Fantastic read, loved the plot and the characters. Found the writing ok to get my head around and felt the book had a good pace.

I got the ebook ARC from Netgalley ages ago, and fell horribly behind on reading it until now. But this is a really excellent piece of alternate Elizabethan fantasy, with a very diverse and personable cast of characters of various degrees of magic about them. You have little dragons, half-fae children, alchemists and undead actors. I'm so impressed with the world-building with actual historical details and characters, albeit with magical twists. And mostly, it's just straight up funny and thrilling and so sweet in balanced measures. The romance is almost secondary to the main quest journey, but a source of hilarious and horny character interactions. Also the author is also the narrator and does an incredible job of distinguishing character voices, even in the texture of voices when the POV shifts.

Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch was fun, but not mind-blowing. The premise was super cool—think underground adventures, curses, and all kinds of weirdness—but the execution didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The humor and wit were on point, but sometimes the pacing felt a little all over the place, and I wasn’t super invested in the characters.

That said, it definitely had its moments. If you’re into quirky, lighthearted urban fantasy with some dark magic sprinkled in, it’s worth a read, just don’t expect to be totally wowed.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

Cursed Under London was an interesting read, but it didn't make me want to read it. I finished it because I refuse to DNF a book but found myself skimming some parts. It's got a great setting and good writing, it was just slow and I struggled to finish it.

Fun! I had a tinyyy bit of an issue with the tone, some parts escalated way too quickly, but i loved the characters, the world felt very lived in and the worldbuilding was very fun and , VERY Discworld at times!!!!!!! The parts with horror were more scary and violent than i would think and it gave me a bit of whiplash, but it was still fun.

3*

Right, I'll give that a go for you. Here's the review rewritten in British English:

Cursed Under London serves up a delightful romp through an alternate Elizabethan London, blending magic, humour, and adventure.

Following Fang and Lazare, two recently deceased, who find themselves navigating a supernatural underworld chock-full of eccentric creatures and dastardly forces.

Crouch's imaginative world-building crafts a vivid setting where the ordinary and magical coexist. The well-drawn characters lend both emotional heft and comic relief to the narrative.

That said, the plot can be a tad overwhelming at times, given the sheer number of characters and subplots, which might leave some readers in a bit of a muddle.

While the humour is generally spot-on, it occasionally overshadows the more serious bits, creating a somewhat uneven tone.

Not my favorite book, but still pretty cute. I could see myself recommending this to someone. Not for me, but not bad by any means.

A cosy fantasy that kept hooked and turning pages. Gabby Hutchinson Crouch delivers another excellent novel, a historical cosy fantasy set in an alternative London.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I absolutely loved this read! I’m enjoying fantasy books at the moment and this hit a lot of my favourite tropes and fantasy genre.

Two strangers.

Two Londons.

Two hearts that won’t stop beating…

In an alternative Elizabethan London, Fang awakes from his death to discover he is not quite human anymore. In fact, despite having somehow acquired the power of immortality, he’s also not quite vampire, zombie, werewolf or any of the other supernatural beings who roam the twin cities of Upper London and its underground counterpart, Deep London.

A jaded traveller from the Ming Empire, Fang is desperate to find a way to reverse the spell and get on with being dead when he stumbles upon Lazare de Quitte-Beuf, a theatrical Frenchman who is afflicted with the same mysterious condition. Thrown together by the curse they share, the two men set out to undo the strange magic that binds them. As they are drawn further into the shadowy world of Deep London, they unearth a dangerous plot which they appear to be right in the middle of.

I really enjoyed the creatures in this book - you have everything! There is a creature for everyone and I enjoyed the cohabitation in each of the Londons - my absolute favourite was Amber the dragon! Whenever she made an appearance, I would always picture ‘Spike’ from My Little Pony - she is adorable, I want an Amber in my life!

All of the characters are really great and I enjoyed all of them and the part they play in the story - the humour is brilliant, I accidentally snored with laughter a few times. Without giving anything away, for 250 pages, this book is packed with action, all the way to the last chapter.

