This was a DNF read. The main issue I had with this book was the third person POV. That style of writing makes it harder to connect to the characters. I also felt that the pacing was too slow. Thank you to SLJ Day of Dialog and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Julie Abe brings us back with Our Cursed Love in the same world of The Charmed List. It was a delight to have the opportunity to receive this ARC.

If your tea leave reading turns up bad, would you do everything in your power to fight fate?

Our Cursed Love was different from The Charmed List, and I love it. Instead of having Dislike to lovers, we are having friends to lovers. Remy and Cam are really cute together. Their chemistry is obvious. The plot is interesting. After drinking an ancient soulmate elixir (both having their reason to), Cam forgets Remy and she has to help him remember her before midnight New Year’s Eve or every memory, they have, will be lost forever. The story is cute since they become best friends again and fall in love for a second time, but you will worry till the last page with what's at stake. You will also visit Tokyo alongside them while they are trying to bring back their past moment together.

Even if Cam is a cute best friend, I felt that he didn’t want as much as Remy to remember, and it leads me to love more the second male character. I’m curious what would have happened if they both decide to forget and she chose Taka.

In this book, you will find:
🇯🇵Place: Tokyo, Japan
💝Friend to lover
🔺Love Triangle
💕YA Romance
✨Cozy Magic
🌹Curse love
✌️Dual POV

#OurCursedLove:⁣
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Thank you @wednesdaybooks and @macmillan.audio for my gifted copy!⁣
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Have you ever started a book and became frantic because you know for a dang fact you know these characters? I swore I met these characters in another life, and realized I met, and adored, Remy & Cam last year in The Charmed List. I didn’t realize the two books were connected, but the magic and sweet friendship was too familiar to forget. ⁣
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I really liked The Charmed List, so it was hard to not to try to compare the two and also hype up this one because of my enjoyment of the book. But, it’s hard to not do that. Cursed had more magic and world building, I mean we ventured to Japan which is awesome. But, Charmed had more of character development and connection. I just wanted more from Remy and Cam. The third act breakup, not a favorite in this one.⁣
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I really enjoyed the audio, and was happy to find we had different readers in the dual POV. Arina Li and Kevin Shen were absolutely wonderful on keeping my interest and really gripping me on the potion struggles. I highly recommend on audio.⁣
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Overall, it was a sweet friends to lover YA (heavy on the YA.. like a true YA, not a NA disguised as YA) with a fun plot and change of scenery. This is my second Julie Abe book, and I’m hoping a third and fourth will be read in the future. Out 12/12!⁣
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QOTD: Any fun plans this weekend?

Thank you to netgalley for this arch in exchange for my honest review:

rating: 3 stars

Our Cursed Love is a a cute and magical story with one of my favorite tropes, best friends in love with each other. Julie Abe made me feel like I'd visited Tokyo with how beautiful the setting in this book is. I enjoyed, would read more from this author.

3.5 stars, but there are lots of cozy fantasy elements, details about Japan (I want to go back so badly) and moments that felt straight out of an anime (or a drama) that make me feel like it’s worth rounding up.

I’d already been charmed by Remy and Cam when we first met them in The Charmed List. So I was eager to see how their story would play out… and it was cute! I liked the way, yet again, that magic was woven into the every day, how both these characters are working through stuff and also trying to figure out how to let the other know how they feel. It did get a bit rushed at the end (and there was an unexpected element that I wasn’t too keen on), but all in all, I thought this was sweet.

In solidarity with the SMP Boycott I will be withholding my review for this title until SMP addresses and denounces the racism and disinformation that one of its employees publically shared via social media and offers tangible steps of how it is going to mitigate the harm caused by said employee.

This is not a reflection of the author personally, nor is it a call to boycott buying this particular book.

I’m just gonna say it.. I hope the people who designed the cover and wrote the summary were both paid well. They deserve a bonus, because those are absolutely the most intriguing aspects of this book. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are fairly good; and if we ever decide to give Taka a love story I am there… it was just bland and a little messy.

*Warning, this is a bit of a rant and there will be lots of spoilers.*


I feel like the writing was choppy for the first third of the book. Remy often sounded like an eleven year old instead of someone going into college. To an extent, this makes a little sense as Abe has writen more children’s fiction than young adult… but it was jarring. Add the fact that some pretty big plot lines were just casually thrown out into the world while she was extremely descriptive of Japan and the journey there, and I just couldn’t ease into their world. Remy and Cam seemed two dementional, and the first half read like bad fan fiction. (You will note, I said bad fanfiction- there’s some amazing fanfiction out there for several shows and book series.)

