Two fighting kingdoms come together at a boarding school in the US in the form of teenagers.
Fighting for their families' honour, falling in love, asserting their independence and studying for finals, this book has all the tropes of a typical teenage romance.

Somewhat predicable, "Of Courses and Kisses" is an enjoyable read, and I suspect the sequel is going to be even better!

I really enjoyed When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something About Sweetie. Sandhya Menon’s books are like a warm hug, they’re so sweet. When I heard about her first fantasy book, of course I wanted to read it. It’s a loose Beauty and the Beast retelling, which I’m sure will appeal to a lot of readers.

Sadly, though, I really struggled with the first half or more of the book. It felt slow paced and flat in a way that really surprised me. Her contemporaries I mentioned above flow really nicely and the romance is balanced well with comedy and drama. This one was so heavy on drama that it kind of stifled the romance.

The romance itself is cute and swoon-worthy, but a little frustrating sometimes. Menon is great at writing banter and flirting, and making a couple so stinkin’ cute. The same is true of this book. Jaya and Grey are opposites in many ways, but perfect for each other (if you ignore the family feud).

Jaya was raised, in some ways, with strict ideas of what it means to be a lady, and how one is required to act as a princess. This creates tension in some relationships, and means Jaya holds herself back. I loved seeing how she handled things as she tastes independence for the first time. Her sister is also a great character, and I’m glad we get to know her.

I think what let the story down is the fantasy element. It’s explained, sure. But it seemed really out of place and forced. It didn’t feel fleshed out enough to be strictly believable, and sometimes even the characters forgot about it. I’m not sure making the curse real adding anything to the story; it almost would’ve worked better without that element.

So, while there are aspects I enjoy, and some pretty important issues that characters grapple with, I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to. I can see how some people might enjoy this book, but for me it was just okay.

3.5 Stars

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon is an interesting take on Beauty and the Beast. It’s boarding school setting is dream-like and the characters are compelling. However, the pacing of this story was a tad off and affected my overall enjoyment.

❀ DIVERSE AND INTRIGUING

Menon has devised a unique twist to the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast that is both diverse and intriguing. It is really enjoyable to read about the curse placed upon the Emerson family by the Rao’s. When the off-spring of the two families wind up at St. Rosetta’s boarding school together, the enemies to lovers trope takes a curious spin.

❀ COMPLEX CHARACTER

Jaya’s character is complex and her struggle to do what is right for her family and people gives her an opportunity to grow and reflect. This aspect of the book really gives a modern element to an old fairy tale, which is quite thought-provoking. Grey, however, is my favourite of the two main characters because he has a certain softness underneath his rough exterior.

❀ SLOW-PACED

Unfortunately, despite the perfect setting and interesting characters, the pacing of the book is quite slow. It takes a long time for things to start happening in Of Curses and Kisses. Also, there is an abundance of fancy words that riddle almost every page of the novel. I found this to be quite distracting, as I found myself looking up many of these words to understand the context of the sentence.

Of Curses and Kisses is a promising start to the Rosetta Academy series. It has an ideal setting and a captivating premise. That being said, the complicated language and slow pace make this book less entertaining to read.

What I love most about how Menon writes is that her books always leave you feeling good inside. Even when her characters are going through hardships, you can’t help but be left feeling joyful. It’s the mood that’s set within her words.

With the classic Menon voice, she gives all of her new characters a lot of growth and charm. You love and feel for her two main narrators, as well as every single side character.

I’m so excited that Menon will be expanding these books into a series with new narratives. I’m very excited and eager to see who she chooses to be in the next instalments.

I want to start by saying Im a huge Sandhya Menon fan. When I seen she was writing a beauty and the best retelling I could not contain my excitement.

This book was a diverse contemporary that stuck fairly close to the original beauty and the best story. The way she wrote the curse was very different and I really enjoyed how she did it. The romance was a very slow burn romance.

It felt like it was written more for the younger YA readers and wasnt something I could binge read but I really enjoyed it.

I cant wait to add a copy to my collection once it is released.