I very much enjoyed the romance between Fang and Lazare - there is a one bed moment and I cheered - I loved this trope!

Overall, such a page turner; I finished in a couple of days….cannot wait to see what comes next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy.

“Cursed Under London” is a funny and imaginative take on alternative Elizabethan London, blending supernatural elements with plenty of humor and heart. Fang and Lazare, two strangers cursed with immortality, are thrown together in a quest to understand their condition, and while the romance is light, their dynamic is full of witty banter and entertaining tension. The supporting cast, especially Nell the apothecary and Amber the tiny dragon, add a lot of charm to the story.

The world-building is unique, though it leaves plenty to explore in future books, and the frequent point-of-view shifts can sometimes be confusing. However, the fast pace, quirky characters, and humorous dialogue make this a fun, light read for anyone who enjoys cozy fantasy with a touch of the absurd. I'm excited to see where the story goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you are looking for a lighthearted, fast paced rom-com then this is for you! This novel follows Fang and Lazarre as they both come to terms with their newly dead or rather not dead afterlife. Together they team up to discover more about their shared curse with the help of a small, but mighty, dragon named Amber and badass apothecary owner named Nel. There are themes of found family and grumpy x sunshine romance that will have you rooting for the characters to get together!

While I did not care to much for the writing style I did appreciate the attention to detail and how unique the worlds were in the story. Set in Elizabethan England this London is divided into Upper London where the living reside and Deep London where the monsters and dead live. Seeing how the worlds interact with each other was something I had not seen before in fantasy novels.

I will be keeping an eye out for the second novel in the series to see where the story goes from here.

3.75 stars

This was so much fun!
I freaking love the characters and their dynamic. And the world building - of having an upper and an under London - and the rules that followed were very intriguing.
Here and there there was a bit too much repetition in the dialogue (telling how they changed over and over again) and scenes (fighting the same people that have the same rascist remarks), but over all I was having a blast.
I wish we would have gotton to see a bit more of the society side of London as well as more of the underground city, but the ending of the story gave me hope for a sequel. Can´t wait!

All of my thoughts to this reading experience can be found in my reading vlog on my YT channel Just_Bea_Weird.

This is the first book in a quirky, twisted, warm new series that I'm really looking forward to more of! The characters are so endearing (who wouldn't love Amber!?) and I loved Crouch's London, dark and chaotic and bonkers but so engaging. Fans of the Rivers of London series will love this (with a hint of TJ Klune too)

☆☆☆
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In an alternative Elizabethan London, Fang and Lazare awake from their deaths to discover they are not quite human anymore. In fact, despite having acquired the power of immortality, they’re also not quite vampire, zombie, werewolf or any of the other supernatural beings that reside in the underground city of Deep London.
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What drew me to the book: I thought it sounded interesting.
How long it’s been on my TBR: Two months.
My expectations: The synopsis on Netgalley didn't give to much away so a cursed London and two men on an adventure to
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My thoughts whilst reading: Immediately I didn't like the language, the books setting was meant to be 1500s London yet the characters all spoke as if they were in a much more current setting without any real effort to be a little more historical and the language wasn't the only thing, the setting felt less like 1500's London, England and more just a random setting created by the author which just so happened to share its names with the places it was meant to be. Honestly I didn't write down a lot for this because I just wanted to get it read and finished (to the point I was skimming stuff like descriptions and scenes which weren't so important), it really wasn't something I was enjoying greatly.
How long it took me to read: 11 Days.
Overall: My thoughts can pretty much be summed up into just one word; okay. It wasn't awful but the language stopped me from being able to immerse myself more into the book and the setting was just not what I thought it would be and whilst the setting part improved over the course of the book (as I imagined the book having its very own setting and being of its own world) nothing else really grabbed my attention in the book. I didn't really care for or connect with the characters and I wasn't to pulled in by the plot. The only reason I didn't give the book a lower score was because it was okay for a short adventure book, definitely not the worst, it just wasn't for me and I think it would make a better TV show or film.
Miscellaneous: I didn't realise that the author of this wrote for Horrible Histories. One thing that annoyed me about the book was how Fang treated Amber, I get he was this gruff, hurt, asshole type but he treated Tem kindly and despite being 'warm' to Amber at the start he was just unnecessarily rude to her after that.
Did it meet my expectations: I didn't have a lot to begin with but not really, if you look at the like two men on a quest part then yes but it sort of fell flat on everything else for me. One thing I will say though is that I was expecting more romance, the book is marketed a little as a romance and it felt more like the romance was just part of the story rather than the main focus / a bigger part of the book.
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Favourite character: I didn't really have one.
Favourite scene: I don't think I had one to be honest, even now just looking back on it none of the scenes really stood out to me.
Favourite relationship: Fang and Tem's.
Favourite quote: "Alchemists accidentally crash <i>one</i> regional economy <i> one time</i> and we never hear the end of it!"
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Why I rounded the review up / down*:Not applicable.
Do I regret reading it: No but it definitely wasn't my favourite read of the year.
Will I be reading the sequel: most likely not although when it release I'll probably check out some spoilers if I care enough or remember.
Will I be investing in a physical copy: No.
Do I recommend it: If you want a short book set in an alternate London with creatures, magic, a curse and found family then yes but if you dislike historical inaccuracies in Historical Fantasy settings then no.
*(for rating systems such as Goodreads)
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Thank you so much to Netgalley for the E-ARC.

