Has potential but unfortunately fell flat for me.

I think this book would’ve been great as a humor/parody fantasy like “The Assistant to the Villain”. I wish it leaned into more of the fun and awkward aspect of the story, instead I felt like it was an odd mix of sexy, serious and fun + all of the other trope baits.

Modern verbiage like “I’m screwed” “facepalm” “ugh” took me out of the setting. However, I think leaning into more of a humorous parody, it could’ve worked.

This type of romance was just not for me, but I thought the concepts of the dreams was entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

2 Stars

3.5⭐ rounded up to 4. Although I LOVED this book when I started listening to the audio version, the plot was sacrificed very early on to leave room for romance, and there were way too many of the FMC’s inner thoughts for my liking.

❤️ There’s a DARK unicorn named CHERRY CAKE
❤️ The “princess doppelgänger” storyline
❤️ FMC has purple (not white or silver!!) hair
❤️ Interesting worldbuilding, lore, and court intrigue
❤️ Sexual tension and dream-connection smut
❌ MISCOMMUNICATION GALORE
❌ Plot sacrificed for romance very early on
❌ Only surface information of the (interesting) worldbuilding and lore
❌ Too many of the FMC’s inner thoughts
❌ Flat writing style

Trigger warnings: violence, blood and gore, death, kidnapping, forced marriage, emotional abuse, death of a parent, death by fire (mentioned, off-page).

Plot:
As part of the elite guard, Astra’s role is to act as a doppelgänger for the princess in the human kingdom of Krastel. Her life is not her own, and her only comfort is a dream connection to her kindred soul. During a mission where she takes the princess’s place, Astra and the Krastel prince are ambushed by Marlak, the Crystal Court’s powerful, but disgraced prince. It turns out he’s the man in her dreams... and he wants to ask the king for her hand—her hand, and not the princess’s. But this man is nothing like the one in her dream, and Astra has a dark, dangerous secret.

There’s a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, forced proximity, forced marriage, dream smut… and tons and tons of miscommunication. If you enjoy these tropes and “romance over plot” high fantasy, you’d probably enjoy this one. Unfortunately, it’s not my cup of tea and I feel like this book didn’t live up to its potential. I’m curious about Marlak’s backstory, but not enough to read or listen to the second book, unfortunately.

Characters:
Yet another obliviously-superpowered not-like-the-other-girls FMC with a dark secret! Hey, at least she has purple, rather than white or silver, hair! I wasn’t crazy about Astra, but I really liked Marlak and some of the secondary characters, like Nelson the purring Fae and Cherry Cake the dark unicorn. I was also very intrigued by the Krastel prince and would have liked to see more of him. Even if it’s a character-driven book, I think that we could have seen more character growth and depth with dual POVs and less miscommunication.

Writing:
The writing was alright, but not exceptional. Some parts were beautiful and evocative, others very flat. Most of all, there was simply too much of Astra’s inner thoughts. Most of the books felt like internal ramblings, and there were so. many. questions. Why is he doing this? What does this mean? It was repetitive and annoying, especially since the answers were pretty obvious most of the time. Astra just sounded naïve and clueless, almost dim.

Audiobook:
The audio was fine, but I’ve heard better. It has nothing to do with the narrator; I simply think I’ve grown accustomed to multi-POV books where there’s more than one voice actor, and it helps keep me interested.

I had a really great time reading this book! I loved reading Astra's story, learning more about this world, and rooting for her as she dealt with conflicting loyalties, because this one kingdom raised her, but this prince is not what he seems. I had to know more! I was full to the brim with giddiness reading this book, the set up and these characters were so cute!

Astra's life is not her own, she's been raised to be the body double of this princess, to put her life in danger to keep this girl safe. She was housed in the castle, but kept secluded, trained, but wasn't paid. And she has a secret about her heritage, which makes things all the more complicated.

That they are soulmates, with that dream connection, was so much fun to read, because she feels embarrassed by the contents of the dreams, whereas he thinks she's that powerful, that she's making it up, which causes a lot of banter which was hilarious to read. I was a tad bit confused-was it a mix of things that'll happen in the future, and a more loving version of the present? Because there was that once scene where he was poisoned and that was happening in real time, but the other ones, they seemed to be at a time that hasn't happened yet...I'm not sure, maybe we'll find out more in the sequel!

