4.75/5

Kate Dramis has done it again! I was hanging on to every word as I read The Curse of Sins. Aya is back on Tala and ready to take what is hers. My sweet angel Tova, you did not deserve that. My heart aches for Aya and Will. The only bad thing about early reviews is that I have to wait longer for the next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the eARC of 'Curse of Sins' by Kate Dramis in exchange for my honest review 💫

I had such high hopes for this sequel, especially considering the length, but this book wasn't for me. I really liked the first book, Curse of Saints, but everything I didn't liked about the book, was ten times worse in the sequel. Most of the plot lines are just for the plot, but then that's that.
There wasn't a lot happening, besides brooding, moping and brooding about anything but useless things. Do you love the misunderstanding trope? Than this book is for you!

Anyway, 2⭐️ since I couldn't finish the book (DNF), but still liked it a bit.

"'𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓', 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒚. '𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆'.

The Curse of Sins is the second book in the series and continues where Aya and Will have a new understanding. Together with her once-sworn enemy Will she returns to their kingdom, her mission clear, to serve their queen and help save the realm in the war looming.

But was it really that clear?
Once returned, they are met with numerous questions and incertainties. And questions unanswered, that are not narrowing down but instead building up. What is the part of their queen in all this? What is the true purpose of Aya's powers?

In the meantime King Aidon is trying to figure out what type of King he wishes to be, met with the first difficult choices he will have to make. The secret he carries with him, standing in his way of living his life.

𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.

𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒌. '𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔,' 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅. '𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒎𝒆'. 𝑨𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒌, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓. '𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓,' 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎. '𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆__'

'𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓'

The book focuses a lot on the new dimentions of the relationship between Will and Aya and their romantic feelings towards another. Interestingly enough, it is not the main focus and they are still struggling here and there to figure out their feelings toward another. I think that was a pretty good take, as it would be way to easy to give them their "perfect ever after" straight away.

Next to that, it also focuses around Aya getting into the role of the saint and researching her powers. The tría is not as it's used to be and shifts in trust and allies. Tova doesn't remember a thing and is tortured in her questioning, her rage focused entirely on Will. It strains the friendship and trust between her and Aya, while they figure out where they stand together in all of this.

I usually don't mind a slower pace in books, as long as it builds up to something. Book one was definitely slow-paced aswell. But I think the pacing in book two was bordering on boredom for me at a few times. Not much was happening for say 35% of the book other than researching, preparing and training. In that regard, I'd definitely say this book seems more character focused than plot focused. I think the book would land better with most, if you'd take out the more dragging parts and didn't have to be as chunky as it is.

Another thing I was left confused by is the dynamic. We have a general, an enforcer and a spie known as our tría. They work well together, because they are good at their tasks. However, at times the enforcer was better at spying and finding answers than the one person who had the affinity for it. I feel like her and there the development for each character, carved out so well in book one, was starting to fade a bit in book two.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑰𝒍 𝒔𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝒍𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒗𝒏𝒊 𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒍𝒊 𝑷é𝒍𝒂. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅.

However, the concept of it all was still interesting and there is definitely plenty to work with. Who doesn't love a good prophecy come true, deception, forbidden romances, political intrigue and dark magic? Towards the end of the book, the clues all come together and the pacing suddenly takes off with a battle and revelation. Leaving us again with that cliffhanger ending we all love to hate. It does set up perfectly for the next installment of the book and with that, another challenge to be met, another battle entirely than we were led to believe we were in.

This book has:
- Multiple pov
- Written in third person
- Queer sidecharacter; so if they/thems aren't your thing, you might want to skip this series.
- Sexual content

I was provided with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you 😊

I love the world that Kate Dramis created. The first book was amazing and the tension between Will and Aya was incredibly strong. This is something I missed a little bit in thhe second book but still I really enoyed it!
I can't wait for this book to be available in my country so more people could read it.
Great story!

