Thank you to NetGalley, Saara El-Arifi, and Del Rey for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.5 stars

Omg, this was so good. This book felt like the second book in a series rather than being a filler. There were so many reveals that were so interesting. I did figure out one of the reveals earlier on but it didn’t take away my enjoyment. I find this world to be so different than anything I have ever read. I do wish we had more history and world-building. I can’t wait to read the next book.

I highly recommend it!!

I wish I had loved this one as much as I did the first book, I really grappled with giving it 4⭐️s instead of 3, because I do love the characters and lore. But I had to be honest and give it 3.

I find lettle to still be my favorite. I would be surprised if the author didn’t write her with her being autistic in mind. So I did enjoy seeing those traits play out.

The new characters and POV’s were a good and much needed addition. I hope to see more of alder’s pov in the last book.

I was happy to finally get more lore and info on Mosima. But the way it’s written I find it hard to visualize how big it actually is.
The talks of the palace, the talks of cliffs, of tunnels etc. Yet when characters are moving around from place to place, sometimes things that are supposedly on opposite ends of the boundary it reads as if it’s only 100 feet away and not say half a mile.

I really had higher hopes in the writing improving and that just wasn’t the case. If anything I found it declined in this book, especially towards the end of the book.

The switching between the timelines, and POV’s which I thought were so well done in the first book were really chaotic in this book. Mostly toward the last 2/3rds. You have one scene and 4 different POV’s going back to the same scene at different points in time. Having them rehashing everything while also advancing the timeline at the same time. It was too much and honestly causing unnecessary confusion and pulling the reader out of the flow of the story.

I also unfortunately found most of the plot to be predictable. I don’t know if that’s just because I have high pattern recognition, or the author just made the characters so incredibly nieve to what is literally right in front of them.. but I did find it really annoying when sign after sign was ignored and brushed off. That not a single one of them had any critical thinking. It made the characters appear childish, immature, and not a single one of them should be in politics or positions of power. Having to wait for the main characters to catch up to me over and over again, incredibly frustrating.

Like I said I do love this series, I do love the lore and characters for the most part and I will be reading the last book in the trilogy. Because it genuinely is a good storyline. I just wish the writing had been better this time around.

This was so good! I love the uniqueness of this series and I think cursebound was even better than Faebound..hard to do as a follow up book! The new character added the missing depth to the story.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Cursebound is the second book in the Faebound series by Saara El-Arifi. We pick up where we left off in Faebound and follow the characters as they face war with multiple enemies, some unseen. Sisters Yeeran and Lettle fight to break the curse that holds the Fae prisoners in their own land. I loved that the sisters were similar yet so different. They both are strong women, and they fight for what they believe in, but the similarities end there. They don't always see eye to eye, but they compliment and love each other. Fair warning, the book does end on a massive cliffhanger. If you need me, I'll be sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for book 3!

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore, for an advanced readers copy of Cursebound. I seriously can't wait for the third!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the eARC!

This was a lot of fun! I loved the cute little diary entry serving as a recap; I probably would have struggled to remember where exactly we left off if I hadn't gotten a reminder. I appreciated the fast pacing and intrigue. I was a huge fan of Faebound, and this was a great follow-up book for that storyline. It sets up a sure-to-be thrilling book three that I can't wait to read. The stakes were definitely raised, people!!

My only issue is, again, the predictability of the plot twists and mysteries. If you can overlook that and were a fan of book one, don't let this one pass you by!

Cursebound by Saara El-Arifi is everything you want in a sequel: fast, fierce, and totally bingeable. It skips the filler that bogs down so many middle books, instead diving headfirst into the action. The characters remain a highlight—brilliantly crafted and full of life—and the dynamic, tense relationships only get messier in the best way possible.

