I was so excited and hopeful for this book but did not realize it featured vampires. I am not a fan of vampire novels at all.

Piper Drake's fantasy tale "Wings Once Cursed & Bound" transports readers. The cursed red shoes imprison their wearers. The author's brilliant descriptions and skilled storytelling keep you reading from the first page. Bennet, especially, is well-developed and sympathetic, bringing dimension to the story. Cindy Kay's emotive voice and perfect narration bring the narrative to life. Fantasy aficionados must read "Wings Once Cursed & Bound" for its enchantment, mystery, and adventure.


"Wings Once Cursed & Bound" is a compelling fantasy story with a captivating plot, well-developed characters, and excellent narration. Piper Drake's storyline and Cindy Kay's voice make this audiobook delightful. This novel will enthral fantasy and thriller fans alike. Don't miss this thrilling journey and the cursed artefacts' terrible mysteries.

4/5 Stars from me.

***A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.***

2.5 Stars for this retelling of both the red shoes story and a mix of other folk tales with vampires, bird princesses, and fae, along with others. While the take was okay the story itself over two days, I thought the story felt rushed. Not a bad story but I do not know if I would read the next in the series.

Peeraphan’s like a bookish fangirl that falls into the pages of one of her beloved stories. Vampires, werewolves, fae, magical items? Count her in! (She doesn’t really have a choice though, since she’s got a pair of murderous magical shoes on that suck her into this world.)

I wish more Thai mythology would have been included, so hopefully that’s included in the next one! S/O to NetGalley for the ARC.

Fun, easy read with a ton of different fae types. I was pleasantly surprised after reading some of the reviews. The narration was wonderful, even from different POVs. I had not heard of the kinnaree previously, and I loved the Thai cultural references. This was a slow burn with some spicy parts at the end. I loved getting to know Peeraphan aka “Punch” better, Bennett was super sexy in broody way. Pleasantly surprised!

First of all I want to thanks Netgalley and the Publishing House for the opportunity to read this ARC! Thank you so much!

Let's talk about this book!
Let's start with what I had read from the plot: that it was perfect for Sarah L Maas fans! Well, you know I clearly love her, and so every time I read something like that I'm going head over heels trying to find something like what she writes. Although it's happened other times, it wasn't for this one.
Let's start by saying that it's a completely different story from what I expected. The plot is very interesting but could have been developed much better, because the themes are beautiful, detailed and certainly particular, both from a material and a traditional point of view. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it talks about mythology, Thai tradition, folklore and much more, in addition to the thousand fantastic creatures that are a classic in our fantasy imagination. Here, the Thai-inspired part is very interesting, also because I know very little so it's even more so, so I would have liked something even more focused on this, which would have made the book truly one of a kind.
The plot revolves around a paranormal fantasy with a romance background which, however, in my opinion runs a bit too much (for example, many things on this aspect already happen in this book, when in my opinion we could have waited and increased the tension) while instead i found the paranormal plot really too slow, too much introduction, very fast initial action and then super slow again! Too!
Let's just say that it didn't win me over from this point of view!

The Main character Peeraphan 'punch' is given a pair of shoes to wear to an upcoming performance, but little does she know that the shoes are cursed and she will never be able to take them off until she dances herself to death. Bennet a vampire, is sent to hunt down the cursed shoes by a supernatural organisation and retrieve them before they harm anyone else. When Bennet finds said shoes attached to Punch's feet, he waits for the magic of the shoes to compel her to dance to death before he can retrieve the shoes. Bennet observes that Punch is not only still alive, but that she can stop dancing at will. Flummoxed by this turn of events, and finding that she cannot remove the shoes from her feet, he asks Punch to go with him so that they can find out how to overcome the magic and remove the shoes.

When the pair try and leave they encounter another vampire Francesco who is intent on taking Punch with him. Bennet defends Punch and in the process is greatly wounded. Grateful that Bennet saved her life she helps him home where protection spells can keep them safe from any other pursuers. Punch is introduced to the rest of the supernatural organisation and they all search for a way to remove the cursed shoes. Bennet finds that although Punch appears human she is in fact a rare type of thai bird.