I really enjoyed this follow up to The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis. All of our favorite characters are back and there's plenty of steam and surprises and war. I say the following with nothing but kindness: there's nothing overly unique about this story and characters. If you read a lot of romantasy, it'll probably feel familiar. But that's not a bad thing! This world and these characters have their own things, for better or worse, but I found myself drawn to them and not wanting to put the book down. For 20-something, best-of-their-kingdom warriors, I do wish they acted more mature and we saw why they were considered so *special*, especially Aya. At times she acted like a 16-year-old, and certainly not the Queen's best spy. It was frustrating in the first book and it was frustrating here. But I liked enough of story to get past it, but it's still there and I wish the author had taken more time to really figure out how to write Aya as more mature and more skilled, other than her raw power. The ending, while not overly surprising, was well done and makes me wish we were getting the third book sooner than later. 3.75 rounded up to 4.

This is a great sequel to a solid fantasy series. The pacing is good and I can't wait to see where else the story goes. This series is 100% worth it!

I enjoyed reading this book as much as I did the first. Fast paced and a nice quick and easy read.
Overall a very enjoyable read!

This book was amazing. After being disappointed from the first book in the series, I was hesitant to read this one. However, this one completely changed my attitude towards the series. It was so entertaining and you can tell that the level of editing and story telling has been improved.

I completely adore the characters now! Will and Aya’s relationship was completely swoon worthy.

I was still struggling to understand and recall the reasons why the were going to war and the threats they were facing. However, that’s probably because I need to reread the first one.

I also wished that the ending had been as rushed. It didn’t feel as much as a cliffhanger, some shock factor would have been beneficial.

I will definitely be recommending this in store and it will be hugely popular, especially with the rise in the romantasy genre.

3.5 stars
The curse of saints was a five star book for me so I went into this book with high expectations.
The romance was solid but was lacking the angst from the first book that made it so good.
I enjoyed the multi-pov, surprisingly I was most interested in Aidon’s chapters.
The book sets up for a good finale.
My main issue is it was too long. There was a lot of repetition, in what the characters were thinking but also in what they were doing.
I found myself having to force myself through parts of this, so I feel like it would’ve been very strong if it was shorter.
It is still a good book and I really enjoy the world and the magic system. I look forward to the next book and I hope it is less long and drawn out.

I really loved The Curse of Saints, and I looooooved the sequel too!! Kate simply has a beautiful way with words, and I can’t wait to purchase the Fairyloot edition for my collection :)

I want to thank the author and netgalley for this ARC. Loved the tropes. A really good read ando good pace. I really enjoyed this book.

Sins was a good continuation of Aya's story & I loved the expanded world building from Dramis. It's honestly my favourite part of the series as the world is so fleshed out and not overshadowed by the romance, personally I find this is where the story shines! Aya & Will's relationship is still front and centre though and despite certain struggles the relationship still grows over the course of the plot.

I did find the novel a tiny bit lengthy and occasionally wanting to rush through certain POVs to get back to Aya's. However, overall the book was still a great read and I loved learning more about the world and characters from Saints.

The wait for the next installment is going to be tough though... that cliffhanger!!! Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Random House for the chance to read this arc!

This picks up right where The Curse of Saints ends and I was so happy to be back with Aya. She is such a likeable main character and I love how she interacts with everyone. The romance is sweet and although it played a bigger part than in book 1, it still doesn't take away from the world building and war etc. We all know I love a multiple POV and this had that. My heart was racing for the last 20% of the book as you just don't know whats real or not (IYKYK). The end is a huge cliff hanger and I need book 3 immediately.
I did find the plot regarding Aya's father didn't really resolve so I'm interested to see where that goes.

Review: 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ @katedramis

I first ended up seeing this book due to @fairyloot announcing the sequel and it was so stunning I knew I had to find out what series this was asap!

'Aya Love' 🥹

This fast paced sequal has all the things I LOVE in a book, broody & bad ass, saints & secrets, powers & promises and so so much anger. The story gripped me from the get go and I finished this book so quickly. Finally having more from Will & Aya was so delicious and their relationship was so believable.

Aya was still Aya but questioning everything and that word 'Trust' was another massive theme in this book. Shes still angry but now there are other emotions involved that I wont list as this is a spoiler free review...

The ending was left on a cliff hanger that I did NOT see coming!!! I cant wait for the next installment to see how this progresses and to see Aya really take on the world and shine.



