The Divine and the Cursed: A Fae Fantasy Romance: 1 (Fae of Alastríona)

Product Information

edit june 2024: I just found out this finally got a cover makeover and the new one is absolutely gorgeous! FINALLY!

The book starts with a bang, the writing is easy to understand, the chapters are short, which just helps to pull you in and not let go.So I finally finished this book. And it is no mistake in the plot, quality of writing (which is excellent), or the story why it took me so long. It's just I enjoyed this as an audiobook, which I received from the author directly, and I didn't really have a lot of time with everything going on in my life to sit down and listen to the book. Perfect for fans of Beauty & the Beast, Romeo & Juliet, A Curse So Dark & Lonely, A Court of Mist and Fury, and The Cruel Prince. Because you can hurt me in ways I’ve never been hurt. Without lifting a finger, you could shatter me completely.” countries at war, 1 Queen in hiding” - This is the main plot of the book, but true to its name, the story is centered around Arianna and Rion, even more than the war itself, although that’s what shapes their relationship.

First of all, I just want to say a grateful thank you to the author for sending me a free copy of this audiobook, I enjoyed most of it a lot! But there were a few things I have to be honest about 💗 Thought I’d dive into the Kindle Unlimited world for my next review! I was mostly inspired by a single reel posted by J.E. Reed:

She felt like every colour, constantly spinning, never settling in one place, because this feeling, this love was too strong to be confined to a single colour. It was infinite and ever-growing, and she'd never tire of it." I stumbled upon this book when scrolling through tiktok; I immediately knew I had to read this and couldn't wait to know the release date, so imagine my happiness when the author asked me if I was interested in reading an ARC of her book! The premise, world building and magic in this book are incredible! I really enjoyed all those aspects and seeing how the story unfurled! The writing and pacing I felt were good as well. I didn’t like the multiple POVs. Although I can see them being useful, they felt randomly placed. I would have rather had dual POV for Arianna and Rion.

The story follows our reluctant heroine, Arianna, who, though pushed to safety by her friend in the middle of a war, was captured regardless and sold into slavery. For the last year and a half, Arianna has done whatever she could to survive, including keeping herself out of the males' beds, by disguising herself as a half-breed Fae. Enter Rion, The Demon, the most ruthless, most feared male in all of Alastriona whose vile, abhorrent magic was enough to condemn him from birth, who now has her life in his hands. I was convinced to read this because a TikTok edit talking about a "touch her and you die" enemies-to-lovers dynamic with a "PUT. HER. DOWN" scene by her enemy so he could rescue her. It makes sense in context... but I'm sad to say that the edit was more exciting than the scene itself... or any following scene after it. I will say that I thought the story was much better than the cover 😬 Arianna goes through major character development. She goes from hiding and surviving as a slave to fighting viciously for those she loves. She learns to accept her magic and use it rather than hide it. There were some grammar errors. Although minor, they were frequent enough that this could be a turn off for other readers.

General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon-a vile creature incapable of love or compassion. With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can't always be trusted. I absolutely loved the worldbuilding and magic in this. The descriptions of how the magic worked and wound itself around the characters and how they used it were incredibly unique for a take on elemental magic and beautifully written. The female main character also overthinks everything to the point where half the writing in a chapter is her worrying written down.