The Curse of Sins is an incredible and moving sequel, full of emotion, love, lies, and betrayal.

Will and Aya have returned to Tala after their stay in Trahir, where Aya learned that she is the Second Saint who was prophesized to right the greatest wrong. While Aya is not sure what that means or how she fits into this prophecy, she is sure that her feelings for Will are real. Her enemy and rival, Aya now knows the lengths Will has gone to keep her safe all these years, even if it has earned her ire. But returning to Tala also means returning to Gianna, who is hiding something from her Tria, and Tova who was last seen being tortured and framed for a crime she did not commit. Will and Aya must hide their feelings for each other if they want to get back into Gianna's good graces, but this puts a strain on their new relationship, not to mention the secrets they are still keeping from each other. Meanwhile, in Trahir, Aidon has taken the throne from his traitorous uncle, but he has to keep his Visya powers a secret, as only humans are allowed to inherit. He and Josie are strained, as the rebels are still pulling the strings, and Aidon is struggling to prove his right to rule when so much of the evidence has been kept from his people. War with Kakos is on the horizon, and they must be ready to fight.

I loved this second book in this richly imagined fantasy series. This book really ramps up the romance, the action, and the lies and betrayal. Will and Aya are fighting forces that would see them torn apart, while Aidon and Josie are struggling with the fallout from the events at the end of Book 1. So we have a lot of character development as everyone has to assume new roles and responsibilities, as well as some rich relationship building as these fiercely independent characters must learn to work together. I really enjoyed the relationship between Will and Aya, though I did want to shake them at times! The secrets they kept and the strain it put on their relationship was challenging to read, but added a layer of complexity that they need to work through. The multiple POVs kept things exciting for me, as we were able to move between Tala and Trahir and see the developments from each kingdom. I especially loved Aya's POV, as we see her questioning her new role, struggling to find her place as the Second Saint, and leaning on Will more and more as she realizes the depth of her feelings for him. As this is the second book in this series, we get some answers but are also left with a lot of questions that set things up for Book 3. The ending was exciting, and left me wanting more. It does have a pretty big cliffhanger, and I need Book 3 immediately! Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and did not disappoint.

Thank you so, so much to Kate Dramis, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

4🌟

When I started this I thought I had the plot down to a T. I thought I knew where this story was going and how this book would end. All my theories of who was the bad guy was totally WRONG. The final plot twist of this story had me gagged.

I really liked the first book in this series so when I got approved to read the second book early I was ecstatic. I needed to know what was going to happen with Aya and Will and I needed more of them. I had no idea that they were about to go through the works. This story had me feeling every emotion tenfold. It had me turning on characters I had liked, just to shock me that I was so wrong!

I love the way Kate describes to world and the magical aspects of the Visya. I find that she explains it in a way that’s really well written but easy to understand. I’ve had my fair share of Fantasy books where the author has gone far too much into the world building that it ends up too confusing but I didn’t find this with SINS. It was all written really clearly and made it really smooth to read.

I didn’t give this 5 stars because I found the back and forth between Aya and Will’s POVs and Aidon and Josie’s was a bit annoying. I felt like some of the characters of Aidon and Josie’s just weren’t needed and felt a lot like filler chapters which slowed me down a bit.

Overall, this book was pretty amazing and the plot twist at the end had me reeling. I need to know what’s going to happen and I don’t know how I’m going to cope with waiting for the third book!

Thank you so much Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an eARC of "The Curse of Sins" to provide an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First of all, this sequel was better than the first one, which I didn't think was possible. I think what made it better was the plot; there was an equal amount of betrayal in this book when compared to the first (an EPIC twist again too), but there was more action (politics were balanced with fight scenes and a search to find knowledge). There was also more exploration of the world and mythology (which I believe had been one of my critiques of the first book). In other words, this book is still fast-paced and has the high stakes of "The Curse of Saints".

To no one's surprise, I loved the banter between Aya and Will, but I also really loved it when they were open and vulnerable to one another (which was the biggest representation of their growth as characters). For example:

"I don't need the world to know the truth about me. As long as you do, that's enough for me. That will always be enough for me."