Blurb
___________________________________


He’d once called her dangerous. And he had been right.
Aya was not a pawn.
She was a spy.
A warrior.
A weapon.

Aya has returned home at last.
But she is not the same person who left Tala all those months ago.
And Tala isn't the same either.

The threat of war that could destroy the realm continues to grow and she is the only one who can save it.
Because she is the Second Saint. The bringer of hope. The light in the darkness. Blessed with powers not seen in centuries.

But there are those who stand to use her power for their own gain and Aya learns that danger is closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

The Curse Of Sins truly blew me away. This is a masterpiece of fantasy, and romance, and everything in between. I have laughed and cried, and I haven’t rooted so hard for characters in a long time. Aya’s story is heartbreaking and raw and Kate is an exceptional story teller. This is a 5 star read and I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know!

Stay anchored in the light, they told her. But what had the light ever done for her?

I’m a mess. This was so good????

From Kate Dramis’ first book, The Curse of Saints, Aya and Will’s journey had stolen my heart, and when I saw that I was approved for an early e-arc of this book, The Curse of Sins, I was extremely estatic.

The book was extremely easy to get into and right off the bat, Kate Dramis was hitting every beat like she knew what she was doing.

I also love the fact that this book is multi-POV which meant that we got perspectives from most characters on specific scenes.

AND OH MY GOD THE ENDING-

Nothing could’ve prepared me for that-

I also love how Dramis puts a spin on the chosen one trope and embraces Aya’s darker side.

I LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE

Thank you to the publisher & netgalley for the e-ARC.

No matter how far the fall.

I love love loved The Curse of Saints - in fact, I liked it more than Fourth Wing - so I was hyped to read this sequel.

Aya and Will continue to have my heart, but I find Aidon’s and Josie’s POVs to be less interesting, especially since Aya and Will aren’t with them. Also, their POVs lack the romance and angst of Aya’s and Will’s. Plus, Aidon could be rather stubborn.

There’s a whole lot of men drawling. The mythology and political machinations are confusing. Some plotlines end with a whimper (her father).

Did anything else think this is a duology? It is not. Be prepared for a cliffhanger ending.

That being said, I really like this series, and I’m excited for the next.

Thank you NetGalley and Kate Dramis for early access in exchange for my honest review.

I bought the first book and read it before reading this one. I had never heard of the series or the author before this. I loved the first book, I couldn’t put it down once I started. The second was no different.
The work is well written. It didn’t have any holes as to what’s going on or what the world looks like. If you’re going into this thinking you’re getting only romance you’ll be disappointed. The work has many layers that need to be stripped away. (Though Will and Ayas romance is wonderful) I did think that the book could have done without so much information, there were some dead ends but it didn’t take me out of the story. It was just difficult to grasp what was important information and what was just loose details.
I like these characters, I love the world that’s been built, the political crumbling happening around us, the magical elements in play, the old beings hanging over civilization, it’s just all so fantastic. It’s so fantasy. Lots of action, heartache, desperation, and a grasp on small pieces of dwindling hope. Ugh love it.
The relationship between Aya and Will is at a constant challenge, with the ending breaking your heart. I loved getting the multiple POVs. It moves the plot along and helps understand all the moving parts better. I thought it was a great second book that made me interested to stay on for the third book. Thank you Kate for allowing me access to your work I can see that much love and effort has gone into this book!

I absolutely adored The Curse of Saints so I was incredibly excited to read the second installment. I am delighted to say that The Curse of Sins exceeded all of my expectations.

Kate Dramis has once again woven the perfect blend of romance, fantasy and political intrigue. The world building in this book is complex but it was extremely well written and gave me a broader understanding of the world. The romance between Aya and Will is definitely a highlight of the book and I love their relationship so much!

As a whole, I absolutely adore this series and it definitely scratches the Throne of Glass itch. I am already looking forward to the next installment!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Well,this was just brilliant! I devoured this.Stayed up late reading it because I couldn't put it down! This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I am happy to say it did not disappoint.Book 1 was one of my top 3 books last year and it is safe to say the momentum will continue. Kate Dramis once again delivered in the action and amazing world building department.the magic system is amazing and certain situations left me on the edge of the seat. Can't wait to read more!5 stars!