The story follows Punch as she tries to remove the magical shoes and is taken on a journey of self-discovery.

I loved the premise of this book and it seemed like such a breath of fresh air! The book had a solid and intriguing start that had me wanting more. I did find that the rest of the book was not so well executed. Once Punch saves Bennet’s life by becoming a blood donor, everything fell flat. The events in the book take place over 1 or 2 days and it made the book feel as if it was rushed. The characters were not well developed and could have included a more detailed backstory to make the characters more interesting and cover some gaps in the story.

The book is very much left in a rushed open ended blank hole, that makes you feel as if the story hasn’t been finished. Obviously this has been left open for a book 2, but it felt as if the author was just telling you 'all is good now' and left it at that, there seemed to be no finality to it.

Now onto the 'Romance'..... I don’t even know what to say. After only know each other for a handful of hours they were both 'I love you, and can't live without you'. ??!?! How, why and when exactly did this happen? What on earth was the author thinking. These 'feelings' have not been developed at all and Honestly this could have been a great fantasy book, but you had to add awful romance and spice to the mix?! That is where this book massively disappointed me and the main reason why this book lost stars .

The audio narration was a bit difficult to get used to at first and I had to relisten a couple of time at the opening to realise that the book started off with a name. The audio narrator was very good and didn’t detract from the story in anyway.

Genre: Fairy Tale, Romantic Fantasy
Spice: Closed Door
Review written by: M

Plot:
Bennet Andrews, a representative of a secret organization of supernatural beings dedicated to acquiring and storing mythical objects, meets Peeraphan Rahttana, who is in possession of one of these said objects. He can’t save her, it’s too late, she has already stepped into The Red Shoes & is trapped by their curse to dance herself to death.

When Bennet notices that the shoes don't seem to harm Peeraphan, he realizes that he'll have to save her other who seek the shoes to use against humans. Bennett sweeps Peeraphan into a world beyond her imagination. There, she finds that magic exists in places she never dreamed—including deep within herself.

Thoughts:
Unfortunately for me, the writing in this book fell flat for me. It seemed to dive too far into mundane things such as taking a bath rather than interactions between the characters and flew by the action scenes, which were resolved in what felt like a few paragraphs. This book takes place within the span of a few days, and it felt like there was too much packed into it, not allowing the reader to truly grasp what’s going on. There are werewolves, vampires, dragons, fae, a Thai bird goddess, trolls & more along with different realms. It reminded me of the saying “too many cooks in the kitchen.”

This book takes place in the span of a few days, and while Insta-love isn’t my favorite there are instances in which it works. In this case, I felt it did not work. It felt too rushed and more of a weird obsession rather than love.

What captured me about this book was the Thai folklore which I thought was very interesting, but unfortunately the characters in the book didn’t seem to know much about the Kinnaree either. I am assuming it will be more developed in the second book, but sadly I am not interested enough to read the second book.

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand I was captivated and absorbed, but then there were moments that really pulled me out of the story altogether.

I needed more depth from the story world, more insight into the characters to really connect with them, and the plot was very brief with the quest way over simplified. I felt like this story had a lot of potential that it didn’t quite live up to. And while I liked what was there, there just wasn’t much of it.

I think my biggest contention was the age of the characters. Just from reading it, I thought this was young adult. Punch seemed way younger than she is supposed to be and the overall vibe of the story feels juvenile. And, honestly, the “sex scenes” were the most awkward things I’ve ever read. The spice seriously gave me the ick. It seemed really random and there wasn’t enough build up or tension or passion to make it believable.

I did like the multiple POV - I’m generally a huge fan of multiple POV stories. Even still, I didn’t really feel much of an emotional connection with either Bennet or Punch. I loved that the attraction between them was based on their personalities, her courage and his benevolence, rather than physical aspects. Similarly, I liked that the quest centered around accepting herself for who she is.

