonizing love confessions I’ve ever read in my LIFE

Truly not gonna shut up about this one. It is SO MUCH FUN. I will be preordering immediately and literally counting down the seconds until the sequel is in my hands, in my brain, in my bloodstream

This book had all the makings to be a fantastic start to a new series, but a lack of world-building and cookie-cutter characters removed the fun from this book.

After Marlow's fall from the elite of society, she forges her path by becoming a curse-breaker. A year into her new life, an old friend, now a new enemy, comes to her door asking for help. She reluctantly agrees and finds herself tangled up in the lies of high society, and a case that has haunted her for the past year...

The plot was interesting. Pool did a good job of weaving together Marlow's mother's disappearance and Adrius' curse. While the two weren't necessarily connected, several people pop up in both cases as suspects, which was fun. The pacing was consistent, and the story never really stalled. We were constantly in a new place in the world, or the case. All these little discoveries at well-time intervals saved this book.

I could not stand the characters in this book, for one of two reasons. Either they were super cookie-cutter, to the point it was almost comical, or they were just horrible. Marlow was fine, even though there was nothing that stood out about her. Her whole identity is wrapped up in her mother's, so we didn't get to know her. I could not stand Adrius. He was incredibly self-centered and hurtful to others. He looks down on others of a lower social class and was only friends with Marlow when none of his other friends were around. Even though he treated others poorly, he still expected to be treated the best and was hurt over things he had no right to be upset about. Marlow and Adrius are in a fake relationship, yet he would lead Marlow on, only to say he was kidding, or gaslight her into being embarrassed. Yet, when Marlow played the part, he acted like a petulant child since she told him, upfront, that it was not real to her. Because he was horrible, I liked them as enemies, even when Marlow was growing attracted to him. To be convinced that they could be lovers, I need leaps and bounds of growth in Adrius's character. He was annoying from start to finish.

The rest of the characters were laughably stereotypical. Marius has a gay best friend who always shows up at the perfect time. There is a gang who said such cliche lines I would have to put the book down and take a second to breathe. (As this is just an arc, I sincerely hope some of those lines get edited out.) Also, the antagonist of the novel was pretty easy to guess from the beginning. Even the little old mean women who just happened to own just what they need in a crisis? Overbearing fathers, a trio of mean girls (yes you read that right), the scorned lover, and the list just goes on. There were no side characters that actually stood out and carried the plot forward.

Hopefully, we get more world-building in the second book. In the beginning, we learn that spells and curses are carried in playing cards. Such a unique concept, but it was never expanded on. About halfway through the book, we learn that bullets can carry hexes as well. So, what decides what can carry a curse? Why can bullets carry hexes, when nothing else in the book is able to do so? They talk about spell casting, so can wizards carry wands? There was no expansion on this idea, which was frustrating. This could have been such a good selling point for the book. As for the rest of the world, there's nothing new. It reads like any other sci-fi/dystopian world, with the poor sector and the rich one.

This book had the potential but did not follow through. Hopefully, the second book will have more growth.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

This book is easily one of my top 5 reads for the year! It was incredible. I read the book in one sitting!

The romance is super hot and the fantasy world is just over the top.

The friend to lovers theme is just so, so well written. I fell in love with Marlow and Adrius. I became fully invested in their story. Page after page I just could not get enough of the banter, heat, anger, and growing romance.

Please, please, I need the next book in the series. I need to know what happens next!

Five stars. Highly recommend.

.

I really enjoyed this book! I flew through it on one afternoon and I am so sad that it's over. The author did a great job with the plot and keeping the story moving with no stagnant parts. The characters were very relatable and fun to learn. Great read!

Thank you, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, for allowing me to read Garden of the Cursed early.

I simply love frenemy to lovers stories and Garden of the Cursed is one of the best I read this year! I constantly sat on the edge of my seat and finished it within twenty-four hours. Highly recommended!

A truly wonderful novel! The writing and suspense is very good and I can't wait to read it in person and on paper! It is a real page turner, it was very difficult to accurately predict what was going to happen next!

Garden of the Cursed is an excellently written YA fantasy romance novel. If you enjoy friends to enemies to want-to-be lovers, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book. Also, the fake romance trope is solidly covered. Marlow grew up as an outsider among the nobles; yet, she was still a part of their world. Then, suddenly, her mother disappears and she escapes back to the marshes. Now, the absolute last person she'd ever want to see again from her noble-life needs her help. Marlow may be one of the best curse-breakers but is she ready and/or able to help her former friend with his curse?

For the most part, I felt the characters are well-developed and relatable. I hope in the next book, we either get Adrius' POV or, at least, more insight into his background and character. I'd also like some more scenes with Gemma, Silvan, and some of the other noble members.

I will definitely be anxiously awaiting the next book in this series!

5 🌟

This book was straight up brilliant. The characters, plot, and world building was so strong and incredible.. I can't recommend it enough for others to read it.

This is such a unique YA story and wasn't like others I have read before. Marlow and Adrius are such strong characters, that I instantly fell in love with. As they read so easy and we're just fun. The magic system also isn't something I have seen yet in books. It was an interesting twist on magic with the more political power you gave the more access you have to it.

