Cygnus Curse

by Poppy Rose Solomon

The black swan will finally have her revenge – but can she break her curse while keeping the love she’s discovered?

Sierra Reed has one option left: team up with the pirates who cursed her and force them to reverse the magic. She reluctantly joins the six teens on their enchanted ship, sailing the world in search of the power they need. But she never expects that with them, she’ll start to find a sense of home – all while resisting the urge to murder them.

Meanwhile, in a crumbling Bearra, Maya, Teddy and Dawn know Lire’s return is imminent, and when they discover a weapon that could be used against the fairy, they ask Sierra to help them find it. But the warrior is . . . distracted. As Sierra unwittingly develops feelings for the pirates’ captain – a young man named Arden who loathes her as much as she loathes him – it’s as if she’s finally found someone who can keep up with her.

Torn between her old family and her new one, Sierra must fight every second to save both herself and the world. She’s changed, and she has to wonder – is saving her sisters what she still wants?

Forgiveness and love don’t go hand-in-hand, and Sierra will be forced to decide what family really means.

Unknown Binding

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

Poppy Rose Solomon’s creative pursuits are a manifestation of her passion for the whimsical and magical. Evoking inspiration and escapism is the goal of her storytelling. From her home in Lutruwita/Tasmania, she freelances as a YA editor and coach through her business Poppy’s Pages. Woken Kingdom is her first series, with plenty more novels to come, and in 2025 she published How to Edit Your Own Novel, a nonfiction guidebook to help other authors cultivate their voices and tell their stories.

Reviews

[Madi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars (only because i'm saving the 5 stars for the next two!) 2nd book out of four.

I was lucky enough to be on Poppy's beta read team for CC. This is an amazing read, if you love great worldbuilding, interesting magic systems and a whimsical retelling fantasy mixed with a bit of an urban fantasy feel you will absolutely love WK and CC. There is a bit of everything from a romance subplot, an interesting villain, great character arcs...

Without any spoilers, I absolutely loved this book. I felt like it was a great continuation of WK. All the newly introduced characters were really fleshed out and each one made you want to learn more about them! Like in WK I loved Sierra, she is definitely still my fav in this series and in this book we get to learn more about her and follow her story.

The worldbuilding in all the different territories makes each one feel like a completely different world for you to get sucked into. CC is overall an amazing book would 10/10 recommend.

[Haylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always thought I would find it impossible to impartially and honestly review work written by my dear friend, but it’s turns out that’s not an issue because I enjoyed this SO MUCH.
Poppy has a way of writing characters that I can’t help but feel intense emotion toward them. I feel like I know them personally and some I want to desperately give a little kiss on the forehead to and others I want to punch in the face, they’re just so real.
Also, I find it rare to come across action scenes in fantasy that are simultaneously full of drama and also written so clearly that I can visualise the whole thing from start to finish and Poppy does it so well every damn time.

Very proud to have such a cool, talented author friend and even more proud to get to work and design for them.

[R Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've rarely enjoyed the found family trope quite this much! Every one of the characters was loveable yet flawed in their own ways. I enjoyed the larger cast from the first and the side stories along the way. The motives were all strong and intertwining goals kept things fast paced and allowed for deeper looks into each characters' own pasts and fears. I finished this book in like, 4 days, which is practically a record for me and says a lot in itself as I'm a super slow and detail-oriented reader 😅
Thank you to Poppy for the ARC in exchange for an honest review 🙏🏻 very excited for Haunted Princess!

[Poppy Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sierra says hello x