Romantasy is it's own genre and here to stay and I am living! This was dark, gritty and swoony! I loved how it just dumps you right in the book and goes from there!

I found the worldbuilding to be a bit much at times. It felt like too much of an information dump. Once you get past the beginning, it becomes a bit of an easier read. All in all, I found the book interesting

2.5 rounded up

I just really struggle with fantasy, I think?

I felt like I was reading at half of my usual speed during this book, simply because there are SO many worldbuilding elements and unique names and phrases, I was trying to keep up with everything. I think this book was trying to do TOO much, as most of the story elements in themselves felt underdeveloped.

What's more, it wasn't a groundbreaking or even particularly memorable story in the genre, and it felt like a bland execution of popular fantasy tropes: spies, magical kingdom politics, powers, dark and broody male LI. (And a small MC, emphasis on small, which 🙄🙄🙄)

Overall, this was a struggle for me to read, and not one I'd necessarily recommend unless you're an avid fantasy reader who is indiscriminate with stories in the genre.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. THE CURSE OF SAINTS is out now!

I think my expectations were too high for this one. There needed to be more character development and/or world building in order for me to firmly believe in the heroine's view of the world and what she was trying to accomplish.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for my copy to review.

I don't know if I love or hate this book. It was just A LOT for me. I also am not a huge fan of Spymaster as her title. It just seems too simple and kind of not thought out and dumb. I just thought it would be a better title. It's supposed to be adult but felt YA. There was so much info dumping that it distracted from the actual story that was supposed to be happening, leading to it not being as immersive as it could have been.

This gave me Grishaverse mixed with TOG, and maybe a bit of Bone Season (politically wise?)

The worldbuilding was a lot, and thats why I am not rating it 5 stars. It just seemed like a lot of info dumping at times.

I LOVED the last 25%, basically its non stop chaos and that is what is making me want to continue with the series!

I would definitely recommend this to some of my followers...

Wow, this story is amazing, a total page turning. The angst, the pain, the love, the betrayal. I loved that this book was plot-driven, following Anya’s story has been such a blast.

This book can have a rough beginning due to the magic system however once you are past that this world is magnetic.

I cannot wait to see how this epic fantasy unfolds.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

If you like the Throne of Glass series and the Shadow and Bone series, you will likely enjoy this book. Aya is the Queen's spy who learns her powers might hold more secrets than answers when she is sent to secure a truce with another kingdom alongside the Queen's second, her rival Will.

I thought the story was interesting, but I think it could have benefitted from a bit more polishing. There were some plot points that came out of nowhere, while others happened quite conveniently for characters. A few characters were introduced and then never discussed again when I think the story could have benefitted from a few more appearances. I am interested to see what happens in the next installment!

I really enjoyed this book! The world building was creative and interesting. There were so many moments in the story where I was absolutely sucked in. I did not see a couple of the twists coming, but they made sense, which is credit to the author.

This was perfection!! From the first page to the last,
everything was perfect, made sense, was building up
so smoothly. The characters were so interesting and
morally gray lI loved it. The plot was so thrilling, a good
old fantasy plot that we love full of saints and darkness
(and wolves!). And the ship guys.. the ship. I could not
get enough of them. It's been a while since I haven't read
a fantasy that's not rushed when it comes to the ship.
This one was one hell of a painful slow burn filled with
tension, threats (a lot), knife to the throat, mfc being
pushed against a wall by the mmc and fight scenes
ending up with one of the characters on the ground and
the other on top. It's the kind of slow burn that makes
you scream for the two characters to kiss because
they're so close to do it. It makes you mad and you
cannot stop reading the book. This made me feel the
same way as when I was reading ACOTAR (it's not similar
to acotar it's just the feeling of reading it). This was a
masterpiece and I cannot wait to read the second book.
GIVE IT TO ME NOW !!!

DNF @50%....I couldn't connect with the characters! They felt very childish and I did not understand the stakes for this novel. It will be right for someone but unfortunately I am not that reader.

The Curse Of Saints was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I first stumbled upon the book by the reels and snippets posted by the author Kate Dramis and to say I was hyped is an understatement. The synopsis and premise of The Curse Of Saints was right up my alley. Enemies to lovers, political intrigue, magic, fantasy and bonded magical creatures? I thought for sure my expectations would be met, but sadly it was not meant to be.

As a reader you are thrown a ton of information of the affinity magic system, lore and places and I found myself having to scroll back chapters to try to understand things and at one point I gave up trying to understand everything. In doing so, this took me away from the story and getting immersed. To be honest if you’d ask me names of places and the magic system I wouldn’t be able to remember it. The story was chock full of tropes, numerous things felt like they were shoved in just to rope readers into loving it, and it did not work for me. Side characters were boring, I didn’t really bond with any of them through my reading. The multiple perspectives between Aya, Will, and Aidon was confusing to keep up with and really should have been told as a duo pov story.

I did like the romance at times, there was some well written moments if only for the fact that didn’t really like the actual love interest. He was down right petty and childish at points, instead I was left wondering why Aya fell for him.