This was an okay start to a series. I would hope in future installments we get more detailed into the world and lore, as this one was very lacking in atmosphere and backdrop. In general, this was very generic, predictable, and didn’t bring anything special. If you’ve read any young adult fantasy book, you’ve basically already read this one. I don’t think that adult fantasy readers will love this one. I was personally a little disappointed that it was even marketed this way when the story lacks the depth and maturity that you would expect. While that isn’t necessarily a bad way for a story to be, it just meant that this didn’t live up to reader expectations.

The audiobook narration was done well and I really liked getting to hear the proper pronunciation for a lot of the Thai words. I thought the narrator did well with the cadence and flow of the story. But overall it was meh. I liked it, it was easy, kind of a fun simple escape for a few hours, but not something I’m likely to remember in a year.

In Wings Once Cursed & Bound, we meet Bennet Andrews who just happens to represent a secret organization of supernatural beings and this organization dedicates itself to finding and acquiring mythical objects to protect these objects from the humans. Bennet ends up meeting Peeraphan Rahttana, she just happened to step into a pair of Red Shoes, which ultimately traps her in the shoes curse-she will have to dance herself to death. He thinks he is too late when it comes to The Red Shoes and Peeraphan, but he quickly realizes the curse is not harming her. In the end though, Peeraphan will go through a world of creatures she has never known about.

First, let's just talk about the cover: it is simply eye catching and beautiful.

The premise to me for Wings Once Cursed & Bound sounds beyond amazing and I love that it is marketed to fans of Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout since they are two of my favorite authors, so that made me even more excited to read this book.

When I first started to read this, I was instantly transported into this books world and wanting to know anything and everything. The writing was well done and I was enjoying our characters.

But, somewhere around the middle of the book it started to feel meh for me. I just was not sucked in anymore and that continued all the way to the end of the book. There was a lot of amazing parts, but there were parts that felt lacking and I think maybe if I knew more of the Thai Mythology that was woven into this story and the Kinaree, then maybe I would have liked this more.

For the ending of this book, it does feel rather incomplete with how it ended. I would not fully say it is a cliffhanger, but just an incomplete feeling. Thankfully this is only book one, so I am curious about the upcoming books and will be checking them out.

I really wanted to love this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's suspense series. Unfortunately I found the story at times a little slow and the characters a little flat. The narrator was nice, but she didn't pull me into the story like some exceptional narrators can do.
Overall, an intriguing setup that didn't quite deliver, but if there is another book in the series I would check it out.

*e-audiobook provided by netgalley for an honest review*

This was an entertaining read! I really liked the Thai mythology and all the different creatures that the world contains. I enjoyed the group of characters and the found family aspects. I wish there was more depth to characters though and that the stakes were higher. The whole plot seemed a little too easy with not enough consequences. I would have liked more.

LThe story starts off with Peeraphan, a dancer, receiving a new pair of dancing shoes to use during her performance. Unbeknownst to her, they are cursed to make her dance until her death. Bennet is silently watching her and waiting to retrieve the shoes so they cannot harm another person.

I wasn’t a big fan of the narrator, so I did find it hard to get into at first. Whenever they would say the FMC name at the beginning, I kept hearing “Peter Pan” and was SO confused 😅

It wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t captivating my interest nor could I could really connect to the characters or story.

The best part of the book for me was the spicy scenes near the end of the book!

**I will start this off by saying this review might contain some spoilers**

Thank you Dreamscape Media for allowing me to review this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I did really enjoy the story overall. It was well written and a good fantasy story. I listened to this book as an audiobook and there were a few things that we on my mind the whole story. One was the main female character's name. Her name was beautiful and I do understand it was a Thai name but in the audiobook, every time it said her name, it sounded like Peter Pan. In the written book, I am sure that connection wouldn't be made but in the audiobook, it was actually very distracting. Another thing was the cursed shoes. In the story, the FMC is a dancer and she is performing in a theatre. With that setting, the first style of dance that comes to mind is ballet. When she puts the shoes on to dance, I assumed that they were a beautiful red pair of pointe shoes. Turns out they a pair of heels. I was very confused by this when I realized it and continues to picture pointe shoes when the shoes were referrenced. The cursed shoes were a big part of the story for the first part of the book then just seemed to be less important. If you are looking for a love story in this book, you will be waiting a loooooong time. I personally think the sci-fi tag for this book is great but considering the "romance" is VERY slow burn and really only happens in the last 2 hours of the audiobook, I think calling this a romance novel is a bit of a strecth. I would absolutely recommend this book to sci-fi lovers but romance readers will be bored.