I feel like, minus the "I'd-burn-the-world-down-for-you" vibe, this relationship isn't toxic like many other recent fantasy books. Their love story is believable (not love at first sight, but TRUE enemies to lovers). They do argue a lot (and not banter, I mean straight-up argue), but I think this is an ideal representation of relationships; not because I've been in one, but because I think still loving someone even though you disagree with them is the PEAK of green flags. Most of these arguments started with them keeping secrets from each other (*cough, cough* Will), I understand why they kept them, so . . . yeah.

Tova, Aya's BFF, had been a minor character in the previous book, but in this one, she got elevated to side character status (I anticipate her playing a MAJOR part in the next book). She seemed loyal (to a fault, almost), brave, and strong. I appreciated that we got to see more of her and Aya's friendship. For example:

"Here's to me having better taste than you," [Tova] chided. "In men and books"
"Better taste in men and books, maybe," Aya sputtered. "But certainly not in booze."

Only thing is that I wished Dramis had given us more scenes between the two of them (ones that didn't result in them arguing or betraying everything they had ever known; maybe flashbacks, even though some readers don't like when an author does that).

After THAT SJM-like ending (I really hope we get Aya's POV still), I need the third book ASAP. Write faster, Dramis! PLEASE!

Holy cannoli Batman, that ending!!! The Curse of Sins picks up right where we left off in The Curse of Saints, and takes you on a fast paced and action packed ride that you don’t ever want to hop off of. This was the perfect sequel, and I desperately need more!

The Curse of Sins was one of my highly anticipated sequels, and it more than lived up to my expectations. This story picks up where the first left off, and Aya and Will are forced to confront the consequences from the choices they made in The Curse of Saints. I loved the split focus between Aya/Will and Aidon/Josie. You could tell it was intentional to have the storylines intersect again at some point, it was just a matter of when. I love stories that are part chess match, and that’s what Dramis did so well in The Curse of Sins. Overall, I love her writing style. Dramis is great at keeping the plot moving well while not skipping out on character development and world building. There’s such a great mix of political intrigue, magic, and action to the point, I could not stop reading this. There were also plenty of betrayals and plot twists to keep you guessing at character’s true motivations and who was ultimately lying. I’m still not over that ending and desperate for book three. I combo read this bouncing between the ebook and audiobook. I think the narration by Devon Sorvari was good overall. The one critique I have is that I wish there was a little more distinction between the different character POVs. It made it difficult to keep track at times because there wasn’t a clear distinction between them at least at the speed I listen. I felt Sorvari did really well at bringing the emotion and amping up the intensity of the story. Overall, I really enjoyed both the ebook and audiobook and feel this would be great to read in either format.

Great continuation of the first book! I love how fast paced and action packed this book was. The tension between Aya and Will was immaculate and you really felt the stress of them wanting to be together but unable to due to their circumstances. The author did a great job of making me hate the antagonists and kept me on my toes about where Aya's and Will's relationship was going to go and what was going to happen to them given the enemies all around them.

Thank you Netgalley and author Kate Dramis for the e-copy of this book in exchange for a review.

"After discovering she's prophesied to save the realm, Aya's duty should be clear: return home with once-sworn enemy Will to serve their queen in the coming war against a rival kingdom…one whose pursuit of dark magic could bring the realm to its knees.

But with part of the prophecy still undiscovered, and their queen's intentions increasingly suspect, Aya's very purpose is quickly brought into question. With betrayal lurking around every corner, she and Will are forced to lie, manipulate, and hide what they've become to one another as they struggle to learn the truth before dark magic destroys them all."

A great read. I thoroughly enjoy it.

I should probably wait a minute before writing this but HOLY CRAP. Kate Dramis you genius, I will read whatever you write forever and ever.

Kate Dramis really ate with the book. If you liked Saints you are going to LOVE Sins.

This book was everything. I laughed. I cried. I swooned. I screamed. This was amazing.

WAYA has my heart.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC.

Absolutely loved this read! Did not realize it was a sequel so ended up reading the first one and just fell in love with the series. Definitely recommend for any fan of fantasy!

