GARDEN OF THE CURSED
Author: Katy Rose Pool
Date released: June 20th, 2023*
Category: Fantasy
Synopsis: Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden for the muck-filled canals of the Marshes, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.
When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother’s case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius and return to Evergarden society—even if it means suffering through a fake love affair with him to avoid drawing suspicion from the conniving Five Families.
As the investigation draws Marlow into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies, a shocking truth emerges: Adrius’s curse and her mother’s disappearance may just be clues to an even larger mystery, one that could unravel the very foundations of Caraza and magic itself.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The UnReel Take:
Story: 5.0
Writing: 5.0
Characters: 4.0
Setting: 6.0
UnReel AR: 5.0
Bottom Line: Was this an epic new favorite that re-imagined the YA Fantasy genre? No. Will I read the second one? Probably.
Oh, you need more than that?
*Small disclaimer – Garden of the Cursed was apparently heavily inspired by Veronica Mars but I never watched that show, so I can’t speak to that side of things.
Let’s start with the setting. It was way more modern than I expected, which I really liked. Garden of the Cursed is an urban fantasy set in an entirely fantastical world. It actually reminded me of Howl’s Moving Castle (the movie), not in the type of world but in the level of modernization mixed with fantasy. Also, can authors please start writing more swamp fantasy? Because that was super cool. A map would’ve been really useful though, and I’m kind of surprised the publisher didn’t include one.
I also really enjoyed the magic system which involved magical cards and will appeal to anyone who collected Pokemon cards as a kid. The magic system wasn’t super developed and there were a few holes in the logic, but overall, I bought into it.
The characters were…fine. Their dialogue was annoyingly contemporary, and they read as very young, even for a YA novel. They also fit their tropes to a tee, with an MC who jumps to wild conclusions she never questions until they blow up in her face, a gay best-friend, and a hot, rich, mean guy who’s not-so-secretly longing for our MC. There was definitely an opportunity for Pool to dig a little deeper with the characters that wasn’t taken. Another downside was how inconsistent the characters could be. Like, the MC – who is literally a detective/curse-breaker – drinks an open-drink handed to her by a total stranger. There’s also a literal spy who just openly answers any question she gets asked in great depth. Suuure.
The plot was exactly what you’d expect from a YA Fantasy novel. The big reveals were predictable, there were idealistic rebels pitted against a corrupt society, and all the characters were way too young to realistically be involved in any of the things they’re involved in. The MC never seemed to have a sense of urgency, despite the stakes being high. I didn’t actually mind any of this though, since you know what you’re getting into with a book like this, and there’s something comforting about having your expectations met EXACTLY.
The writing was also pretty generic, but it got the job done. The author included a weird mix of actual and made-up swears, which is a pet peeve of mine. There were several info dumps, mostly in the first few chapters, the flashbacks were integrated awkwardly, and the foreshadowing was heavy-handed. The author also incorporated some random French words, likely given the New Orleans-inspired setting, but they weren’t well integrated, and the grammar was wrong a few times. (Like, to the point where my low-level-Duolingo-learner-self noticed.) There were also a few typos and grammar issues, but I assume those will be fixed in the final release.
Ideal Reading Location: Your bedroom with the door closed, so no one will hear you groan out loud when the characters do something stupid.
Drink Pairing: Let’s give a nod to the swamp setting and say a hurricane.
Maybe your experience will be different!