El-Arifi proves she knows how to handle 'book 2' like a pro, balancing world-expansion and high stakes without losing sight of the story's emotional core. The pacing is tight, the stakes are high, and the vibes are immaculate. I really loved the quick journal recap of Faebound at the start, and I am begging other authors to take note! 🙏

If Faebound hooked you, Cursebound will leave you desperate for the finale. It’s a short, sharp burst of fantasy brilliance, proving that middle books can absolutely shine when done right. Bring on book three!

A big thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Cursebound wastes no time jumping into action. Not only does it avoid the sophomore slump, but it surpasses the first. The addition of new POVs adds to the richness of the story. Some beats were predictable and the plot armor of our favorite characters is strong, but the political intrigue and action made for a fast and fun read. The new romance was truly such a lovely surprise. This left me more excited for the third which is all you can ask for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Action packed, thrilling and a world so immersive that the pages keep you on a chokehold.

Thankyou netgalley for the arc. All opinions are my own!

#Cursebound #Netgalley

Cursebound is a great follow up to the first book faebound and I did enjoy this one even more then the first one.
It was action packed and you just wanted to turn the pages so you could continue the story. I really got hooked and I’m looking forward till the next book in this series.

Thankyou to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Saara El-Arifi for the opportunity to read Cursebound in return for my honest review.

Cursebound is an excellent follow on from the first book (Faebound) and actually was a more natural, easier flowing read, you'll find your favourite characters from the previous book thrown into new exciting situations.
The world as always was stunning and the characters very likeable.

Can't wait for the third book already.

I had so much fun with this one. Cursebound provides a satisfying continuation of the trilogy by effectively building upon its predecessor. It's a thrilling,fun, surprising and ultimately delightful book that makes me eager to see how it ends.

„Cursebound“ ist der packende zweite Band der „The Curse“-Reihe von Emily Bold, und als Fortsetzung knüpft das Buch direkt an die Ereignisse des ersten Teils an. Obwohl es viele der Stärken seines Vorgängers beibehält, reicht es für mich nicht ganz an die Magie des ersten Teils heran.

Der größte Pluspunkt von „Cursebound“ ist zweifellos die spannende Weiterentwicklung der Charaktere. Sam und Ivy stehen vor neuen Herausforderungen, die nicht nur ihr Vertrauen zueinander, sondern auch ihre eigenen Grenzen testen. Besonders Ivys innere Konflikte und ihr Wunsch, sich selbst treu zu bleiben, werden intensiv und nachvollziehbar dargestellt. Die Dynamik zwischen den Figuren bleibt emotional fesselnd, und auch die neu eingeführten Nebencharaktere bringen interessante Facetten in die Handlung.

Das Setting und die Atmosphäre sind ebenfalls stark. Emily Bold versteht es, die mystische Welt von Avalon lebendig und greifbar zu machen. Ihre bildhafte Sprache zieht den Leser sofort in die Geschichte hinein, und die komplexe Verbindung zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart wird auch in diesem Band kunstvoll weitergesponnen.

Allerdings habe ich mich beim Lesen öfter gefragt, ob „Cursebound“ etwas zu sehr auf eine Brücke zum Finale der Trilogie ausgelegt ist. Die Handlung wirkt stellenweise etwas zäh und weniger dynamisch als im ersten Band. Während „The Curse – Unsterblich mein“ durch seine frische, mitreißende Liebesgeschichte und die spannende Enthüllung der Fluchgeschichte glänzte, fehlt „Cursebound“ diese überraschende Kraft. Manche Wendungen sind vorhersehbarer, und die emotionale Wucht, die mich im ersten Teil so begeistert hat, kommt hier nicht immer zum Tragen.

Trotz dieser Kritikpunkte ist „Cursebound“ insgesamt ein gelungener Folgeband, der Fans der Reihe auf jeden Fall zufriedenstellen wird. Die Geschichte entwickelt sich weiter, die Welt wird ausgebaut, und die Charaktere durchlaufen echte Veränderungen. Für mich bleibt der erste Band jedoch unerreicht, was die Intensität und Originalität betrifft. Dennoch bin ich gespannt, wie Emily Bold die Geschichte im dritten Band zu einem hoffentlich würdigen Abschluss bringt.