Thank you to the publisher, Simon Pulse, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Princess Jaya Rao arrives at the elite St Rosetta’s Academy with a single goal in mind – get revenge on her family’s longtime enemies, the aristocratic Emersons, more specifically, the heir, by breaking his heart, in retaliation for slandering her little sister Isha in the media. Lord Grey Emerson has gone through life believing himself the victim of a centuries-old curse by a Rao matriarch, and his father has always told him that he was doomed to die on his eighteenth birthday, causing him to isolate himself. When Jaya, his known familial rival shows up at St Rosetta’s, wearing a very familiar ruby rose pendant, he immediately questions her intentions. But time is ticking down for Grey, and with each day, the curse seems to be a step closer to coming true.

Of Curses and Kisses is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but contemporary with a touch of fantasy – in the ‘is it actually magic or isn’t it’ kind of way. And then there was the setting itself, of a boarding school high in the mountains surrounded by snow that gave it an additional fairytale feel. Jaya is the dutiful princess who knows the sacrifices she needs to make for the good of her family and is very dedicated to doing whatever needs to be done to uphold their legacy, considering it her responsibility as the Rao heiress. Grey, on the other hand, has carried not only the burden of his family name, but also the very unfair burden of the curse that his father laid on his shoulders at a young age. It was wonderful to follow both their POVs as they begin to realize that there might be something outside duty and fate that they can choose for themselves, how they don’t have to stick to the lines society has defined for them.

I mentioned in my review of There’s Something About Sweetie that I seem to uniformly describe all of Sandhya Menon’s books as adorable, and this was no exception. Jaya’s attempts to pursue him are cringe-worthy and hilarious all at the same time and had me in fits of giggles. What I liked most about Jaya though was her fierce protectiveness and love for her little sister and how that eventually wins out over the many familial obligations and traditions she is bound to, despite coming off as a little controlling at first. Grey is an equally interesting character, initially the grumpy recluse, but as Jaya begins to get past his defenses, we see the loneliness and pain that he hides beneath it all. The side characters, though we only got to know them a little, were all amazing, particularly Isha, the princess who aspires to be an engineer.

This was certainly a change of pace from Sandhya Menon’s previous works, but a delightful read all the same. This is definitely a must read if you’ve enjoyed her other books. Of Curses and Kisses is a complete feel-good book and if you’re in the mood for a light and fun retelling of a classic tale, I would highly recommend this!

I really wanted to love this book, since I've loved Sandhya Menon's previous books, but sadly this one didn't work for me. I think the pacing was off for me, since sometimes big chunks of time would be skipped over in just a sentence or two, and that took me out of the story sometimes. I couldn't buy into the romance, which unfortunately meant I wasn't very invested in the book.

I've been looking forward to this one for a while -- a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast by one of the best in YA romance. I don't know that it lived up to my expectations though. I had a hard time with Jaya, whose plan to make Grey fall in love with her seems rather cruel and not quite fitting for the crime, and especially because she goes into it only on the vague word of a reporter without confirming Grey's culpability. I admired that she was loyal and self-sacrificing to her family, I found her selfish in her treatment of her friends, particularly Daphne Elizabeth, and wasn't sure why she apologized for not supporting Caterina (who was ultimately a great surprise of a character) when she wasn't friends with her in the first place.

As for Grey, I felt for him deeply but didn't feel that he really fall into the archetype of the Beast because he himself does nothing wrong that he needs to be punished for--there's no inciting incident or action that he *chooses* that casts him as the Beast, it's just an accident of birth and a really shitty parent. As much as love saves in this story, years of therapy would also not go amiss for poor Grey. And I love a brooder, but this seemed to be most of his personality--kinda understandable, given his upbringing, but again, therapy, kid.

The resolution--for Grey's and Jaya's arcs and how they intersect--is really clever, and as always, Sandhya Menon's prose is super engaging and enjoyable. The story itself just didn't work for me.

Book Review: Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

This book is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. It is a very light and cute read, with interesting characters and a beautiful sounding backdrop.

I would of liked to get to know the main characters and seen their relationship develop a bit more-I feel like we missed out a bit on some moments with them.

This is a contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast with an Indian lead, at a boarding school. Grey is cursed and hates human society, until he meets Jada. A princess and the two are drawn to each other.

