I picked this book up on a whim, solely because I was curious to see how the bipolar representation would be; I stuck with the book because it utterly captivated me.

Cursebreakers follows Adrien Desfourneaux, a (magic) professor caught up in a brewing conflict involving the military force known as "the Vigil" and his own fellow academics. It also details the way this impacts his already fragile mental health, as he fights to stave off both an episode and a relapse.

There are, of course, a host of other characters here: my favorite being Malise, Adrien's friend and healer, and my admittedly least favorite being Casmir, who plays the role of Adrien's part friend, part caregiver, and part unrequited love interest (all of which balances out to a toxic, enmeshed sort of relationship). Finally, we have Gennady, who I wish we'd learned more about - he meshes perfectly with Adrien's cantankerous but ultimately caring vibe, and we see Gennady plenty on the page, but much of his history is left vague despite the obvious story there.

I was extremely anxious about the mental health representation, having been let down before. Rest assured, however, that Cursebreakers does not disappoint. That isn't to say the world itself is free of pitfalls: there are plenty who are willing to throw Adrien's diagnosis in his face as an insult, and coming across a conspiracy when you have a history of grandiosity and delusion goes as well as one might expect. There's the rise and fall of a manic episode, the bone deep dread and exhaustion at the realization that it WILL happen again. Nakamura doesn't flinch away from the real world difficulty of living with bipolar disorder.

But there's explorations of more here too: support in the face of a relapse, the realization of relationships that rest upon equally caring for and balancing out one another rather than a system that relies on power imbalance to succeed, and Adrien's genuine desire to protect his friends and his city even at his bleakest.

Have I made it clear yet how much I enjoyed this book?

That being said, the story does feel unfinished, in a way - I don't know if the author plans on a sequel, given that the ending could absolutely serve as closure, but I hope she writes more in this world. I would love to know more about Gennady and his family (a plot thread that is introduced, but not explored), Adrien's recovery after this story, the city's attempts to rebalance itself after the finale, or truly whatever else the author would like to explore here.

As it stands though, this is an excellent debut, and one I'm rating 5/5 stars. I recommend Cursebreakers to fans of dark academia, Dragon Age 2 (the conflict between the Vigils/magicians very much reminds me of mages/templars, as does the way the Vigil recruits young and rewards compliance), and anyone looking for better representation of neurodiverse characters in fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Red Hen Press for the chance to read this book; all opinions within this review are my own.

My favorite, favorite, favorite facet of this book was the main character. Adrien is complicated, likable, a struggling hero, intelligent, witty, dynamic. One of my favorite main characters I've ever read - he was so memorable and carefully written.

*trigger warnings for mental health, self-harm, drug use, addiction*

I'm not able to comment on the bipolar rep in this book but the complexities of Adrien's mental health issues and how he struggles was written with incredible care and very relatable to me. I enjoyed the plot and I loved the strange, budding friendship between Adrien and Gennady. If you're in a good headspace to read a character struggling with the issues above (because they are heavily integral to the plot), this is a unique fantasy story with a fantastic main character I will be thinking about for a while now.

3/5 Stars

TL;DR - An interesting and intimate look at bipolar disorder through the eyes of the scholarly magician that lives with it. Complex, flawed characters in a magical and highly political world. Sadly lacking in world-building, but intriguing nonetheless.

Big thanks to Red Hen Press/Canis Major Books and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!

***Trigger warnings for deep POV of a character with bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation, and drug use.***

‘Cursebreakers’ by Madeleine Nakamura is the story of Adrien Desfourneaux, a professor of magic trying desperately to outrun the mistakes of his past, while trying to contend with the struggles of bipolar disorder. He narrates to us - with wit and dry charm - his journey from mild-mannered professor minding his own business to unwitting pawn in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of his city’s government. They’re magic, there’s mystery, and a whole lot of deep POV that tackles the ups and downs of living with a mental illness.

I’m all here for magical academia, that is, when there’s actual collegiate academics involved and not just magic high school. I was excited and intrigued by the blurb, but honestly, I came away with mixed feelings.

First, the good:

The prose is clean and concise, and there are a lot of really good lines that I highlighted and thought about before continuing. Nothing especially groundbreaking, but many of them were reflections on mental illness that really resonated with me.

