I thought this book was so fun, dark, twisted, manipulative, and SO entertaining. Watching both Maxine and Cory descend into their own unique brand of madness because of one another kept me turning page after page. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

Corey is seeking revenge on her old professor in theater, Maxine, by placing a curse on her for ruining her chances in the theatre world. In this book, written in acts with interludes just like a real play, you take part of psychological horror but also about people’s dreams of becoming something important and how other people might have to suffer so the dreams can be achieved.

I liked this book, mostly because the pacing was fast, but also because of the relationship between Corey and Maxine. I don’t work with theater but in my position, I also have a role of mentor, and their relationship made me think about the relationship I have with my adepts.

Thanks to NetGalley and CLASH Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025


Synopsis:

Enter COREY, a passionate young nobody, and her professor, MAXINE, an award-winning playwright and living legend of the American theatre. When Maxine shatters Corey's dreams of artistic collaboration after graduation, Corey seeks revenge. At a clairvoyant's den in a violet-lit Dallas strip mall, the young playwright unleashes a life-altering curse on Maxine.

Possessed by dark powers and even darker ambitions, Corey follows Maxine to a prestigious playwriting residency in Chicago where the women become fatally entwined. Through three acts, two interludes, and one curse, Corey pushes her mentor toward theatre's haunted margins, where reality begins to crumble.

Caroline Macon Fleischer's A Play About A Curse reads like an A24 film. Part psychological horror and part theatrical fever dream, Curse shadows a heroine-turned-villain as she confronts the supernatural power struggle between mentor and protégé, learning that to achieve our dreams, someone else must suffer a nightmare.

Review:

This book both surprised and awed me in ways I can’t really explain other than it feels like theatre magic. The use of hybrid genre is no gimmick but woven in a way that made me wonder what the hell was gonna happen next. To anyone who has ever read a play, been an artist, had tension with a mentor or just loves horror you will really dig this book.

There was a very interesting dynamic between Corey and Maxine in this book, which I don’t think I have read about before. It opened my eyes to a new perspective of jealousy in mentors and the mentored. The plot was so fun and mischievous.

I enjoyed the writing style - clear and quick-paced. The pacing felt like a real play which I appreciated. I read this book in only two sittings on the same day (almost like I took a real intermission hehe) because I was so immersed in the story. On top of that, the writing and descriptions are so detailed that the reader can so easily picture the scene.

I loved how the story wrapped up, very satisfying.

First and foremost, Fleischer writes one hell of a character. Our main characters feel sharp, with dialogue to match. The melding of fiction and playwriting is an interesting idea, and ran smoothly for the most part. Fleischer found good, meaningful strings of dialogue to focus the theatre style on, which kept it from being jarring or distracting.

I think theater kids in particular will love this. It's just so petty and spiteful in a way only twenty-something-year-old artists can be. It'll bring back a lot of memories for more than one MFA holder, I'm sure. There's a viciousness to our protagonist that's hard to look away from. Unfortunately, I found the inciting incident to be a little too whipcrack fast. We're introduced to this mentor relationship and the awkwardness of turning that into a friendship with an artistic equal and then BAM -- our protag feels wronged and it's revenge time! It skewed everything that happens next, and I never quite got over it.

Having said that, this is a solid read. I feel like there are a lot of people who will flock to this without my personal hang ups. Worth a look.

I received an ARC of this book from Clash Books. All opinions are mine, and I am in no way being influenced by the curse brought on by a vengeful mentee.

As a playwright, I really enjoyed the mashup of styles in this novel: script vs prose. I also thought the setting of a playwrighting retreat was an interesting and unusual setting for this kind of story. However, the main character is SO unlikeable (and for that part, so is the "victim" of the curse) that I really was never invested in her horrible behavior and attitude. And she just got more and more annoying as the story progressed. I had to stop reading about 2/3 into the book because I just didn't care about anyone in it.

A Play About A Curse follows recent collage graduate and emotionally unstable Corey, who places a curse on her former playwriting teacher Maxine. This book is a quick and captivating read that explores the supernatural, codependency, and jealousy. As someone who has worked in the arts and went to a performing arts college, the dynamics laid out in the novel felt accurate, though thankfully I've never been driven to place a shoddy curse on one of my peers before.

