I adored the first book and it had me fully enveloped into the world and anxious for the sequel to find out what would happen, so I was excited when I finally got the chance! The events take place straight after the end of the first book and you spend the majority of the book trying to work out 1) how Serilda is going to get out of it and 2) what is the Erlking up to? There was definitely a part of me that worried that we would see a love triangle but happily this was not the case. One thing that did bug me was an extension of the miscommunication trope in that Serilda didn’t tell Gild he was the father and other than to extend the length of the story I’m not sure it was worth including. I loved the ‘children’ and the moments Serilda spent with them were very cute and endearing. It was nice to get to know them a little better after the first book. I do think the book could have been a little shorter, there were times where it seemed that we the reader were just waiting for stuff to happen and rather than a time jump. Without spoilers it’s hard to explain the rest of the book but I will say I enjoyed the new female character and would have enjoyed more time with her. Overall I enjoyed the book but I think the first book tips it, with some editing this could probably have been one large book rather than two though! Thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber for my advanced reading copy.

Gilded had such incredible world building and an exciting plot, and Cursed lives up to its predecessor! Picking up not long after the explosive ending of Gilded, this book has just as much magic and edge of your seat excitement. This is such a brillaint duology and I'm gutted it's now finished!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this title. This sequel to Gilded brings the adventures of Serilda to a close in surprising more action than I had expected. There were many aspects to the plot that lead on nicely from Gilded, but I did find the first half of the book a lot more tedious than Gilded, or the second half. I'm unsure on what to think of the used tropes between Serilda and Gild, and I found their romance somewhat unrealistic. That being said, the underlying narrative of the story was very captivating with germanic fairy tale, old gods, and barriers between world. While this book (for me) is nothing spectacular, it is certainly an enjoyable read and a decent pallet cleanser.