I did feel like the second half was much better, and that both Cam and Remy grew a lot. The world building was starting to take shape and it made sense that the author would want a magical world that they are part of instead of going for magical realism where the potion was a one-off. It’s just, the actual magical community didn’t seem to matter to her much in the beginning and I feel like we missed some chances to really flesh the magical community out.

Let’s talk about our male lead for a second. Cam, before and after the potion, treats Remy like a lover. He knows he wants to touch her- holding hands, kissing… basically any type of skinship whatsoever- and yet when he thinks about why he wants his memories back he harps on the fact that he wants to be an alchemist. For someone so crazy about a girl, how can that be your first thought? Even if you don’t remember them, you feel close to them… wouldn’t getting your best friend back be at least on par with your future vocation? Also, how is Remy so okay with the fact that he never really talks about wanting to remember her, that he states his goal is to get his learner’s license? To me, that makes her too much of a doormat. I didn’t like that.

Our second love interest though…. now Taka’s interesting. Handsome and charming, with a past that he had to fight through; he was refreshing. It doesn’t hurt that I never felt like his character was acting too young for his age. He was warm, comfortable, helpful and just mysterious enough to hold my attention. That said, Abe did him dirty. I’m not saying that Remy should have ended up with him- she was already in love with Cam. But to make her the one he believes he belongs with- as well as having to deal with his family treating him like a pawn… I didn’t like it. I hated how cliche it the aunt and uncle were- oh, she’s not good enough… not the right family. This plot device has been overused in asian dramas (well, in all dramas really) for far too long. Also, it didn’t seem to track with the rest of their attitude. Personally, I want justice for Taka. He needs a love story.


All in all this was a decent book- the premise is outstanding, the characters are interesting, and the last half of the book makes up for the beginning… you just have to hold on. For me, this is a three star book. It’s not the one I will remember forever, or rave to my book buds about… but it was fun.

⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
As far as the adult content goes, they talk about making out. Wanting eachother. It’s extremely tame as far as sexual content and there’s very little language. I would say this one would be okay for very young teens. For a YA romance it’s pretty wholesome, and I kind of liked that.


I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and and Wednesday books (part of the St Martin’s Press umbrella) in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!

The book comes out December 12th, is it on your Christmas list?

Title: Our Cursed Love
Author: Julie Abe
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

Six days to remember.
Love or lose him forever.

Remy Kobata has always wished she was destined to be with her best friend, Cam Yasuda. All the way from being neighbors from birth to mixing up magical prank potions together to their “just friends” homecoming date during their senior year in high school, nothing’s a secret between Remy and Cam―except for how much she is in love with him.

Remy is trying to work up the courage to confess her feelings during their winter break trip to Japan, when she gets selected for a mystical tea leaves reading and it reveals that they’re not meant to be together. After they stumble upon a secret magical apothecary in the back alleys of Tokyo, Remy and Cam are offered an ancient soulmate elixir, created before all love potions were banned by the magical government. They each have their reasons for wanting to take it, but what could go wrong with finding your soulmate a little earlier?

Except, after they drink up, their senior year trip flips into the worst vacation: Cam has forgotten who Remy is. If she can't help Cam remember her by midnight New Year’s Eve, they’ll both be cursed to forget each other. To unravel their past and rewrite the future, Remy and Cam must travel through Tokyo to rediscover Cam’s memories and make new ones―and maybe even fall in love all over again.

I enjoyed this setting a lot! This Tokyo with a hint of magic was fascinating and believable, and I wanted to hop on a plane! I really enjoyed Cam and Remy’s friendship—in both realities—and loved all their memories of past experiences together. Even the secondary characters were a lot of fun, making this a sweet, engrossing read.

Julie Abe lives in Southern California. Our Cursed Love is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 12/16).

Book Name: Our Cursed Love
Author: Julie Abe

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for an ARC of Our Cursed Love by Julie Abe

Stars: 3
Spice: 0 (Solid YA)

Standalone
Fast Paced
Dual POV
Magic Coming of Age and Romance

- Thoughts.
- World within a World (Harry Potter in Japan Vibes)
- Younger Leaning YA
- Not a complex or fully fleshed-out magical world
- Japanese Representation
- Family Vs Individuality
- Friends to….
- Communication Issues
- Soulmates/Love is a Choice
- Strong Studio Ghibli Vibes

I liked what this book was doing but it was solid young YA which is brilliant but it's not cross-generational I felt far too old for it honestly … YA is such a gamble nowadays when it comes to this… some books read much older than some books read more Middle Grade.. this was a great bridge into the YA genre for a young reader

Our Cursed Love by Julie Abe is a YA novel set in a magical version of Tokyo, Japan where Remy wants to finally confess her feelings to her best friend Cam. After going to a magical cafe and being told she has no soulmate, Remy takes a love potion with Cam so she can end up in a relationship with him. The potion doesn't behave as expected and Cam has forgotten Remy and with only a week to fix his memory loss, Remy needs to get his memories back before she also forgets him.