Yeah, that ending got me! I'm glad that she figured out at least a part of the truth of what was going on, and was making a plan to get him out-but in the meantime, he's being held prisoner by someone who doesn't wish him well, and I know it's not going to go well, and I need him not to be in that awful situation!

Loved reading this book so much, and I'm so exhilarated for the sequel!

I wanted to love this so badly.. (if you’ve seen some of the character art you know why..) but my overall feelings is that it felt to juvenile. This read like a YA book. So when the spice came I was had initial feelings like, “oh no honey.. you’re too young for that.” But she wasn’t. The FMC read so young I couldn’t enjoy this adult fantasy fully. The narrator probably didn’t help as her voice also sounds like a teenager. I might have felt differently if I read this physically, but I doubt it. (I did see after reading that this is the authors first adult fantasy book..)
The writing had some miffs as well. Between the repetition, overused words, and juvenile dialogue and inner monologue.. just brought me out of the story.
The MMC on the other hand was quite lovely. I really enjoyed his character. He kept me going.
I enjoyed the plot, the magical powers, political intrigue, and the world.

Tropes & Themes 🌿
* Enemies to lovers
* Marriage of convenience
* Forced proximity
* Slow burn
* Soulmates
* Miscommunication

Narration: 4/5
Spice: 🌶️ 1.5/5

I think the world building was interesting and really enjoyed the premise. Astra being raised and trained as a decoy for the princess while having a deadly secret was intriguing.
The first person POV had such a strong focus on the FMC thoughts that it didn’t feel like much was moving along at times.
Dialogue had moments that certainly made me cringe and just didn’t feel very believable or natural. Overall there were many repetitive aspects.
This certainly had potential but fell short for me.

I really enjoyed this book but it could have been shorter I enjoyed the last little bit and am curious about where the author will take this story next. This story has magic betrayal romance enemies to lovers and soulmates

This audiobook was addictive, I couldn't turn it off. I loved the complexity of the story and the structure of the plot. The characters are rich and unforgettable. It was an excellent read

I absolutely adore this book! I can't stop recommending it!!!

The narrator did such an amazing job! Her narration was so much fun and made this book so easy to listen to.

Astra and Marlak are both such fun and complex characters. I love their witty banter and the FMC's sassy inner monologue. The angst and tension between the FMC and MMC is perfection. 👩‍🍳💋 Marlak is such a softy on the inside and I am here for it!!!

This book has a variety of side characters that I'm excited to see develop and grow in book two. I loved the elemental magic, world-building, and foreshadowing. And the dream connection! 🫠

That ending had my head spinning. This book made me laugh out loud, it's a fun adventure from beginning to end. I cannot wait for book two, to continue these characters' stories. I have so many questions that I need answers to!

⭐-5
🌶️-3

I enjoyed this but found myself a little lost at times and wanting a bit more from the narrators. I think I could have used a different narrator but the story was there for me that kept me pulled in.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Overall: 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5)
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🌶🌶🌶

I listened to this on audio.

I really enjoyed this audiobook, and loved the tropes, but did find some things a little repetitive, and the MMC to be a bit immature, which irked me slightly. I also had a few moments of confusion, especially when the scenes changed from dream to reality, as it wasn't always clear which was what.

I loved the single narration, and found it to be well done and very nuanced; it was always immediately clear who was speaking.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕: narration, arranged marriage, forbidden/ awakening magic, plot twists, diversity, queer rep, slow burn to steamy

☆I received an ALC of the audiobook from the author, publisher, and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own honest opinions.☆

This was ok, the audio was very well done and i like the voices, the book is good , the story interesting and it does keep you captivated , I enjoyed and Im interested on more about this world and this characters .

This is a very interesting story about a girl who lives in hiding because of her origins. She is taught that her kind are monsters and that she must hide who she truly is. This story takes a lot of twists and turns and is very fun to read. It made me laugh and go “WTF?” at times, and was just a joy to read. Can't wait for the next one.

A Cursed Son follows Astra as she impersonates the princess of her kingdom. She goes on her first mission to a neighboring court. There the coach that she is riding in is ambushed. Astra has been having vivid dreams involving a man with a star tatoo on his chest. During this ambush she finally faces him in the flesh. This book was good. Enimies to lovers. It did leave in a cliff hanger and will have to wait until the second book is published to find out what happens between Merlock and Astra.