One of my biggest disappointments was the Wolves the characters are bonded to. I kept forgetting about them due to how little they showed up, as a huge animal lover I really disliked how underused and unimportant they were actually.

To close, I really wanted to enjoy it, and there was parts and characters I liked but in whole I just couldn’t. The potential was there but the sloppy confusing writing didn’t hit the mark. The potential was there, if executed properly. All in all a huge disappointment, I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the sequel. Maybe a re read will make me like it more but I can’t see picking it up again anytime soon.

Not my favorite fantasy world. I think the world building lacked a bit and the characters just fell flat for me. The story wasn’t bad, but I just failed to connect to it the way I had hoped

A very interesting novel from Kate Dramis with definitely a new premise. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this title in exchange for this honest review.

I was super excited for this book, but it ended up being a huge disappointment. The writing itself was decent, but i didnt care for the characters, the world or the plot and had to slog through this book.

This book ended up falling a little flat for me. I had high expectations and was really intrigued by the blurb. Unfortunately, the pacing could use work. It was both too slow and too fast skimming over important points and dragging through others. I did enjoy the characters and their relationship as it evolved beyond rivals. Still not sure if I'll pick up the sequel though.

Kate Drami’s debut novel The Curse of Saints makes use of many well-loved tropes, but it’s missing that special something that distinguishes it from its comparators.

As Spymaster to the Queen, Aya is one of the most respected – and feared – people in her kingdom. Part of the Queen’s guard and her Third-in-Command, few citizens of her realm are more powerful. But unbeknownst to all, even her beloved Queen,, Aya’s tenuous grip on her staggering powerful magic is weakening. If she doesn’t learn to control her emotions, disaster will inevitably follow. If only Aya didn’t have to work so closely with Will, her bitter rival since childhood and a major pain in her ass. As the Queen’s Enforcer, the pair must work together to capture spies, foil plots, and generally uphold the interests of their realm.

When rumors of a dark magic in a nearby kingdom begin to spread, Will and Aya are sent to investigate. Could this power be the prophesied darkness that will break the veil between humans and the gods, calling forth the end of times? While investigating (spying) abroad, Aya’s emotional state becomes even more tumultuous as she begins to suspect that Will himself might be connected to this darkness – and even a plot to unseat the Queen.

Bit by bit, Dramis reveals the reason behind their discord – and it’s a good one. It may be a trope as old as time, but I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance arc. What can I say? Sue me. The seething tension between Aya and Will is delightful (Will’s “romantic” lines, less so). Unfortunately, I thought Aya and Will were much more compelling when they hated each other’s guts compared to their dynamic as a couple. It felt a little flat, which is a major disappointment in a fantasy romance novel.

As with so many fantasy novels I’ve read lately, my main issue here was with the characters. I can forgive fantasy romance a lot of sins, but I can’t forgive sloppy character work. These people are spymasters, generals, and enforcers, but half the time they’re running around acting like teenagers. Maybe fantasy writers should give it a rest with all these twenty year-old government officials. I don’t know how safe I’d feel if I knew that the people running my kingdom, supposedly cunning and dangerous people, were falling for juvenile schemes. Blowing off a mission to get drunk in a medieval style dive bar after a fight with your prospective girlfriend is incredibly embarrassing behaviour.

I also wish I could speak more to the world building, but it was weirdly convoluted. Aya, Will, and the other members of the Queen’s elite forces all have magical abilities given to them by the gods, but the reason why the gods bestowed these gifts was never explained. Their magics are meant to stop the coming of an apocalypse, but the apocalypse might actually be the gods returning to the realm? I swear I was reading carefully, but I didn’t grasp it. Maybe that confusion is intentional, since Aya doesn’t understand the scope of her powers or her role in the coming battle, but instead of being intrigued by the mystery I just felt frustrated.

The Curse of Saints has significant crossover appeal for YA readers, but that isn’t me. I wanted to read an adult fantasy romance, not an average YA fantasy with a bland and familiar setting and characters. I won’t be continuing the series.

This was…fine. If you get past the first 20% of exposition, then you get a plot that moves along decently, some mild political intrigue, and a not quite believable love triangle, that was entertaining enough that I finished, but not quite compelling enough that I’m interested in the sequel.

Some of the reasons this didn’t work for me:
-the enemies to lovers romance, based primarily on secrets and bad communication (and surprise, one of them never hated the other, and the other swings between hate and love very quickly and kinda frequently).
-the immaturity of the main characters (see above), and how both their personalities are basically just anger, angst, and suffering
-a new pov being added a third of the way through, that didn’t really add a whole lot at that point
-the number of times the mmc was referred to as the “dark prince” 🫠

The magic system on the surface seems pretty straightforward, but I’ll confess I didn’t really understand some of the deeper explanations later on of how things worked.

All that said, I think this author has potential and could write some real fun stuff in the future.

I enjoyed this book and I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing was really well done. It made you want to keep reading.

I was really looks forward to this one, but unfortunately it really did not work for me and I was unable to finish it.