This novel was unfortunately, quite average. I have no sympathy for the results of the potion because Remy has many chances to tell Cam she loves him but then chickens out. Cam also does not behave as if he too has feelings for her, compounding the issue. They also both know that the potion they plan on consuming is illegal, so the consequences that follow also make it difficult to feel for them.

There is a magical world in which there are non-magical people who can't see the magical building tucked in between two buildings, or the magical goods in the convenience store, and the magic comes in the form of gold dust that needs to be collected. There is also magical technology, but it is glossed over so the reader never really feels immersed in this magical setting. It was all done somewhat poorly and anytime anything magical was mentioned (such as the Goldsticks, aka Pocky) I felt myself rolling my eyes. Why can't the characters just eat Pocky? Why does it have to be magical Pocky and the author never even calls it Pocky? The way the author described the snack, if I didn't know what Pocky was and looked like, I would not have a good mental picture of the snack.

My favorite part of the novel was the mentions of Tokyo landmarks, but only because I have been to Tokyo and it was more nostalgia for me. I feel the author could have done a better job of describing each landmark, such as Shinjuku and the 8 way crosswalk so readers could picture it better who haven't experienced it for themselves. Also, I don't think they went to Harajuku, which if they didn't, should absolutely be a crime.

This book is also a spiritual sequel and I would not have requested this book had I known that. Characters in the previous book play a major role in this book and I had no background knowledge that would have been especially helpful when it came to Cam's family dynamic. This needs to be noted somewhere in the description so other readers are aware and can start at the proper point in the series.

The characters also behaved quite strangely. Remy loves to bake but despite this, is absolutely terrible at it. Who confuses white pepper for sugar?! White pepper would be in a shockingly smaller container than sugar would. She also burns her baked goods quite often, AND despite having no skills baking, she thought giving Cam a cookie sculpture in the shape of a Christmas tree was the perfect Christmas present and ALSO PACKED THE COOKIE SCULPTURE FOR A TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT TO GIVE TO HIM. WHO DOES THAT? The character's actions make no sense!

All in all, this was a struggle to complete and I can't say I have anyone I can think to recommend this too as it was entirely mediocre. Her middle grade novels may be much better than this and I will try to read one of her other books as the writing itself wasn't terrible, but the plotting and character development lacked.

Our Cursed Love is a twist on the usual love potion story. Cam and Remy love each other - have always loved each other, since they were born on the same day in the same hospital ward - but each was afraid to tell the other. They have been best friends since infancy, but the awareness of love grew over time, and each was afraid to tell the other, afraid that admitting to love would alter their friendship forever, possibly even ending it. On a trip to Japan, to visit Remy's dream school and to have one last adventure before college, each of them plans to tell the other their true feelings - but fate gets in the way.

This novel blends magic and technology in a seamless way, reminiscent of an up-to-date steampunk adventure, but with magic in place of technology. A visit to a magical apothecary leads to a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an equally magical tearoom, a fortune read, an imagined future ripped away, and a frantic quest to fix what hadn't really been broken, but which may never be fixed again.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a companion book to The Charmed List, following Remy and Cam, the younger siblings of Ellie and Jack as they navigate their feelings for one another and their post-high school futures. The central conflict - that Remy is in love with Cam but is worried he won't reciprocate so puts off telling him - is what causes all the shenanigans of the novel. While Remy's reluctance and fear is understandable, especially when the stakes are so high and she stands to lose so much, lack of healthy communication and/or misunderstandings due to lack of communication are a trope I don't much enjoy. The magical world created by Abe is amazing, as it was in the first book, but some of the events feel even more unbelievable than they should, and the convenient coincidences are just too much. When you find out WHY these things are happening, it doesn't make much sense and the whole Taka plotline just feels tacked on. I really wish that hadn't been part of the story, at least not the way it ended up. Overall, I did enjoy the story and the world Abe created, but I wish the explanation for Taka's involvement had been different and the focus had stayed on Remy and Cam's relationship.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Our Cursed Love early in exchange for a review.

Our Cursed Love is a sweet and magical (literally) story about best friends admitting their love for each other. It takes place in Tokyo over the winter holidays, and Julie Abe does a great job of making it feel real while injecting whimsy with the magical settings and situations. A good followup to The Charmed List!