*e-ARC provided by Simon and Schuster Canada and Netgally*

This book is hard for me to rate, since I didn't enjoy it, but I can see why a lot of people will like it. The writing and the story felt on the young end of YA to me. More targeted at 13/14 year olds, and I typically gravitate towards older YA. That was one issue that i had with it. I also don't typically like contemporary novels, unless they are hard hitting and deal with complex issues. This is my bad, because I should've researched it better, so that I would know what to expect. I didn't really connect with the characters either, they felt a little shallow to me. To be fair, this could have to do with the demographic its targeted for. I really wanted to enjoy it because of the diverse romance and a fairy tale retelling, but it just didn't work for me. Weirdly enough, I also struggle with books that are very much supposed to be fiction and then they have some random element of magic thrown in (aka magical realism), and this book felt that way to me. I prefer it to either be firmly grounded in fantasy or firmly grounded in realty. A lot of people will like the magical realism and the simplistic story i'm sure and the author I can tell is a good writer. I'd be interested in picking up another book from her (that's maybe strictly in the contemporary category).

2.5/5
I'd recommend this to younger readers of YA, and fans of magical realism. I think a lot of people will like this, especially fans of Beauty and the Beast but alas, it just wasn't for me.

3.5/5 stars

Of Curses and Kisses is a contemporary YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is the first book in the St. Rosetta's Academy series.

It is set at an elite boarding school outside of Aspen, Colorado. There are alternating POVs: Princess Jaya and Grey (both 3rd person POVs).

Princess Jaya is the heir to a royal family in India. Grey is from a rival family. She is 18. He is almost 18.

I was so excited when I saw that this book was a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast. I think that the author did a good job of writing a story that had the feel of BATB while also being different.

I enjoyed the curse and how it was woven into the story.

This story was cute. I enjoyed it while I was reading it. However, I was easily able to put it down for 2+ days. And I didn't really feel like picking it up again. Although once I got back into the story I finished it quickly. The last part of the book was the strongest for me.

I was curious if this book would end with a cliffhanger since it is listed as book one of a series. It does not end with a cliffhanger. Perhaps the subsequent books will be about supporting characters from this book?

This is probably my favourite retelling of Beauty and the Best I have ever read. I will say the beginning is slower than I anticipated from reading other Sandhya Menon books (She is one of my fave contemporary YA authors at the moment!), but it did not disappoint. The characters are well fleshed out, they make you like them quite quickly and Grey's mysterious ways are so alluring and so beast-like that it made me very happy.
It was such an interesting take on a very old story, with mystery, feminism, royalty and loyalty coming into play.
This was such an enjoyable read and cannot wait to read more from this series! It's so exciting that this is just the start.

BOOK REVIEW: Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon. 😘
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Release date: Feb 18, 2020
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Summary: This is a contemporary YA romance loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. Princess Jaya Rao is dedicated wholeheartedly to her family, so when the heir of a rival family rubs dirt on the Rao name by spreading slander about Jaya’s sister, Jaya sets out for revenge. She and her sister escape the drama by attending an elite boarding school called St. Rosetta’s Academy where the heir, a boy named Emerson Grey, also attends. Jaya decides she will exact her revenge by making him fall in love with her, then breaking his heart.
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Review: This is a cute story about royal teens navigating politics and their own identities. It’s easy to read, and I like the characters. Isha, Jaya’s sister, is my favourite because of her sass.

I appreciate the character growth in this book, and I’m especially impressed with how the girls resolve their conflict. This book has the potential for catty girl fights, but it stays far away from that, which is wonderful.

This is a great book to read in the winter because there’s a snowball fight and a winter ball. ❄️

Unfortunately, there were a couple of downfalls with the story for me. I found the mystical aspects of the book unrealistic and unbelievable (the Beauty and the Beast stuff), and I think the book could be much shorter. It was also a bit too fluffy for me.
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Rating: 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm such a huge fan of Sandhya Menon's Dimple and Rishi series, so when I saw she was doing a contemporary boarding school spin on Beauty and the Beast, I was beyond ready to fall in love with her writing again.

I wanted to get swept away. Unfortunately, I couldn't lose myself in this story enough to do so.

