While The Curse of Saints wasn’t a 5 star read for me, I did enjoy it and was excited to be able to read this ARC.

Unfortunately, I felt the same as many other reviewers in that this book just felt too long and too drawn out. It didn’t feel like there was much substance in such a long book and I feel that there were certainly parts that could have been omitted without the storyline changing.

Additionally, I felt that the frequently character switches were a disservice in this book, although there were some characters where I simply wasn’t interested in their storylines, so this might just be a me problem.

I was able to finish this book, though it took some pushing, and after doing so, I definitely think that book 1 was better than book 2, although book 2 was worth the read, just to see how the story continues, in my opinion.

Ever since reading Curse of Sins, I’ve been in such a reading slump because I just feel like nothing else could compare.

Curse of Saints was such an unexpected top read for me least year, so much that Sins made its way straight to the top of my 2024 anticipated list and I screamed at 3AM when the ARC showed on my kindle. I’ve read it maybe 3 times now.

I already loved Aya and Will’s story so much and Sins just solidified that love more. Seeing their relationship with themselves and each other grow to new levels made me so happy.

I also loved that Aidan and Josie remained integral characters in the story and took up space in the book. Can’t wait to see their stories unfold more in the next instalment!

The pacing and maturity level felt more natural in Sins compared to Saints which I hope to see continue.

This is one hell of a second book. It takes these characters that formed something of a found family in book 1 and explores what happens when bonds forged in the fire are exposed to the cold air and revealing light of day. How much can they actually rely on each other? How much pressure will it take to make them break?

Will and Aya return to Dunmeaden intent on discovering what dangerous game Queen Gianna is playing and how they can deliver Tala from the threat of Kakos. They try to step back into the roles they filled before the events of Book 1, but they find that they don't fit quite as comfortably as they did before. They have to put distance between themselves for their own safety and to hide their real mission, and they both struggle with that isolation, especially Aya.

Aidon and Josie remain in Trahir to establish and new reign and to deal with the relational and emotional fallout from Vi's betrayal and the murder of the king. Josie struggles to process her own feelings while simultaneously holding space for Vi to process her trauma, and it feels impossible. She is determined to make her own way in the world apart from her title of princess, and she struggles to stay in good relationship with her brother who longs to keep her safe and protected. Aid9n struggles to keep the secret of his Visya power hidden from his people, even if suppressing it might kill him

The two things that I loved most about this book is that is raises the stakes significantly from book 1 and it forces the characters to deal with adult struggles and choices. This not YA fantasy with added smut to make it adult. It's a book filled with characters who have to face impossible choices with real consequences to themselves and other people and are emotionally aware enough to make those decisions with care even if all options lead to a dark end.

This book made me fall more in love with these characters and this series. I highly recommend it for fans of fantasy with a strong romance subplot, morally gray characters, and those who tend to love angsty second books filled with longing and deep inner struggles.

And smut. Let's not forget that this book also delivers on the explicit intimate content. Chefs kiss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for gifting me an e-ARC to review.

Not going to lie I’m in a middle of a reading slump so I wasn’t really focus during half of the book and I’ll probably reread it once it comes out but I can say that I absolutely adored the romance once again. It was the only scenes where I wasn’t struggling to stay focus. I loved the way the plot is going but I just wasn’t in the right mindset to deeply enjoy it.
Also the plot twist were crazy

The ending 🤯🤯

I absolutely ADORED Curse of Saints but this one didn't live up to it quite as much as I had hoped, i felt like it was a little bit long winded to get to the point. As always I loved Will, Aya love, gets me every time! I wish there could've been a little more spice as it was well written!


Even though this did drag for me I did like it and I'm looking forwards to book three!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

I really enjoyed getting more of the wolves in this sequel, and I was enraptured in the story. I felt more of a connection to the characters than in the previous installment. I'm excited to see where this goes in the next one!

I don’t have much to say about the first 50% of the book other than it seemed to drag on and on with self loathing and was very repetitive. I was wondering how I had loved The Curse of Saints so much when this one wasn’t giving me the same energy. Once I started reading the second half I was like finally this is what I was waiting for. The splits between POVS and locations left everything so exciting and I wasn’t able to put the book down, needing to know what was going to happen next. The action really picked up and the personalities for each character that I had grown to love in book one started to come back through. I do think the book was longer than necessary, the first half could have been shortened and gotten to the action sooner without losing any of the plotting. The first half is what really caused my rating to drop to a 3 where it could have been an easy 4

Rarely, if ever, do I encounter a sequel that is better than the first; The Curse of Sins is one such sequel. Dramis found her stride, building off of the events of the first, and deepening the richness of the worldbuilding. She employed multiple POVs in a perfect way, using the switches to improve some pacing issues from the first, to heighten tension, to offer complexity to the told-but-not-seen events, and to widen the focus (in a lucid way). Can't wait to read the next!

I honestly couldn’t get enough of this book. I’ve read it twice now and will read again once it releases.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a great continuation of the series. The romance developed really nicely and the plot was well thought out.

Aya's smile was cold. Vicious. "I'm not an Anima. I'm a fucking saint."

Absolutely phenomenal book. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved reading this book. The mix of emotions I felt throughout was so diverse. I went from happy to anxious, to wanting to throw my kindle, crying, relief and shock.

The first book 'The Curse of Saint's' was full of world and plot building which can be hard to digest especially in a fantasy world. The first book doesn't start to come together and unravel closer to the end of the book. 'The Curse of Sins' brings it all together with the added romance dynamic between Aya and Will. Will and Aya are perfect for each other the tension and chemistry between the two is well written. Aya and Will over some a lot together and that love confession, swoon!!!

Aidon and Josie's relationship is a fun brother and sister duo with the added conflict and tension of royal responsibility. It will be interesting to see how Adion's story unfolds in the next book.

The Author does a really good job at making you feel what the characters would be feeling and emotions they are going through. My heart broke at more then one spot in this book and because of it being multi POV you were able to get all angels of the characters reactions and see everything from all sides.

I could not have predicted the ending of this book, it had me gasping. I want ore and I want it now!!! LOL!!! This will be one of my top reads of 2024. The Curse of Sins releases June 25th, 2024.

I had hoped that with such great barebones this sequel would be a lot better than the first, especially considering its length, but I was unfortunately wrong. Every problem I had with The Curse of Saints came back 10x stronger for this sequel, which is so sad.
First off, this book is way, way too long considering not a lot happens except for brooding, brooding, and more brooding. Don't get me wrong, I love a reluctant, tortured here (or cast) as much as the next person, but I have major issues with authors destroying the character development they had during their previous work for the sake of ~edginess~. Now, I'd be lying if I said this is what breaks the book for me, because what truly does it is how fucking incompetent every single one of there characters are. You mean to tell me that you have the (supposedly) best spy in the kingdom, two generals, a torturer that for some reason is better at spying than the spy is (wtf?), and not a single one of them can see a plot that couldn't be more obvious if it was written in neon lights? And these people are supposed to help run a nation? No wonder what happened happened, because my god are they all so stupid.
Another big issue I have is how some things happen merely for the sake of plot to never be mentioned again and carry virtually no consequence, but I won't get into it now because of spoilers.
Anyway, 2.75 starts rounded up and I'm possibly DNF'ing the series after this disaster of a sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.