The book itself and the story were super intriguing. I could not handle the narration - I felt it was dumbed down to an extent and it actually made me dislike characters.

The cover for this one really caught my eye and when I read the summary I knew I really wanted to apply for the ARC of the audiobook.

I loved it! The narrator did a fantastic job and anyone who listens to audiobooks regularly knows good casting for a narrator can make or break a book. And this was a pleasure to listen to.

Now for the story, I will start of by saying, this is not the next Sarah J Mass series. The world building is not so complex, nor are the relationships between the characters. That being said I couldn't stop listening and definitely stayed up way to late the night I started it because I just couldn't stop!

The best way I can think to describe this book would be a feel good, cozy fantasy (like cozy mystery but with fantasy, not sure if cozy fantasy is actually a thing) , with a scoop of mythology, and a little dash of spice. (And I mean little dash, not even a full pepper here.)

This is the perfect book if your in the mood for a fastasy, with a little romance but you don't want to jump into a huge complex world. A nice light read. I am really excited to see where the author goes with the next books in this series. I'll am very interested to see if she will stay light and simple or slow build up a more complex world and story but honestly either way I am here for it!

This is single narration and unfortunately, I didn't much care for the narrator's take on the book, which means I felt pretty meh on the thing as a whole.
As for the book, it was bogged down by some extraneous scenes and extra POVs beyond the main character and her love interest. I think Drake was trying to set up the Consortium series as a whole by introducing the werewolf and other characters, but it just muddled things. The plot moves slowly and meanders, which is odd since the entire book takes place over the course of just a couple of days. What should have been a taut, exciting mystery/danger/suspense plot with a romance arc was more of a coed frat/sorority house (funded by a dragon) get to know you hangout with some murder shoes thrown in. (This is also solidly urban fantasy while the cover screams epic fantasy.)
Combining the relatively slow pacing with narration that comes off as soothing and isn't terribly dynamic meant for an audiobook I had to keep rewinding because my attention would drift.

A mixture of mythology and fantasy, the book starts with a pair of red dancing shoes, bringing to mind the story by Hans Christian Andersen. This is the first book I read that includes the shoes, vampires, werewolves, faeries, dragons, and a kinnaree.

I started the book, thinking it was a spicy, fantasy book. We get some spice in the last chapters. But the plot keeps us invested enough to not look for the spice! Honestly, at about 40% in, I forgot that there was supposed to be spice.
(I can write the word 'spice' way too many times in a review lol.)

I did like the book and the narrator is amazing! We have a few different POVs, and tho, having the story from the view of the MMC and the FMC is required for the book, I believe that those few extras POVs we got around the end, were not nessecary.

Can't wait for the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free audiobook.

Audio review.

Vampires, werewolves, and fae-oh my! There were so many kore cool creatures and teeny side kicks throughout the book. This book was entertaining and such a unique story featuring cursed red shoes. The folklore woven in kept my interest and left me wanting a 2nd book. I will be reading it if one is planned! My favorite characters were Punch and Ashkey.

4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Spice: 1/5

I highly recommend this one and would listen again.

Format: Audiobook Courtesy of netgalley but views are my own.

Plot:

A group of magical beings helps Punch escape a curse in this fantasy romance about a life sitting above, or perhaps in the shadow, of the human population.



Pros:

There were some good conversations regarding consent, and how to respectfully acknowledge that someone has a past with other people and relationships, without jealousy. Some interesting ideas with a wider set of magical beings than the usual - although they certainly feature.


Not-so-pros:

The plot was pretty weak, and it’s another example of possessiveness as an admirable trait in relationships and family dynamics which I found challenging, as it typically resulted in unnecessary amounts of anger and violence. I didn’t find a lot of the relationships, of any variety, particularly convincing.



Final:

Another addition to the genre, nothing new or special, so I imagine will appeal to those who know just what they like.