Curse of Magic by K.M. Shea – A Book Review

Posted July 1, 2019 by Booksandblurbs in Fantasy, Reviews, YA / 0 Comments

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Curse of Magic

(The Fairy Tale Enchantress – Book 2)

by K.M. Shea
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fairy Tale

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down and Dirty

Take all the fairy tales that you know, through them in a blender, add a touch of mystery and an air of romance and you have this delightful series! Free on KU to add to your queue.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

Evariste is gone.

When he sacrificed himself to save Angelique, he was taken in her place. Now everything has gone horribly wrong.

The magic council is too tied up in its bureaucracy to launch a real search effort. And though they have chased every clue, the other enchanters have failed to locate even a hint of him.

With time ticking away, Angelique decides to do what no apprentice should ever do: set out on her own.

As her search for Evariste leads her across the continent, she uncovers magic being used in dark and evil ways that hasn’t been seen in centuries: a prince cursed to live as a beast, a land ruled by an evil ogre, and a selkie enslaved by a sea witch.

None of these things should be happening. But they are.

Fighting these dark powers will require magic Angelique has never attempted before, and demand more from her than she’s ever been able to give.

In the growing darkness, can Angelique harness her deadly magic without harming others? And how will the magic council punish her for her unsupervised spells?

Thoughts on Curse of Magic

Better than book 1! (Read my review here)

While the first book in this epic series spent time building the world and Angelique’s place in it, this installment finally sees solid growth not only in her magic, but in her strength of character. Losing her mentor changed something in her and the quest to find him is shaping her story – and slowly (oh so slowly) encouraging her to accept who she is, and what she can really do.

Pros:

Familiar fairy tales abound.
Angelique is uniquely strong, even as she is weak.
The occasional POV from her trapped mentor galvanizes the narrative, but answers little in the way of mystery.

Cons:

She is still painfully afraid of herself, though her inner self doubt is not as cutting or jagged this time around.
The ebbs and flows of the plot are captivating, though a bit too slow.