Ahhh that ending! 🙈 Such an awesome book! The banter between Astra and Marlak is fantastic! I laughed out loud so many times. I loved the progressive but also realistic character development for both MCs. They are both so complex with so many secrets. Enemies to lovers is my fav trope and this book does it so well. Then tension is palpable. And those spicy dreams are sooo good 🌶️ 🥵🤌. Marlak is my new fav book boyfriend 😏.
This was my first fiction audiobook. I wasn’t sure if I’d like a fictional story in audio format, but I decided to try it out and I’m really glad I did. It made long car rides go by really fast. And when I’d normally have to put a book down to do some chores I didn’t have to since I could listen while doing them. The narrator was great! She totally nailed the reactions. I loved the story so much I’m going to get a physical copy too.

Fav tropes:
Stabby FMC ⚔️
Slow burn 🔥
Enemies to lovers 🩷
Arranged marriage 💍
Forced proximity 🖼️
Banter for days 😏
Spicy dreams 🌶️
Quest 🗺️
Fae 🧝‍♀️
Royalty 👑
Court politics 🏰
Espionage 🎭
Magic ✨

Fav quote:
“Am I really going to go around exposing my butt?” 🤣😜

Thank you Day Leitao and NetGalley for the early copy! I loved it and I’m ready for the next book in the series.

A Cursed Son

I was really excited about the premise of this book, but the story was disjointed and lacked any substantial character development.

Thank you Day Leitao, Sparkly Wave, and NetGalley for my advanced review copy.

Plot - 2
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 2
Personal Bias - 2
Final Score - 2.25

The ending!!! It's rare that a book will get me with such a twist but this was great. At the beginning I was slightly confused as to who the book was aimed for, there were some racy scenes however some of the dialoge felt immature so that didn't quite match up for me. If you're just getting into fantasty, love the "forced proximity" and "enemies to lovers" topes, this'll be a great book to read.

ohhh my!!! This book got better and better the farther into it I got! I love the misjudged Marlak! Day did a great job making you feel for him. I do wish the dialogue was little more mature. Astra had some very racey and vivid dreams but then there were discussions of some very adult topics and using phrases like "man-thingy" really brought the maturity level down quite a bit and were a bit distracting. I can't wait to see where Day takes their story in the next novel because overall I really enjoyed this story and it definitely kept me second guessing everyone.

4.5 Stars

This was so good!! I really hope this book gets some hype because it was a great romantacy! So much mystery, angst and intrigue with a little spicy beauty and the beast vibes. This book has everything you want. It ended on a cliff hanger and I cannot wait for the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sparkly Wave for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc. I absolutely loved this book, but I do wish that it was dual narrators. I’m not a fan when women do male voices, and don’t feel like Marlek was given justice, but I would highly recommend this book to anyone. The only reason I give a 4 instead of a 5 is that I didn’t love the narrator.
She’s raised to be a stand in for the princess, and after poisoning the other decoys she gets to go on the mission where she runs in with Marlek, and after he tries and fails to read his mind, he finds her and marries/steals her away to keep his secrets safe, when he discovers that they’re connected by dreams.

🔹he falls first
🔹forced proximity
🔹dream magic

4.5 ⭐️

🦄 Banter and tension
✨ Unique world building
🦄 Dreamy meetups vs awake cold shoulders
✨ Fast paced with several twists
🦄 Fated mates (I’m calling it)
✨ Marriage of convenience
🦄 The last 20% or so is 🤯

As the first of the series, A Cursed Son takes its time setting up some creative world building. The story is told through Astra - a trained royal guard with a twist. We know what she knows and not much else. I think this works really well for this story. Astra has a lot of secrets; it’s clear that everyone else has just as many they’re hiding as well. Marlak enters the chat with his grumpy, skeptical self and starts flipping Astra’s world on its head. I ate their dynamic up - banter and tension galore. The magic system is super fun and I’m excited to see that develop more. All not to be outshined by the truly WTF ending. I can’t wait for book 2!

I really enjoyed the audiobook - Kelly did an all around great job. I do know the physical book (depending on edition) has some amazing character art. It’s hard to miss out of the art but the audiobook really is a great listen and worth it.

Thank you NetGalley, Day Leitao, and Sparkly Wave for a copy of this audiobook ARC. I also own a personal copy as well.