In some ways it bears a resemblance to Mona Awad's All's Well in both tone and content, and unfortunately I found Awad's book to be the more layered and nuanced read. The characters in this book felt on the one-dimensional side and the plot felt predictable at times. However, I did appreciate and enjoy how this book plays with form, being part novel and part play.

While familiar and at times predictable, A Play About A Curse is an engaging, fast-paced read that I would recommend for anyone who's looking for a spooky (but not too spooky!) read this fall, or for something to get them out of a reading slump.

Thank you Net Galley and Clash books for the arc read for my honest review.
4 out of 5 stars/First pov past tense(Corey)/Unique format using playwriting dialogue

Corey seeks revenge of her old professor who see used to see as a mentor. Maxine tells her about accepting a job in Chicago which cause the jealously of Corey to turn dark. She heads to a dim lit room in the Dallas mall to place a curse on Maxine. Corey follows Maxine to her new job to watch her downfall.

This is a unique take on what happens when jealously gets out of control. As someone who teaches theatre and now fills the mentor role, this book freaks me out. Haha. Because of my viewpoint, it was hard to find the real motivation on why to place the curse because Maxine seemed supportive.

This book has such a beautiful cover, it is enough to draw ANYONE in. The format was very unique - well, to me, anyway. However, it was not enough to keep me hooked. I was unable to connect with anyone, and the reasons for the curse didn't vibe. I feel like this book will work for a very specific reader, and I hope it finds it's audience.

I never knew where this story was going to take me and it was exciting! I had such a great time reading this book but of course, I did struggle a bit with the starting chapters. Once I got a hold of the writing style, I couldn’t put the book down! I also didn’t know which character to side with because they both had valid points (one way or another lol).

It was a perfect mix of reality, insanity, and also the supernatural (which I never expected). No plans, just vibes all the way through. Definitely would recommend this to anyone who’s wanting to read a fast-paced, “Wtf did I just read”, or “crazy FMC goes through all stages of grief with rage creeping inside of her” themed book!

The writing was very unique too, it really lived up to the whole theatrics of the book. It also made me feel like I was there with the characters in every scene, which is kinda scary but at the same thing perfect for setting the mood of the story!

Holy narcissistic gaslighter!
This is a play about an unstable and immature young woman and the theater professor she feels (unfairly and ridiculously) betrayed by. It's baffling and absurd. But there is something wickedly fun (and properly horrifying, of course😉) about watching a cursed woman succumb, and I was always curious what kind of psychological torment this girl was going to pull next.

Once I read the description of this book, it was an instant request to read! Thank you to NetGalley, CLASH Books and Caroline Macon Fleisher for the ARC!

The first thing that stood out to me was how lovely and descriptive the narration was. Visualization of the scenes came very easily and was honestly my favorite part. I felt as though I was side by side with Corey as the play progressed. The biggest miss for me was the dialogue unfortunately. It felt a little disjointed, clunky, and sort of took me out of the moment in some instances. Somehow the pacing seemed a little fast and a little slow at the same time. Aside from those details, the book was entertaining. The concept was attention-catching and I maintained my interest throughout reading. I'm not sure I would reread, though I may recommend it to other folks.

3.25 stars!

A lot of this really worked for me. The obsession and ultimate mutual destruction, some really lovely prose, the structure of the dialogue and the play-like parts of it all. Despite it being such a quick read, it still felt slow at times. Some things felt a bit ambiguous, specifically towards the end. While some may enjoy that, to me it just felt unsatisfying.

Blending theatricality with sharp prose, Fleischer crafts a narrative that feels both whimsical and deeply unsettling. The play’s nonlinear structure and eccentric characters—including a cursed grandmother and a possibly doomed protagonist—create a dreamlike yet biting commentary on generational cycles.

Fleischer’s writing is witty and inventive, with moments of poetic insight, though some readers may find the absurdist tone disorienting. The play thrives in its ambiguity, leaving room for interpretation about whether the curse is real or simply a metaphor for inescapable familial legacies.

"A Play About a Curse" is a compelling novel in hybrid form about a mentee's obsession with her mentor and the narrow border between admiration and envy. It's an interesting and entertaining exploration of the dynamics between two women—one young and aspiring, the other mature and established— struggling with jealousy and their shifting power differentials.

