I was excited to read this, but I just couldn’t get into it. I enjoyed the premise, and the characterization was solid. The writing just didn’t grab me.

Loved this book! It was a great new take on this tale. It's good to see heroines in this tale since originally it was ruled by males.

I've had an interest in the Arthurian legends for a very, very long time and it's been interesting to see the cyclical nature of new Arthur-era stories. We can go years without seeing new Arthur stories being told and then suddenly we get a slough of them. I was interested in this because of the multi-media aspect - illustrations by noted comic book artist Frank Miller, and that this was (when I started reading this) about to be aired on Netflix as a series (the series was released the day after I finished reading this).

We've got all the familiar characters (including the sword Excalibur), but the twist with this take on the legend is that the sword has chosen a young woman (Nimue) as the worthy bearer.

Nimue grew up in a village of druids, but she was feared even by the village elders, for her formidable control of dark magic. Her mother has been Excalibur's keeper and, just before she dies, instructs Nimue to bring the sword to a certain wizard who will know what to do with it. But once she's got it in her hands, Nimue doesn't want to part with it, and she's pretty certain it doesn't want her to let it go.

I found this book ... boring. Magic, wizards, witches, druids, Excalibur, knights. This should be anything BUT boring, and yet it really was kind of dreadfully dull.

None of the characters are particularly heroic. If you're going to retell the Arthurian legend in a new and interesting way, wouldn't you want to keep the heroic nature of some of the characters? I know this is trying to be different, but if we're changing things up so drastically that we don't keep any of the elements other than a sword, why not make this a unique world, instead of treading on Arthurian ground?

The story doesn't move particularly well. We get a lot of chunks of character, character, character, then a little bit of story (plot moving forward), then more character, character, oh look what we're doing with this character, maybe a little more story.

I feel like there's been a fair amount of hype over the inclusion of art by Frank Miller. Personally, I don't feel one way or the other about Miller's art ... but I didn't really understand what he was going for here. This art reminded me more of a stylized Ralph Bakshi interpretation than new works by the famous Daredevil and Batman artist. There's also not a lot of artwork here (more than most books, significantly less than a graphic novel). Anyone buying it <em>for</em> the art work will likely be disappointed. Anyone buying it for the story will be even more disappointed.

Looking for a good book? <em>Cursed</em>, by Thomas Wheeler, looks like it should be a winner, given the well-known characters and legend that it plays with, and the artist of a strong reputation who contributes drawings to the project, proving that looks can be deceiving.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. I did find a couple of moments that dragged on. I did love the change in lore, but it still felt true to the source materials.

I've been a longtime fan of Arthurian lore and always enjoy reading new takes on the legends. Usually the focus is on Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but I loved seeing a strong female character take the reins. Nimue attracted me from the beginning. She was an outcast since childhood and had heavy burdens placed on her shoulders, so you sympathized. I even enjoyed her bloodthirsty moments, because her innate powers combined with the sword's just left me awestruck. This is the strongest version of Nimue I've read about and I greatly enjoyed her as a heroine, and loving the lead makes it easy to love her story. The only thing that occasionally left me confused were the descriptions of magic. The wording was a little vague and left me unsure what I was supposed to be picturing in my mind as it happened, but on the whole I loved the cast, loved the plot, and loved the pacing. I plan to buy a copy of the book and would recommend it to friends who like Arthurian lore or fantasy in general.

I have not had the time or interest to get through this book, unfortunately. I requested based on the author and would love to get to it eventually.

DNF at 10%. I ultimately couldn't get into this book because it felt like it would be better as a screenplay, like that was what the writer really wanted to write. The characters didn't come to life for me and it just felt like a generic fantasy. Maybe I will still watch the Netflix show, but the book wasn't for me.

I DNF'd (did not finish) this book at around 30% because it was not capturing my attention at all, and I honestly kept getting lost by it. I do not DNF books often, especially ones I plan to review, but I could not get into it at all.

It felt slow-moving, and I was pretty uninterested in the story for the most part, which is unfortunate.

A really cool re-telling of the King Arthur fantasy and one that I am glad is going to be turned into a television series. A story that deserves to be told and is poignant for today's audiences.

When I learned about this Arthurian story with female lead I was like. Yes, please. I love the description of this book and I could not wait to delve into it. I like the ways the characters and story are reimagined, giving it a unique spin that made me enjoy it.

Unfortunately because of my personal reading device I'm currently unable.to reading devices I don't currently have access to this title. I do plan on reading this in the future and I'm very excited for the show.