Adrien is an interesting and complex character, who also happens to fill out one of my absolute favorite archetypes - the sad, soft magic boi. I don’t know much at all about bipolar disorder, so I can’t comment on the accuracy of the depiction, but I do struggle with some of the other things he does, like depression, shame, and suicidal ideation, and I found that representation relatable. He makes dumb choices, he can be prickly and cruel, but all around, I found him endearingly human.

Gennady happens to be another of my favorite archetypes, the golden retriever himbo who can break spines with his bare hands, and I enjoyed him whenever he was on page. I’m not sure exactly what flavor of neuro-spicy he’s supposed to be, but I empathized with his struggles, at least what little we got to see of them.

Malise and Casmir are equally as interesting, if a bit less fleshed out, and I really appreciated that Adrien had such good friends to fall back on, even if their relationships are strained at times.

Most of the main cast is queer and I’m always here for that, especially the gay/lesbian solidarity between Adrien and Malise. It’s treated as no big deal within the world, and there was no homophobia I could see, and I really appreciated that the author let queers be queers. More of that, please!

Those praises aired, I have a few main complaints:

There is very little world-building. A lot of names and terms are thrown at us, and while many are explained, it’s only in passing and we’re left to glean a lot from context clues. And honestly, I had the hardest time imagining the world. There are few descriptions that give a real-world parallel to draw from, and I found it frustrating when trying to get a feel for the world. If I was hard-pressed to nail it down, I would cautiously say it’s Victorian-era inspired, what with carriages and electric lights being relatively new. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to go on, which is a real shame, because the book could have been so much more atmospheric if it was more fleshed out.

In the same vein, there’s very little explained about the magic system. It’s roughly elemental in nature, with the main characters having domains over electricity, ice, earth, etc, and it seems like most magicians can heal people if properly trained, regardless of their domain. We know that there are those with magic and those without, that magic users have to attend school before they’re legally allowed to practice magic, and that there’s a whole branch of the government dedicated to keeping them in line. That’s really it. Adrien has a lot of extra abilities that we get little explanation for, and even the magical curse doesn’t get explained in any satisfying detail.

Overall, the plot is engaging at surface level, but it really feels devoid of tension. Yes, there are personal stakes for Adrien and his friends and those for the world at large, but even the ever-present danger doesn’t feel all that dangerous. There’s a big battle at the end, but it’s really not all that big, and it’s over in a few pages without much satisfying buildup or falling action. The pieces were all there, but they weren’t arranged in a way that made for a satisfying plot arc for me.

The antagonists are pretty one-dimensional, and while their cause is understandable, there’s not a lot of build-up or justification for why they’re taking such drastic measures. We’re told why, but we’re never shown in a way that makes their grievances anything more than the surface-level “non-magic users treat us bad so we want revenge” trope. A missed opportunity for a deeper discussion on fear and othering within governmental and societal structures, in my opinion.

Final Thoughts:

This book had so much potential, but it ultimately didn’t live up to it. I really would have read another 100-200 pages if it meant the world and the secondary/tertiary characters were more fleshed out. It’s a solid 3 stars, better than most but not quite good enough for me to add a physical copy to my shelf.

I really wanted to love this one, but sadly it wasn't my thing. Some formatting issues really bugged me, but as a whole, I was unable to get into the story. After reading 50% of it, I still wasn't invested in the characters or plot.

(NetGalley eARC) If I could give this 4.5 stars instead of 4, I would.

The world created here was incredibly interesting but at times, unexplained. I would’ve liked to have some sort of pronunciation guide or glossary of terms to help me remember things a bit better. I think a map of some sort would be great too.
I’m a sucker for an immersive world and I think this has the potential to really build on the world created here. Overall, I really enjoyed the world that the author has created. However, at times it fell a little flat. I feel like the interactions between some characters were much briefer than they really should have been and maybe a bit clumsily written (see Gennady speaking with Velleia).
In some ways, Adrien’s struggle with mental illness reminded me of my own coping mechanisms (self aggrandizing while also self deprecating), but as someone who does not have BPD I don’t feel qualified to speak further on representation in that instance.
I feel like character development leaves a little to be desired but I did enjoy them nonetheless. I appreciated that the romance aspect was subtle and not really a major plot device-I think it felt more natural.
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the book and there were definitely times where I couldn’t set it down. Can’t wait to get a hard copy!

This book completely captivated me. Both the plot and the characters kept me hooked to the story. The LGBT representation is also very notable in this book, even without a more traditional romance plot. I was only let down by the world building, I thought a lot of the terms and rules of the world were quickly rushed over and I often struggled to understand how this world worked.