The second book blew away the first book. I am in awe of how this breakout author has completely GRIPPED me in this fantasy series. This is going down as my one of my favorite series that I have read and I don't think I will be able to stop talking about it. Everything is just a *chef's kiss* to me. Well done, and thank you to whoever edited this book -- I love my editor peeps.

Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the series and picks up straight away at the end of The Curse of Saints. If you’re interested in a high fantasy, with enemies to lovers, politics and intrigue you will absolutely love this.

I really enjoy the world building, interwoven character stories and the way that Kate makes you feel very emotionally invested in the characters and world she has built!

I’m really excited to see where this series goes!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 44%. There wasn't any one thing I can point to in the book that I thought was bad, it was more just general disinterest in continuing. I had put it down for a few days just because I had a few days in which I didn't have reading time for it and then I just never felt compelled to pick it back up. I was pretty on the fence after the first book about whether I had wanted to continue anyways so I think if you really enjoyed the first book you'd probably like this one and I should have just listened to the 50% of me that was not inclined to continue on

I enjoyed the first book and was super excited for this one! This one was a bit different than the first, but it was no less good than the first. We see three different POVs in this book and I enjoyed them all.

I will say there were some twists and turns that I both expected and didn't expect, and that made the book a lot of fun.

There is a lot of depth to the political aspect in this book as well as the religious aspect. How it was interwoven really worked for me, Aya and Will are such great characters and I really enjoyed that relationship that developed between them in this book.

I don't want to give too much away, but that cliffhanger was absolutely brutal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this advanced copy. You can pick up The Curse of Sins on June 25, 2024.

I really wanted to love this series, but I found it difficult to finish even the first book, so I unfortunately DNF'd this one. I think it was more of a me problem than anything because I just haven't been in the mood to read higher fantasy lately. Kate Dramis's worldbuilding is incredible, but I just could not invest myself in it based on my current mood.

If you're interested in a political, high-stakes fantasy with fantastic enemies-to-lovers vibes, this is def the book for you!

Thank you letting me have two copies of the same book to review. I will do the same for the other version. Down below are links where I wrote my review.

The curse of sins is the second book in the series which will most likely have at least 3 books. It picks up almost immediately after the first book. It would probably have been a good idea to reread the first book, but the author did a good job of briefly reminding about what had happened so it was good enough to keep going.

At first the book was interesting but then it was so dreary and long with the “I’m so terrible” bit from Aya and just not much going on story wise. By the end some things happen in a single chapter that completely changes everything. I sometimes enjoy that but in this book it didn’t seem like there was much payoff. I guess I’ll read the next when it comes out but this was just okay for me.

This book picks up right after the events of Curse of Saints. We are quickly immersed in the stories of Will, Aya, Tova, and Aidon. While Curse of Saints was full of more action, spying, and history Curse of Sins is a character study of Will and Aya's relationship AND their individual emotional blocks. Mostly I didn't mind it, it just made the book move a little slower. There is still a lot happening behind the scenes and we are given chapters from each characters POV that provide a little more history on certain events and lies are exposed.
Around 70% the story really ramps up and the remainder of the book I couldn't put down. It ends on a big cliffhanger(which I had a feeling was coming) and now we all have to sit and wonder what the heck is going to happen now!?

I enjoyed this book. It has everything I love in a fantasy but I wanted that same spark I found in the first book and it didn't quite get to that level. Still, a fantastic series that I can't wait to finish!!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I must say it did not disappoint. I loved the first book and I’m happy to say I loved this just as much, honestly one of the best fantasy books out there ! Love it! 5 stars! I am honestly so excited for my special editions of this series !

I DEVOURED this book the minute I sat down to read it.

It quite literally is one of those books I'll be thinking about for months to come. I love Kate's writing style and the way she crafted this world and characters. After reading the first one, I knew I wanted book two as soon as possible. I am absolutely in love with the characters and their journeys thus far.

Kate really has a knack for making you feel emotionally invested in the characters and also like you're right there with them as things start picking up and happening.

I could not get enough of this book. Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!