Curses
Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday. Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom. Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match, but what if the best match is Tevin himself?
I’ve read my fair share of Beauty and the Beast retellings, but McBride’s is one of the most entertaining that I’ve come across. I love that the “beast” is a young woman, and the “beauty” is a dashingly handsome con artist. McBride’s writing style was a joy to read; there were moments when I laughed out loud, which doesn’t happen often! She used her wit and humour to carry this story through some exceptionally difficult moments, which helped me connect to the characters even more. After reading Curses, I am going to keep an eye open for her next book; she’s certainly an author I want to read more of!
I loved how McBride used the concept of curses in her story. Merit didn’t do anything horribly wrong when she was cursed; she simply didn’t obey her demanding mother. Yet readers saw how she and other characters who were cursed unnecessarily suffered. McBride took a classic fairy tale trope and twisted it in a wonderful way.
Out of the two main characters, Tevin was my favourite. His parents were awful, to say the least, and seeing how much he sacrificed to keep his siblings safe made my heart ache for him. As a con artist, he wasn’t completely blameless of course, but as a reader I understood why he did what he did. I loved how Tevin fell in love with Merit and was the one to break her curse. He was supposed to be finding the best match for her, but of course it was Tevin himself who was Merit’s true love. I have no doubt if there was to be a short story in the future, these two would truly be living their happily-ever-after!
Curses is an entertaining story that takes classic fairy tale tropes and turns them upside down.
Curses Rating: ★★★★★
I’ve read my fair share of Beauty and the Beast retellings, but McBride’s is one of the most entertaining that I’ve come across. I love that the “beast” is a young woman, and the “beauty” is a dashingly handsome con artist. McBride’s writing style was a joy to read; there were moments when I laughed out loud, which doesn’t happen often! She used her wit and humour to carry this story through some exceptionally difficult moments, which helped me connect to the characters even more. After reading Curses, I am going to keep an eye open for her next book; she’s certainly an author I want to read more of!
I loved how McBride used the concept of curses in her story. Merit didn’t do anything horribly wrong when she was cursed; she simply didn’t obey her demanding mother. Yet readers saw how she and other characters who were cursed unnecessarily suffered. McBride took a classic fairy tale trope and twisted it in a wonderful way.
Out of the two main characters, Tevin was my favourite. His parents were awful, to say the least, and seeing how much he sacrificed to keep his siblings safe made my heart ache for him. As a con artist, he wasn’t completely blameless of course, but as a reader I understood why he did what he did. I loved how Tevin fell in love with Merit and was the one to break her curse. He was supposed to be finding the best match for her, but of course it was Tevin himself who was Merit’s true love. I have no doubt if there was to be a short story in the future, these two would truly be living their happily-ever-after!
Curses is an entertaining story that takes classic fairy tale tropes and turns them upside down.
Curses Rating: ★★★★★