When I discover there is going to be an awesome new Netflix show, I get super excited. But when I discover that they are basing it off a book or releasing a book based on the show, then I get more excited. So I set off to read Cursed before the tv show premiered and unfortunately I was let down. First, I wish I was warned before I requested the arc that it was going to be in PDF format. That is honest to god worst format and my eyes were killing me. And second, I wish I didn’t force myself to finish this one. I wish I would have DNF it.

Perhaps one of the reasons I disliked this one so much was the fact that it was based on King Arthur. Can we as a book community agree that there are far too many King Arthur retellings? Just me??

This book did have a “screenplay” vibe to it so I guess it might be better on TV. I still fully plan on giving the tv show a chance, but this book was not the one for me. The main character, Nimue just felt like she was trying too hard. Just your typical chosen one who won’t listen to anyone. There is nothing more annoying than a know it all main character. I liked the concept that this retelling would focus more on Nimue than Arthur. But I feel like it ended up doing more harm than good. As I liked Arthurs’s character 10x more than Nimue. I hope this plays out better on screen, I have a feeling it will. Fingers crossed.

I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

Sometimes being an adult is a curse, and then, sometimes it is not. I loved this rendition of the Arthurian legend. Written for the YA community and adults like me, who will read anything Arthurian, I plunged in. And I am very happy I did.

It certainly had its dark moments, but it blazed with passion, perseverance. and promises. Nimue promised to fulfill her mother’s dying wish to return a sword to Merlin the Magician. How she was to accomplish this was something Nimue couldn’t even fathom. But she had promised her mother, the High Druid of her village, that she would. So, she was determined to do it. Thus, begins an adventure of courage, fear and friendship. Nimue’s travels took her into frightening situations facing death and betrayal. She encountered all sorts of creatures, good and evil, fey and non-fey, human and non-human, friend and foe. Everything you could possibly want in a fantasy tale.

This book is to be cherished along with all the myriad tales of Arthur and his adventures. Don’t be afraid to read this YA book. If you love Arthur, you will love Cursed.

Frank Miller's art and this fantastic and unique retelling of the Arthurian legend are perfect for each other. I absolutely loved this book and the surprising was it introduces the familiar characters!

Great fantasy novel for Middle/Upper grades. This is a book my kids who love fantasy will devour. It is full of action and intrigue and will keep them hooked from the first page all the way to the end.

This is a terrific twist on a female version of King Arthur. This is an enchanting read for any middle school child. With a strong female protagonist, it's a fun read for young minds. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to seeing the Netflix show.

I wanted to love this book so much. The synopsis was amazing, and the fact that it was a twist on the tale of King Arthur sold me. Also, the fact that it is going to be made into a Netflix movie this Katherine Langford also made my soo excited to read it. I just couldn’t get into this book. I couldn’t connect with Nimue at all. There were times where I felt like I was starting to connect to her, but something would happen and I would lose it.

I did really like Arthur. He and Nimue together were the times that I most enjoyed this book. He was so charming and fun to be around. Merlin’s parts were very interesting and I mostly enjoyed that story. I never understood the king, and why he always said they and we, I am guessing because he was transgender, but I don’t ever remember reading that so that also confused me.

I hate to give this book a bad review because there were some really good parts and some parts that had me hooked. Connecting with the characters was just too hard for me. And I was really confused a lot of the time. That could also be because of it being an ARC. Not sure. I recommend it because I feel that other people would love this book. It just wasn’t for me.

This book provides it all a good writing style and character development with a delightful story. It is for teens and young adults that is even scheduled for a series on Netflix starring Katherine Langford. This is a reworked story of the Lady of the Lake and King Arthur. There is a Sword of Power that will choose the King, but that is the story we have heard before. This is a little different as perhaps this time the sword picks a queen instead. This book is full of action and suspense, which is very interesting with nice illustrations throughout. I look forward to seeing how it is done with the TV show. This is a book to pick up and you will be hearing about this book because it is going to be that popular.

Pretty decent retelling. I honestly thought I already reviewed this I only have notes from months ago.

- The original artwork will be cool to have in the pubbed book --
- I'm enjoying the small trend of learning more about Nimue and seeing Arthur's origin story from her perspective.
- A lot of violence against women...
- Also don't love what they did with Merlin. At all.
- Smaller roles were better written.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this spin on the classic King Arthur tale. I'm loving the recent push for female-driven stories and gender swapped retellings. I found the story enthralling and the art a stunning addition. I cannot wait for the Netflix adaptation!