Mental health was a major topic throughout the book and although I don’t feel experienced to say if this was an accurate representation, it was interesting to read about in a fantasy setting.

(Netgalley eARC)
Okay, so first and foremost I would really like to see some reviews by people with bipolar disorder, because I do not feel qualified to dissect that element of the representation. In a few ways the way mental health in general was treated and discussed in the world rubbed me the wrong way – especially the way Adrien talked about Gennady on occasion – but again, I don’t think I have the right perspective to understand or talk about it in a nuanced way. With that out of the way, this book was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I found the pacing frustrating – it didn’t really feel like anything happened for the first hundred pages. There was nothing terribly special about the writing either; I didn’t feel overly interested in the characters or the world. And the worldbuilding was a bit off. A lot of terms were thrown around with no real context or explanation, and there didn’t seem to be very consistent rules for where a lot of it was coming from. Similarly, the magic system was very arbitrary. On the other hand, there was certainly a lot of potential in both the world and the characters, and once in a while it was touched on, especially in Adrien and Gennady’s relationship. And I did find the obstacle that Adrien’s mental health struggles posed really interesting – it’s fairly unusual to see the interaction between something like bipolar disorder and a fantasy world conspiracy. So overall, plenty of potential, but it was just missing something for me.

I've had trouble really getting immersed into the worlds of fantasy books since middle school and this book is no exception. Wasn't really able to finish it, was just a little too hard to get into for me.

As for the star rating, even though I wasn't able to finish it, I'm going give a two star as it wasn't a bad book. Just a boring one. I could still see someone really enjoying this book, I think that maybe I just wasn't the right audience.

“In my greater and lesser moments, I fear that I must be fated for sainthood.”

Holy crap this book was so good. I don’t know how else to put it, just wow. Everything I love about dark academia and adult fantasy was laid out in Cursebreakers so masterfully. The mental health representation across the board—particularly when it comes to our lead character—was so well done it had me in tears; Adrien has got to be one of my favourite protagonists ever. Thus is a truly impressive debut by Nakamura.

~★~ Characters ~★~

Cursebreakers follows Adrien Desforneaux, a magics professor with a dark past. Ridiculed by both his peers and students for a mistake he can never forget, Adrien’s mental health begins to fail him, with fits of akrasia and his ‘daemon’ tending to control him at the worst of times. When the military starts surveilling the academy on orders of a witch hunt, it becomes apparent that people across the city are falling mysteriously comatose. Adrien becomes immediately caught up in the conspiracy, with only Gennady—a young and broken soldier—posing as his reluctant ally.

────── {⋆★⋆} ──────

You know those books that hook you from the first line? This was definitely one of them. That quote above is the opening line of Cursebreakers, and in my opinion it establishes both a great sense of anticipation for the plot to come, and immediate intrigue towards the protagonist. I adored the almost pretentious quality to Adrien’s internal monologue, eloquent even when he felt like crumbling from the inside out. His almost self-destructive tendencies—paired with a keen sense of self-awareness—made it impossible not to root for his happiness and ultimate recovery. Nakamura does a spectacular job representing his mental health struggles (I was in so much pain) while leaving room for hope in the small moments that Adrien finds solace in friends like Gennady and Malise.

Characters are the lifeblood of every story I read. While Adrian alone was interesting enough to carry the weight of this story, I was almost equally as enraptured by Gennady. Having a young solider (who’s ideals should oppose yours) follow you around and pretend to hate you? While they’re actually kind of eager to be your friend? It is such a sweet dynamic. The initial hostility between them dissipates into a really beautiful friendship, like a platonic little enemies to lovers!!

Speaking of lovers….. there’s no real romance in Cursebreakers, but the unrequited love Adrian feels for his best friend is a constant throughout most of the story. It hurts so good, I felt tiny swoops in my stomach at some of the offhand lines Adrian thought towards him. The yearning. Wanting someone with your whole heart, knowing you’ll never have them…. I never knew the trope would hit me so hard.

This is an unexpected favourite for sure, but a new favourite nonetheless. Nakamura really did her thing… I’ll be looking out for her future works for sure!

I could not engage with this book at all. Maybe this is just a personal issue but I did not want to get past 15 pages in. Maybe I will try again in a little and see if I can get into it more.