Of Curses and Kisses had the difficult task of straddling a super fine line between fairy tale and reality, and it didn't quite succeed in that. It was too much of a realistic contemporary to buy into some of the more fairy tale-ish elements: Grey believing in the family curse and Jaya thinking there's literally no other option but to marry a family friend she doesn't love.

But the fairy tale elements were also so integral to the story that it was hard to get super invested in it either as a fully realistic story. For example, I was concerned about the hints of Catelina possibly having an eating disorder because of her heartbreak, but then I'd be pulled out of it by Grey's worry over dying on his 18th birthday because of the curse. The characters themselves were skeptical of the curse -- Jaya insisted it wasn't true, and Grey knew it was illogical -- yet the story took the possibility of Grey's impending death so seriously that it was hard to figure out how to feel.

Some stories succeed at keeping the reader off-balance in a good way, so that you're eager to see what the truth turns out to be. Here, I just felt like it was a fancy boarding school story (like Gossip Girl, maybe?) with Beauty and the Beast references crammed in. Even Jaya and Grey's snowball fight, with its almost frame-by-frame reference to the scene from the Disney movie, made me laugh at the forced parallel rather than get all giddy with the flirtation. And Jaya and her girl classmates descend a long staircase to their dates for a dance, because of course we need that fairy tale glamour.

The ending is really cute and heartwarming, and I like how the curse unfolded in the end. I also enjoyed meeting the cast of characters at the Academy, and can imagine all the forthcoming romances blossoming among them. I just wish this book had had more of the kind of magic that made me full in love so hard with the Dimple and Rishi series.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This review will go live on my blog Feb 10, 2020 at 8 am ET.

This adorably reimagined Beauty and the Beast retelling follows Jaya and Grey, two enemies of generations. Grey Emerson is the heir of a 'once upon a time' thief who stole a ruby from Jaya Raos' predecessor. In refusal to return the stolen gem the Raos' cursed the ruby and the entirety of the Emerson family line.

Of Curses and Kisses encompasses all of the lighted-hearted, warm/fuzzy feeling, slow burn romance I was hoping for! Partner it with strong female characters, family drama, traditions, heartbreak, scheming, and LOVE and I am here for it! *cue single clap emoji haha. Also I can't forget diversity. So many beautifully diverse characters.

Once of the most refreshing pieces of this this book was the adorable side characters that Sandhya Menon intertwined flawlessly. Each of them is irresistibly unique which adds some nice spice to the storyline.

Menon did an amazing job with the flow of the plot. I wanted to go to school with Jaya and Grey. I wanted to ski with them, and browse books, take archery lessons and go to 'homegoing'. For a story based around the children of famous designers and aristocrats everyone still managed to feel relatable. (A nod to an important reminder in life, I'm sure.)

If you are looking for a light hearted, easy read, this book is for you. I promise you won't be disappointed. And in an attempt not to spoil anything about the characters I tried not to write much about them, however please enjoy these quotes from Grey. (I know you'll love him as much as I do):


"Grey liked the snow; he felt perfectly hidden in its thick, cold folds."

"The only real place Grey felt safe, like he couldn't hurt anyone, was in the mountains"

"Grey was brooding over a cup of coffee. Black, of course, to match his bitter personality."


Told you he was swoon worthy. I can't wait to see how Menon expands this world and I look forward to visiting St. Rosetta's Academy again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an e-arc of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After reading When Dimple Met Rishi by Menon and I saw that she had another one out I knew I had to request it.

This book is told from two points of views, Jaya and Grey, and it’s set at St. Rosetta’s Boarding School in the Aspen area. The school is filled with mostly rich, entitled students and the dynamic and school mandated socials was a but hard to believe. However, never been to a boarding school I can’t really judge if this is realistic or not!

What I really enjoyed about this was the little spin on Beauty and the Beast and Grey’s character. I loved his chapters and really wanted to get back into his point of view when I was in Jaya’s. She felt so “ugh” and unlikeable. I really like the message that the book was trying to give with her situation but her actions and inner dialogue had me rolling my eyes.

The pacing of the book was a bit off. The first part seemed to take place in the span of a week and the latter was “two days later”, “three weeks later”, “now suddenly it’s December”. The foreshadowing was quite obvious in all the instances they were placed but I am glad they all got addressed in the end.