You know my biggest issue with this book is? Can you guess? That I read it alone. I should have buddy read it Because I loved it so damn much that I wanted to discuss it with someone and nobody around me will read this good book. No worries though, I'm gonna grab a copy of this book and make my husband read.

This book is treat especially if you are a Neil Gaiman fan. Trust me, it was hilarious and it had a darker, gloomier tone and yet did not feel depressing. This reminded me so much of neverwhere. These characters are good, the plot is good, there's humour infused throughout the storyline. You will love Amber for sure.

This is set in Elizabethan London which has upperside and downside with all mystical creatures vampire, zombies, dragons and undead. The first scene was so weirdly good that it made me hooked to the book. At places it was slow, but mostly it had some action going on. The ending was a bit weird but okay. I was getting depressed that my time with Lazarus, Fang and Nellie and Amber was coming to an end when I realised that it is going to have more books and it is not standalone.

That made me excited and nervous both coz I don't know when's the next book is coming but atleast it's coming I hope. So that is about this book. It is funny, entertaining and seriously so good that I'm going to give it a reread.


Thank you farrago books and Netgalley for this amazing ARC in exchange of an honest review... Can't thank enough, can't stop from patting on my back for requesting the book. And I'm off.

Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutch Crouch is a witty and fast-paced urban fantasy that blends humor, magic, and adventure. Set beneath the bustling streets of modern-day London, the story follows a group of unlikely heroes as they confront dark forces and sinister curses. The novel is filled with clever dialogue, quirky characters, and a fresh take on familiar fantasy tropes.

Crouch’s strength lies in balancing humor with darker themes, creating a fun yet gripping narrative. The world-building is imaginative, bringing a hidden, magical London to life with secret societies, mystical creatures, and ancient powers lurking beneath the surface. The characters, each with their own flaws and quirks, provide both emotional depth and comedic relief, making for a dynamic ensemble.

Cursed Under London is perfect for readers who enjoy urban fantasy with a mix of action, magic, and laugh-out-loud moments. It’s a light-hearted yet engaging adventure that offers both thrills and laughs, making it a delightful read for fans of fantasy with a humorous twist.

A cozy fantasy novel about two men living in 16C London who are constantly brushing with death and various supernatural creatures. I found it a little disjointed and surface level. It was fun and I would give it 3 stars but it's not the best book I've ever read.

3.5⭐️

This book was a great time! Really well written, funny with an interesting world and cast of characters. I enjoyed the time I spent in this alternative version of Elizabethan London. I did at times find it hard to keep track of all the different characters and plot threads, but this was a minor issue for me in what was otherwise a really solid story.