She hooked me with The Charmed List… and then she wrote Our Cursed Love!
Julie Abe writes the best young adult contemporary romance stories.
Remy and Cam, Cam and Remy…… the best characters I’ve read about all month! It was so much fun navigating the growth of that relationship. I was captivated by the characters - they are endearing and real and the author did an excellent job making you feel like you know them.
The magic system in this book was honestly outstanding it was perfect and not over done.
Such a fun romance with so much heart, depth, and a touch of magic.
Highly recommend! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
What is you had one final chance to let the love of your life know you loved them more than just a best friends? What would you do? But what if you're told you do not have a soul mate? How would you try to change that. Remy is taking the trip of her life to Japan with Cam her best friend since she was born. But when she's given her ultimate life fortune, and then a chance to possibly change it, she takes the chance only to lose the one she loves the most. Can she win him back before the clock strikes it's final tole on New Year's Day?
This book was fun. It has elements of love and magic and fortunes. It has hope and tears. And a classic type love story almost Cinderella style.
The book takes place in Japan, so elements of that culture are thrown throughout. Which I really loved. But I also felt like there was more to the magic than the author followed in the book. I really wished the author would have shown more of the magical culture throughout. I think it would have made it easier to understand.
Remy and Cam are sweet together. The idea of having a best friend who can finish your thoughts, who knows exactly what you need, is sweet. Everyone should have those connections.
I will say I didn't realize this book was connected to another book. And perhaps having read that one first would have been appropriate (thought is seems you don't really have to). But I did feel I was missing something throughout, so perhaps that was it.
The one thing that bothered me most in the book is how Remy's chapters truly outnumbered Cam's. I kept thinking why write a dual point of view book if we get more from one character than the other?
Overall this one was cute. If you're looking for a YA romance without much depth that has a happily ever after, give it a try.

DNF @ 10%

I am not a fan of the writing style and the magic system is way too simple. This is not the book for me and I have no desire to keep reading it.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

Note to publisher - more review links to come closer to publication date.
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What I Liked:
🍵 This was like a mix of 50 First Dates meets Love Potion No. 9 and it was absolutely adorable!

🍵 I loved the bits of magic shown and that it was not constantly pushed in the reader’s face. In a world where magic is real, it makes sense that it would be important but also a background item in the overall story. It added just the right amount of Christmas magic in the right places.

🍵 I loved our MCs! These two were just so perfect for each other that I couldn’t help but root for them to the last minute! I love the friends-to-lovers trope and this was executed very well!

🍵 I also really liked all of the side characters, which is rare for me. There always tends to be someone I don’t jive with, but there were no duds in this one. I liked how each of them, family and friends, old and new, genuinely cared for our MCs and had plenty of page time themselves.

Poor Taka though! I’m happy with this book’s ending, but I really want him to get his own book where he subverts fate and finds the perfect person for him!

🍵 I love books full of travel and hidden local spots, so this definitely hit that spot for me.

🍵 The pressure of the ticking clock mixed in with trying to recreate sweet memories was such a good juxtaposition and Julie Abe did a great job capturing both paces well.

What could have been better:

🍵 Shocker, but I didn’t like the third act break up, or whatever you want to call it.

🍵 I thought the extra plot point with Taka and his meddling family was a little out of left field and could have been completely left out. I liked Taka, so why couldn’t he just be a nice guy with no, not ulterior motive, but something akin to it?

Overall
Very cute! I definitely recommend to those YA lovers who like a little bit of adventure and magic.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and Julie Abe for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4/5 ⭐️
What an adorable read! It was the perfect book to read on one relaxing afternoon. But I’m a sucker for friends to lovers. Enemies to lovers is great, it has the angst, but I adore friends to lovers. To have someone who has been by your side through your best and worst. And this book captures exactly that.
My only complaint is that in the beginning there was some repetition and over explaining of background details. And I would categorize this as a fun, kind of fluff read. But it was so cute and just a nice light, romcom to devour like eating sweets.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Publishing for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

Ooey gooey mac and cheesey with sugar on top, but I love cheese and sugar. Our Cursed Love is light, bubbly and mood-boosting like a shoujo manga, it even has the classic shoujo manga packed train scene, if you know you know. If you need something light, sweet and wintery and would like to daydream of traveling to Tokyo during the winter break, this will tick those boxes. It also has a cool modern magic system that we were introduced to in the first book,The Charmed List (this can still be read as a stand-alone though the first book sets up the magic system and how it works). To sum it up, it’s a cute, magical, wintery romance with fortune telling and love potions, set in Tokyo that’s perfect for when you need something low-angst.

A cute sweet story of friends and love and a splash of magic. I loved the friendship to lovers trope and the personal growth of Remy was done wonderfully.