All in all, I expected a bit more from this book based on how it has been marketed. I wanted more realistic-ness, more dialogue between characters, more “not convenient” situations. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would but I did enjoy it. I won’t be continuing in this series but I will pick up whatever Menon writes next outside of this.

3.5 stars
If you loved the authors previous contemporary reads you will love her take on the Beauty and The Beast retellings. Now I could be bias because I am sucker for anything Beauty and the Beast. Even contemporary ones which I am sure everyone knows is not one of my go to genres, but I do have my favourites. I loved how the author spun the original tale around and had an Indian Princess as our heroine. And has a diverse set of characters which helps since she placed the setting of the book in a boarding school. Kudos to modernizing a classic. Our beast Grey is still beastly, and like her other books Of Curses and Kisses is full on swoon worthy romance, while keeping the enemies to lover’s trope that is in every Beauty and the Beast. I don’t know what more to say without giving away the plot, but it still follows all B&B retellings. Overall a nice addition to the Beauty and the Beast retelling and I look forward to the sequel.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sandhya Menon. She's one of my favourite YA authors, if not my #1. But while it was an entertaining read, this is my least favourite of her books so far.

Of Curses and Kisses is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, a revenge plot-turned-romance between Indian princess Jaya Rao and Grey Emerson, the male heir of the family the Raos have been feuding with for centuries. What I liked about the book was the relationship between Jaya and her sister Isha and the push and pull between duty and freedom of choice. This is a common theme in Menon's books (remember Dimple and Rishi?) and I enjoyed seeing it explored in this similar, but different, way.

What I didn't enjoy was the privileged boarding school setting and the fairy tale aspect of the curse. I found these elements kept me from being fully immersed in the story as I wasn't fully convinced of them. I also didn't feel the relationship between Grey and Jaya as strongly as I typically feel the relationships in Menon's books - there was none of the butterflies and warm fuzzy feelings I felt over Dimple & Rishi, Sweetie & Ashish. I felt like there was maybe too much inner monologue and not enough action to show how they felt about each other.

Overall, it was an entertaining read and an interesting modern take on a classic fairy tale, but I'd recommend one of Menon's other books before this one.

I really expected to enjoy this book more, especially since I'm constantly raving about all of Menon's books. I will always love her stories though, especially since they always feature main characters from Indian descent. But I'm longing for a Menon book featuring a non-binary and/or non-straight MC. So anyways, for this review, I will base my Beauty and the Beast knowledge on the Disney movie, since I have never read the original story 😅

There is something utterly magical about a snowy, fancy, boarding school somewhere in the mountains. There are quite a few elements that resemble the Beauty and the Beast story, and I enjoyed how you can recognize them, without being too similar either. For example, I liked the boarding school twist to the usual Beauty and the Beast castle. The author kept the beautiful, enormous library and I loved that part. Because let's face it, it's one of the best things about Beauty and the Beast 😂 Also, the rose was represented by a rose shaped jewel, encrusted with rubies. Like the rose petals in the Beauty and the Beast Disney movie, the rubies fall one by one. However, the curse recites that once the last ruby has fallen, so does the Emerson lineage end. So yes, btw, Grey Emerson portrays the Beast (I love how the author describes him! So dark and broody) and princess Jaya Rao as Beauty.

If you've read the synopsis, you'll know that the Rao and Emerson families have been feuding for centuries. I loved the following quote, because it means so much in SO many contexts. It really reflects on the messages this society sends out, especially to young children (like about what is acceptable for a boy vs a girl) : "The problem's the messages we're given, starting before we can fully understand them."

So about Jaya. She is very protective of her family, always placing their needs before hers. Being the eldest, she is the heiress of her family's legacy. However, she seriously got on my nerves and I found sometimes she was a bit too agressive. I liked how towards the end she stepped up more for herself, putting her needs first, for once. Also, she apologized for assuming a girl was straight at one point and I was super happy about that 👏

I found that the beginning of the book was long, the pace only picking up around 60% through. The ending felt a bit rushed and quite a few plot twists were predictable. 3⭐

3.5 stars!
Even though the beginning was weak, after a couple chapters the characters and the storyline grabbed me.
It's a beautiful retelling and certainly I will recommend it to my close ones!!