This was a fantasy novel but also read as a mystery/detective novel. Marlow specializes with in breaking curses. In order to do this she must determine who made the curse to begin with. We follow Marlow as she tries to help her ex friend Adrius (a scion) break a curse that everyone thought was banished from the world. It's complicated though because they haven't spoken in a year after a falling out and disappearance of her mother.

I don't want to give too much away about this romance. But I loved it, it was slow burn for sure. The characters make it 100% worth it. Their banter and interactions are incredibly genuine. It was slow at times but for me didn't take away from the book.

The hard part now is waiting until likely 2024 to come back this world. I can't wait to see where this goes.

So many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review at my Instagram page the.Floofs.booknook and retailers near or on publication date.

Thank you to Macmillan for sending me an advanced copy of this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.

So Garden of the Cursed is now probably my favorite book of 2023 and its not even released yet.
the magic system, the world, the characters are really not like anything i've seen in YA before and I loved it so much that i savored this book as i read it because i didn't want to finish and have to wait for it to be released to the rest of the world but friends let me tell you. its fantastic. it does move a bit slow in some parts but thats because you're solving a crime! its not supposed to be fast. but then the last 30% of the book goes by so fast by the time you get to the ending, you just have to sit and stare at a wall for awhile because it will probably be 2024 before you get the sequel.

This book was solid. The world building was amazing . I loved Marlow , she's just a strong female character. She is a head-strong, scheming, and funny at times. The book is fast paced and full of magic. I felt like it was roo many tropes in this book , and the book was slow at times. But I still enjoyed it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 🌶️ 2/5 (well done but not really any spice as this was a slow-burn)
DISCLAIMER: very slight spoilers. Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this does not influence my review. READ IT YOU GUYS!!!!!!! This book was sooo good!! The writing style: phenomenal🤌🏾 the fantasy world-building? PHENOMENAL (I love when the plot actually gets me invested, I finished this book in a day) the ROMANCE??? Simmering, Slow-burn, swoon-worthy filled with angst.
Tropes: guy falls first, friends to lovers, fake relationship, second chance, hate to, sarcastic witty banter, “court” intrigue, jealous guy, girl falls first, slow-burn fantasy romance.
Basically our woman Marlow is living a high-risk life in a fantasy world with magical spell cards that can do many things (make people forget memories, distract them for a little bit, curse them, etc.,). She takes contract cases to destroy curse cards, and she has to often sneak around looking for her targets. Overall, she fit the boxes for my fav FMC characters: she was badass, a great actor and thief, had a wonderful personality, head-strong, doesn’t take no for an answer, hilarious, scheming, great dialogues when about to get into a fight (and she was very sarcastic and witty).
Moving onnnn to the romance!!! Adrius was HOT with caps lock ON. Basically their story was that they were good friends but had a falling out a year ago due to reasons, and he got into a compulsion curse and hired her to find the person who did it and had the spell card, thus ensuing chaos. (She did try her best to avoid him though in the beginning). MANS was in a compulsion curse, if anyone “ordered” him to do something, he would immediately do it. Which, in regards to the ROMANCE, played out reallyyyy well. MANS ALMOST EXPOSED HIS FEELINGS and he got accidentally ordered to 😏…. Do stuff and compliment her. Man, I literally cannot. I haven’t added any of the quotes he said because I was SWOONING SO HARD. The stuff he said to her??? About her???? Like, this was CARDAN level….. from the Cruel Prince, and the MMC from The Caged Queen).
Read this book now. The cliffhanger almost made me scream in regards to the whole court-intrigue and several great plot-twists. The romance was very angsty. I need the sequel nowwww.

That cover does a great job in getting you hooked for the story and then you read this and it's such a well done book. I was invested in the plot and loved the elements used in the story, it really was a unique concept and I enjoyed every second of it. The characters were well-written and did their job for the story. It was what I was hoping for and am glad I read this.

“What do you call what the Falcrests did to get those spellbooks in the first place?” Marlow asked. “How does one family get control of such a vast collection of magical knowledge? By asking nicely?”

1) This is NOT anything like the Age of Darkness series.

2) For me, personally, the romance was a bit heavy but I know that is a me thing. However, I will say how Pool sets it up in the beginning, is refreshing and different from the usual ploys.

Now... it starts a little slow but it quickly kabooms. The world-building and spell magic system are fantastic. It is thorough, makes sense, and has clearly defined rules.

There are tropes but in my opinion? They are all handled and executed well.

I love Marlow. She is one of my favorite female characters for a long time. She was so enthralling a character that it was not an issue that the book was from only her point of view.

The entire cast of characters are morally Grey but often trying to do the right thing (including Marlow). Even if they don't realize they are mucking things up, their intentions are solid.

There are multiple mysteries within the plot. Pool does such a great job keeping you so entranced in those that there are a couple of
mysteries that you miss entirely- don't even think of, despite them being right there the whole time- until they slap you in the face towards the end.

The last 1/3 of this book should be illegal. I vomited major organs reading it.

I don't want to say more because this book isn't coming out for a long while and because I don't want to spoil anything. But it is brilliant and I can't wait for the next book.