The unique form, structuring the dialogue in script format and using acts/scenes in place of parts/chapters, had a strong sense of intention and was well executed. The dialogue was expert, capturing the hyperbolic delivery of lines performed on stage and accentuating the melodrama of the conflict. These formal elements, in combination with the strong thread of magical realism running through the plot, made A Play About a Curse read like a fever dream in the best way.

I initially felt the characters were slightly underdeveloped - but after finishing, I believe this was intentional on the part of Fleischer. At one point, referencing Bertolt Brecht, a character explains that "theatre should create a gap between the audience and the story told before them." Fleischer's attempt to incorporate the dramatic form into the novel isn't limited to formatting; instead it informs how we engage with the characters. I don't think we're supposed to “like” our heroine or “feel close” to her, we’re meant to be provoked into engaging with the themes at the heart of this story and its characters.

Thank you CLASH books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you, Caroline Macon Fleischer NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

I absolutely loved the way that this book was written. It was written like a play, and I just adore books that are different like this. Would i call this horror? No. It's definitely something dark and twisted. It's a fever dream that you can't quite let go of even at the end. Full of darkness, anger, betrayal, and so many emotions. The characters are very well developed, and you definitely feel their emotions deeply throughout the entire book. Of course, i do have my differences with the main character on some things and don't agree with everything she did, but that's going to be everyone. The atmosphere was eerie and intriguing at times. I also never lost interest throughout the story.

This book is the first I have read from this author, and it certainly won't be the last one. The writing style was definitely unique not only for the format but also for the words described. I am still thinking about the end of this book and how descriptions just jump out at you. I also love the little bit of folklore that was put into the book.

This book isn't blood, guts, and death. There are a couple of things involved in this book, but not so bad itle have you putting the book down and looking at the wall. I do hope others enjoy this book as much as I have.

very interesting concept, was really drawn to reading this but unfortunately none of it really worked for me personally. I think this will be a book that a lot of people can really love but it's really just not for me. despite the length it felt weirdly slow to me, but that could have just been a result of my lack of interest in the story

Enter COREY, a passionate young nobody, and her professor, MAXINE, an award winning playwright and living legend of the American theatre. When Maxine shatters Corey's dreams of artistic collaboration after graduation, Corey seeks revenge. At a clairvoyant's den in a violet-lit Dallas strip mall, the young playwright unleashes a life-altering curse on Maxine.
Possessed by dark powers and even darker ambitions, Corey follows Maxine to a prestigious playwriting residency in Chicago where the women become fatally entwined. Through three acts, two interludes, and one curse, Corey pushes her mentor toward theatre's haunted margins, where reality begins to crumble. Caroline Macon Fleischer's A Play About A Curse reads like an A24 film. Part psychological horror and part theatrical fever dream, Curse shadows a heroine-turned-villain as she confronts the supernatural power struggle between mentor and protégé, learning that to achieve our dreams, someone else must suffer a nightmare.

What if the devil’s liaison was an angry 23-year-old? Hell hath no fury like a college graduate scorned.

“A Play About A Curse” gives us an unreliable narrator angry at her college mentor for accepting a residency in a new city just as she graduates and needs to find her footing in the Theater world. It’s a quick descent into curses and madness and destruction from there. Throw in French folklore about sirens and you’ve got quite the story of a relationship that goes awry when the parties feel jilted and jealous.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The screenplay formatting was executed really well, usually I'm not a fan but I think this book changed my mind.

I can't get over the unfairness of Maxine being cursed for nothing. She DID NOT deserve it! Corey is such an unlikeable main character, she annoyed me the whole story I was just rubbing my hands waiting for karma to come for her. Her fragile ego, her possessiveness. UGH
She deserved worse than she got but the final scene was so beautifully written. Her last words are going to stick with me for quite a while.

I try not to think too hard about superstition and magic in reality but I am sure that if you believe in magic and use it with the intension of harming someone else it will come back on you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clash Books for the Advanced Reader Copy!

I really enjoyed this novella. The chapters where short and to the point with beautifully tragic writing. I enjoyed the pace and the fact it is written like a play, soooo cool! I have never read anything like this before and I think I will reread to pick up on some more foreshadowing and points within the book as I do feel like I missed some things. I liked the themes of jealousy and revenge and felt like a rat race in some sense. I really enjoyed this one and will be rereading for a deeper understanding and to be with these unstable characters once again.