The Curse of Saints: The Spellbinding No 2 Sunday Times Bestseller

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The romance wasn’t that great for me, either. I found Aya and Will had more chemistry and tension when they hated each other compared to what came later. It was a little flat. They're all gifted with magic from the gods and called Visya, who are meant to protect the humans. You'd think this would make them scarce and only in certain areas - wrong! I think there was maybe 1 non-Visya they interacted with, and I can't be sure of that either. What's the point of a race of people to protect humans if it seems even the bartender of a crappy bar has powers too?? The ending was interesting. I liked the spice addition to it and the confessions that came. The epilogue was okay-ish, idk what to make of it yet. I am SO UPSET about this one. The edition I have is BEAUTIFUL. It is almost perfectly suited to my personal aesthetics. I am not immune to a bit of magical thinking, so my brain latching on to how beautiful the book is also simultaneously planted a vicious little expectation that I was going to love the insides, too. UNFORTUNATELY HOWEVER.

I. Am. FLOORED. I devoured this book SO fast because it was just that bingeable 🤌 Fantasy lovers everywhere, this book is for you.Perfect for enemies to lovers fans . . . with a vast detailed world’ Frances White, author of Voyage of the Damned The ending felt so hopeful. Aya and Will may not be heading off to a happy ending, but they’re together, they’re being honest with each other, and they’re ready to take it all on. But that epilogue. It hit me right in the gut and left me spiralling. The last 30% was my favorite when all hell broke loose. The political intrigue and love story all come to a head which was very satisfying. Overall, I thought it was a great debut and I’ll definitely continue the series.

I also wasn't convinced by the whole enemies to lovers thing because the characters are supposed to be allies; they work together and have to protect the kingdom together, and besides some little stuff that happened in their childhoods, they didn't really have a valid reason to hate each other. I saw them as rivals who didn't really like each other (at least from Aya's pov) but they are supposed to be be working together for years now so..... I also didn't really feel any chemistry between them besides Aya saying that Will had "a darkness that answered to her own" and Will calling her "Aya, Love." I’m looking forward to the rest of this trilogy and hope it maintains the high standards set by The Curse of Saints. The beginning was heavy with world building. Which, is usually expected but I felt like everything was thrown in and we didn't get much context or depth for a lot of it. I wanted more meat to really feel grounded in the world. (Bonded, talking (?) wolves, magic system, political intrigue). Why didn't the wolf go with Aya? Aren't they bonded? I think it would have been cool to have the wolves play a bigger role in the story. There was so much potential there for the wolves to be a more integral part of the story. In The Curse of Saints, the first in a trilogy from debut author Kate Dramis, we are introduced to a kingdom rife with the power of Visya’s; individuals who are blessed with affinities of raw, god-like magic. Visya powers fall under any three categories: Physical Affinities, Elemental Affinities, and Mind, Emotion & Sensation Affinities. Our protagonist, Aya, falls under the last, possessing the power of persuasion. These powers, however, have been bound to never grow strong enough to challenge the Nine Divine, the realm’s gods. In a nearby kingdom, there are rumours of a dark magic arising, threatening to reach Aya’s home. It is this dark magic that sets the plot of the book into motion, where Aya, the Queen’s Spymaster, is forced to investigate this threat alongside her rival Will, the Queen’s Enforcer and Second. It is on this journey that Aya discovers that her affinity is one that spills over the bounds that restrict the Visya, placing her at risk of becoming a weapon in a war she does not know how to win, or might not necessarily want to.

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But when Aya's power acts beyond her gods-given affinity, she risks being turned into a weapon in a war she doesn't know how to win. Aya is Spymaster to the Queen and has sworn an oath to protect those she fights with. This includes Will, the Queen’s Enforcer and someone who constantly makes Aya quite mad. But when rumors of a dark magic in a nearby kingdom begin to spread, the two of them are sent to investigate. While there, Aya’s powers begin to shift and change, and the two of them must learn the truth to protect Aya and the monarchy.

It was as if his darkness had called to hers, and she hadn’t been able to resist responding. And for that, she hated him.” This was one of my highly anticipated reads and I wanted so much to love it with the fire of a thousand burning suns. But I just ended up having mediocre feelings at best. And really, I've forgotten most of what I read after putting finishing this on hold for a few days.Fortunately, the romance did not overpower the plot, which had some good world-building and an intriguing magic system.

i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating. And when her relationship with Will unexpectedly shifts, neither know the danger that will follow . . . I was pretty convinced by the setup that I knew everything that would happen. And while it did follow a familiar path, the journey was wonderful. There is so much incredible depth and character growth that most of the characters we meet at the beginning barely resemble those we know in the end.Unfortunately, this was quite possibly the most generic fantasy I've ever read. The world was bland and uninteresting - I didn't particularly care about what I had read, nor did I want to learn more, to be honest. Example: Aya is bonded to a wolf (and isn't the only person in her group to be bonded to an animal) and yet this is barely explored in the book. Another example is the Queen, who both Will and Aya serve, is clearly a fascinating and complicated part of this dynamic, but she gets very little face time in the book. Add this to the fact that none of the cities or places in the world really acquired enough depth to feel REAL. A sparkling masterpiece of fantasy! The world building was original and expertly done, the enemies to lovers is unmatched' 5***** READER REVIEW Will, the Queen's Second/interrogator of the kingdom of Tala who has the natural affinity of Sensainos/sensing Now, about Will. I did not like him. He's the queen's enforcer and he seemed at least slightly more competent at his job than Aya was at hers. He had this "tortured hero" thing going on, but I mostly found him whiny and annoying. He kept saying how much he had done for Aya and how he was protecting her, but at the same time he refused to talk to her about what was actually going on. It was frustrating to read. Will, my dude, stop whining about Aya not trusting you if you don't tell her anything.