I enjoyed Cursebound more so than the first book. I think it had a great flow and was even more addicting than its previous one. Super unique and interesting story had me at all the twist and turns it brought. So excited for the next one in the series!

Do you ever not realize how much you needed a read until it’s done? This was that book for me. The first book in the series got me out of a reading slump. The same goes for this one.

Cursebound was a great second book in this trilogy! I honestly found it flowed much easier than the first book. It was fast paced and had lots of twist and turns. As it’s the second in a trilogy I knew there had to be a cliffhanger but god it is all coming together!! I’m excited for the last book to come out and hopefully everyone gets their happy ending!!

I want to give this book 5 stars purely for the "previously on" recap that Lettle gives in her journal to start the book! Was that so hard?? It fit beautifully into the narrative and prevented me from needing to read a summary or re-read the first book before I got to this one! So a sequel is always a little tricky and this one was really good. Honestly, the world that El-Arifi has constructed is so fascinating that I feel like the likelihood of this being a flop was virtually nonexistent. If Faebound was a triumph, Cursebound is a worthy continuation that leaves you wanting more!

4.25 stars

An enjoyable continuation of the story, but it could have been at least 50 pages shorter, it felt a bit bloated in parts, but I liked the recognition of the plight of the lightless and how Lettle finds her place in Mosima by helping them

While I enjoyed book 1 I wasn’t fully invested in the characters yet but now by the middle of this book I am way more invested! The middle book sometimes drags in a fantasy series but I actually found this more engaging then book 1. The characters felt more real and relatable and I really enjoyed some of the twists and turns. I’m a sucker for putting the characters through the wringer. I can’t wait to add this to our library!

The middle book of any trilogy is always going to be a tricky one, both to write well, and - from my rather selfish viewpoint - to review well. The story typically widens out to show you the bigger picture, things don’t typically go well for all our cast, but you aren’t going to get the resolution to the story that you hope for, just more questions. The best you can hope for is that it’s going to be a satisfying read by itself, but it certainly has a harder job than either the first or the last.

I would say that if you haven’t read Faebound by Saara El-Arifi, stop reading now and go do that. I’ll wait! It was one of my favourite queer romantasy books this year, and is definitely worth your time. It tells the story of an elf warrior Yeeran and her sister Lettle, who are exiled from their war-torn homeland and discover that the fae of legend are very real, and very very annoyed. There’s fascinating world building with both African and Arabian influences.

One thing I particularly liked about this sequel is that it starts out with Lettle giving us an in-universe catch up in her journal on the events that happened in the first book. That was very helpful, and I wish more authors would do it.

Yeeran has gone off to warn her people about the Fae involvement in the war, while her lover Furi - now queen - feels abandoned and betrayed. Lettle is adrift in the court and not accepted by the Fae, despite her own lover Rayan now being king. Tensions inside Mosima increase, with the Fae seemingly on the verge of civil war, all while an actual war outside gets closer to their door. Amid all this, we have a new mysterious character, Alder, who may hold the key to everything. This book introduces a number of new POVs, including Furi and Alder, which helps to sell the validity of the different sides.

I will say Cursebound didn’t hit me quite as much as the first book, though I still enjoyed it a lot. It’s quite short, so the plot feels a little rushed at times. Deep conflicts that I’d looked forward to seeing play out are dealt with very abruptly. I am a sucker for messy relationships though, and we have a lot of them here. We also get many reveals about nature of the world, and are certainly left in a good place for a fascinating end to the trilogy.

Recommended!

Thanks to Random House for the early review copy.

This was Phenomenal! The plot was carefully crafted along with driven and meticulously detailed characters for a great combination. This was so well written. The writing keeps you interesting and doesn't plateau which is great for fantasy writing.